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

Rockdale County Probate Court Judge Charles K. Mays Sr.

CONYERS — Defense attorney Gary Washington announced at a press conference Tuesday morning that a case he says has unfairly tarnished the reputation of a judge has come to a close.

Washington said the case brought against Rockdale County Probate Court Judge Charles K. Mays Sr., which he described as “a legal temper tantrum at the expense of Rockdale County,” has been dismissed in DeKalb County Superior Court at the request of plaintiff Freya Pearson and her attorney, Michael Waldrop.

“It is finished; it is over; it is done,” said Washington.

However, when contacted later Tuesday morning, Waldrop said the case isn’t over — it is simply changing venue.

“The Application for Issuance of Arrest Warrants was dismissed without prejudice at the suggestion of (DeKalb County) Judge Linda Hunter,” said Waldrop in an emailed response. “She opined that matters like this are routinely heard and should be heard in Magistrate Court — not Superior Court. I will be refiling the application with the same allegations in Rockdale Magistrate Court this week.”

Mays’ legal feud with Pearson stretches back to last fall and centers on Pearson’s claim that Mays failed to pay her nearly $20,000 for work she did for the Probate Court. As a result, Waldrop, who is representing Pearson pro bono, filed an application to have Mays arrested on felony counts of theft of services, theft by deception and first degree forgery.

A hearing on the warrant application was held in Hunter’s DeKalb County courtroom in April, at which time Washington made a motion to have the warrant application dismissed claiming that Waldrop had a conflict of interest in serving as Pearson’s attorney. Waldrop is the city attorney for Conyers and prosecutes traffic cases for the city. At the time, Pearson had an outstanding traffic citation.

After some discussion, Hunter allowed Waldrop to research the conflict of interest matter and submit a brief.

On Tuesday, Washington said Waldrop had failed to file the brief by the deadline. He said Waldrop instead filed a pleading for dismissal of the warrant application without prejudice.

“The charges against Judge Mays were completely false,” said Washington. “The judge is innocent because he has committed no crime. The work of the court is a serious matter; our courts exist to resolve legitimate legal disputes and to maintain the rule of law. This case, however, has been nothing more than a misuse of public resources and an abuse of the judicial process for selfish motive and personal gain by an individual with a questionable character and past.”

Washington was referencing legal troubles that Pearson faces in Kansas City, Mo.

Pearson, 41, was indicted Oct. 31 on charges that she stole $480,000 in lottery winnings from an elderly woman. Pearson pleaded not guilty at her first appearance and was released on $10,000 bond.

On the other hand, said Washington, no charges have been brought against Mays in connection with the case involving Pearson, even though the county attorney, the Attorney General, the district attorney and the sheriff could have pursued charges. In addition, Washington said Mays submitted to an interview by the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, which did not bring formal proceedings against him.

Washington also criticized the way that Waldrop has handled the case, particularly Waldrop’s initial letter to Mays demanding that Pearson be paid.

“No matter the perceived merits of the case, the tone of that letter did not convey the proper respect due to a sitting judge,” said Washington. “No matter what one’s thoughts may be about the person occupying the office of judge, the office of judge for the people of Rockdale County should be given its due respect.”

Washington also said the case has cast a negative light on Rockdale County.

“The false charges have unjustifiably tarnished the well-earned reputation of the Rockdale legal profession, their integrity, their respect and their reputation for civility,” said Washington. “Although the claims that have been made were false, they were nevertheless an embarrassment to all the fine Rockdale County judges and attorneys who work diligently every day to maintain a reputation for excellence. More importantly, the false claims have been an embarrassment to the Rockdale County community. Sadly, claims have been made publicly that were intended to hurt and injure the judge’s family, individuals on the judge’s staff and the office of the Rockdale County Probate Court. They did not deserve this.”

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

Suspect in KC fraud case wants Georgia judge arrested

Generally, when you’re suspected of a federal crime that could send you to prison for decades, staying on the good side of judges is prudent.

Actively antagonizing them is rash.

But somehow, Freya D. Pearson didn’t get that memo.

Years after she became a suspect in the theft of almost $500,000 from a Kansas City lottery winner, and just one day before a local federal grand jury indicted her in that case last week, Pearson swore out a criminal complaint against a judge in Conyers, Ga.

Asking a Rockdale County court to issue arrest warrants against one of its own, Pearson, 41, alleged that Probate Judge Charles Mays Sr. owed her about $20,000 in unpaid wages.

Asked during a brief telephone interview to comment on her legal issues, Pearson declined. But she acknowledged that her situation has turned into a media spectacle as reporters in Georgia and Missouri scrambled to learn more about the cases.

“You guys are just enjoying this, and I’m not,” she said. “I don’t have anything to say.”

Pearson, who is free on bond from the Kansas City federal charges, has been living, along with her teenage daughter and young granddaughter, with the probate judge and his family in a rented Conyers home.

Mays invited them into his house after Pearson moved there from California several months ago to serve as a consultant to his court, according to Georgia court filings. Now that they’ve become legal adversaries, the judge wants her out of the house.

Mays filed an eviction action against Pearson, alleging that she owes him $5,600 in back rent and interest. But minutes before the case was to go to court this week, Mays dropped his eviction demand.

Pearson’s attorney speculated to reporters there that the dismissal came after the judge realized he might have to testify and open himself to questions about Pearson’s back pay claims.

That attorney, Michael Waldrop, filed the request for arrest warrants against Mays under a provision of Georgia law that allows citizens, and not just prosecutors, to petition a court for criminal charges.

If a judge finds probable cause after a hearing, arrest warrants are issued and the case proceeds just as if a prosecutor or grand jury had filed the charges, according to Georgia statute.

The sight of a woman trying to jail a probate judge, with whom she is living, while fighting felony fraud charges in Missouri has set tongues wagging in Conyers, a small city about 24 miles east of Atlanta.

Charmaine Moss, a Mays supporter and the pastor of a nondenominational church in Conyers, described the judge as a generous, warm-hearted man who has become the victim of his political enemies. Voters elected Mays in 2012 as the county’s first African-American probate judge. She believes Pearson, who also is African-American, is being used against Mays by his political opponents.

“Because of it being a big deal in Conyers, it could have a major impact on the people here,” Moss said. “It’s real important to us that the truth comes out.”

Mays, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment to The Star, although just as the controversy erupted in October, he told a Conyers newspaper that he was the victim of a “political vendetta.”

Waldrop, who serves as the city attorney for Conyers, did not return calls from The Star for comment. But in court filings, he said the judge deserved to feel “the full weight of the law” because he hadn’t paid Pearson what she was owed.

“I am not sure that I have seen a more vicious and morally bankrupt stance taken in my 26 years of practice,” Waldrop wrote.

Speaking with Georgia reporters on Thursday, Waldrop predicted that Pearson would be exonerated of the Kansas City fraud charges and said that any discussion of them in Georgia was just an attempt to tarnish her reputation and make Mays appear less guilty.

Still, one woman from Pearson’s past isn’t surprised that Pearson has again found herself at the center of a controversy where broken promises, shattered trust and money are at issue.

Marva Wilson lost $480,000 in lottery winnings to Pearson, federal prosecutors alleged in the Kansas City indictment.

Wilson won $2 million from the Missouri Lottery in 2008. She spent some of the money on two houses and established an annuity that would have paid her $30,000 a year for the rest of her life.

But in 2010, a family member introduced her to Pearson, who offered to help with a real estate matter, Wilson said. Wilson said she was under the impression that Pearson was a lawyer. Later, Wilson said, Pearson drove a wedge between her and a financial adviser who looked after her lottery winnings.

Kansas City court records alleged that Pearson took $480,000, plowed it into a nonprofit company and used the cash for gambling, travel, cars, clothes and furniture.

When questioned by investigators in 2011 and 2013, Pearson described her financial dealings with Wilson as “business.” And Waldrop said recently that the transaction amounted to a loan that Pearson was unable to repay.

But prosecutors alleged it was fraud.

“She was smart, slick and sinister, and everything that went along with it,” Wilson said.

Full Article & Source:
Suspect in KC fraud case wants Georgia judge arrested

See Also:
Probate judge troubles continue

Accountability court effort led to legal woes for Probate Court judge