Attorney Kevin Epps receives Champion Award for helping crime victims

by Junna Base November 11, 2024

Marsy’s Law in Georgia was virtually unknown locally until attorney Kevin Epps brought it to the forefront by bringing five victims’ rights violation cases against the Western Judicial Circuit district attorney for Clarke and Oconee counties.

Marsy’s Law is essentially a bill of rights for victims of violent crime that court officials are supposed to follow when prosecuting cases.

The violations filed against prosecutor Deborah Gonzalez were upheld by Supreme Court justices.

For Epps’ role in prosecuting these violations, the Marsy’s Law for Georgia Advisory Board, an organization that advocates for victims’ rights, recently presented Epps with the Marsy’s Law Champion Award at a ceremony in October at the Oconee County Courthouse.

“Marsy’s Law is a passion of mine and I’m not done yet,” Epps said in a Nov. 7 interview. “I have some ideas about how we can improve the law,” said the lawyer, who was appointed a member of Marsy’s Law Advisory Board in 2025.

“Ms. Gonzalez’s five violations of Marsy’s Law have put every district attorney in the country and our state on notice that there are consequences for violating the law,” he said.

The advisory board noted that one of the “most egregious cases” in Athens occurred when a family was not informed that charges against a man accused of raping their child were being dropped.

Epps, an Athens native and University of Georgia Law School graduate who works at a law firm in Watkinsville, said changes in the law are needed.

“We must make it easier for victims to find and enforce their rights. Not everyone is going to have a lawyer,” he said.

For example, he said a person can go to a court clerk and find forms for filing for divorce. He said there should be a form in the same office to submit an application outlining a person’s rights as a victim of a violent crime. Violations typically include failing to inform the victim when a case will be presented to a judge for arraignment or sentencing, or failing to tell the victim that the defendant has been released from custody.

If such forms are created, Epps wants every court clerk to have these forms available on their website or in their office.

“A victim should not have to go through a long, arduous journey to enforce their rights,” he said.

Epps said he was once asked whether he thought other district attorneys had violated Marsy’s Law.

“Of course there are violations,” he said. “No office is perfect. Victims’ rights are constantly violated, but in Ms. Gonzalez’s case they were extreme.”

With the law now in focus, Epps said, “the very people who are supposed to make sure it is followed are now starting to learn about it.”

Epps said he wants to work with local lawmakers and others to improve the current law.

“My team is the only team in the country that has ever sat in a courtroom and defended Marsy’s Law. As someone who is grounded, I know what it’s like to get something done,” he said. “If you don’t have a lawyer, filing a Marsys Law violation might be intimidating, but it shouldn’t be that hard.”

Epps said what he saw in court was not the way Marsy’s Law was supposed to work.

“What you saw me do in court is an adversarial hearing,” he said. “It was never meant to be controversial.”

The way it works, according to Epps, is that the victim files a Marsys Law complaint with the judge. The judge must read the motion and determine whether it took place. If the judge says yes, he will schedule a hearing to announce his decision. Then the victim is given the right to speak.

“That’s it. There should not be a back-and-forth like I experienced,” he said, explaining that if he filed a Marsys Law violation, the prosecution would file an answer to object to the complaint .

Changing this approach would give the victim the opportunity to talk about what happened, the lawyer said.

“This is about protecting the victim. Give the victim a forum to talk and everyone just sits there. Be quiet and listen. “That’s what it’s supposed to be – not for us all to fight in court over a violation when it has occurred,” he said.

In receiving the Champion Award, Epps joins other honorees including First Lady Marty Kemp, U.S. Senator John Lewis and former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan.

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