Fani Willis Sued by Georgia State Lawmaker Over Alleged Stalking Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Ga., on March 1, 2024. Alex Slitz/AFP via Getty Images

A Georgia state lawmaker filed a lawsuit against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and others, alleging that the district attorney did not do enough to handle a case in which she was allegedly stalked.

Georgia Rep. Mesha Mainor, a Republican who switched from being a Democrat in 2020, alleged in her lawsuit against Ms. Willis, Commissioner Marvin Arrington, the Fulton County Ethics Board, and Fulton County, that they deprived her of certain rights after she requested a jury trial in a stalking case. Further, she alleged that both Mr. Arrington and Ms. Willis used their political connections to protect her alleged stalker.

“Standing up against political figures like Arrington and Willis is daunting; living in a system that feels broken and corrupt and facing retaliation for protecting my family is disheartening,” she said on Tuesday during a news conference in Atlanta, referencing her lawsuit.

“I would be happy for her [Willis] to admit it,” Ms. Mainor added. “My daughters are prepared because they have witnessed something like this. I want justice.”

In her lawsuit, Ms. Mainor said she hired a campaign volunteer, Corwin Monson, in 2019 but was forced to fire him a month later due to “his unruly [and] belligerent behavior.” After that, she alleged, he repeatedly engaged in stalking behavior, showing up at various campaign events, calling her phone, sitting outside her home, and arriving at her home to propose marriage in front of her children.

Specifically, she alleged that Ms. Willis “[dropped] the ball” and negotiated a plea deal with the alleged stalker.

“Although Monson ultimately was not offered the misdemeanor plea deal, DA Willis did dismiss one of his aggravated stalking cases,” the lawsuit stated. “On the remaining aggravated stalking case, DA Willis offered Monson a plea of 3 years, to serve 1 in prison, the balance on probation, with credit for the time he had already served.” However, Ms. Mainor wasn’t informed of the plea deal, which she argues is a violation of the Georgia Crime Victims Bill of Rights.

In September 2021, Mr. Monson pleaded no contest to an aggravated stalking charge and received credit for time that was already served.

The lawsuit notes that Ms. Mainor is seeking a jury trial for the case, while alleging that Mr. Arrington, Ms. Willis, and the Fulton County Ethics Board were in violation of Georgia’s Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act.

“Due to DA Willis’ bias towards Mr. Arrington, Plaintiff Mainor has experienced disparate treatment under the law as a victim,” her suit stated. “Plaintiff Mainor has been forced to advocate for herself and her safety, although that is the District Attorney’s role.”

The complaint further contended that Ms. Willis and the district attorney’s office had “failed to properly investigate the aggravated stalking charges” and “failed to interview a single person who had witnessed” his alleged behavior against Ms. Mainor. “Representatives from the DA’s Office made fraudulent representations in court in favor” of the defendant, it also alleged.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, Mr. Monson, who is running for her seat as a Democrat, said that Ms. Mainor is spreading a “false narrative with lies and gross misrepresentations” and said he will “continue to run my race for truth, justice and integrity for district 56. This lawsuit is another one of Representative Mainor’s political stunts; an attempt to sway the Democratic voters she deserted.”

Mr. Arrington told 11Alive that the lawsuit is a “waste of time and resource,” adding that Ms. Mainor has given conflicting statements. “In 2020, she claimed that I influenced former District Attorney Paul Howard, yet now she says that I influenced current District Attorney Fani Willis,” he added.

“As we all know, Ms. Mainor frequently changes her mind about important matters. As the State Bar, Ethics Board, and Federal Court have all confirmed ... she is not to be believed nor trusted,” he said.

Ms. Willis’s office has not publicly responded to her lawsuit. The Epoch Times has contacted the Fulton County District Attorney’s office and Mr. Monson for comment.

Before pleading no contest in the case, an attorney for Mr. Monson alleged in 2021 that Ms. Mainor and prosecutors were only telling “one side of the story.”

“This great country is built on the principle of the accused being ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ and I can’t stress that enough at this juncture of the case. I am confident, however, that once both sides of this case are heard, the evidence will exonerate Mr. Monson,” the lawyer, Kristi Gladden, told Fox 5 at the time.

After bringing a criminal case against former President Donald Trump, Ms. Willis and her office have been under significant scrutiny, namely after it was revealed that she was involved in a secretive relationship with her former special prosecutor in the case. A Fulton County judge ruled in March that she could remain on the case if her special counsel, Nathan Wade, stepped down. He resigned hours later.

The former president, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, asked a Georgia appeals court to reverse Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee’s order. His attorneys argued that Ms. Willis’s conduct warrants her dismissal from the case.

After surviving the disqualification push, Ms. Willis, an elected Democrat, has said that her case against President Trump and more than a dozen others is ongoing, although no trial date has been set.