Judge overturns verdict after juror accused of lying about his job

ATLANTA, Georgia (Atlanta News First) – After more than 20 years of litigation, Ed Heller hoped a jury would finally hold accountable the people he believed were responsible for his wife's death last March.

Patricia Heller died in January 2003, shortly after leaving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a taxi while on a business trip. She never reached her final destination.

According to Hapeville police, the taxi driver crashed into a line of trees on Interstate 85; the roads were slick after a recent rain. Patricia Heller left behind her husband and two children.

“I heard a knock on the door. And there was a police officer and the pastor of our local church standing at the door,” Heller said. “They told me she died in the accident.”

Taxi driver Abdallah Adem pleaded guilty to manslaughter because he drove with unsafe tires because the taxi's tires did not have sufficient tread.

Patricia Heller's family filed suit against the driver, the taxi company and an Atlanta city inspector who passed the taxi's safety inspection the day before the accident. “This woman lost her life for reasons that should never have happened,” said James Potts, the family's attorney.

On March 4, a Fulton County jury found the taxi company (no longer in business) liable for Patricia Heller's death, but not the driver or the city inspector.

“I was shocked,” Potts said. “It made no sense that the jury did not also find guilty the driver, who pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter because of unsafe tires, and the city inspector who passed the taxi with those slick tires less than 24 hours before Patricia's death.”

After the trial, Potts said he spoke to some jurors and asked them why they had not found the taxi driver and the city inspector liable as well. According to court documents, juror Scott Kelley spoke up and claimed he was the person responsible for the jury's decision not to find the driver and the city inspector liable.

“He said, 'I stopped this.' He said it again and said, 'I'm the one who stopped this,'” Potts recalled.

Court records show that Kelley posed as a corporate lawyer before being selected for juror duty, but trial records indicate that was not the whole story. The Illinois Supreme Court suspended Kelley from the practice of law in 2008 for charges including withholding $10,000 from a client. He has not been admitted to practice law in any state since then.

Potential jurors in Fulton County sign a form agreeing to tell the truth about their profession. They Watch video Remind them of their responsibility and the importance of telling the truth.

In June, Heller's family appealed the jury's verdict, claiming Kelley's conduct amounted to juror misconduct because he “misrepresented his professional qualifications.” About a month later, a Fulton County state court judge ordered a retrial, writing that “the jury's verdict contradicts the burden of proof.”

The order does not address the family's allegations of jury misconduct.

The ruling holding the taxi company liable for Patricia Heller's death remains in effect, and the family was awarded $25 million in damages. But the judge's decision gives the family another opportunity to re-try the case against the taxi driver and the city inspector.

Ed Heller, who now lives in a San Francisco suburb, said the lawsuit is not about money. “I just feel like I don't want to let the behavior that I've seen over the years go unpunished,” he said.

A new trial date has not yet been set. Kelley declined several requests for an interview.

According to the National Center for State CourtsThe number of allegations of jury misconduct is increasing: from fewer than 50 reported cases in 2000 to nearly 250 two decades later.

In criminal trials, jury misconduct can form the basis for the release of convicted criminals. In 2004, a jury convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his late wife, Laci, and their unborn son. In August of last year, Peterson's attorney appealed his verdict after claiming a juror lied to the court that she had never been involved in a domestic violence case.

In some cases, the jurors themselves may face consequences. In April 2023 arrested a potential juror in the criminal proceedings against Rapper Young Thug from Atlanta because she was accused of filming the court hearing with her mobile phone.

If you would like Atlanta News First investigative reporter Andy Pierrotti to take a closer look, email [email protected].

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