FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Ladavious McNair, a PhD student and army veteran, is trying to get his life back together after spending 30 days behind bars for a violent crime he didn't even know happened before his arrest.
McNair is working on his PhD at Atlanta Clark University, but his aspirations were abruptly put on hold after he was arrested in Clayton County in October. His attorney, Marsha Mignott, said her client was pulled over on Oct. 2 and informed he had an active warrant for his arrest out of Fulton County.
"He was shocked," Mignott said.
She said at the time of his arrest, the officer couldn't give McNair any details on the crime he was being connected to because it didn't happen in Clayton County. McNair spent two days locked up before he was transferred to the Fulton County Detention Center on Oct. 4.
“Which was a nightmare,” Mignott explained.
She said it was not until a few days later, at his preliminary hearing, that McNair learned the crime Atlanta Police was alleging he committed a year earlier on Nov. 1, 2023.
APD alleged in an affidavit that McNair pistol-whipped a man before shooting him during a road rage incident on Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta.
“He’s sitting there going 'this is not happening, this is like a bad dream.'” Mignott said.
She said things went from bad to worse when the district attorney’s office told the judge they felt McNair was a risk to public safety and requested his bond be denied. Mignott said the judge sided with prosecutors and ordered McNair held without bond.
She said McNair couldn’t believe it.
His family then contacted her law firm, and they started working on his case a few days after his preliminary hearing. Mignott said she quickly realized there was overwhelming corroborating evidence that proved her client was involved in this violent crime.
She said on the evening of the shooting, an Atlanta Clark University professor confirmed McNair was in class.
“A lot of people questioning how would a professor who has all these classes and all these students remember him,” Mignott pointed out.
She explained that it was because, on that particular day, classes were being held in person for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mignott said not only could they place him in the classroom, but an eye witness to the crime told the detective with Atlanta Police the type of car he watched the suspect get out of and assault the victim, and it didn’t match McNair's vehicle.
She said the suspect’s vehicle was a silver or gray Infiniti sedan. Mignott said while her client drives a silver Infiniti, it’s not a sedan but an SUV.
Mignott said on top of all that, the victim himself reached out to her a couple of weeks ago and said he didn’t believe her client was the one who attacked him.
“(The victim) called my office on October 29th, (he) said I feel so bad I’ve been saying since the first appearance that I don’t think I have the right guy, that I don’t think that’s the guy but no one will listen to me,” Mignott said.
She said that, with all the evidence, she first went to a judge in Fulton County to get her client released on bond, knowing the facts she could gather during her investigation. However, Mignott said the duty judge working that day disagreed.
Mignott said that they found out that McNair was indicted at the last minute during all this.
"I said are you kidding me? I have so many other cases that are pending in this jurisdiction that are one year, two year, three years old that haven't been indicted yet, are you kidding me, you all indicted this case?" she explained.
Mignott said she immediately filed a speedy trial demand. This forces the district attorney to try the case in a particular court, and if you don't, the case is dismissed by law with prejudice.
"I wanted to move the case because I was upset because I couldn't believe they rushed an indictment on a case where I'm alleging to you that this person is innocent or have an alibi," she said.
To their surprise, Mignott said Judge Kimberly Adams scheduled a pretrial hearing on Friday, Nov. 1 and a trial for Nov. 4.
Mignott said they showed up to the pretrial hearing and, for the first time, the prosecution that the state moves to Nolle Prosequi with prejudice. Court records show Judge Adams accepted the nolle prosequi and dismissed it with prejudice, meaning McNair can't be prosecuted again for this crime.
McNair was then released after spending 30 days in jail.
Mignott said their work is not done and will hold anyone responsible for what she described as the injustice to her client. She also said her client is not the only victim of this injustice sitting inside the Fulton County Detention Center.