A judge has dismissed charges in a long-running prom night rape case that began in Calhoun, ruling that the defendants’ constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated after the case remained unresolved for more than a decade.
The decision came in a recent order filed in Gilmer County, where the judge granted a legal motion known as a “plea in bar,” effectively dismissing the indictment against the three defendants and ending the criminal case.
The case began in 2014 after a woman accused three former Calhoun High School students — Fields Chapman, Andrew Haynes and Damon Avery Johnson — of sexually assaulting her at an alcohol-fueled post-prom party in Ellijay while she was unconscious. Prosecutors charged the men with multiple offenses, including aggravated sexual battery, aggravated battery, sexual battery and public indecency. The defendants denied the allegations, and a witness later testified the encounter was consensual.
In the ruling, Judge Tom Davis noted that more than 10 years passed between the arrests and the filing of the defense motion in 2025, describing the delay as “uncommonly long.” Davis, the fourth judge assigned to the case, said the defendants had spent roughly a third of their lives awaiting trial.
The court cited several reasons for the delays, including turnover among judges and prosecutors, disruptions caused by the COVID-19 judicial emergency, and failures by the state to provide complete discovery materials in a timely manner. The judge also criticized what the order described as “several multi-year periods of inaction,” saying there was no clear explanation for why the case stalled for so long.
“To put it frankly, there were several years when no action was scheduled and nothing was accomplished, least of all a trial,” Davis wrote.
According to the ruling, the lengthy delay caused lasting stress and uncertainty for the defendants while the charges remained pending. The judge wrote that each defendant lost educational or career opportunities during the years-long process. Chapman testified he received death threats for several years, Haynes said he could not become a licensed electrical contractor because of the pending case, and Johnson’s attorney said his client lost college baseball opportunities.
In dismissing the case, Davis concluded that the defendants’ constitutional right to a speedy trial had been “irreparably denied.”
The order also acknowledged the emotional impact the ruling could have on the alleged victim.
“This court is mindful of the sad, harsh fact that if this ruling is upheld, the alleged victim will be denied her chance to be heard,” Davis wrote, while emphasizing the court’s obligation to uphold the constitutional rights of the accused.
An attorney representing Johnson said his client felt relief after the ruling, though not celebration.
“This process has been grueling and has put his life on hold for quite a while,” attorney Jesse Vaughn said. “This case is not typical and had a lot of twists and turns.”
The ruling can still be appealed by prosecutors.
