The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Prosecutors fight to keep man in prison
Evidence aside, they cite deal he made not to appeal conviction in 1985 deaths.
Faced with mounting evidence that
BRUNSWICK — Dennis Perry is innocent of the 1985 killings of two people, the Brunswick District Attorney’s Office continues to fight to keep him in prison.
The office learned in March that a new DNA test linked a previous suspect to the scene where Harold and Thelma Swain were fatally shot during a Bible study inside their Camden County church.
Police records show the previous suspect, Erik Sparre, has allegedly told multiple people he killed the victims, whom he referred to with a racial slur. The victims were Black; Sparre, who says he’s innocent, is white. The DA’s office’s handling of the
case since learning of the DNA news has mystified legal experts — including former judges and district attorneys — around the state who have said that new evidence shows Perry should be released from prison.
In opposing Perry, the DA’s office has sought to
masks and follow the guidance that we have.”
Hours before Kemp took action, his Republican counterpart in Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey, announced a statewide mask requirement that will take effect today. Meanwhile, Walmart and Sam’s Club said they would require shoppers to begin wearing masks Monday.
Also Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Twitter that New York will send 7,500 COVID-19 test kits, 30,000 pieces of personal protective equipment and 1,250 gallons of hand sanitizer to Atlanta by Friday. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who earlier this week sought the state’s help amid a mounting feud with Kemp, said she was grateful.
“My mother often says, ‘A friend, in need, is a friend indeed,’” she tweeted.
Georgia reported 3,871 new cases of the disease Wednesday, the second-highest daily count to date, and 37 deaths. So far, 127,834 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Georgia, more than double the number reported in midJune, and 3,091 have died from it in the Peach State.
The rate of new tests that are positive for the disease is soaring, an indication that experts say suggests the spread of the disease — and not increased testing — is the culprit. During the week of May 24, state public health officials reported the rate of positive tests was about 6% over the course of seven days. Last week, the positivity rate was more than 13%, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state data shows.
Even though the new wave of COVID-19 patients tends to be younger and less sick, they are filling hospital beds at a rapid clip. Hospitalizations topped Georgia’s prior peak in April after the Fourth of July weekend. Shares of open critical care beds in regions surrounding Athens, Dublin, Macon, Marietta, Savannah and Tifton have dipped into the single digits. Only one was left in Dublin, according to the most recent figures available.
Disease experts at Georgia Tech and elsewhere have warned that Georgia is running out of time to prevent surges of cases that have overwhelmed hospitals in Florida, Arizona and other states that eased restrictions. This month, more than 1,400 health care workers signed an open letter calling on Kemp to shut down bars and restaurants, ban indoor gatherings of more than 25 people, mandate masks, and free local governments to institute their own rules to halt the spread of the disease.
“It’s not too late to go back to the basics: mandatory masks, more restrictions on social distancing, freeing mayors to manage their local epidemics, and vastly expanding testing and contact tracing,” Dr. Melanie Thompson, principal investigator of the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta, said last week. “These are basic, but we haven’t come close to mastering them yet.”
Dr. Harry J. Heiman, a clinical associate professor at Georgia State University School of Public Health, said: “In the absence of aggressive action, it’s only going to get worse.”