The Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office officially welcomed our newest Investigator to the agency in a swearing-in ceremony today. Superior Court Judge Rhonda Kreuziger administered the oath to Investigator Tim Ledbetter.
Investigator Ledbetter is assigned to the Upson County District Attorney Office. Welcome to our team!

​District Attorney Broder was the guest speaker at the Peachtree City Rotary Club's weekly meeting yesterday. Pictured with the D.A. are
Rotary member Doug Warner and club President J.D. Holmes.

The Candlelight Vigil tonight in Zebulon at the Pike County Courthouse honored the lives of those lost to domestic violence this past year. Every day in our circuit victims are abused by their domestic partners. Please share the number for the Georgia Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-33-HAVEN ​

District Attorney Broder recently had the opportunity to speak about our court system and conduct mock trials with students in the Spalding County School System. The students loved the presentation and enjoyed learning about the different roles in a trial. ​

Welcome to Griffin Judicial Circuit's newest Assistant District Attorney Adina Abrahami. Superior Court Judge W. Fletcher Sams administered the oath today to ADA Abrahami. She will be serving as a prosecutor in our Spalding County District Attorney Office. Welcome to our team!

On October 19th, 2022, a Fayette County jury convicted Anthony Clark, a 30-year-old male from Powder Springs, Georgia of Identity Fraud as a party to a crime. The case was tried by Assistant District Attorney Monique Harris. The Honorable Scott L. Ballard sentenced the defendant to 3 years to serve in prison.

In October of 2020, a Fayette County resident, reported to law enforcement that someone withdrew $4,726.45 from her bank account using one of her checks. The check was written out to Anthony Clark and deposited into Clark’s account. Her signature was also forged on the check. The victim stated she did not know Clark and did not authorize anyone to possess her checks or access her bank account. Clark was interviewed by law enforcement and admitted to needing money so he gave his friend’s cousin his debit card and pin number in order to transfer funds into his account. Clark stated after giving this person his information, he drove back to Austell, GA for work. He denied knowing about any fraudulent activity but later admitted that he was supposed to get $1500 for allowing this person to use his bank account for the transfer. Clark never revealed the name of his friend’s cousin and law enforcement was unable to identify any of the other parties involved. After sentencing, Clark apologized to the victim and admitted to making some bad choices.

The case was investigated by Detective Zaj of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
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District Attorney Marie Broder said: “crimes such as this affect so many citizens, and my office will not tolerate them. Thank you to ADA Harris and Detective Zaj of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office for all of their hard work.”

On October 3rd, 2022, Dimitrius Scott, a 23-year-old man from Clarkston, GA entered a guilty plea to Armed Robbery. The Honorable Scott Ballard sentenced the defendant to 20 years with 10 years to serve in prison and the balance on probation. He was also banished from the Griffin Judicial Circuit. The co-defendant was previously convicted and sentenced after a three-day jury trial in April 2022. Assistant District Attorney Monique Harris prosecuted the case for the State.

On May 28, 2021 officers with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in Tyrone, GA and made contact with the victim of the armed robbery. The victim is a truck driver and was driving a truck with furniture from Arizona to a family’s new residence in Tyrone. He needed additional help to unload the trailer, so the dispatch company sent two additional people, who were later identified as the defendants in this case. Scott and his co-defendant were hired from Craig’s List to help with the job. The victim was asked to go with them to procure additional equipment for the job. While in the car, the defendants pointed 2 guns at the victim and took everything he had on him, including: money, identification, a phone, credit cards, and his Bluetooth earbuds. They then kicked the victim out of the car, leaving him on the side of the road. The victim walked two miles back to the original address in Tyrone, and the police were called.
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The Sheriff’s Office’s investigation identified Dimitrius Scott and his co-defendant as the perpetrators of the crime. They were arrested and brought to trial. Scott's jury trial was specially set to begin on October 17th; however, he decided to waive his right to a jury trial and enter a guilty plea.

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On September 30, 2022, a Spalding County jury convicted Ronald Wheeler, a 57-year-old man from Griffin, of two counts of Child Molestation. The Honorable Scott Ballard sentenced the defendant to 20 years with the first 15 years to be served in prison. Assistant District Attorney Holly MacDonald and Senior Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Lenhard tried the case for the State.

Wheeler was arrested in 2018 after allegations of inappropriate touching to a 7-year-old family member. The investigation started in North Georgia and was transferred to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office upon realization that the molestation occurred within Spalding County.
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“My thanks to Holly and Kate for their faith in this brave victim.” District Attorney Broder said of the case. “My offices will continue to aggressively pursue those that harm children.”

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, after a jury had been selected and seated, Lydell Eugene Holmes, a 39-year-old man from Williamson, entered a non-negotiated plea of guilty plea in front of the Honorable Ben J. Miller in the Pike County Superior Court. Defendant Holmes pled guilty to the charges of Kidnapping, Aggravated Stalking, five counts of Aggravated Assault (family violence), four counts of Aggravated Battery (family violence), Arson in the First Degree, Burglary in the First Degree and False Imprisonment. The State was represented by Assistant District Attorney Audrey D. Holliday. Judge Miller sentenced the defendant to 80 years with the first 40 years to be served in prison. The Pike County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case.
The case stemmed from Lydell E. Holmes kidnapping his girlfriend at knife point while she slept in her residence. Over the course of approximately ten hours, he drug her down several roads, stabbed her multiple times, buried her under pine straw and dirt, falsely imprisoned her in a homeowner’s newly constructed home’s attic, attempted to stab said homeowner, and set the attic on fire. The female victim suffered four stab wounds to her back, chest and abdomen and was life flighted for emergency help. The victim of the newly constructed home suffered no injuries. The Pike County Sheriff’s Office, along with assistance from a Zebulon Police Officer, spent an hour in the attic attempting to get Lydell Holmes to release the female victim and to put the fire out. Deputies were able to get the fire out with assistance from the homeowner, who was able to connect together three water hoses, and were eventually able to convince Holmes to put the knife down and release his victim. The incident was captured on Sheriff’s Office dash cameras.

“Preparing for this trial was a real team effort, and I am grateful to the members of the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, EMS, independent witnesses, the victims, Victim-Advocate/Investigator Sheri Winslett, Investigator Rick Reeves, and Anita Rodriguez of the District Attorney’s Office for all their hard work and long hours preparing this case for trial.” ADA Holliday stated. She continued by stating, “this community cannot tolerate the actions of individuals like Lydell Holmes, and I believe that once the jury heard the evidence they would have told him the same thing. I believe this is why he finally decided to enter a non-negotiated plea. We must continue to work together in the Griffin Judicial Circuit to bring awareness to domestic violence, to partner with resource providers, to support victims as they regain control of their lives, and for each one of us to stand up and speak up to stop intimate partner and family violence.”
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“I echo the sentiments of ADA Holliday. This was a case of truly horrific domestic violence acts against the victim,” District Attorney Marie Broder said of the crime. “I am so proud of my team on this case, and my offices will continue to partner with law enforcement and our community partners to ensure that those that perpetrate domestic violence are held responsible for their violent acts.”

District Attorney Marie Broder and Senior Assistant District Attorney Ashton Fallin were presenters at the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia 2022 Investigator's Conference held this past week. Griffin Judicial Circuit Investigators Rick Reeves, Rob Hullett and Andrew Lerner attended the Conference. ​