A mother of three who was accused of illegally sending her children to school in Marietta was found not guilty Friday on felony charges.
Prosecutors claimed that Geanine Echols, who lives in Cobb County, lied repeatedly to the government about her address because she wanted her children to attend better schools in the Marietta school district. Instead of using the address where she and her children live, Echols used the address of her husband's family.
Echols and her relatives broke down in tears after the 16th "not guilty" verdict was read inside the Cobb County courtroom. In his closing, her defense attorney told jurors that prosecutors went much too far in charging her with crimes that could have sent her to prison for years.
"The D.A.'s office took the stand that there's a right way and a wrong way but as we emphasized to the jury, there's a right way and a wrong way to handle this particular set of facts and thankfully in the end the jury handled it in the right way," said Vic Reynolds.
The jury deliberated briefly before coming back with their not guilty verdicts. The District Attorney said four other similar cases were resolved before they went to trial.
