Brian Steel (top, from left), John Petrey, Noah Pines and Don Samuel and (bottom, from left) Anna Cross, B.J. Bernstein, Assistant DA Brett Pinion and defendant Bryan Schmitt (mug shot).

In a day and age when cameras are ubiquitous, the fate of an Atlanta-area in-house attorney could very well depend on video footage from the unlikeliest of places: a heating and air-conditioning vehicle.

In fact, Georgia alleges the video evidence in the case against Bryan Schmitt of Sandy Springs is so compelling that it warrants charges of murder, felony murder and aggravated assault in connection with the death last month of local real estate investor Hamid Jahangard. Schmitt, 48, associate corporate counsel and director of contracts at supply chain and technology company Manhattan Associates, was released on $500,000 bond after an emotional hearing before a courtroom packed with friends and family members of both the victim and defendant last week.

The case and events surrounding it have been heavily reported and have garnered widespread interest in Atlanta, particularly among the local legal community. It also has attracted prominent criminal defense lawyer Don Samuel, whose last high-profile client was, coincidentally, Tex McIver, another Atlanta attorney charged with murder stemming from an incident that occurred in his vehicle.

Not to be outdone, the state has brought in a heavy hitter of its own to head up the prosecution: Fulton County Senior District Attorney Brett Pinion, who joined the office in 2000 and was part of the team that handled the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating scandal case.

"This will be a well-prosecuted and well-defended case, certainly," criminal defense lawyer John Petrey, a former DeKalb County assistant DA, said.

The Daily Report asked Petrey and several other criminal defense lawyers, some of them also former prosecutors, to review the criminal complaint and supporting documents, which are mainly reports by Sandy Springs police officers and investigators, and offer some observations. According to these local criminal law experts, the following may be among the biggest issues to arise in the Schmitt case.

Video Evidence (or Lack Thereof)

According to these documents, two video recordings exist in this case: one taken from the house across the street from 326 River Valley Rd. that shows about 80% of the driveway where the fatal encounter occurred. This video, according to an officer's written summary of it, shows Schmitt "quickly make a left [into Jahangard's driveway] and start to accelerate" and "victim [Jahangard] slammed to the ground, head bounces twice off pavement and his body is rotating."

The footage does not, however, show the actual impact.

The arguably more compelling video—the one viewed by a detective the Friday before the early Monday morning when a warrant for Schmitt's arrest was issued—is from a Coolray Heating & Air Conditioning van traveling along River Valley Road toward Abernathy Road en route to a service call.

According to the detective's summary of this footage, it shows Schmitt's Mercedes-Benz sedan "make a quick left turn in front of the Coolray van and shoot into the driveway; there is a violent collision and the Mercedes' front right tire, front end comes off the ground; you see one garbage can go straight back up the driveway; you see Bryan Schmitt run to the victim whose legs are under the car; as Schmitt assesses the victim it appears he rolls him over a little; there is a massive amount of blood that starts to shoot up and out of the victim's head."

The detective notes that this footage is inconsistent with the version of events Schmitt provided in three statements, one written, to three separate officers.

In that version, Jahangard, who was standing at the end of the driveway, threw a golf ball or some other projectile at Schmitt's vehicle, which he was driving north on the residential street on his way home from work shortly after 5 p.m. on July 30. Schmitt then made a U-turn and, from across the street while seated in his car, exchanged words with Jahangard, who allegedly uttered an expletive at Schmitt.

Schmitt then, according to the reports he gave the police, started to pull into the driveway, but Jahangard pushed a trash can toward his car. In swerving to miss the trash can, Schmitt said he hit another trash can that in turn hit Jahangard and knocked him to the ground.

"I tell the lawyers in my office, 'In this day and time, if you're going to be a jackass, somebody's going to get it on a surveillance camera or a cellphone,'" Petrey said. "The fact that his story in no way jives is a real problem. If I were presenting the case, I would want as many details as possible that can be disproved by the video."

Anna Cross, a partner at The Summerville Firm and former longtime prosecutor, including a 10-year stint as the chief senior assistant DA in Fulton County, put it a bit more forcefully, though emphasizing the fact that she has not seen any of the footage.

"If the [detective's] depiction is accurate, it's absolutely impossible it happened the way the defendant said it happened," she said.

The quality of the footage may be another issue, said B.J. Bernstein, an Atlanta criminal defense lawyer.

"Anytime you have video, it can help the prosecution," she said. "But it can also help the defense. You don't know until you see what's really on it, what's missing and the angle. There are many instances where there is video, but we find out later that it's not good [imagery] or the angle doesn't fully disclose" the event.

In an email to the Daily Report late Wednesday afternoon, Schmitt's lawyer Samuel said he just received and reviewed copies of the videos, which he said "with considerable confidence are not supportive of the detective's conclusions." 

He wrote: "Mr. Schmitt's car does not accelerate abnormally as it turns left into the driveway. The car does not jump in the air (as if running over the decedent—that is completely fictitious).  The videos show only that the car hits one of the garbage cans (there may actually have been three, but I can't quite figure that out), and the video also shows that immediately after Mr. Schmitt's car hits the garbage can he immediately jumps out of the car in an effort to render aid."

Schmitt's Alleged Actions

Many of the lawyers consulted for this report agreed that one issue is likely to be in the forefront of jurors' minds: Why would Schmitt turn around to confront Jahangard rather than continue to drive down the street?

"It is never great for a citizen to be coming on to someone else's property armed, as the prosecution is going to argue in this case, with a weapon," defense lawyer Brian Steel said. "The issue is going to arise: 'Why does he have to be in the vehicle when he comes up the driveway? Why can't he park the car and get out and [get] closer to the individual if he wants to warn him that he's going to cause an accident by throwing a golf ball?'"

Steel continued: "Nobody will let attorney Schmitt go home if they believe he is the aggressor and the aggression is the nexus or probable cause of his death. If they think that he was the aggressor and acting inappropriately, jurors will be very angry with him."

Noah Pines, a defense attorney at Ross & Pines and former misdemeanor and felony prosecutor in DeKalb County, agreed, noting that a defense challenge will be addressing "why the defendant pulled a U-turn and into the driveway and didn't drive on, pull over later and call the police."

But while those actions may present challenges for the defense, other postcollision conduct by Schmitt may be beneficial, Pines added. According to Samuel, Schmitt tried to assist Jahangard, stayed on the scene, talked to the police for three hours and then was allowed to drive his car home.

"You don't purposely run someone over and then render aid," Pines said. "If the intent is to kill the guy, why is he running to his aid?"

Schmitt's Character and Reputation

Schmitt's actions well before this incident, namely his character and reputation, may prove just as important as his conduct afterward, the defense lawyers said.

A graduate of Georgia State University College of Law and a member in good standing of the State Bar since 2015, Schmitt served in the military for seven years, honorably discharged as a U.S. Army captain, before attending law school. In addition to living—along with his wife—in the area for 13 years and having no criminal record of any kind, five witnesses testified during his bond hearing last week that Schmitt is never prone to anger or aggression. In letters, several other character witnesses also spoke of Schmitt's thoughtfulness, respect toward others, leadership skills and success as an attorney.

"The defendant is someone who would present very credibly in most situations: educated, well-spoken and someone without a criminal history," ex-assistant DA Cross said.

Relatedly, the state's position that "this is a horrible execution of road rage doesn't make sense in our day-to-day experiences," former assistant DA Petrey said. "This is not that kind of case. It's so out of the ordinary, I would be concerned that a lot of jurors would be scratching their heads."

He continued: "If I were prosecuting the case, I would not be trying to portray Mr. Schmitt as a thug driving around looking for a fight, but as an incident where something went off with him at that moment. You would have to present to the jury the potential that this just happened to be the wrong golf ball at the wrong time for Mr. Schmitt, that this is the catalyst that brought out rage that was already there for some reason."

Altered Scene

According to court documents, Schmitt's car and the garbage can were moved before the first responding officer arrived on the scene.

"Apparently, the trash can placement and movement are a big deal with this case, but we don't have the full picture of what the scene looked like," Bernstein said.

In addition, rain moved through the area that night, washing away blood evidence. In fact, according to an officer report, the only picture showing blood evidence is a photo taken with a phone by a woman living at 318 River Valley Rd. at the time of the incident.

"Traditionally, blood-spatter patterns are really important in recreating a situation, and that's not here," Bernstein added.

Charges of Overcharging

Samuel has vehemently maintained that his client never had any intent to strike or harm the victim and has characterized the charge of malice murder as "a disgraceful use of the murder statute."

Samuel has even conceded that the incident may amount to a criminal one but certainly not malice murder. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Pines observed that the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, or an allegation that Schmitt acted in the heat of passion after Jahangard allegedly threw a golf ball at his car, could come into play in the case.

Said Samuel: "We can talk about reckless driving, a misdemeanor, or even vehicular homicide, which would put us back in rational territory. Right now we're in the Twilight Zone."