UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect that Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard and prosecutor Sheila Ross were initially included in the lawsuit, but later dismissed. The story also reflects that former Atlanta Police Chief George Turner was not dropped from the lawsuit. The original version of this story included an image of DA Howard in error.
Atlanta could pay close to $1 million to settle a lawsuit with its former police crime lab director who said he was fired because he agreed to testify for the defense in a Florida criminal case.
Donald Mikko was fired before testifying in 2013 in a Florida court case that focused on a Florida police department’s mishandling of evidence in a criminal case.
The city’s public safety committee approved the $935,000 settlement at Tuesday’s meeting. It must also be approved at the City Council’s Oct. 7 meeting.
Mikko, who had held the job of crime lab director for less than a year, was fired in June 2013. In 2015, Mikko brought a lawsuit, charging the city fired him after Fulton prosecutors and Atlanta police leaders learned he was going to testify as a private consultant on behalf of a criminal defendant in the Florida case.
Former Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, Fulton County District Attorney Howard and his prosecutor Sheila Ross were named in the original lawsuit. Howard and Ross were dismissed from the lawsuit by a federal appeals court in 2017.
RELATED COVERAGE:
Mikko’s attorney, Matthew Billips, previously told the AJC that Mikko had written permission to testify in cases as a forensics examiner, as long as it didn’t conflict with an Atlanta case. His testimony became a problem when a Florida prosecutor complained to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard and one of his prosecutors, the AJC reported.
Billips declined to comment on the pending settlement.
Mikko insisted at the time that his outside consulting work was not tied to his work with Atlanta police, but he was asked to send a memo justifying his outside work, according to the original complaint contained in the U.S. Court of Appeals decision. Two days later Mikko was fired.
In other news:
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
