Attorney Arrested|in Mailbox Bombing

MARIETTA, Ga. (CN) - Police arrested a Georgia attorney and a client on felony criminal damage charges, accusing them of blowing up the mailbox of a nearby law firm.

Marietta attorney Angel Cordle and her client, Daniel Eugene Haynes, were arrested on Dec. 21, 2012 and released on bond.

According to the criminal warrant from Cobb County Magistrate Court, Cordle drove Haynes in her car to a specified address, where Haynes "exited the vehicle and placed an explosive device in the mailbox and returned to Ms. Cordle's vehicle and the device exploded, destroying the mailbox. Both Cordle and Haynes left the scene in Cordle's vehicle. The victim and her juvenile children were in close proximity to the mailbox and could have been struck by any shrapnel from the destroyed mailbox. During a Miranda interview the accused, Cordle, admitted to driving over to 367 Atlanta Street with the accused, Haynes, and left the scene with Haynes in the vehicle."

The affiant, M.F. Freer, who signed with a mark, includes his badge number on the warrant.

Cordle, a member of the Cobb County Bar Association since 1999, is a family law and divorce attorney, whose legal letterhead includes a distinctive halo over the "A." She signs her name with the same halo

The investigating officer, M. Randall, who arrested Haynes, describes the investigation in a police report.

Randall wrote that, Erin Fox, a paralegal for Marietta attorney Marian Weeks, saw Cordle drive Haynes to Weeks' mailbox.

Cordle's office is one block from Weeks' office.

"Erin advised that she was driving by her place of work when she noticed a yellow Hummer parked in front of the building. She was aware that the vehicle belonged to Angel Cordle," Randall wrote in the police report.

"When she pulled up next to the vehicle, she observed the offender, Daniel Haynes running away from the mailbox located at 367 Atlanta St. Haynes entered into the passenger seat of Cordle's vehicle. Erin asked Cordle what Haynes had place[d] in the mailbox. Cordle would not tell Erin what was placed in the mailbox. Cordle told Erin that it was just a joke and she was trying to help. While Erin was speaking to Cordle, the mailbox exploded. Cordle then drove away from the scene and returned prior to my arrival."

Fox told the Marietta Daily Journal that she was with her three children, on the way to look at Christmas lights at a nearby university campus, when she saw Cordle's car at the mailbox.

"I recognized it as the yellow Hummer belonging to Angel Cordle," Fox told the newspaper. "She's the only one who drives a yellow Hummer around here like that, and her office is located behind ours."

According to Officer Randall's incident report: "Erin had some juveniles in the vehicle that also witnessed the incident. They saw Haynes with what they described as a firecracker in his hands and place it into the mailbox."

Fox told the Daily Journal: "It blew up the mailbox and a part landed a foot away from my son, thank God who was still in the car. This would have killed somebody. Thank God it detonated when it did because if it had not detonated when it did, and I had not seen it, and they had just driven off, our mail carrier would have been dead the next day when he opened that mailbox."

Cordle blamed the incident on skateboarders, Randall wrote in his report.

"I spoke to Cordle," the officer wrote. "She advised that she heard skateboarders on the front porch of her business, located at 199 Frasier St. When she opened the front door there was a bag that was on fire. Cordle stomped the fire out and inside the bag was dog feces. After cleaning up the dog feces, she got in her car and left. She saw the skateboarders walking on Atlanta St. She observed one of the skateboarders open the mailbox to 367 Atlanta St. Cordle asked Haynes to see what they had put in the mailbox. When Haynes returned to the vehicle, Erin arrived on scene. While they were talking, the mailbox exploded."

Haynes denied placing an explosive device into the mailbox, but said he didn't see any skateboarders, Randall wrote.

"I spoke to Haynes. He stated that he did not see the group of skateboarders by the mailbox. He advised he did not go to the mailbox to look into it. He denied placing an explosive device into the mailbox," Randall wrote in the incident report.

Randall wrote that he searched the area around the mailbox and collected "what appeared to be pieces of an explosive device. The inside of the mailbox had black marking on it that appeared to be from an explosive device."

Randall arrested Haynes for damage to property, according to the police report.

The Marietta police chief turned the case over to the Bureau of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Postal Service, the Daily Journal reported.

Calls and emails to Cordle's attorney and to Weeks' office were not returned.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit