Chatham County District Attorney considers prosecuting former SPD detective who falsified search warrants

Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones confirmed her office is reviewing five felony cases that former Savannah Police Department (SPD) homicide detective Ashley Wood investigated and is considering prosecuting Wood for falsifying information in multiple search warrant applications tied to the 2021 murder of Charles Vinson.

After the SMN sent her a list of other cases Wood investigated, Jones verified that she sent the full list of cases Chatham County Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Brian DeBlasiis to consider the "prosecutorial value and strength of evidence" that aren't detailed in court transcripts.

"There's a plan to review the cases and the convictions and her involvement," Jones said in a phone call. "But I'm not saying that I will prosecute her. I'm saying that those are the types of cases that our office needs to review."

Jones added, "These are cases that could actually lead to her prosecution. There's a difference between being negligent or missing a detail or two and then being untruthful, particularly as it relates to investigations and search warrants."

On Thursday, DeBlasiis confirmed that Jones sent him the list and that he and two of the office's 11 investigators, Alan Sammons and Jonathan Puhala, are reviewing each of the cases and that the review is ongoing. The investigators will pass the information to Jones, who will make the final decision, said DeBlasiis.

"After the issue with the [Vinson] case, the first thing the District Attorney asked for was for us to pull every single homicide case, or serious violent felony case that [Wood] was involved in and for us to do a triage and review those cases individually," said DeBlasiis.

"Prosecutors have a duty to review their cases. An officer having a credibility issue, you're just never going to be able to prevent that totally. But by reviewing cases, you can help do justice and reach fair results."

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Can we still have confidence in that conviction?

Reviewing cases in which the lead detective is accused of misconduct is crucial, said Melissa Redmon, University of Georgia's prosecutorial justice program director. “The prosecutors have an obligation to look into it, to investigate, to make sure that we can still have confidence in that conviction.”

Yet, there are no state or local laws that require DA offices to review adjudicated cases in which a detective is accused of misconduct, Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia (PACGA), said in a phone call. But in a follow-up email, Skandalakis cited Rule 3.8(h), “Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor."

A prosecutor in a criminal case should “make reasonable efforts to cause an investigation, to determine whether the defendant was convicted of an offense that the defendant did not commit,” Rule 3.8 reads.

Skandalakis said that when he served as Coweta County Judicial Circuit Court District Attorney from 1992 through 2017, and a “material issue came into play on our cases,” he would “pull the case file and review it to see again, did the misconduct that's being alleged, did that influence the conviction at all or the guilty plea?”

Redmon echoed that sentiment and added that prosecutors can “review evidence at any time that may have changed the outcome of the trial.”

“The first question would be whether or not it's an allegation that she lied in search warrant, or it was actually proven that she lied to get the search warrant,” said Redmon. “And then the second question is, would that have changed the outcome of the trial?”

Redmon said prosecutors can “take it upon themselves” or defense attorneys can file a “motion to have the judge hold a hearing as to whether those convictions should be overturned.”

Wood, a former homicide detective who had been with the SPD since 2017, was fired in late July after an internal affairs investigation alleged she had falsified information in the Vinson murder investigation after both the defense attorneys and prosecutors raised concerns during motion hearings. A suspect in that case, Marquis Parrish, had been indicted for murder and incarcerated at the Chatham County Detention Center for two years awaiting trial. After review by Chatham County Superior Court Judge John Morse, all charges against Parrish were dropped.

A verdict in another case came soon thereafter: On Oct. 17, a Chatham County jury found Victor McMillar not guilty of murdering Donte Chisolm on Nov. 3, 2018, and with murdering Jamall Chris Johnson two days later. McMillar’s defense attorney, Gregory Crawford, alleged that Wood intimidated the state’s star witness.

At a civil service board hearing in early November, Wood’s attorney Cris Schneider argued that the former detective was overworked and undertrained and pushed for “an alternative to termination.” City of Savannah Attorney Denise Cooper argued that Wood was not truthful in search warrant returns, and despite a perceived lack of training, she kept taking promotion after promotion.

The City of Savannah Civil Service Board ultimately elected to reinstate and demote Wood to a position in the Code Compliance department.

Schneider of Schneider Lerch Montgomery did not return a call for comment by publication time.

Analysis of cases involving Wood's investigations

An analysis of hundreds of pages of court transcripts in cases Wood investigated reveals numerous claims of errors and missteps in police procedures previously unreported by news media. The alleged errors could have resulted in defendants imprisoned for far too long ― and, in some cases, possibly illegally.

In court transcripts, Chatham ADAs suggested that Wood’s procedures affected their prosecution. In other cases, defendants, representing themselves pro se, tried to argue ― to no avail ― that Wood’s investigations harmed their cases.

Most complaints about Wood’s techniques included issues with how she obtained search warrants, including allegedly coercing a witness to choose a certain person out of a photo lineup. In one case, a defendant alleged that she kept them detained to interrogate them even though they weren’t under arrest. In another case, a defendant claimed that Wood, testifying under oath, lied about the facts of the case.

Three defendants have since filed federal lawsuits against Wood, alleging faulty investigations in their cases. Of those three federal lawsuits, two have been dismissed, and one remains ongoing.

Although most defendants whose cases were investigated by Wood had their cases pled down to lesser charges, they are still currently serving sentences in prison, and/or are on probation. Three were sentenced to 20 years. Two were sentenced to 10 years.

Another 15 cases included Wood as the witness in the indictment, but a review of court transcripts shows no mention of Wood by name, though some generally do mention faults in police investigations. Another eight cases included Wood assisting with the police investigation, but she isn't listed as the "witness" in the indictment. These 23 total cases were forwarded to DeBlasiis, Jones confirmed in a phone call.

The review of Wood’s cases seems to partially explain the Chatham DA’s low murder prosecution rate. It also seems to expand upon a March 2022 internal memo, which included assistant district attorneys alleging that homicide prosecutions were falling apart at trial partly because of a recurring problem regarding the quality and timely receipt of case files from the SPD and other law enforcement agencies.

Asked whether the Chatham DA’s office contacts SPD about reviewing already-convicted cases, Lt. Zachary Burdette, who oversees Savannah’s homicide unit, said, “Not that I’ve ever heard of.”

If asked by the DA’s office to help with the review, Burdette said SPD would. Burdette declined to comment specifically on the Wood case.

"We've got a couple Cold Case guys that work here [who] can help them," said Burdette. "I could work with them and kind of go back through the cases and see if there's something that was done wrong or something that, you know, where we may have possibly picked up the wrong person."

'Never had a concern'

SMN called multiple former Chatham ADAs who prosecuted the cases investigated by Wood and have since left the office. Some did not answer. Others don't remember the details of the cases. The ADAs still employed by the Chatham DA's office are not permitted to speak to the press without prior authorization.

DeBlasiis prosecuted two cases investigated by Wood, according to court records.

"I can speak from my own perspective," said DeBlasiis. "In cases that I've handled in the past, the cases that I've made recommendations on or decisions on, that I've done for specific reasons, weighing out defenses, evidentiary issues."

"I think that this situation was something that was surprising to everyone involved, but we're fortunate enough in Chatham County to have the resources to handle by having our own investigators in the office, by having some experienced homicide prosecutors that were here, and that are here now."

Two former Chatham ADAs who worked on one case ― State of Georgia v. Derek Gallop ― said they didn’t believe Wood’s investigation impacted the outcome of the case but admitted there were minor errors in the police investigation.

On Aug. 7, 2019, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Derek Gallop for felony murder and five counts of aggravated assault for 2019 shooting on Damascus Street that killed Devote Henneghan, 27, and injured four other men.

On May 2, 2022, ADAs chose not to prosecute the charges of felony murder and five counts of aggravated assault and reached a negotiated guilty plea for voluntary manslaughter. Gallop was sentenced to 20 years, three to serve followed by 17 probated.

"I remember feeling like there were some things that were sloppy, that they needed to, sort of, clean up, but I don't recall ever suspecting that there was actual coercion or lying. I don't think all of that really came to light until later,” said Jenny Parker, who served as chief assistant district attorney for Chatham County until leaving in 2022, and who has declared a run for district attorney in 2024. “I've worked with Ashley for years and never had a concern about her dishonesty, until this all came to light."

Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham County District Attorney considers prosecuting former Savannah detective