Georgia mayor acquitted of charges that he intentionally stashed gin in a ditch for prisoners
THOMSON, Ga. — The mayor of a small Georgia town is back in charge after a jury acquitted him of intentional homicide charges left a bottle of gin in a ditch for a state prison work crew.
McDuffie County jurors on Tuesday found Thomson Mayor Benjamin “Benji” Cranford not guilty of providing prohibited items to inmates and attempting to commit a crime.
Cranford was later suspended by Governor Brian Kemp, but his acquittal reinstates him and entitles him to back pay.
No one disputes that Cranford bought a bottle of Seagram’s Extra Dry Gin at an off-licence on the afternoon of June 3, then immediately ran across the road and dropped the bottle in the ditch. But while prosecutors argued the bail was an intentional act, Cranford’s attorneys suggested the bottle fell out of Cranford’s white SUV after he opened the door while playing with his Bluetooth wireless connection.
Testifying in defense of himself, WRDW-TV reports that Cranford told jurors he doesn’t remember what happened. He said he probably put one of the two bottles of liquor he purchased in the cup holder in the driver’s door. Cranford said he likely opened and closed his car door to reconnect the Bluetooth, but said he didn’t remember why he crossed the road to do so.
Although there are other ways to reset the connection, Cranford testified that he is “not tech savvy” and that he has always done this by opening and closing the door of his SUV.
“That’s how I’ve always done it,” Cranford testified. “If that’s the right way or the wrong way, tell me.”
Cranford testified that he bought gin because a friend told him it would prevent him from getting malaria. The quinine in tonic water, which is often mixed with gin, can prevent the mosquito-borne disease.
Cranford said he didn’t know anyone on the Jefferson County Correctional Institution work staff and had no reason to buy alcohol for people he didn’t know.
However, prosecutors argued that Cranford knew what he was doing.
“We don’t know if there was a specific target for the alcohol — whether it was one person or all the inmates,” Assistant District Attorney Terry Lloyd told jurors. according to WRDW-TV. “But what is clear is his intention to leave the alcohol in the ditch for the prisoners.”
Alvin James, who drove the bus for the inmate work crew, testified that passersby have previously thrown cigarettes, vapes and marijuana at inmates working on roadside cleaning crews, so he pays close attention. Surveillance footage from the liquor store shows Cranford entering and leaving the store, crossing the road and then driving away, shortly before James pulls into the bus and comes out and leans over the ditch along the road.
James testified that he found the bottle and photographed it, and when Cranford drove by, he photographed Cranford’s license plate. That began the police investigation that led to Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents marching a handcuffed Cranford out of Thomson City Hall in front of television cameras.