Breakdown

Is there a criminal case to be brought against former President Donald Trump and his allies for what happened in Georgia following the 2020 presidential election? The third episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, explores that possibility. A Fulton County special purpose grand jury that is investigating the issue will ultimately recommend whether criminal charges should be brought. In a letter to top state officials, District Attorney Fani Willis listed a half dozen laws the former president and others may have broken. They are: solicitation of election fraud, giving false statements, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and making threats related to the administration of the state’s elections. In Breakdown’s third episode – “Is There A Criminal Case?” – legal experts discuss a number of incidents, including Trump’s Jan. 2, 2020, call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; his lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s testimony before state

This is the murder case against Justin Ross Harris, who left his 22-month-old son Cooper to die in a hot car on June 18, 2014. Harris, a Home Depot web developer, took Cooper that morning to Little Apron Academy, the in-house daycare center at work. They stopped at a Chick-fil-A for breakfast. But when they leave, Harris doesn’t make the turn to the daycare. Instead, he drives to work, parks his car and walks in to the office. Within hours, Cooper is dead of hypothermia. The intense publicity of the case went worldwide when it was disclosed at a preliminary hearing that Harris was sending sexually explicit texts to other women shortly before and after he left Cooper in the parking lot. It would be disclosed he was having extramarital affairs, sleeping with prostitutes and exchanging graphic texts with underage girls. Harris would be indicted for Cooper’s murder and other crimes. Because of intense pretrial publicity, the trial was moved from Cobb County to Glynn County in coastal Georgia. The jury in Brunswic

The second episode of “The Trump Grand Jury,” the ninth season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast, focuses on the woman who is overseeing the investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis grew up in courtrooms, tagging along with her father, an attorney. When Willis became a prosecutor, she rose through the ranks at the Fulton DA’s Office prosecuting homicide and sexual assault cases. In 2014, Willis oversaw one of the most high-profile cases in state history: the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating scandal. Thirty-five educators were indicted under the state’s racketeering laws. Many pleaded guilty and of the 12 who went to trial, 11 were convicted. “I’m still not totally sure how she did it, but she did it,” said Atlanta lawyer John Floyd, a racketeering law expert who assisted Willis in the test-cheating trial. “She was a bit of a force of nature in the sense that she was completely committed to the case.” Episode 2 will als

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was sitting in his kitchen on the afternoon of Jan. 2, 2021, when he received a phone call from the White House. President Donald Trump, his chief of staff and some of his lawyers were on the line. During the conversation, Trump told Raffensperger to “find” him 11,780 votes to overturn the election results. That was one more than the 11,779-vote margin that gave Georgia’s 16 electoral college votes to President Joe Biden and turned Georgia Democratic for the first time since 1992. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s award-winning Breakdown podcast returns for its ninth season — The Trump Grand Jury — to cover an investigation into that hourlong phone call as well as other events in Georgia that happened in the weeks following Election Day. Episode One explores what happened during the phone call between Trump and Raffensperger as well as another call made to Frances Watson, the Secretary of State’s lead elections investigator. Both conversations were recorded. The

The phone call from the White House came in at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2021. Then President Donald Trump, his chief of staff and his lawyers were on the line talking to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and members of his staff. During the recorded phone call, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” which would give him one more vote than he needed to flip the outcome of Georgia’s presidential election. On Monday, a special purpose grand jury will convene in Fulton County to investigate what transpired during this phone call and others the former president made to officials in Georgia in the weeks following the 2020 election. The extraordinary proceeding will be the focus of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s award-winning podcast “Breakdown”. Episodes of the podcast’s ninth season — The Trump Grand Jury — will be released in the coming weeks. It will be hosted by Bill Rankin, the AJC’s legal affairs reporter, and Tamar Hallerman, a senior reporter who covered the Trump administration when she w

In an emotional hearing, Judge Timothy Walmsley has the last word as he sentences Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan for killing Ahmaud Arbery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 23 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction, Devonia Inman is finally free. Here are the improbable events that led to his release, and what Inman has to say about his experience. Plus, the new Cook County district attorney doesn't mince words about how the case went to trial two decades ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After about 10 hours of deliberation, the jury hearing the case against the three men charged with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery reached its verdict. The 18th episode of Season 8 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Breakdown podcast covers the verdict’s outcome and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It isn’t often a defendant takes the witness stand with his life on the line. But Travis McMichael did just that last week. He might as well have had the life of his father, Greg McMichael, on the line, too. The 18th episode of the Eighth Season of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Breakdown” podcast focuses on what happened inside the courtroom and outside of it as the trial for the McMichaels and William “Roddie” Bryan near an end. All three men are being tried for the alleged murder of Ahmaud Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution's Bill Rankin, Asia Burns and Shaddi Abusaid are in Brunswick to follow developments in the first full week in the trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's killing. The jury heard from the owner of the home under construction that Arbery visited before he was killed. And a defense lawyer makes a widely condemned statement regarding the Rev. Al Sharpton's presence at the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jury selection in the trial of three men accused in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery concluded amid controversy inside and outside the courtroom. Following that, the state and lawyers for Travis McMichael and his father Greg McMichael gave powerful opening statements. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores these developments and looks ahead in the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second week of jury selection ended with the end in sight. It is expected that 64 Glynn County residents will be qualified into a pool from which 12 jurors and four alternates will soon be chosen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jury selection for the murder trial of the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's death is underway in Brunswick and many prospective jurors have expressed very strong opinions. Join host Bill Rankin as he unpacks the first week of jury selection and what it could mean for the upcoming trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trial for the three men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery will begin Oct. 18, almost 20 months to the day after he was shot and killed. Join host Bill Rankin ahead of what is expected to be one of the most closely followed trials in Georgia history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A grand jury has indicted a former Glynn County district attorney, saying she violated her oath of office while responding to Ahmaud Arbery's death. Join host Bill Rankin as he takes a closer look at the indictment and explores the events of a pre-trial hearing in the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a hearing, the attorneys for the men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery formally asked a judge to allow evidence about the slain man's past before a jury. But that's not the only major update in the case. We have a federal hate crimes indictment, a change to Georgia's Citizen's Arrest Law, and a trial date. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts the latest on the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The lawyers for one of the three men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery are asking a judge to allow information about Arbery's past run-ins with the law to be entered into evidence. Join host Bill Rankin as he explores what this 404(b) could mean for the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join host Bill Rankin on the one-year anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery's death as he explores who the man was in life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just moments after Travis McMichael killed Ahmaud Arbery with three shotgun blasts, one Glynn County police officer after another arrived at the bloody scene. The seventh episode of Season 8 of the AJC’s “Breakdown” podcast focuses on recently released bodycam footage taken by some of those officers. They are seen securing the scene and, most importantly, interviewing McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and Roddie Bryan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael were denied bond after a two-day hearing in Brunswick, Ga. Join host Bill Rankin as he recounts what happened at the hearing -- and explores what led the judge to deny bond for the two men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices