Ga. Supreme Court revisits biker bar slayings

ATLANTA - There's little doubt that Emmanuel Ruiz was involved in the gruesome 2001 killings of three people at an Atlanta biker bar. Witnesses say he admitted shooting one of the victims, and police found ammunition and weapons receipts in his father's car.

Ruiz and Terry Brandon Harper were convicted in 2003 of the murders and sentenced to three life prison terms. But on Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court revisited the case after Ruiz claimed he received inadequate counsel from his well-known attorney.

Ruiz's new lawyers say his trial attorney, Bruce Harvey, failed to request that the jury be instructed that a key witness who testified against Ruiz was a convicted felon and that his testimony wasn't credible.

It's an unusual situation for Harvey, a defense attorney involved in a litany of high-profile cases, who now finds his record being defended by prosecutors. But it's not uncommon for a convicted defendant to challenge his previous counsel's performance in an appeal.

Ruiz's attorneys say the jury should have been warned about Billy Burdette's criminal background before he was able to testify that Ruiz told him he planned to kill the owner of F.J.'s Tavern and everyone else in the bar at the time.

Attorney Brian Steel said that if those details were made available "this would have been a much closer case."

Prosecutors dismissed the claim at a hearing Monday, saying it's too late to bring up the claim and noted that Harvey has years of experience under his belt. Besides, assistant district attorney Marc Mallon said, the jurors were aware of Burdette's murky background.

"The jury knew what an unsavory character this witness is," he said.

Harvey, who was not at the hearing, said "ditto" when read the prosecutor's arguments. He said he could not comment further.

Ruiz's lawyers also say the trial court made a mistake when it instructed the jury that a person's silence could amount to an admission of guilt. Prosecutors, though, say the instructions were proper because it was aimed at the witnesses, not the defendant.

Tavern owner Joe Luhrman, bartender Tracy Glover and patron David Carty were gunned down on Sept. 26, 2001. Court records say the motive may have been a fight over drug money between Luhrman and Ruiz.

Prosecutors say Luhrman gave Ruiz $2,500 to buy drugs for him. But Ruiz kept the money for himself, giving Burdette - who was a mutual friend - a $600 cut if he told Luhrman that Ruiz was arrested while buying the drugs.

Burdette testified that Ruiz told him he planned to kill Luhrman and that he saw a shotgun and a handgun in Ruiz's apartment. Another witness said she overheard Luhrman making phone calls the day of the shootings to try to collect money from "Manny."

Harper, in court testimony, said he and Ruiz went that night to the bar. Prosecutors say Harper went inside and shot and killed Luhrman and Carty and Ruiz, who was waiting outside, shot and killed Glover after she left the bar in a panic.

Ruiz's attorneys claimed he suffered from panic attacks and that he killed Glover in self defense after he saw her with a gun. The two were found guilty of three counts of malice murder during a 2003 trial.

The court did not immediately issue a decision.