Former lawyer for suspended Columbus DA charged with contempt during misconduct trial
The judge in suspended Columbus District Attorney Mark Jones’ misconduct trial has held lawyer Christopher Breault in contempt for mentioning Jones’ “doughnut case” during testimony Wednesday.
Breault was escorted out of the courtroom by Muscogee County sheriff’s deputies around 4:30 p.m., shortly after court proceedings finished for the day.
Breault was called to the witness stand at 1:40 p.m., soon after jurors returned from a lunch break. Prosecutor John Fowler asked him what kind of work he does as a lawyer, and Breault said he intends to file a lawsuit against the city of Columbus for “malicious prosecution” related to the Civic Center damages case.
Breault represented Jones in that case, in which the charges were dismissed after it ended in a mistrial. In an order issued Oct. 25, Judge Katherine Lumsden instructed attorneys not to mention that to jurors, and specifically not to tell them Jones was the target of alleged “selective prosecution.”
When Breault brought it up, Lumsden immediately sent the jury out of the courtroom. She lambasted Breault for disobeying her order, and said he may go to jail when he’s through testifying.
The jury returned and was instructed to disregard Breault’s comment. But he and Lumsden continued sparring as Fowler questioned him about Breault’s relationship with Jones, and the judge again had to tell jurors to leave the courtroom.
Lumsden lectured Breault, instructing him to answer Fowler’s questions directly and not volunteer his opinion. “You do not get to say whatever you want,” she told him.
When Breault continued to challenge the judge, she warned him, “If you contradict me one more time, I will take you out of here in handcuffs.”
The arrest
Sheriff’s deputies did not take Breault out of the courtroom in handcuffs, after the jury left for the day, but they did tell him to empty his pockets, and take off his belt and tie, before they escorted him out.
Lumsden said Breault may appeal her decision, but she was ordering him held in the county jail for 48 hours.
She had ordered him to remain in the witness room Wednesday afternoon, and had deputies bring him before her after telling jurors they would have to be back for trial Thursday, though the Government Center otherwise would be closed for Veterans Day.
The judge ran down a list of issues with Breault’s conduct, including:
- Her warning him during an Oct. 21 pretrial hearing that he was close to being disrespectful to her.
- His showing up for jury selection Monday after she disqualified him from representing Jones, because he’d already been cited as a possible witness in motions Fowler filed Oct. 4.
- His bringing up the civic center case within 2 minutes of starting his testimony Wednesday, in clear violation of her order not to.
- His continually volunteering “extraneous information” in reply to Fowler’s questions.
- His continuing to interrupt her when she told him to stop talking.
- His apparent intent to convey to jurors that Jones was being denied a fair trial.
Lumsden said she concluded Breault must deliberately be trying to disrupt the trial, and she found it “particularly galling” that he’s a member of the Georgia bar, and should know better. She has never before held a member of the bar in contempt, she added.
Other testimony
Other witnesses testifying Wednesday included police Cpl. Sherman Hayes, who reported encountering Jones on July 16 outside a downtown bar called The Hooch. Apparently intoxicated, Jones was recorded on police body camera arguing with Hayes about a fatal shooting police found to be accidental.
Fowler played the video for the jury. It showed Jones poking Hayes and telling the officer the suspect in the fatal shooting, Elijah Farral, should have been charged with murder in his friend Sara Holtrop’s death. Jones told Hayes Farral had a motive to shoot Holtrop, because “she was cheating on him.” Jones added, “You should testify to that.”
Hayes told Jones Holtrop and Farral had no romantic relationship, and the evidence did not warrant a murder charge.
Jones’ telling him to lie about a homicide “needed to be known,” Hayes testified, so he reported the conversation to his superiors, who requested a GBI investigation into Jones’ conduct.
The GBI also probed allegations that Jones tried to bribe two staff prosecutors by offering them $1,000 bonuses for murder convictions. Another witness Wednesday was acting District Attorney Sheneka Terry, who testified that Jones sent her a phone message offering her $1,000 for a conviction in a particular case.
Terry testified that she took an oath of office swearing to take “only my lawful compensation.” She is not allowed to take money for offering legal advice or serving on a board, and she cannot accept a bonus for winning cases, she said.
Jones is charged with similarly bribing Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Schwartz, who testified Tuesday that he twice offered her $1,000 to win murder cases.
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 4:29 PM.