Armed with affidavits and a federal judge’s ruling, two Atlanta-area lawyers and their former client are battling felony charges by attacking their chief accuser—Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers Jr.

In advance of a pretrial hearing Thursday, the legal team defending attorneys David Cohen, John Butters and their former client Mye Brindle have petitioned a Fulton County Superior Court judge to allow them to introduce evidence they claim shows Rogers’ previous “bad acts.”