Trial begins for Thomson mayor accused of supplying inmates with gin
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A jury was selected and opening statements began Monday in the trial of suspended Thomson Mayor Benji Cranford, who’s charged with supplying contraband to inmates by leaving a bottle of gin in a ditch where a work crew could find it.
Cranford was indicted by a grand jury and arrested in August by GBI officers who led him away from city offices in handcuffs.
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Cranford was quickly released, with bond set at $5,000. However, Gov. Brian Kemp suspended him from office.
The jury of 12 plus two alternates had been selected out of about 40 potential jurors by 12:45 p.m. Monday, and opening statements started around 2:30 p.m.
Cranford is represented by Keith Johnson and Tianna Bias, while Debra Neumann and Terry Lloyd are representing the state.
J. Carlisle Overstreet is the judge.
The indictment accuses Cranford of driving to Rimpy’s Store to purchase a bottle of gin and placing it in the path of state prisoners from the Jefferson County Correctional Institute who were picking up trash.
In opening statements, Lloyd said that as an inmate crew was working nearby, Cranford went to a liquor store, drove across the street and placed the bottle of gin in the path of the inmates, Lloyd said.
A bus driver for the inmates saw part of what happened and thought it looked suspicious, so the bus driver went up to the ditch and saw the bottle of gin and took a photo of it, Lloyd said. Then Cranford’s SUV came past again and the bus driver snapped a photo of the tag, according to Lloyd.
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“We don’t know if there was a specific target for the alcohol – if it was for one person or all of the inmates. But what is clear is his intent to leave the alcohol in the ditch for the inmates,” Lloyd said.
Bias said in opening statements that Cranford didn’t intentionally throw the bottle into the ditch.
She said he pulled over to fix his Bluetooth and the bottle fell out of the vehicle when he opened the door.
Cranford is a “relatable, local business owner, down-to-earth country boy and every now and then he likes to have a drink,” she said.
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But he’s not tech-savvy and doesn’t realize you can press a few buttons to reconnect to Bluetooth. She said he opened and closed the door to reconnect his car to Bluetooth, and that’s when the bottle fell out.
She said Cranford wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and didn’t notice the inmates.
Bias pulled out a bottle of gin that resembled what was left in the ditch and said if Benji was going to leave something for the inmates, it would not be a big bottle but a plastic shooter bottle. Bias even pulled a shooter bottle out of her pocket to show the jury what she was talking about.
“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances,” was a quote the defense pulled up with a photo of Cranford.
The prosecution called witness Alvin James, who transported the prisoners.
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He testified that he has to keep a close eye on inmates because people have tossed them cigarettes, vapes and even marijuana.
He said one thing that made him suspicious that day was to see the car stop in the ditch.
And when he saw the SUV turn around, “it made me think he was going to leave more.”
Under cross-examination, the defense noted that the location of work crews is not public information, and James said, “I don’t even know until the day of.”
Thomson police officer Denkuan Lucas was the next prosecution witness. He said he was given a copy of the tag registration and tried to call Cranford, but didn’t leave a message. He said he turned the case over to the criminal investigation division.
Prosecution witness Chris Mullis with the Thomson Police Department testified that he watched a video from Rimpy’s and saw the mayor pulling a bottle out of the bag and placing it into the vehicle.
The defense noted in questioning Mullis that the video shows there’s a minute and a half to two minutes between when Cranford leaves the store and when the prisoners show up.
The store manager testified that he sold two bottles of liquor to Cranford that day, pointing to Cranford in the courtroom to identify him. Under questioning by the defense, the manager testified that one other person bought gin that day, something that happened about half an hour before Cranford was there.
After the manager testified, court broke for the day, with the trial set to resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Prosecutors said they plan to call three more witnesses.
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