Atlanta Mayor Denied Delay in Drug Probe
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young must appear before a grand jury investigating possible obstruction of justice in a police probe of allegations that state Sen. Julian Bond has used cocaine.
The probe involves charges by Bond’s estranged wife, Alice, that her husband, Young and other black Atlantans used the drug.
Young and an aide, Eugene Duffy, have been informed that they are subjects of a federal investigation into whether there was obstruction of justice.
U.S. District Judge J. Owen Forrester denied motions filed by former U.S. Atty. Gen. Griffin Bell, Young’s attorney, and a lawyer for Duffy, seeking to delay their appearances before the grand jury for at least a week.
Forrester’s ruling means that Young, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Duffy must appear before the grand jury, perhaps today. The first witnesses testified Tuesday.
Young at first volunteered to testify before the grand jury, but Bell argued that since he was retained as counsel only last week, he had not had time to prepare his client.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
