A Cherokee County jury has awarded convicted killer Barbara Ann Roberts $309,540 in her civil suit against Coggin & Stallings, LLC. Roberts was awarded $109,540 in compensatory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages.
That verdict was issued on Thursday of this week (September 29th, 2016).
Roberts is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole, in connection with the 2006 slaying of her ex-husband’s new wife, Martha Darlene Roberts.
She was convicted in August 2008 for the murder; her co-defendant Dr. Robert John Scheiss III, pled guilty to a charge of kidnapping in connection with the case; he was sentenced to three years behind bars before being released in early 2010; he later took his own life at his mother’s home in Missouri.
Barbara Ann Roberts first retained the services of a former Rome, Georgia District Attorney to represent her; she later filed a civil suit against her counsel, Steve Lanier, alleging that he had stolen money from her. A Cherokee County jury sided with Roberts – awarding her two million dollars in punitive damages – along with $60,000 in compensatory damages.
An appeal was filed and a “confidential settlement” was reached in the case just over a year later.
In January of 2015 Stallings was given a 15 year “split sentence” equating to a sentence that would require him to serve two years behind bars followed by five years of probation and a total of $328,246.50 would have to be paid in restitution.
That was due to his being found guilty for First Degree Theft from the State’s “Fair Trial Tax Fund”; The Attorney General’s Office presented evidence during trial that Stallings stole the money through the filing of 246 false fee declarations for indigent defense cases.
