RICO presents challenges in Atlanta cheating case

ATLANTA (AP) — The criminal prosecution of dozens of Atlanta Public Schools educators presents considerable challenges for both prosecutors and defense attorneys because of the use of a complex law initially designed to dismantle organized crime, legal experts say.

Thirty-five educators within the Atlanta school system, including former Superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall, were named in a 65-count indictment last week that alleges a broad conspiracy to cheat, conceal cheating or retaliate against whistleblowers in an effort to bolster student test scores and, as a result, receive bonuses for improved student performance. Prosecutors set a Tuesday deadline for all defendants to surrender to authorities.

Each defendant is charged with violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, also known as RICO. The law is modeled on the federal statute, which Congress enacted in 1970 to take down mobsters.

Criminal RICO cases can be extremely complex with multiple elements to prove beyond the basic crime. That includes establishing a criminal enterprise, in this case the Atlanta Public Schools system, and a pattern of criminal behavior.

"It gets very complicated when you try to describe all of this to a jury and to convince a jury that a person is guilty of all of this by a reasonable doubt," said Jeffrey E. Grell, a former assistant attorney general in Minnesota and expert on RICO cases. "Particularly in a RICO case, because you have people pointing fingers of blame all over, I'm sure it's going to be very complicated."

Grell, who teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School, said the inherent nature of the law — to prosecute "people who don't get their hands dirty" — also makes it a challenge to secure a conviction. Although the defendant doesn't have to engage in the crime directly, prosecutors must show the defendant was directly operating or managing the criminal enterprise, Grell said.

"The critical issue is going to be intent," Grell said. "All of these defendants, the prosecution will have to prove they knowingly and intentionally set out to defraud and engage in cheating. I'm sure some of these administrators and defendants will say they did not know what was going on."

Grell said RICO cases can be expensive, especially with multiple defendants and multiple allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

The defendants include high-level administrators, principals, assistant principals, teachers, testing coordinators, a school secretary and a school improvement specialist. Hall, the former superintendent, has long denied any knowledge of the cheating.

A 2011 state investigation revealed widespread cheating by nearly 180 educators in Atlanta schools dating back to 2001. Investigators said educators gave answers to students or changed answers on tests after they were turned in, and teachers who tried to report it faced retaliation, creating a culture of "fear and intimidation."

The tests were the key measure the state used to determine whether it met the federal No Child Left Behind law. Schools with good test scores get extra federal dollars to spend in the classroom or on teacher bonuses.

On Friday, in announcing the indictment, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard used the story of an Atlanta third-grader to underscore the importance of the case, with teachers and administrators more focused on test scores than student improvement. He said the girl received the worst score in her reading class in 2006 and yet, when she took an assessment test, she passed with flying colors. The girl is now in ninth grade, reading at a fifth-grade level.

The high emotions surrounding the case and the extensive media publicity will also pose challenges for prosecutors and defense attorneys.

It's likely that one or more defendants will seek to have the case moved out of Atlanta or to have jurors brought in from another part of the state, which is allowed under Georgia law, said Ron Carlson, professor of law emeritus at the University of Georgia. Some of the defendants may also ask to have their trials be separate from the others in the hopes of strengthening their case, Carlson said.

And the stakes will increase the pressure on everyone involved in the case.

"I consider this one of the most important, one of the seminal developments in the history of American education law. It's the largest school teaching scandal yet recorded in the country," Carlson said. "A high-profile case like this one puts public attention and public pressure on the various moves made by prosecutors and defense attorneys."

Morgan Cloud, a professor at Emory University School of Law, said prosecutors will also have to work to explain the RICO law to jurors.

"When we think of racketeers we think of the Gambino family in New York ... people who engage in murder and drug dealing and prostitution," Cloud said.

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Follow Christina Almeida Cassidy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Christina.

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Egypt court challenges Morsi over top prosecutor

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian appeals court on Wednesday annulled a presidential decree appointing the top prosecutor in a new challenge by the judiciary to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi that throws the country's legal system into confusion.

The unprecedented verdict against the decree, which Morsi issued in November, brought to the surface how Egypt's stormy post-revolution transition has profoundly snarled the lines of authority and law, leaving unclear the boundaries between powers of the president and the judiciary and who has the ultimate say in interpreting a deeply disputed constitution.

It also opens a new phase in the political fight between Morsi and his Islamist backers on one side and his mainly liberal and secular opponents, a fight that the judiciary has repeatedly been dragged into the past year.

Morsi supporters say the judiciary remains in the control of supporters of the regime of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, warning that they are seeking to derail the country's democratic transition and undermine the president's authority.

Morsi's opponents say the elected president has continuously defied legal norms to force through his agenda and trampled on the judiciary's independence in a bid to consolidate his power. The courts are the sole branch of government not under the dominance of Morsi's Islamist allies, although he does have some backers.

Most legal experts argued that the decision is effective immediately and that the top prosecutor must be removed. If not, the current prosecutor has no powers to issue arrest warrants or refer cases to court, bringing the country's legal system to a halt, said constitutional law professor Mohammed Hassanein Abdel-Al.

"It is unprecedented in the history of Egypt to question the legitimacy of the top prosecutor," Abdel-Al said. "The president must correct the course."

A presidential spokesman said he would not comment on court rulings. But Morsi's supporters insisted the verdict violates the constitution and is likely to be shot down on appeal.

"This is an invalid ruling. It violates the constitution," said Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, the legal adviser of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Morsi hails.

The dispute is rooted in a series of controversial decrees Morsi issued in November that sparked widespread protests. In them, he decreed that the prosecutor general could serve in office for only four years, with immediate effect on the post's holder at the time Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, in place since 2006. Morsi replaced Mahmoud with Talaat Abdullah, a career judge, and swiftly swore him in.

At the same time, Morsi decreed that the judiciary could not reverse his decisions. The decrees were largely aimed at preventing the courts from blocking the drafting a new constitution by a body dominated by Morsi's allies. The Islamist-backed charter was then rushed through a public referendum in December.

Many Egyptians, including revolutionary activists, had wanted Mahmoud's ouster, since he was seen as a diehard supporter of Mubarak. But Morsi's decrees and his unilateral naming of a replacement prompted public outrage and criticism, including by many in the judiciary, that he was neutralizing the courts in a power grab. Morsi later lifted the decrees, but their results remained in place.

The question remained unresolved over which has precedence — Morsi's decrees or rulings by the courts.

Wednesday's ruling deepens the dispute over this question.

The Cairo appeals court, a unit specializing in complaints by judges and lawyers, ruled in a case filed by the sacked prosecutor, Mahmoud. It said that Morsi's decree appointing Abdullah "is considered void and all that came of it."

A member of the court, Mohsen el-Baz told Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, that the ruling found that Abdullah's appointment violated laws requiring that the country's top judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council, approve the choice.

He said the ruling means the sacked prosecutor general, Mahmoud, is to return to his job, but added the verdict could be appealed within two months to Egypt's highest court, the Court of Cassation.

A top aide to Abdullah, Hassan Yassin, told the Turkish Anadolu news agency that the top prosecutor will remain in his post, protected by the constitution, which sets his term at four years. Yassin said Wednesday's verdict was "full of loopholes" and will be appealed.

Abdel-Al, the constitutional scholar, said the verdict calls into question all decisions Abdullah has taken or takes subsequently and could put courts and police on hold in terms of implementing prosecution decisions. Abdullah has been sharply criticized by Morsi opponents who say he is beholden to the president, particularly after he ordered the arrest of five prominent anti-Morsi activists following recent violent protests.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of the police, told The Associated Press that Abdullah's orders to police remain in effect.

The judiciary and the Islamists have clashed repeatedly, starting with a court ruling last year that annulled parliamentary elections and dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament. Earlier this month, the Cairo administrative court ordered the suspension of elections for a new parliament that Morsi had called for April, ruling that the election law drawn up by Morsi's allies must be reviewed by the Constitutional Court.

State lawyers are appealing the ruling, arguing that it is Morsi's "sovereign powers" to call for elections.

Similarly, courts were considering last year whether to dissolve the panel writing the constitution, until they were blocked by Morsi's decrees. The opposition still considers the charter that emerged and was approved in a low-turnout referendum to be invalid.

The new dispute reflects a "huge amount of confusion in the legal and judicial systems because of the continued recklessness with the constitution and court rulings," said Bahy Eddin Hassan, the head of Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

"With the conflict and sharp polarization in Egypt since the adoption of a disputed constitution, I can't rule out politicizing anything in Egypt, including the judiciary and the prosecution," he said.

The fight could go to the Supreme Constitutional Court where Morsi's supporters are likely to argue that the new charter protects the effects of his decrees, including the appointment of Abdullah.

Gamal Eid, a rights lawyer, said ultimately the tug of war is a "political dispute."

"This is not really a legal matter as much as it is a political issue," Eid said. "It represents an embarrassment to Morsi ... and raises the issue of respecting court rulings."

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