About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2022)
Wednesday, November 9,2022 dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A Amicalola EMC donates $413K to local communities By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com This year, not-for-profit electric cooperative Amicalola EMC donated $413,000 in community fund ing to the communities that the cooperative serves. According to a press release by Amicalola EMC, the organization’s 2022 dona tions included $140,000 in high school scholarships, $50,000 in Bright Ideas teach er grants, $10,000 to each local Chamber of Commerce, $10,000 to each local food pantry and $1,000 to each of 47 fire departments within the Amicalola EMC service area, among other local donations. The donations are funded through unclaimed refunds, in accordance with Georgia’s unclaimed property laws. In accordance with these laws, the cooperative is allowed to distribute these unclaimed refunds throughout the com munities it serves for three purposes: education, econom ic development and 501(c)3 charities. Amicalola EMC members are given refunds of any money that is over and above the cost to operate the cooper ative, and this year the board of directors authorized a capi tal credit refund in the amount of $2.6 million to members who received electric service in 2002. Members with active accounts received a credit on their September power bill, and members who do not have an active account will receive a check in the mail if they have provided a current mailing address. Refunds that go unclaimed are held for another five years. Photo courtesy of Amicalola EMC (L to R) Dawson recipients include Tara Hardwick and Robyn Rotundaz of Dawson Ric Rack;Todd Payne, Amicalola EMC CEO; Anthony Buttram of Dawson County Fire; and Bev Bannister andTrampas Hansard City Development Authority of Dawsonville. FROM 1A Roberts Photo by Rio White Dawson County News Senior Judge David Emerson, center, listens as one of Daniel Roberts' lawyers, John Luke Weaver, speaks during an Oct. 31 motions hearing. Additionally, the senior judge deferred a decision on Roberts’ change of venue motion until the jury selection process can com mence. The judge noted “the totality of the circumstanc es” from evidence shown at the immunity hearing and the defendant’s multiple statements given immedi ately after his arrest. “The court does not find that the defendant met this burden,” Emerson stated in the motion. In their May motion for change of venue, Roberts’ defense lawyers argued that their client’s trial should be moved because a multime dia campaign by the dece dent’s family and multiple articles from DCN would taint a jury pool. “The court is not con vinced at this time that the defendant has met his bur den of proof on this issue,” Emerson wrote in another Nov.l order. “The court therefore defers [a] final ruling on the change of venue motion until such time as the court can begin voir dire of the jurors sum moned for the trial of the case.” Timeline The judge’s orders fol low a litany of develop ments in the high-profile case. Previously, documents for the oldest case alleged that after getting in a verbal disagreement with one vic tim, Roberts hit them while leaving the parking lot of Thompson Creek Park on Oct. 23,2019. After being arrested the same night as those alleged offenses, Roberts was charged on Oct. 24 with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime and carrying a concealed weapon. On Oct. 25, 2019, Roberts was released on a $20,200 bond. He was indicted in June 2021 on the charges from the 2019 case. As part of his bond conditions, he was not supposed to violate any laws while those charges were pending. About a week before the fight at Applebee’s, Duckworth and Roberts had a confrontation during a truck meet at the Ingles in Cumming, according to testimony from a former DCSO and current DA office investigator and that investigator’s video inter view with Roberts, which was played at the court hearing. Tensions flared further when a friend of Roberts, Tyler Dybendal, supposed ly posted a Snap on Snapchat about Duckworth’s truck being “white trash,” to which Duckworth is said to have replied with a picture stat ing “go back to Ohio lol,” according to the investiga tor’s testimony. That Snap is the focus of another warrant which Roberts’ defense wants suppressed. It supposedly spurred Dybendal and Roberts going to the Applebee’s parking lot on July 25 so Dybendal could fight Duckworth. During his interview with the investigator, Roberts also revealed that Dybendal had been butting heads with Duckworth over the latter’s ex-girlfriend, who was then with Dybendal. After arriving at the Applebee’s, Dybendal and Duckworth allegedly fought but were broken up. Roberts initially said that Duckworth walked up to him and asked what he was going to do before suppos edly grabbing at his collar bone area, causing Roberts to react by punching Duckworth. Later in his July 26 interview, Roberts admitted that he might’ve instead punched Duckworth for “getting up in [his] face and running his mouth,” with the inves tigator later insisting that “someone being up in your face and grabbing are dif ferent.” Roberts said in the taped interview that he and Dybendal went to the lat ter’s house initially because he knew “the cops would be coming” to his house. While Dybendal has been named as allegedly being tied to events preced- ing Duckworth and Roberts’ Applebee’s fight, he has not been charged in this case. Dybendal does have a separate case pend ing in Dawson County. Roberts has been indict ed on two counts of felony murder and one count each of aggravated assault and aggravated battery for that case. The indictment for Roberts’ case alleges that he punched the younger Dawsonville teen with a closed fist, causing serious brain damage. After the fight, Duckworth was taken to a hospital with severe brain trauma and died on July 27. The prosecution charged Roberts with two felony murder counts in relation to the alleged aggravated assault and aggravated bat tery accusatons also con nected to Duckworth’s death, according to the indictment. Bond motions Following Roberts’ 2021 arrest, bond for the 2019 case was subsequently revoked on Aug. 31, 2021. Court documents from that time cited that he violated conditions of the 2019 bond by allegedly commit ting new offenses. Bond was likewise initially denied in the 2021 case, and he was indicted on those later charges in October. In December, the court reinstated his bond in the CARS'Sc TRUCKS 770-294-3144 (C) Brad Minard ibuyfrombrad@gmail.com earlier case and set a $100,000 bond for the newer case. The condition to violate no laws was a bond provision in both cases. That bond was paid, and Roberts was released from DCSO custody. Assistant District Attorney Pete Lamb explained during a recount ing of Roberts’ alleged acts that there were other occa sions for which he has not been charged since 2019. That includes a trespass warning issued to Roberts for allegedly stalking an ex girlfriend, the prosecutor said. Then this year, before the May alleged offenses, Roberts supposedly fol lowed Duckworth’s par ents, Amanda and Tommy, down Lumpkin Campground Road, bang ing on the side of the truck he was driving and yelling at them, Lamb said. The prosecutor later clarified that he’d just learned about that alleged offense on Thursday. Roberts also allegedly ran another friend of Duckworth’s off of Ga. 400 in April and tailgated another mutual friend of that person and Duckworth later that month, Lamb added. Then, on May 1, Roberts allegedly harassed a friend of Duckworth’s again and forced that per son off of the road as well, the prosecutor said. Later in May, Roberts was booked on the felony charges related to the May 13 and May 19 incidents. Roberts allegedly threat ened a teenage victim on May 13 near Dawson Village Way North and Ga. 53, according to a Dawson County Sheriff’s Office warrant. He is accused of telling the victim to come to his residence, where he, Roberts, would “give him the same thing he gave his buddy,” referring to Kaleb Duckworth. Roberts allegedly com mitted the aggravated assault against the same victim on May 19 along Dawson Forest Road, according to another DCSO warrant. He was purportedly driv ing his pick-up truck when he entered the victim’s lane of travel and caused that person to swerve in order to avoid a collision. It appeared difficult to tell in the video evidence shown Friday whether or not Roberts swerved toward the victim enough to con stitute aggravated assault. In June, Roberts was indicted on one charge each of aggravated assault and terroristic threats. Since being arrested on May 20, Roberts has remained in custody at the Dawson County Detention Center. In July, Emerson wrote to revoke and decline to reinstate Daniel Lee Roberts’ bonds in his 2021 and 2019 cases respective ly. The judge also denied bond for the 2022 case involving the latest allega tions against Roberts. A trial date has not yet been set for Roberts’ 2021 case. DCN will provide updates when more infor mation is available. Start earning with Bank OZK today! 3.20$? 8 month CD or IRA CD Special 3.50% 13 month CD or IRA CD Special O/ /O APY* 18 month CD or IRA CD Special Visit our Dawsonville location or open an account online at ozk.com.** <> Bank OZK ozk.com I Member FDIC ‘Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective as of the publication date. Offer applies to new CDs only. $1,000 minimum deposit to open and is required to earn stated APY. Penalty for early withdrawal. IRA CD is subject to eligibility requirements. 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