Monday, July 13, 2015

Arrest warrant application for Probate Judge filed in Magistrate Court


CONYERS - A new chapter in the saga between Rockdale County Probate Court Judge Charles Mays and former Probate Court worker Freya Pearson has just started.

An arrest warrant application seeking Mays' arrest was filed by Pearson in Rockdale County Magistrate Court Tuesday morning. She is accusing him of committing two counts of thefts of services, two counts of theft by deception and forgery, all felony charges.

Pearson is seeking about $20,000 she claims is owned to her from her time spent working in the Probate Court office from February 2014 to June 2014. During that time span, she says she was paid $2,500.

Nine months ago, Pearson, through her attorney Michael Waldrop, who also serves Conyers' attorney, filed for an arrest warrant in Rockdale County Superior Court on largely the same charges. All the judges in the county recused themselves from the case so it was heard by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Linda Hunter. During initial discussions at the April 15 hearing, Judge Hunter told Pearson and Waldrop that a case of this nature would best be handled in Magistrate Court.

Waldrop previously told The News, "[Magistrate Court is] better positioned to handle cases like this... She felt like it would be a better use of the court's resources."

The Superior Court hearing was put on hold after a question of conflict of interest arose regarding Waldrop serving as Pearson's attorney. Judge Hunter was to issue a written decision on the matter.

However, in May, the arrest warrant application was dropped in Superior Court and Waldrop told The News the Pearson camp would be filing for an arrest warrant in Magistrate Court to continue the fight in getting Pearson her justice.

Waldrop's announcement came after the Gary Washington, Mays' attorney, declared the situation between the two opposing parties over, since Waldrop and Pearson filed a motion to dismiss the Superior Court application for an arrest warrant against Mays without prejudice on May 5.

"It is over. It is finished. It is done," said Washington, during a press conference held at the Hawthorn Suites, 1659 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, on May 26.

""It's neither over, finished, nor done," Waldrop said at the time.

Full Article & Source:
Arrest warrant application for Probate Judge filed in Magistrate Court

See Also:
Accountability court effort led to legal woes for Probate Court judge

Mental Health Court Waiver Denied for Georgia Probate Judge Mays

Probate Judge Troubles Continue

Attorney for Rockdale Probate Court Judge Mays says case has been dismissed

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This has been going on a while and I'm interested in how it turns out.

StandUp said...

Fascinating story and one to watch.