The Georgia Court of Appeals recently upheld the conviction of Jenna Garland, a former Atlanta communications officer for Mayor Kasim Reed who deliberately frustrated requests for public records.
In December 2019, a Fulton County jury found Garland guilty on two misdemeanor counts of violating the Georgia Open Records Act. She was sentenced to pay fines totaling $1,500.
Garland’s attorneys filed a motion last year requesting a new trial. But on Monday, a three-judge panel of the court unanimously affirmed a previous order by a Fulton County judge denying Garland a new trial.
“It is clear from the order that the trial court considered Garland’s motion on the merits and exercised its discretion to deny it,” Chief Judge Brian Rickman wrote for the majority. “Thus, there is no ground upon which this court may reverse.”
Rickman was joined by Judge Christopher McFadden and Senior Judge Herbert Phipps.
It’s unknown if Garland will appeal Rickman’s ruling.
Channel 2 Action News, who reported on the appeals order first, previously requested water billing records for Reed’s brother, Tracy, and council members in March 2017. On that same day, Garland told a Watershed Department communications manager to “be as unhelpful as possible” and to “drag this out as long as possible.”
The state opened a criminal investigation into the open records practices at City Hall after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 in March 2018 published the aforementioned text exchanges between Garland and the former Watershed Department spokeswoman. The state argued Garland tried to save Reed and other top officials from political embarrassment.
Garland is the first person to be charged under Georgia’s criminal statute for the state’s open records law, which was added in 2012.
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