Autopsy: Dead Detainee Had Heart Problem

An autopsy shows a detainee at a federal immigration detention center in south Georgia died of natural causes. Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said Thursday 39-year-old Roberto Martinez Medina died of myocarditis, an inflammatory heart disease. Martinez, a Mexican national, was being held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin. He died March 11 at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. A coalition of immigrant rights and civil rights groups planned to hold a vigil Thursday in front of the Atlanta headquarters of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The groups are demanding accountability and transparency from the agency. Martinez's death was one of the issues they wanted information about.

(Associated Press)

GBI Review: No Security Breeches of Vital Records

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation review of the State Office of Vital Records is in. State officials were concerned about security breeches after the chief of the office, Richard Wheat, was fired last month for his “gross mismanagement and a lack of professional integrity.” According to the GBI review there were no breeches and Wheat was just disorganized about records. The vital records office handles certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce.

(The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

GBI Probes State's Vital Records

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations the state’s birth and death records have been mishandled. Officials called for the probe after a whistleblower said that names were changed on birth certificates without proof of identity and that applications for birth and death certificates were discarded without any action taken. Another allegation… checks were mishandled. Birth and death certificates are maintained by the Department of Human Resources Office of Vital Records. The office also amends records and adds to birth certificates when an adoption is completed or when paternity is acknowledged.

(Associated Press)

Members of Assisted Suicide Group Charged over Death

Georgia authorities have charged four members of an alleged assisted suicide ring with helping a 58-year-old man there end his life.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Claire Blehr, 76, and Thomas E. Goodwin, 63, were arrested Wednesday at a home in Dawson County in the northern part of the state.

GBI spokesman John Bankhead also said Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, 81, of Baltimore was arrested. Nicholas Alec Sheridan, also of Baltimore, has been charged but is not in custody.

Bankhead said the four are members of the Final Exit Network.

They were charged with assisted suicide, tampering with evidence and a violation of Georgia's anti-racketeering act. Authorities in at least eight other states are executing search warrants related to the investigation.

(AP)

Jump in Gun Permit Applicants 2008

Many more Georgians requested gun permits last year according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The GBI reports 121 thousand applications were submitted in 2008. That’s up almost 80 percent from the roughly 68 thousand the year before.

The reasons for the jump may vary. Some people say they thought it would be harder to get a gun under the Obama administration. Others say they just want to be able to protect their families especially in high crime areas. The Atlanta Journal Constitution shows the numbers in Georgia are consistent with national trends.

North Georgia youth minister found dead

A church youth minister in north Georgia has been found dead. The body of 44-year-old Reverand Edward Frank Harris was found a little before 4am Monday morning in a yard in Cleveland. His family says Harris had called late Sunday night to say he was giving a ride to some people who were stranded. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in on the case to help police in Cleveland. Harris was youth minister at the Pendergrass Baptist Church.

GBI probes alleged voter fraud in Dodge County

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into voting irregularities in Dodge County during the July 15th primary. According to a GBI official in Eastman, there have been complaints about fraudulent voting practices during last week's primary. The complaints were related to absentee voting and assisted voting. Georgia's Secretary of State's office confirms an investigation is underway, but would not provide further details.

This probe follows one from the mid 1990's when a huge voting scandal in Dodge County was uncovered. Then, 21 people were indicted of vote buying. Many pled guilty and a handful of residents went to jail. Since that scandal, Georgia's legislature has made it easier to vote absentee.

$11 M marijuana crop discovered

More than 9,300 marijuana plants are in police possession. A tip let Cherokee County sheriff's deputies to the plants in a remote wooded area. No one is charged in connection with the crop but the investigation is on-going. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation estimates each marijuana plant is worth $1,200, making the total bunch worth more than $11 million dollars.

Perdue order forms child recovery team

An executive order signed by Governor Sonny Perdue Tuesday will establish a Child Abduction Response Team, meant to better connect law enforcement agencies looking for missing or abducted children. This response team would coordinate across nine state agencies, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. The GBI will head the effort and provide extra training to all agencies involved. The Governor’s action follows an abduction tragedy from last month, where three children were found dead with their father in a wooded area near Fort Benning. Those killings came after the father had threatened to take and kill his children.

Former Arcade police chief cleared

A former Arcade, Georgia police chief has been cleared of accusations he fixed traffic tickets. The Jackson County district attorney has closed the book on the file of Dennis Bell. A six-month investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found no evidence to support the accusation that Bell destroyed original documents in a 2006 DUI case.

Bell resigned from his position as chief in November after the Arcade City Council got an anonymous letter from a former employee accusing Bell of fixing traffic tickets and falsifying his time cards. The council's internal investigation found that most of the
allegations were unfounded. But council members asked the GBI to look into an accusation that Bell disposed of citations in the DUI case.

Officer accused of making false arrest

A northeast Georgia police officer stands accused of falsely arresting a man. Pendergrass police say Officer Bill Garner is accused of arresting a passenger in a car for having an open container of alcohol when no open container was present. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it’s reviewing a video caught by the camera on a backup cruise also at the scene. Garner is suspended without pay.

State DOT employee arrested on fraud charges

A Georgia Department of Transportation employee is one of six arrested on fraud charges. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says 21-year-old Dnez Bracy used identities of 55 people who bought permits from the DOT to steal 20-thousand dollars. Bracy was fired from her job as a clerk in the DOT's permits office, where she had worked since April of last year.

Autopsy planned today on female hiker

The body of a young female hiker, missing for a week in the north Georgia mountains, has been found.

24-year-old Meredith Emerson was discovered by searchers last night in north Georgia’s Dawson County. Her body was found in a forest near Amicalola Falls State Park. On Friday, investigators found Emerson’s bloodied clothes 10 miles away.

Emerson went missing on New Year’s Day, when she went for a hike with her dog in the north Georgia mountains.

John Cagle, Special Agent in Charge with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, detailed where information came from to locate Emerson's body.

"This information had been given to the Dawson County authorities by the citizens, and plans had been made to further search the area (Tuesday)...however, the specific information given as to the location of the body, was given to me by Gary Hilton".

Hilton is currently facing a charge of kidnapping with bodily injury. He was denied bond during a 10-minute court hearing Monday afternoon.

Authorities believe there could be a connection with this case and the disappearance and presumed killing of an elderly North Carolina couple in October.

UPDATE: Friday night developments in missing hiker case

Authorities in metro Atlanta's DeKalb County Friday night found the 'person of interest' in the case of missing female hiker Meredith Emerson. Additionally, Emerson's dog has been found safe by authorities.

A pair of 9-1-1 calls led police to a convenience store off Ashford-Dunwoody Road in DeKalb, where 61-year-old Gary Michael Hilton was taken into custody. In finding Hilton, authorities also discovered his white Chevy Astro van, which was being processed. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman says agents took Hilton to GBI headquarters in DeKalb soon after for questioning.

Hilton is the last person believed to have been seen with the 24-year-old Emerson. The woman left Tuesday morning with her dog to hike in Vogel State Park. Several witnesses later reported seeing a man fitting the description of Hilton walking with Emerson up the Freeman Trail on Blood Mountian in Union County.

Authorities also confirmed Friday night the discovery of Emerson's dog 'Ella', a black Labrador retreiver. The dog was found after it had wandered into a Kroger store in the Cumming area.

Searchers completed a third straight day of looking for any sign of Emerson in the north Georgia mountains. Early Friday morning, authorities had expanded their search to a 400 square-mile area in north Georgia.

Macon police officer charged with sexual assault

A Macon police officer may lose his job over an alleged sexual assault of a person in custody. 35-year-old William Enders made his appeal to the police chief yesterday. Enders has been charged with sexual assault for a December 26th incident, and is out on 25-thousand dollar bond. The alleged assault was learned when someone who had spoken to the victim contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI contacted Macon’s police department, which opened its own investigation. The decision on Enders’ employment as an officer with Macon might be made by today.

Rape suspect dies after stun gun shocks

A rape suspect is dead after deputies shocked him with a stun gun. Walton County police say they confronted 41-year-old Leroy Patterson Junior yesterday at his tractor trailer. Authorities say they shot Patterson twice with a stun gun. The deputy who used the stun gun is on paid leave pending a review by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Former UGA officer faces child molestation charges

A former University of Georgia police officer has been arrested on charges he molested a 15-year-old girl more than four years ago. Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials say 26-year-old Brian Anderson of Oglethorpe County has been charged with child molestation, aggravated child molestation, and violating his oath of office.

Jail inmate commits suicide

An inmate at the Oglethorpe County jail was found hanging in his jail cell in an apparent suicide.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the death of the 23-year-old man, whose name has not been released.

The GBI says there is no sign of foul play.

GBI steps up APD corruption investigation

Investigators say the work of exposing corruption by Atlanta police has only just begun, as two former officers face a minimum of ten years in prison for their part in the shooting death of an elderly Black woman in late 2006.

The two admitted in federal court that they lied to investigators looking into the death of 92-year old Kathryn Johnston.

Gregg Junnier and Jason Smith say there were only doing their jobs when they broke down the door to Johnston's home looking for drugs.

Both testified superior officers told them to do what they had to, to make drug busts, even if it meant planting evidence and lying.

As part of a plea agreement that keeps them out of state prison, the pair will cooperate in an ongoing investigation into corruption within the Atlanta police department.

US Attorney David Namias says the job of rooting our Atlanta's bad cops has only just begun.

"Former officers Junnier and Smith will also help us continue our very active ongoing investigation into just how wide the culture of misconduct extends within the police department. So that we can make sure that any other officer who has broken the law and violated human rights will be brought to justice."

A third officer, Arthur Tesler has been indicated by a Fulton County grand jury. Tesler remains on paid administration leave, pending further investigation.

Sentencing for Junnier and Smith will take place in late May.

State work has benefits

Some long-term state employees are finding public service rather cushy. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan has spent 38 years working for the state, and he’s earned some generous benefits.

He officially retired on March 1 and began to draw down on his pension. But Keenan still works full time.

“There’s no change in my status other than now I’m able to draw retirement benefits for six months out of the year,” Keenan says. “Everything else—the work day, the amount of work, the responsibilities—remains the same.”

Keenan says he formally retired because that was the only way he could designate how his survivors divided his benefits.

Last year, 11 other retirees received both paychecks and pensions from the state.

Georgia law permits qualified full-time employees to receive retirement benefits six months a year.

That means Keenan will receive a pension of $54, 354, in addition to his $143,420 salary.