Court reverses order removing Macon DA’s Office from rape case

The court said the trial court’s order did not show District Attorney Anita Howard had a conflict of interest or personally created a significant appearance of impropriety.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Georgia Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court order that disqualified the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office from prosecuting a Bibb County rape and child molestation case.

The decision restores the office’s authority to prosecute the case against Harold Housley, according to a news release from District Attorney Anita Howard’s office.

Housley was indicted by a Bibb County grand jury in April 2025 on one count of rape and one count of child molestation, according to the Court of Appeals decision.

The case involves the rape and molestation of a juvenile victim, who later became pregnant, according to the court.

The issue before the Court of Appeals centered on a trial court order that disqualified Howard and the entire Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office from the case.

According to the appeals court, the trial court found that an assistant district attorney who was not assigned to the case, an investigator with the DA’s Office and an investigator with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office met with Housley after DNA results were returned.

The appeals court said Housley was not advised of his Miranda rights during the meeting, and his attorney and the prosecutor assigned to the case were not present.

The Court of Appeals said the state did not challenge the trial court’s finding that Housley’s constitutional rights were violated or that the conduct created an appearance of impropriety.

Instead, the appeals court said the question was whether the trial court abused its discretion by disqualifying Howard and the entire DA’s Office as the remedy.

In its decision, the Court of Appeals said the trial court’s order was “devoid of any evidence” showing Howard had a conflict of interest, engaged in forensic misconduct or personally created a significant appearance of impropriety.

The appeals court also noted that the trial court’s own order found Howard did not engage in personal impropriety involving Housley.

The court said Georgia law disfavors disqualifying an entire district attorney’s office based on the actions of individual staff members, and narrower remedies are preferred when appropriate.

“We note that we do not condone the actions of ADA Foster, Investigator McCane, or Investigator Carswell,” the Court of Appeals wrote. “However, because this is not the ‘rare case in which disqualification [of the entire district attorney’s office] is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,’ we reverse the trial court’s grant of Housley’s motion to disqualify to the extent that it disqualifies District Attorney Howard and the entirety of the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office from participation in his case.”

In the DA’s release, Howard said the decision affirms an important principle.

“Accountability in our justice system has to be accurate and proportional,” Howard said. “Prosecutors have a duty to hold the entire system accountable, including ourselves, but that accountability has to be grounded in evidence and the law, not presumption. The Court of Appeals correctly recognized that overreach for what it was.”

The Court of Appeals denied Housley’s motion to remand the case for additional findings of fact.