Ellis v. State

Melton, Justice.

This case arises out of the criminal convictions of former DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer W. Burrell Ellis, Jr., for perjury and attempt to commit theft by extortion.1 The charge for attempted extortion stemmed from Ellis’ alleged efforts to procure a $2,500 political campaign contribution from a DeKalb County vendor by threatening to cut the vendor’s contract with the County if the vendor did not contribute to Ellis’ campaign, and the perjury charges stemmed from Ellis allegedly lying to a special purpose grand jury about his role in cutting the contract of the DeKalb…