DAHLONEGA, Ga. — The state rested Thursday in its case against Lumpkin County Coroner Ronald Fortner who is charged with 18 felony counts of felony theft by deception, 18 counts of misdemeanor theft by deception and  violation of oath of office.

Enotah Judicial District Attorney Jeff Langley called Lee Croxton, a former instructor of coroners at the Georgia Public Safety Academy in Forsyth, Ga. who once trained Fortner and Sherry Fields a registered nurse who works at Gold City Convalescent Home.

Croxton testified that coroners must undergo 40 hours of initial training then 24 additional hours each year to re-certify and that he was Fortner’s instructor in some of those classes.

Fields testified that when she met Fortner approximately 2-3 years ago at Gold City he informed her there had been a change in the law and that he needed to be contacted whenever a death occurred at the facility,  a central point in the state’s case because there was no change in the law. Fields testified that she told him he would have to speak to the facility director but said she was not present during that meeting.

Defense attorney Jeff Wolff challenged her recollection of Fortner’s exact words. “What is your level of certainty that he said there is a new state law,” Wolff asked

“He did say that to me,” she answered.

Wolff then asked how she could be certain of his exact words when she couldn’t even remember whether she met Fortner two or three years ago.

“I’m very certain,” she said.

By mid-afternoon, the state rested its case and defense moved for a directed verdict of acquittal on all counts of theft by deception.

As to the violation of oath of office charge, Wolff said, the state alleges that Fortner received payment for pronouncement of death.

“But there is no evidence that he submitted an invoice for pronouncing death. The only evidence, is that he submitted invoices for doing a death investigation.”

On Wednesday, the state submitted the invoices Fortner submitted to the Lumpkin County Finance Office and each one listed someone other than Fortner as the person who pronounced death.

The judge said she would rule on Wolff’s motion for a directed verdict after she heard from the defense witnesses.

Wolff argued that Fortner was conducting an external investigation into the deaths at Gold City. At least one witness testified that she had had worked there for several years and had seen no abuse of patients.

But the defense’s first witness, Charles Palmer, testified that his mother had fallen out of bed and out of a wheel chair and he asked Fortner to look into whether the falls were due to neglect.

“I did share that with Mr. Fortner and he said he would look into it,” Palmer testified. Palmer added that he and his wife cared for his mother until his wife developed cancer and Crohn’s disease and he had to work full time to support the family.

“He was just doing what I asked him to,” Palmer said on cross examination. “I wanted it looked into to make sure everything was all right.”

The trial will continue Friday morning.