Request for Mistrial Rejected in Burrell Ellis Bribery Trial

The assistant to former DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions a total of 30 times Monday during Ellis’ bribery trial, leading to a request for a mistrial.

Ellis faces 14 felony charges, ranging from bribery to theft, which he has consistently denied.

Nina Hall, an assistant to Ellis, was ordered to answer most of the questions, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, and the judge denied the mistrial request.

Hall testified that Ellis was upset that Joanne Wise, who worked for tech company Ciber Inc., did not return his phone calls for campaign contributions.

The judge did not force Hall to answer questions about whether she had accepted money from vendors or lied to a special grand jury.

Earlier Monday, Chris Morris, director of the DeKalb County Community Development Department, testified that Ellis asked her to set up a meeting with National Property Institute after company officials didn’t respond to his calls. She said that

The firm later donated to Ellis’ campaign and kept its $1 million contract with the county to renovate homes in foreclosure.

The trial began Sept. 16 with the judge warning jurors they could be away from work for more than a month, WSB TV reports.

Ellis was indicted in the summer of 2013 by a DeKalb County grand jury on charges he illegally pressured contractors into giving him campaign contributions. He faces 14 felony charges that accuse him of shaking down county vendors for campaign donations and punishing those who did not give, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ellis has denied the charges.

Testimony in court last week focused on recordings of Ellis discussing calls he made to a county contractor seeking campaign donations.

Hakim Hilliard, Ellis’ chief of staff, testified that he warned Ellis about shutting out National Property Institute, which had a $1 million county contract to renovate rundown properties. Ellis had complained that company officials were not returning his phone calls, which were to ask for a $2,500 campaign contribution, reports the newspaper.

“I was concerned about them thinking it was because of the campaign contribution” they had declined to make to Ellis’ 2012 re-election rather than their lack of responsiveness to the CEO, Hilliard testified.

»See full coverage of the Ellis trial on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.

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Juror Excused from DeKalb CEO’s Trial; Testimony Focuses on Campaign Cash