Former School Board Member, Associates Granted Appeal Bond

A former Cherokee County School Board member, her husband and their associate have been granted an appeal bond.

Cherokee County Superior Court Judge Ellen McElyea on Friday granted the bond for Robert and Kelly Trim and Barbara Knowles.

An appeal bond allows a defendant to remain out of jail pending an appeal. Both Robert and Kelly Trim, who now live in Kennesaw, appeared in court Friday morning with their attorneys and some supporters. Knowles, who still lives in Woodstock with her husband Chris and their children, also made an appearance.

The attorneys for the three defendants argued their clients were not a threat and posed no risk to society.

McElyea agreed, but reminded the defendants that they must abide by the conditions of their sentence imposed upon them in May.

Those conditions were to say 500 feet from Superintendent Dr. Frank Petruzielo; not attend any school board meetings; may not seek or accept any appointments to public office or any political parties or organizations; offer political advice or counsel to anyone as individuals or as a group or have any contact with any of the witnesses who testified during the trial.

They were also ordered not to have any contact with each other.

Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney Shannon Wallace said that while the state opposed the appeal bond, she added “we certainly respect the court’s decision on this matter.”

Brian Steel, Kelly Trim’s attorney, also filed a motion for McElyea to recuse herself from the proceedings. Steel argued that McElyea and the superintendent have a relationship through their service on the Reinhardt University’s Board of Trustees and that his client was unaware of their alleged connection.

Steel claimed Petruzielo was an ex-officio member of the board. He also pointed out that Reinhardt has a partnership agreement with the Cherokee County Board of Education, which employs Petruzielo as its superintendent.

Steele argued in the motion that these facts were not pointed out to the Trims during the trial.

McElyea rejected the motion, noting the request was filed in an untimely and that her relationship with Reinhardt University has been made public on her 2013 and 2014 financial disclosure forms.

She also said Petruzielo is not an ex-officio member of Reinhardt’s Board of Trustees.

The trio was found guilty in April for lying to Canton detectives when they accused Dr. Petruzielo of trying to run them over in June 2013 on East Main Street in downtown Canton.

Kelly Trim, who married partner Robert Trim after the sentencing, was convicted on two counts of making false statements, both of which are felonies.

Robert Trim, a former political consultant, was found guilty on two counts of making false statements while Knowles, the former secretary of the Cherokee County Republican Party, was convicted on one count of filing a false police report and two counts of making false statements.

The conviction forced Kelly Trim to resign from the Cherokee County School Board’s District 1 seat.