Hamilton County woman fighting to get husband out of prison

A Hamilton County woman is fighting to get her husband out of prison.

She said he was found guilty of a crime he didn't commit.

This story begins in the early hours of November 22, 2020, at Brew 'N Cue on Rossville Boulevard. More than a dozen people were inside enjoying their night when, for unknown reasons, Tammy Hart said her husband was jumped by several people.

Tammy shared surveillance video from inside and outside of the bar that captured what happened.

In the video, her husband, Joey Hart, is in a plaid shirt. Two men who appear to work for the bar approach him. Then, patrons from the bar join the altercation.

"That's them. That's my husband on his hands and knees. That's the aggressor on his back and the aggressor's best friend," Tammy said while showing Local 3's Michelle Heron the video.

The video shows the altercation spill out of a side door into an alley of the bar. The video shows Joey Hart being dragged out. A man in the video wearing a white shirt is Satia Siv.
The altercation seems to end with everyone outside.

Video from the parking lot shows Joey Hart walking to his white truck several feet away. He pauses halfway to his truck and unbuttons his shirt. A woman meets him and they walk to his truck together.

Nearly three minutes later, the video shows Siv walk into the parking lot toward Joey Hart's truck. His hands appear to be in his pockets.

"He's following Joey to his car. And watch, he throws up his hands. See?" Tammy says.
Then the moment that changed both men's lives forever.

"He walks toward Joey, still yelling. Joey fired two warning shots. He kept coming. And he fired two more shots," Tammy said.

Joey Hart then gets in his truck and drives to his home in Alabama. Siv died in the parking lot. Joey Hart was arrested by the GBI the next day.

The case went to trial the following November. The jury found Joey Hart guilty of aggravated assault and a gun charge. He is now serving a 25-year sentence in a Georgia prison.

"My husband is sitting in prison on a false conviction," Tammy said.

But Tammy said the way the case was investigated and tried in court prevented her husband from getting a fair trial, like the jurisdiction of the case. Siv's body was found in Georgia, but the bar is just over the state line in Tennessee. Tammy also raises concerns over the credibility of witnesses and even jury deliberations.

Notes from the case file show the jury asked to review a witness statement, rewatch the surveillance video, and for clarification about Georgia's Stand Your Ground Law. All things, Tammy said, the judge denied.

"When they asked for things from that judge that had already been entered into evidence, he can't deny them those things that they needed to see again. Who's to say that those things aren't what they needed to find my husband innocent?" Tammy added.

"Particularly, in this case, was the venue proven correctly? Were other witnesses involved that were more than witnesses? Things like that that you have to go back and look and see if a conviction is worthy to stand or not to stand." Local attorney Neal Pinkston said.
Issues after a person is convicted of a crime aren't uncommon.

Pinkston said they are usually reviewed from a conviction integrity standpoint and more district attorney offices are getting on board.

The University of Michigan Law School shows there are more than 100 Conviction Integrity Units in the United States: One in Atlanta, one in Nashville, and one in Memphis.
"Their job as a prosecutor is to review to make sure someone was given a fair trial, there were no issues that should come back to be reconsidered. A lot of DA's offices, especially in larger metro areas, have developed such units and I think it shows the need for those," Pinkston said.

Tammy is working with a legal team to hopefully have her husband's case reviewed and bring him home from prison sooner rather than later.

"We just want them to make it right," she said. "He doesn't deserve to be where he's at. Does not deserve to be where he's at. And it's not okay."

The Walker County, Georgia District Attorney's Office, which tried Joey Hart's case, does not have a Conviction Integrity Unit.

Local 3 News wanted to know if District Attorney Coty Wamp supports a Conviction Integrity Unit in her jurisdiction. We have not heard back.