About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 2024)
J Georgia to spend $392 million on M new legislative office and Jjl gold-domed Capitol, inside,3a Thursday, February 29,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Warehouse proposal in Buford has foes BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com South Hall resident Susan Zanders said she has seen the warehouses up and down nearby McEver Road and can't stomach a nearly 750,000-square-foot office/ warehouse complex coming less than a mile from her home. “I'm concerned on many fronts. I'm concerned about traffic,” she said. “That roundabout is kind of like a free-for-all and when you put tractor-trailers on there, that's a huge concern.” Also, “when you think about Buford Board of Commissioners What: Proposed 750,000-square-foot warehouse complex When: 7 p.m. Monday, March 4 Where: Buford City Hall, 2300 Buford Highway potential runoff into the lake that is our drinking water, it just seems such a waste to be putting warehouses there.” Zanders has started a petition to try to stop the proposed warehouses off Lanier Islands Parkway, about a couple miles west of Lanier Islands resort. She said she plans to present it to the Buford Board of Commissioners on Monday, March 4. The petition had 746 signatures as of Wednesday, Leb. 28, with a goal of 1,000. The issue has otherwise created a stir on social media, as opposition appears to be mounting to Atlanta- based TC Atlanta Development Inc.'s request to build the complex at 6207 Lanier Islands Parkway and 3041 Big Creek Road. See Warehouse 13A REZONING NOTICE CASE # -Of j from 32cgl00 TO KA I F0R H■ All Prvri> Y location city of buford ^FORonwv a°Z 0 GA B L T7 P 0 L 9 T 5 ^ DIV -* EZ °NING NOTirc A large office/ warehouse proposed in Buford is being met with disdain by nearby residents. Jeff Gill The Times Nearing the conclusion Scott Rogers The Times Christopher Young appears for trial in Hall County Superior Court Tuesday, Feb. 27, for aggravated child molestation charges. Ex-substitute teacher s trial enters jury deliberations BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Jurors deliberated for about three hours Wednesday, Leb. 28, in the trial of a 24-year-old Gainesville man charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl while he was a substitute teacher at East Hall High School and she was a student. Deliberations will resume Thursday morning. Christopher Young was arrested in July 2022 and charged with one count of aggravated child molestation and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. If found guilty by a jury on any of the charges, he faces a minimum of 25 years in prison. Closing statements on Wednesday saw the prosecution and defense speak at length about the credibility of the girl's testimony the day before. Through tears, the girl testified that she did not consent to engaging in sexual acts with Young, saying, “I told him I didn't like it and that it hurt and he didn't stop until he was finished,” adding that she only did so because “scared.” Defense attorney Bill Olsen accused the girl of lying. He did not deny that his client engaged in sexual acts with the girl—Young admitted as much to investigators, and the jurors were shown graphic video proof. But he argued that the girl fully consented, as evidenced by the fact that she continued to communicate with Young after the alleged assaults, including by sending him nude photographs of herself. “(The girl) describes the event at the gazebo where Chris ordered her around, told her he didn't care how she felt. Raped her. Yet after this she keeps communicating with him, sends her nudes,” Olsen said to jurors. The question of consent does not bear on the charge of aggravated child molestation — any act of sodomy on a person under the age of 16 suffices. As Assistant District Attorney Rachel Bennett put it in her closing argument, “the law is the law.” Throughout the trial, the defense argued that the girl was mature beyond her years and criticized the prosecution for trying to “create this evil narrative of a sexual predator grooming (the girl) at this high school.” Olsen repeatedly noted that the girl was just weeks shy of her 16th birthday. Young told investigators that he believed the girl was 16. But Bennett pushed back, telling jurors, “As to aggravated child molestation, I can make this one really simple for you, because we all just saw this video. I made you watch it, and I genuinely apologize about that, but this is important, and I wanted you to see the act of sodomy that was committed in count one.” Bennett added: “Whether she's two weeks, one day or nine months away from her 16th birthday, what he did was illegal.” But the question of consent does bear directly on the aggravated sexual battery charges. In order to prove that Young committed aggravated See Young 13A Woman files lawsuit, claims officer raped her in prison BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A woman filed a federal lawsuit Leb. 20 claiming a Lee Arrendale State Prison correctional officer raped her, causing injuries so severe that she required surgery, according to court documents. The woman filed under the pseudonym Jane Doe against Cameron Cheeks. Cheeks is sued personally, and the Georgia Department of Corrections is not a defendant. Cheeks was arrested in December 2022 on charges of rape and violation of oath of office. In December 2022, the woman was serving a sentence at the Alto prison. Cheeks was assigned to the unit where the woman was housed, and she did not have a cellmate at the time, according to the lawsuit. On Dec. 5, 2022, Cheeks approached the woman and told her it was time for a shower. “After telling plaintiff that it was time for her shower, Cheeks moved her to a location where he violently and forcibly raped her,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit claimed the assault was so brutal “that Doe needed to have and did receive surgery for partial uterus removal.” “Doe has been greatly injured physically and mentally and will continue to suffer from the natural consequences of such violent misconduct,” according to the lawsuit. Cheeks has remained in the Habersham County Detention Center since his arrest. No attorney was listed for Cheeks for the federal lawsuit as of Wednesday, Leb. 28. Leanna Elrod, who is representing Cheeks in the criminal case, did not return a request for comment. The Times reached out to the district attorney, George Christian, for the status of the criminal charges. The plaintiff's attorney, Wingo Smith, said the case was still pending to his knowledge. Smith, who is working the case with attorney Jeff Lilipovits, said their client is not currently incarcerated but did not want to disclose too much information to protect her anonymity. Smith said under Georgia law, there are only a few circumstances that you can sue the state. Otherwise, the government is immune from claims. “This case is just one of those cases in which the actions alleged would not be available under the state tort claims act,” Smith said. Two candidates vie for Lula’s District 3 council seat BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Two longtime Lula residents have qualified to run for the city's District 3 council seat in the May 21 special election. The seat was vacated by former councilman Gene Bramlett in December after fellow council members voted 3-0 to expel him from office. In the upcoming race, Lula farmer Chris Lewallen will take on handyman Lelton Wood, who could not be reached for an interview despite multiple calls and text messages from The Times. A lifelong Lula resident, Lewallen has watched the city evolve since he was a child. Decades ago, his father once served on Lula City Council for two or three terms when Lewallen was a teenager. He said he remembers when the city of almost 3,000 had less than 900 residents. “A lot of people want to say Lula is a small town, but to me, it's not,” Lewallen said. “It was 700- 800 people when I was growing up...the population has basically quadrupled in my lifetime.” Now 56, Lewallen and his wife, Sandie, have raised three sons on a 30-acre farm the couple still live on today. Lewallen said his inspiration to run for District 3 was sparked just a few years ago. He said it came after he attended a city council meeting and found he was unversed on city business - that while he “had never left Lula,” as he put it, “Lula had kind of left me.” Lor the next three years Lewallen familiarized himself with local issues, acquainted various leaders in city government and sometimes spoke at council meetings. In March of last year, Lewallen told his wife he planned to run for the seat when Bramlett’s term expired. But that opportunity came early Wood after the former councilman's removal, and Lewallen “felt it was time.” “Because of Bramlett and all the issues, I want to restore trust and honorability to the District 4 seat,” Lewallen said. In the coming years, Lula is expected to become an epicenter for growth and development for its proximity to the Northeast Georgia Inland Port. Still, while “everybody says (growth) is coming,” Lewallen said he believes “growth is already here.” He said he favors a measured approach to development that maintains and preserves Lula's small town character in conjunction with governance that also accommodates inevitable growth, and that zoning requests along the Ga. 365 corridor should be considered on a case-by-case basis. See Election 13A Lewallen Wood
