MACON, Ga. — Public campaign contribution records show that at least 5 of the 16 people who were indicted on illegal gambling and corruption related charges donated money to the campaign of Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Reynolds Howard.
Some of those contributions came after they were arrested and jailed.
The questions we had are, "Is it legal?" and, "Is it ethical for a district attorney candidate to accept campaign contributions from crime suspects?" We brought those questions to the experts.
The first thing to know is it's not illegal for someone under investigation or who is under indictment to donate to a campaign. Legal expert Wendy Patrick says the Supreme Court has upheld campaign donations as free speech, "But that's only part of the equation. People also cannot buy influence. Prosecutors legally and ethically know this, and they are bound by their rules of professional conduct to make sure all prosecutions are with the goal of justice. No matter who they're prosecuting, no matter who has donated to the campaign," Patrick said.
Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney's Council of Georgia, says there's no ethical violation for accepting the donations from crime suspects.
"Under the professional rules of conduct, which is set by the state bar and the Georgia Supreme Court, there is no violation for a candidate to accept campaign contributions from someone who has been arrested or someone who is under indictment," Skandalakis said.
He says it's up to each district attorney to decide whether campaign contributions have influenced their thinking, and if they need to recuse themselves from handling a case.
Patrick says every prosecutor has to take an oath.
"Regardless of who has been charged with a crime, regardless of the circumstances, their jobs are to follow the law ethically and legally," Patrick said.
DA-elect Anita Reynolds Howard echoed that Saturday when we asked about prosecuting illegal gambling cases.
"I am going to do my job, as I said, and my job as district attorney, and no one is above the law," Howard said.
But Patrick also noted, there's always an "optics of politics."
"There are still going to be members of the public, and certainly members of the opposition parties that are going to say look, this doesn't look good for this particular prosecutor. That's just a balance of the equities that all elected prosecutors have to face," Patrick said.
We also asked Howard this Saturday about the donations she received from those indicted, some even after they had been arrested. Howard said she is "honored and grateful for all of the support."
We reached out to Howard's office for comment about the ethics and legalities of her campaign accepting those contributions. Howard did not comment.