UPDATE: Panel Ready to Decide Kelly Marlow's Fate

Cherokee County residents could soon learn if one of its newest school board members will be suspended while a criminal case against her moves forward. 

The three-person panel that met Thursday morning to recommend whether Cherokee County School Board Member Kelly Marlow should be suspended has concluded its session, state officials said.

The meeting wrapped up this morning, and once the panel reaches a conclusion, it will forward its recommendation to Gov. Nathan Deal, said Spokeswoman Sasha Dlugolenski. The recommendation will not be made public, and the governor has 14 days to make a decision. 

Dlugolenski did not say when Gov. Deal is expected to make a decision. 

During the hearing, Rachelle Carnesale, who is prosecuting the case in Cherokee against Marlow, told the panel the school board member lied to authorities when she accused Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo of trying to run her and two others over in downtown Canton after a tense school board meeting in June, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Carnesale said Canton police were able to dispute Marlow's claim with video evidence. However, Marlow's attorney Brian Steel said his client did not lie to the police, and offered a crime scene analyst who produced a video of Marlow crossing East Main Street as a car passed behind her, according to the AJC. 

The panel, made up of Attorney General Sam Olens, Cobb County School Board Member Tim Stultz and Forsyth County School Board Member Ann Crow, will decide whether Marlow should be suspended after being indicted four counts on making false statements.

Marlow in October was indicted on four counts of making false statements in relation to allegations against the superintendent. 

Robert Trim, Marlow's partner and political advisor, was indicted on three counts of making false statements. Barbara Knowles, secretary of the Cherokee County Republican Party, was indicted on one count of filing a false report and four counts of making false statements. 

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