Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Formally Reprimanded for Violations of Judicial Canon of Ethics
May 13, 2010 UPDATE: It’s Official
The Judicial Qualifications Commission has posted the documents relative to the Public Reprimand of Kristina Cook Connelly Graham, on their website at www.jqc.org.
Readers can access the documents by clicking on the “Recent Commission Actions and Notices” found on the left hand side of the JQC’s Homepage.
Teresa Watson
May 11, 2010
The courtroom attendance was sparse, save for a gaggle of attorneys and supporters of Chattooga County Superior Court Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham. The special gallery, where awaiting criminal defendants and their attorneys sit, was filled to capacity with members of the Summerville Bar Association, from Ed Hurley, Rex Abernathy and Jon Dennis, to Bobby Lee Cook, Judge Grahams’ father, and Sutton Connelly, son of Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham and the late Branch Connelly.
Floyd County attorneys from the law firm of McRae, Stegall, Peek, Harman, Smith and Manning also appeared in support to Judge Graham, including senior partner Jule Peek and associate Jack Harris, and Brian Bojo, who appeared as co-counsel along with Bobby Lee Cook , Rex Abernathy and Jon Dennis in the trial last summer against this reporter, and for which the jury found in my favor.
Various court house staff members sat in the jury box with Judge Graham’ husband, Chattanooga nuclear medicine cardiologist specialist, Dr. Gordon D. Graham.
Augusta Circuit Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Craig, (No ladies, not that Daniel Craig), presided, and read both his appointment notification as the presiding judge to this formal reprimand, as well as the Public Notice of the reprimand.
Judge Craig then read the formal reprimand itself, crafted by the justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia, which entailed two counts, the first detailing Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham’s verbal abuse and attack of GBI agents last year beginning on February 19, 2009, and lasting through several encounters into the following week. The second count in the body of the reprimand dealt with similar verbal abuse/attacks which occurred on September 5, 2008, when Judge Graham chewed out Joe Burford and Gary Bergman of the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys’ Counsel, when they appeared to make Grand Jury presentment against Carlton Vines for election fraud, stemming from the November 2006 election.
THE CHARGES
COUNT ONE:
That on or about March 16, 2009, a complaint was filed against you with the Judicial Qualifications Commission by Mr. Vernon Keenan, in his capacity as the Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. This complaint alleged that you repeatedly attacked the credibility and character of certain Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agents and demeaned those agents who were appearing before you in their official capacities without justification and in a manner unbecoming your office. These improper attacks on the credibility and character of the GBI occurred both on and off the bench. During certain in-chamber confrontations, which occurred at your request, you used both profanity and loud accusatory language to question the law enforcement agents about an on-going investigation into alleged drug activities that were not subject of any case pending before you, but were instead the subject of a joint federal and state investigation. These attacks were motivated by your own personal interest because your name had been mentioned in the context of this investigation and were made in a manner that was designed to intimidate the agents rather that to further any legitimate role of your office.
Count Two:
That on or about Semptember5, 2008, you summoned to your office Mr. Joseph F. Burford and Mr. Gary Bergman, Special Prosecutors appointed in an investigation of alleged election fraud in Chattooga County, Georgia that would ultimately result in an indictment styled The State of Georgia v. Carlton Vines. You summoned the prosecutors despite the fact that you had already recused yourself from any proceedings involving that case because your father represented Judge Carlton Vines. When the prosecutors arrived at tour chambers for the hearing, they found you father, Bobby Lee Cook, was already present on behalf of Judge Vines, who was the subject of the Grand Jury investigation. Without giving the prosecutors any notice or a chance to defend themselves, you then reprimanded the prosecutors for what you perceived to be their actions handling this criminal matter. Even though you had no authority to handle any such hearing, or to administer such a reprimand, you verbally and repeatedly demeaned and belittled the prosecutors in a manner that was overbearing, rude and intolerant. As your actions in Count One, these actions were taken in a manner that was designed to intimidate the prosecutors, rather than further any legitimate role of your office.
COOK PRESS RELEASE
Following the hearing, Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham’s father, attorney Bobby Lee Cook, passed out “Press Releases”, which included the following statement:
This statement is made purely on my own and without any prior approval of anyone. I need no approval.
Mr. Cook made two points, the first being false and the second being a subjective opinion.
Point One:
First, in the interest of fairness and correctness, I would point out that what occurred that is the subject of the reprimand, took place in the private chambers of Judge Graham and not in the public arena.
Point Two:
Second, I can Objectively state that she has consistently discharged her official duties in literally hundreds of hearings and trials in a fair and impartial and professional manner, always being diligent and careful to protect the Constitutional rights of all parties, witnesses, victims and the accused. Lawyers who have daily appeared before her have been treated with courtesy and professionalism and given their day in court for their clients.
CONCLUSION and WARNING
The hearing lasted less than fifteen minutes, with the violations of each specific Canon of Ethics she was found having violated by her actions, including Canons 1, 2 and 3, read aloud by Judge Craig. The hearing ended with a stern warning to Judge Graham:
For your conduct, you are hearby publicly reprimanded. You are furthermore cautioned that ANY repetition of such conduct CAN and LIKELY WILL, result in punishment of the severest possible nature.
Now that the JQC has concluded its docket against Judge Graham, prosecution at a criminal level can be pursued.
Teresa Watson
Comments (11)
I dont live in Chattooga County, nor do I know these people, so I have a question. I just watched the I- Team’s investigative program, and I was wonderfing if Kristina Graham actually understood that she was being reprimanded in open court?? Her father made the comment that He was glad everyone could come out to this occasion. ( Really?), and then she ( Kristina) thanked her supporters for their support during this trying time and she was glad it was all over and now She could get back to the real work at hand.
My question is this- Where was the apology to the agents she admonished? Where is the apology for her misconduct?
Did she apologize and fox-5 just didnt show it?
Dear ML,
Daddy’s little girl made absolutely no apology. She said nothing until she went up to receive her formal copy of the Reprimand, and said exactly what you saw on television…as if she has been through a trying false set of allegations, like Tonya Craft had endured. (Congratulations and Thank God, BTW, for that verdict!)
As I was walking down the stairs to the first floor, a florist came in with roses for “Judge Kris”. It was all just a terrible misunderstanding and poor little Krissy had to endure it, but her family and friends stuck by her. It was laughable.
But, given her attitude, and that of her father, I am guessing she will cross a line again, soon enough.
tw
“Now that the JQC has concluded its docket against Judge Graham, prosecution at a criminal level can be pursued.”
TW-what crime do you think she has committed?
Dear Sally,
I do not THINK she committed a crime. I KNOW she committed crimes - plural.
So, let’s take a look at just a few off the top of my head:
1) Intimidating a LE officer in reference to a criminal investigation, is crime, and if it was a “Joint Federal State” investigation, then that is a federal crime.
2) Threatening and Intimidating a prosecutor in reference to a prosecution is a crime.
3) Threatening or intimidating a member of the press is a FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME.
The transcript of the hearing where she threatened and intimidated Joe Burford and Gary Bergman?…she did the same to me, called my full name, and called me “The biggest liar in the State of Georgia”, and accused us all of conspiring. That violates both the Georgia Judicial Canon of Ethics AND VIOLATES the United States Constitution First Amendment Rights to Free Press.
I am the one who got a copy of this transcript for the JQC – they did not have it before I tracked it down, and so they could not be sure that what was done to Joe Burford and Gary Bergman could be considered in the context of a formal hearing, because their efforts at tracking down where the transcript was were thwarted over and over.
I found it last fall, and copied them with it, which allowed them to define the entire in-chamber event as a “Formal hearing”, because when the judge orders a court reporter to take it down, IT IS A FORMAL HEARING. I spent hours one day to find that it was not the usual court reporter working on September 5, 2008. Then, I went up to Walker County to interview the court reporter who had stepped in that day back in 2008 to take the hearing down. YET SHE HAD NEVER BEEN asked to transcribe the hearing when I interviewed, her, and when she did, it matched word for word what the Espy’s had printed in their news paper.
SO, that begs the question of whether Judge Graham SECRETLY provided a tape recording OR allowed someone to tape record the hearing and get a copy to the Summerville News.
Now, the REAL question is whether, in the course of their investigation, trying to track the transcript down, DID Judge Graham lie and say there was no transcript/court reporting? If that is the case, then there is another crime, another different set of Obstruction of Justice crimes, attempting to hide the evidence that proves what she did and that she had ordered it transcribed.
These are just a few of the crimes KCC-G has committed, along with co-conspirators, UNDER COLOR OF LAW, which means she committed the crimes under the FALSE veil of some official law enforcement duty/authority - the BENCH.
Just because the JQC is through with her, (For this round), does not mean the feds or the State of Georgia will not pursue criminal charges.
tw
Honestly, I believe that the GBI or FBI or who ever will drop the other issues….not saying I agree 100% but “they” won a battle and there are other more urgent/bigger issues to follow….
Dear Sally,
The FBI is divided into various divisions - Task Forces are formed for specific specialties, including corruption. The GBI is too. This is all since 9-11.
What could be more important than Corruption at the highest level of our Judicial System - the judges, and ESPECIALLY when it is tied directly to drug cartels and organized crime?
We are at war, now, Sally, in case you haven’t noticed. Al-Qaeda transacts much business with South, Central and North American Drug Cartels. Heroine coming in, traded for weapons. In case you have not been keeping up with current events, Atlanta and North Georgia are hot beds or illegal immigrant drug gangs, who also traffic in human beings, often for sex.
These illegal immigrant drug gangs have made alliances with the Dixie Mafia, and recruit good old boy white trash, some as drug captains, some as corrupt LE, some as legal counsel/attorneys and others as corrupt judges - all to advance their hold in our country. The powers that be in Chattooga County and surrounds, are selling our country to Hispanic gangs and ultimately, to Al- Qaeda.
So, the FBI & GBI do not have better or more important things to go after. Corrupt judges are a major part of the problem, and the Dixie Mafia is front and center in that betrayal of our country.
Besides, I happen to know that a certain young FBI Agent who was assigned to the Rome Division back more than a decade ago, had assigned as one of his specific duties to uncover corruption of JUDGES in this part of Georgia. He told me this, ten years ago, when he explained how very hard it is to go after a sitting judge. He explained that Judges are a very protected class of citizens, not as protected as Diplomats, but close. Probable Cause, for instance, is all one must have to get a warrant to take a peek into financials or to get a search warrant for the home or office of a regular joe or jane like you or me. But in order to get a warrant or peek at financials of a sitting judge, one must ALREADY have EVIDENCE In hand, or credible eye witness testimony of a crime, to investigate a judge.
This Special Agent explained, back then, that an agent can hear rumors and follow leads for YEARS, on the trail of a judge, always waiting for that one opportunity when the evidence is public and accessible and easy to justify warrants.
That young Special Agent has matured into a Special Agent in Charge, and he runs the show in this part of Georgia, now, all the way from Dalton, running west to the Georgia-Alabama line. He was denied once, in the Bill Abbate case. Bo Loggins, Bobby Lee Cook and Ralph Kellett all got away that time, because Janet Reno made it so.
But he WILL not be denied again.
If I were KCC-G, I would be afraid. I would be very afraid.
tw
If it means anything, you have my respect.
Dear dw,
Thank you. I am not sure I have earned it. It is easy to portray ones’ self as noble on the internet. I just do what I do because I am compelled. That may be more of a disorder than a noble trait.
tw
Today was definitely a good day for Chattooga, and for
all lovers of justice. I have faith that truth will prevail
and justice will triumph. I believe, too, that the dedicated
young FBI man you referenced will earn his place in history
as one who didn’t stop until the job was done.
He has my respect, that’s for sure.
Dear Suzie -
You and I both know that GW does not JUST for a former United States President! He is working the local, state and regional side of the organized crime -drug cartel - terrorism triad, and his long time cohort is working the international angles of each, now. Sort of like the way the railroad was built across the United States…one starting point in the east and one in the west, until they closed they gap.
tw
Momentous day in Cookville, to say the least. It’s a damn shame that it took this long for someone to stand up the this group of thieves. Keep it comin’.
Still waiting for the old-man to get his just due, before he bites the dust one of these days.
Dear Bill,
I know you have been waiting a long time, but GW has slowly been working every angle. He is now the SAC, and you know what a fine man he is to have in charge. You also know that the word “Quit” is NOT in his vocabulary. When he encounters an obstacle he cannot scale, he goes back to the drawing board and re-charts a way around. He is cut from the same cloth all great men of the FBI and other agencies have been, who finally, after decades of working patiently, have toppled organized crime syndicates.
The Chattooga Branch of the Dixie Mafia, indeed, the whole Northwest Georgia/Northeast Alabama/Southern Tennessee branch is crumbling bit by bit from the foundation, because of the persistent, unrelenting chipping away of GW and so many like him who are passionate and dedicated to this critical component of Homeland AND National Security.
It is this big picture that the internet has allowed so many of us in the civilian population to see and recognize for what it is, nd which the likes of BLC and his posse have always thought we were too stupid to recognize.
It is why the juries up that way are starting to appreciate when a defendant, whether in civil court like myself, or in criminal court like Tonya Craft, have been railroaded with flimsy sets of fact coupled with political agendas.
Harper Valley PTA Gossip Mongering and Boss Hogg Run the Show mentalities are slowly giving way to a well informed populations, even in the most rural southern communities.
Finally, I am posting a link which a very dear LE buddy of mine sent me this morning, one whom I trust above all others outside of my family. He served his country, and knows all about my Daddy’s service.
So many of our best Law Enforcement did serve, and others promote the military as brothers and sisters at arms, Protecting and Serving.
We have a friend, who, as a federal agent is serving with the military, assigned as a liaison RIGHT NOW, in the Middle East, with soldiers - fighting the drug cartel - Al Qaeda connection - riskin gtheir lives and putting their lives in Harm’s Way, to defend and protect those of us here at home.
So, consider the arrogance of BLC and the Princess, and the cowards of the Chattooga County Bar Association who showed up to support KCC-G yesterday, (yes, there are quite a few who DID NOT), and then watch this video. Then, think about the two very different sides of coin you see demonstrated , first in a display of ultimate narcissism, yesterday in Chattooga County and then the second - the display of courage and sacrifice of soldiers AND their families, and then true joy and honor you see here in this clip.
But I warn you, this video will make you weep! :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGzqpGx1KU
tw
Way to go in tracking down that transcript, Teresa!!
When you have time, check out http://williamlanderson.blogspot.com/. Mr. Anderson plans to initiate disbarment proceedings against the LMJC prosecutors in the Tonya Craft case. Your website was mentioned several times by various posters in the comments section.
Dear R,
I have spoken to Tonya on several occasions, after she contacted me last summer. I was set to interview her face to face last year, at a neutral place in Summerville, Ga. That did not work out, but after becoming familiar with her ordeal, I knew she was innocent, and felt sure she would be justified.
She had the money for a good defense team. Others accused of similar as well as different crimes, (Sherry DeRche), but whom I am sure where also innocent, were not so lucky. They di not have the finances Tonya Craft had at her disposal to assemble such a top nitch defense team and professional witnesses.
IN Sherry DeRoche’s case, she actually complained about the very thing she was ultimately charged with and had been hounding so many at the local and state level to check into, just like with Tonya Craft’s situation. IN both cases, these two women sounded the alarm about politically protected friends of those in power to ruin their lives, and the result is malicious prosecution.
I hope that Tonya’s team sues Walker County for malicious prosecution. I will be glad to copy them with several files I have of others who have been accused, prosecuted and found guilty of molestation in divorce/estrangement situations, and there was even less to go on than in TC’s case.
IN FACT, in one case, the former wife actually recanted, put that in writing, and admitted she was only filing the charges to get even with her former husband, yet the prosecution then threatened her, so that they FORCED false testimony from her on the stand.
That is criminal.
I have that file if the GBI or if Tonya’s attorneys are interested at all. I plan to write a story, now that the world sees how the LMJC prosecutes flimsy cases, on little evidence, and how innocent people are being railroaded under the reign of terror that is Buzz Franklin’s purview.
tw
The Lying Lindale Loon is an apt description. When I read that you weren’t at the courthouse yesterday I had to giggle. I know I didn’t see you there because I never went inside. I parked at the Annex when a spot opened up and an ambulance parked behind me. I walked around to the front of the building because I was informed the hearing was over. When the Channel 3 cameraman was wondering around filming he kept meeting me head-on. I made myself scarce and spoke to a few people that had been inside during the REPRIMAND. I played the dumb blonde and was suprised to learn that some of those attending were not aware of the Special Prosecutors being intimidated by the fine lady judge during the Vines trial. Well she attempted to intimidate them, anyway. I saw so many suits outside the courthouse I was sure everyone had left the building. I did take a couple turns around the block to try to spot you. Failure was a good excuse as any to hit El Pueblito for lunch.
Enough of that. What world does Cook live in that he was thanking those present for attending the OCCASION? I was celebrating the day but if he was in a mood to celebrate, he didn’t realize his daughter had just been publicly embarrassed. The county understands that fact but it must have slipped his notice. LOL
Dear Room4,
Very Funny stuff, how WIC posts “Facts” as if he knows them or has them first hand, and then is so quick to point out he only “Heard” from someone else. Is that not gossip? Seems to me WIC needs to check his sources and verify. He/she has been getting a lot wrong lately. Clearly misinformed and misguided. Most people I know from Lindale and Silver Creek are much better, salt of the earth folks than that.
I sure hope WIC is not a regular voter. That is a scary thought. I bet he/she still believes Obama is not a citizen of the United States, and that he is the anti-Christ – regardless of the fact that neither internet rumor was ever founded in fact or scripture. My son-in-law and I do not agree on a lot of politics, but both of us have studied scripture extensively, and while he is a master at Hebrew-Chaldean, Greek and Theology in general, I have studied a little - and we both know that the scriptures predicting the anti-Christ came no where close to Obama’s history.
A little bit of knowledge, and lot of gossip, and trusting the wrong source will get you onto trouble EVERYTIME and make you look like a fool.
AS for BLC’s celebration, it was comical, and more than one reporter was rolling their eyes and sniggering as they read the press release. It never ceases to amaze me how people will take an obvious invasion and turn it into a victory for their Kool-aid world. Baghdad Sam, for instance, when the Americans had already secured the airports and one side of the city after nights and nights of bombing, stood near a broken down car and small crowd of about 15 and declared that they were successful in repelling the Americans and that Baghdad would never fall.
BLC is of the same mentality and posture. IN fact, come to think of it, Al Pal and Jerry Westbrook looked so beleaguered at the hearing, I knew that the rumors were true. BTW - the interstate gambling ring case is moving along well, and was a big break for the feds to add to the growing RICO Conspiracy Mammoth, which has gained speed for more than two years, as it has rolled down hill like a snow ball, picking up more and more co-conspirators on its way. Very funny to watch the clowns run around their little cartel, like a tiny circus car. Keystone Cops who have lost control, and are blinking in in the bright light which has been shines on all of them.
Very fun to watch. KCC-G was one of the first to make a huge blunder which could be folded into the snowball to add weight, to accelerate the speed of that snowball. We should all send her roses, and thank her for contributing in such a big way to the demise of her father’s organization.
LMAO,
tw
Ah just a slap on the wrist. Nothing will ever come of this or any of the MANY other crimes these clowns have commited in cooktooga county. What a bunch of bs. They get away with murder for gods sake!
I watched the news and was glad to hear that KCCG was reprimanded for her actions. I am still paying for her unfairness in my case that did turn out splendidly. I will never trust another lawyer in Ga however. It was my lawyer in Tn that fought the good fight and ultimately proved Tn had jurisdiction. I wonder if Larry hill was there at the “reprimand” since he is so buddy buddy with her.
I am also very proud of Tonya Craft and jubilant that she was able to withstand all the BS that she has had to go through by false accusations.
Dear BE -
I had several folks from several states contact me, either through e-mail or calls, asking about the TC case. Everyone felt that JUSTICE had been served, and one suggested that what the LMJC DA’s Office through Chris Arnt had done was akin to Domestic Terrorism. It’s a stretch, but I do think when combined with the other cases I am aware of, a case could be made for some sort of criminal action against them. DEFINITELY Civil. Just the relationship, as evidenced by cell phone records, between Arnt and TC’s former husband and his wife is a good place to start.
tw
PS – BTW, your UserName , here, is different than you have used many times before, which is why your comments had to go in a cache, temporarily. You are using “Blue Eyes” here, which two other separate and distinct posters have used here in the past, one of whom has been banned from this website.
I can see your previous identities, linked to the e-mail address you have posted from here. I can also see those other two “Blue Eyes”, and I actually know both of their identities and writing styles, and know you are neither.
SO, I am going to edit your UserName to Blue Eyes III, if that is alright with you. If not, I can edit your name, if you would like, to reflect your previous UserName. I just do not want you to be associated with the “Blue Eyes” who has been banned for his outrageous accusations of myself and others.
tw
I made the post game show but missed the actual reprimand. Stop and crawl traffic. Today of all days. Then there was a lack of parking. A friend was supposed to meet me there but decided that the stairs would be too difficult to maneuver.
Looked for you. Wanted to have a chat. Did chat up a couple of other people to get their take. Interesting that they weren’t supportive of the She-Wolf. I thought she was so well loved and respected. Wink, wink.
Dear Room4,
I had another one of my personalities who was a NO-show, too. She had a meeting in Rome, and even as I drove back to Rome, called her, and she was still there, TRAPPED.
Some LE buds of mine had said they would try to attend, even though it is not their region, county, or case, but, something interfered. One of them told me he would catch the other shoe when it starts dropping.
tw