Credit: Participated
Credit: Participated
However, camera evidence from the well monitored Acworth supermarket sparked questions because it seemed to go against what the woman and local police had said.
According to Lauren McAuley, Deputy Chief ADA, Patel met with his accuser on Wednesday, and her office decided to drop the charges.
Alongside his wife and girls, Patel grinned in the courthouse and expressed his gratitude for being able to move past this.
After his charges were withdrawn, he added, “I’m just relieved.” I’m going to relish my independence.
Patel said he lost more than 17 pounds while incarcerated and that he had a difficult time during the more than six weeks he was there. In April, his arrest garnered international attention, particularly with the publication of the store’s security footage, which he claimed altered the story.
[email protected] is credited.
[email protected] is credited.
“I am so grateful to everyone,” he told reporters. We had a lot of help.
Ashleigh Merchant, Patel’s lawyer, insisted from the start that he was only attempting to assist the young mother, who was pushing her two kids through the grocery store on a motorized scooter.
Caroline Miller was joyriding around the store with her children on her lap when her client, she said, was there purchasing Tylenol for his 86-year-old mother.
Merchant claimed that Patel, who was amiable with everyone, went up to the family and inquired about the location of the drug. She claimed that he was worried the youngster may fall off the scooter, so he reached out to catch him.
Credit: Participated
Credit: Participated
Miller informed the authorities Patel said that the two got into a tug-of-war over her 2-year-old and that she attempted to seize her son. According to court documents, she initially told Walmart staff about the event, and they advised her to call the police if she thought a crime had been committed.
During a May bond hearing, Merchant informed the judge that a worker who had been in close proximity to the encounter told her he never felt the need to step in.
As she played the CCTV film in court, she remarked, “The video couldn’t be clearer.” This child was not attempted to be abducted by Mr. Patel.
Patel was shown on camera strolling around the Walmart and even striking up conversations with staff members before he left with the painkiller he had purchased with his debit card. On his approach to the register, he also ran into Miller again and seemed to show her the Tylenol bottle he had discovered.
Despite the prosecution’s protests that Patel should remain in custody until his trial, Judge Gregory Poole granted him a $10,000 release in May.
Chief Assistant DA Jesse Evans stated at the hearing that Mr. Patel chose to take a 2-year-old child from the mother’s lap as she was with her two children, going about her daily business.
The Acworth Police Department, which reacted to the Walmart and filed the charges against Patel, had Evans as its chief before. The way the police department and Cobb DA Sonya Allen handled the matter has drawn criticism.
Evans and Allen did not attend the proceedings on Wednesday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was informed by a number of defense lawyers and former prosecutors that they were unable to identify the scene of a crime. They also said that Patel’s lengthy incarceration was caused by the DA’s office indicting the case before he could appear before a judge for a probable cause hearing.
Former DeKalb County DA J. Tom Morgan stated on Tuesday that the charges need to be dropped. Even probable cause for an arrest, let alone an indictment, was lacking.
Months ago, Morgan showed his criminal law students the CCTV film and instructed them to investigate the incident. Three months ago, he criticized the DA’s office for arguing against bond before agreeing to drop the charges.
Morgan stated that they are now dropping the accusations against him after he was detained for forty-five days before he was granted a bond hearing. That seems like a misuse of the criminal justice system to me.
According to records, Acworth police spoke with the mother at the store and then at her house after viewing the video at the scene and issuing arrest warrants for Patel.
According to a police department official, a judge reviewed the evidence and found sufficient probable cause to make an arrest on Wednesday. The local police agency declared that they had no control over the case once Patel was indicted by a grand jury.
While acknowledging the community’s outrage over the arrest, Sgt. Eric Mistretta said that Patel’s defense team’s modified surveillance film was primarily to blame.
Allen said in a statement that the charges were withdrawn after Patel and Miller had a fruitful conversation during which both of them indicated a wish to move on from the incident.
Allen stated that the willingness of both sides to have a positive conversation is encouraging and that the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office is happy to have assisted in reaching a resolution.
According to Merchant, the case wouldn’t have taken as long if the police and prosecutors had examined it more closely from the start.
She said, “I knew when I met Mick that he didn’t do it.” They would have realized this was a misunderstanding if they had looked into it and discovered what a decent man he is.
