NDAA, State Bar of Georgia and Atlanta Bar Assn. Honor DA’s Home Run Hitters

Mr. and Mrs. Emory McClinton (3rd and 5th from left), parents of victim Lita Sullivan, congratulate prosecutors Sheila Ross, Anna Green, DA Paul Howard, Kellie Hill and Clint Rucker.

           Congratulations are “in order” for the dynamic legal team of Anna Green, Kellie Hill, Sheila Ross and Clint Rucker—the lawyers who mesmerized TV audiences with their skillful prosecution of the 2006 James Sullivan murder trial.  The trial was cablecast live on Court TV and has been featured on the true crime television programs 48 Hours Mystery on CBS and Cold Case Files on the A & E network.
            Saluting their outstanding work, the 30-thousand member National District Attorneys Association bestowed on the Sullivan team its highest honor—the Home Run Hitters Award of Excellence.  Green, Hill, Ross and Rucker each were presented with an authentic, engraved Louisville Slugger baseball bats at the organization’s April 2007 Board of Directors meeting on Amelia Island, Florida.  
            Sullivan fled the country after evading several attempts to hold him accountable for arranging the murder of his estranged wife, Lita McClinton Sullivan.   She was shot to death in the foyer of her home by convicted killer Tony Harwood whom Sullivan paid $25,000 to commit the murder. Sullivan was apprehended in Thailand and returned to Atlanta 19 years after the murder.  Following the riveting eight-week trial, Sullivan was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 
            Veteran prosecutors Green, Hill, Ross and Rucker join a long list of distinguished prosecuting attorneys who have been honored for successfully bringing to justice killers in notorious cases.  The Laci Peterson murder case in Stanislaus County, California,  the Baton Rouge, Louisiana serial killer case and the “Texas 7” inmate escape-murder case are just a few examples.  The award is the brainchild of Kentucky Commonwealth Attorney Ray Larson and New Jersey First Prosecutor Bob Honecker to acknowledge lawyers who “score a big hit for the prosecution.”
            In recognition of the NDAA award, Georgia Bar Association President J. Vincent Cook hosted a reception for the Sullivan team in Courtroom 8-A of the Slaton (Fulton) County Courthouse, where the case was tried.  The presiding trial judge, Superior Court Judge John Goger, Atlanta Bar Association President Richard Herzon, Gate City Bar Association President Harold Franklin, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys Vice-President Sonia Brown, Georgia Hispanic Bar Association President Dax Lopez and Stonewall Bar Association President Jeffrey Swart offered congratulations to the team of prosecutors and to District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. for his efforts on behalf of all victims of crime.  Lita Sullivan’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Emory McClinton, assisted in the presentation of the Louisville Slugger bats and recognition plaques.
            The Atlanta Bar Association and President Herzon paid special tribute to the District Attorney and his “Home Run Hitters” at its May 2007 Board of Directors luncheon.  The office was celebrated for its outstanding contributions to the profession and to the Atlanta community