An Interview with Ashley Merchant about the Alleged Kidnapping at the Walmart in Acworth
A friend sent this video to me (see below), of attorney Ashleigh Merchant being interviewed by 'Law & Crime' about Mr. Patel's case.
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In the video, after Ms. Miller's encounter with Mr. Patel, starting @ 8:26, you see Ms. Miller bump her motorized scooter into something and almost run over the foot of one of her children - a man in an orange shirt tries to assist her.
Ashley Merchant states that her investigator 'interviewed' the man in the orange shirt, and he said he did not witness a struggle between Ms. Miiller & Mr. Patel - if he had, he said he would've jumped in.
VIDEO BY: Law & Crime - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eEzuIkosmY
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The video interviewer asked Ashleigh Merchant if the police interviewed Mr. Patel prior to arresting him to get 'his side' of the story. Ms. Merchant said 'no' they did not - the police got a warrant, arrested Mr. Patel, and only interviewed him 'after' he was arrested for alleged kidnapping.
Eric Mistretta, Acworth Police Spokesperson, states that the video Ms. Merchant released is not the entire video - it seems to have been edited (see screenshot below). However, the "Daily Mail" stated that they never received a copy of the video the Acworth police reported to have -- and Ms. Merchant says that when Mr. Patel was first arrested, Sgt. Mistretta stated that Mr. Patel was trying to flee the scene - but based on the video footage we've seen, Mr. Patel does not seem to be fleeing the scene.
Ms. Merchant was also asked why Mr. Patel was denied bond. She states that the police misrepresented facts to the Magistrate judge to get the warrant, and that resulted in bond being denied.
Ms. Merchant then filed for a bond hearing, which she described as an adversarial hearing, that would enable her to subpoena & cross examine witnesses - but instead of agreeing to that, the District Attorney opted for a grand jury in a private setting, where evidence was presented in a 'one-sided' fashion, with no one from the defense present.
People are still trying to give the Cobb County DA & the Acworth Police the benefit of the doubt - and are waiting to see the 'evidence' and 'full video' that proves Mr. Patel is guilty.
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VIDEO BY: Law & Crime - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eEzuIkosmY
Posted May 7, 2025, 2:30 PM UTC