Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham Has Been Practicing Law Without A License Since 2005
May 24, 2010
According to the Fulton County Daily Reporter, Chattooga County Superior Court Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham, who was Publicly Reprimanded on May 11, 2010 for violating the of the Judicial Canons of Ethics, has hit another snag in her woes as a Bench Warmer.
According to the Fulton Daily Report ( www.dailyreportonline.com) :
“A Superior Court judge publicly reprimanded by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission last week for berating law enforcement agents violated rules of the State Bar of Georgia for five years by maintaining an inactive membership that made her ineligible to practice law, State Bar officials said.”
“From 2005 until Thursday morning, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Kristina Cook Connelly Graham was an inactive member of the State Bar.”
“Graham’s membership status prompted an executive meeting of bar staff late Wednesday after the judge learned the Daily Report had inquired about it and called the State Bar to try to restore her active membership status retroactively.”
“Cliff Brashier, the bar’s executive director, told the Daily Report that sitting judges in Georgia must maintain active membership. Current annual dues for active membership are $336, while inactive dues are $118.”
“The bar sends annual notices to its members that include a bill for dues and checkboxes that note whether a member is active or inactive.”
“Those who maintain inactive standing are “neither engaged in the practice of law nor holding themselves out as practicing attorneys nor occupying any public or private position in which they may be called upon to give legal advice or counsel or to examine the law or to pass upon the legal effect of any act, document, or law,” according to State Bar Rule 1-202(a)”.
“Active members, according to the rule, “shall be all other lawyers,including judges.”
“Attorneys who are inactive members of the State Bar but practice law are in violation of bar ethics rules banning the unauthorized practice of law,said the State Bar senior assistant general counsel Jonathan Hewett.”
“State Bar rules, Brashier continued, “put in the same category a judge who is interpreting a law and a lawyer who is doing the same thing but representing a client, too. I would guess that if they are in inactive status, they should not practice law.”
“Brashier said that federal judges are exempt from being active members,and judges who are not required by state statute to hold a law degree do not have to be members of the bar.”
Also, according to Fulton Daily Report’s article by R. Robin McDonald;
“Brashier said a state statute makes the unauthorized practice of law a misdemeanor. Under bar ethics rules, the penalty for engaging in the unauthorized practice can be disbarment.”
“But Robert McCormick, deputy general counsel of the State Bar, said, “We do not enforce that. We are not an agency that enforces state laws.” Enforcement, he said, would fall to local solicitors.”
Chattooga County, however, is currently without an official State Court Solicitor, since January 14, 2010, when former State Court Solicitor Tim Perry resigned in order to run for State Court Judge against the Honorable Sam Finster. Governor Sonny Perdue has appointed Summerville attorney Samford (Buddy) Hill to the position of Chattooga County Solicitor, but Mr. Hill will not be sworn in until Thursday 27, 2010.
We have left word with Mr. Hill to contact us, so that we can learn if he intends to pursue criminal misdemeanor charges against Judge Graham.
RomeNewsByWatson has also been in touch with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Inspector General’s Office to learn if there are any implications in this revelation which would constitute nullification of Judge Graham’s election, or if it would constitute fraud on the part of Judge Graham. We have been promised a formal statement as soon as they are able to evaluate the situation.
Those with paid membership can access the full story at www.dailyreportonline.com ”.
Teresa Watson
Comments (15)
Whatcha doin Watson? Get off the floor and stay focused. You can roll and laugh later. I thought something like this was in the offing when I read a comment recently by Radius. Seems Radius had heard a rumor.
So? What is to be done? Another can of worms. How much more embarrassment are the citizens of Chattooga going to accept from the good lady judge?
What about all the rulings she has handed down? Maybe this should be considered a can of snakes?
Is it possible the old gal just didn’t have the funds or maybe the normal rules just don’t apply to her? What could possibly come out next?
Dear Room4,
As you know, I am not visiting that website where Radius posts, since that particular server IS NOT controlled by Dawn Treglown’s new people. “Tex” made it very clear in the first few days after I learned about being hacked, that the RNWForum Server is completely different and in a different location than the Rome News Wire server. I am afraid of being hacked if I visit the Forum website, since David Hall and Jerry Duke are all over that, and since David said he knew how it all happened, and even has a screen shot of my stuff.
SO, while I trust the news site, RomeNewsWire.com,(Now), I have stayed away from the RNWForum for almost a week now, as well as from any and all Topix sites.
BUt, like I told Susie - I have updated the article with some other critical information, including the fact that the Georgia SOS Inspector General’s office has promised to call me back after they review the situation to determine if this nullifies Judge Graham’s election.
It just gets better and better.
If you read my response to Supporter of Truth Warrior this weekend, you will know that the Election Board is also having a hearing on June 9, 2010 - regarding Chattooga County 2006 election fraud. I have been told that this will be AG Thurbert Baker’s announcement to fine CV, and possibly others, $5,000 per count in the election fraud, which will total more than $100,000 in Civil fines.
tw
Can”t wait to hear the explanation on this one. This is better than reality tv. I wan’t to start a pilot program…The “Real Crooked Judges” of Georgia. Forget about the “Housewives of Atlanta”. There would be enough material for at least 5-10 seasons of programming. lol
Dear BIll -
It is better than TBS - which as you know, claims to be “Very FUnny”.
I have updated the article with some other critical information, including the fact that the Georgia SOS Inspector General’s office has promised to call me back after they review the situation to determine if this nullifies Judge Graham’s election.
ALSO - the Ga SOS Election Board is having a hearing on June 9, 2010 - regarding Chattooga County 2006 election fraud. I have been told that this will be AG Thurbert Baker’s announcement to fine CV, and possibly others, $5,000 per count in the election fraud, which will total more than $100,000 in Civil fines.
And that’s JUST the stuff which can be released publicly, for now.
By the way, our friend GW was sticking his head in every now and again during interviews with folks last week, in Dalton, who were being interviewed about how they know who hacked my site, why told frineds and associates he hacked my site, who hired him to hack my site, and the lame justification he was given, (which he bragged about to so many), as to WHY he could hack my site, (No really - Grand Pappy Slap and Sexy Rexy came up with a “Reason” which they told him made it legal, when of course it absolutely IS NOT LEGAL).
But GW is on TOP of it all, from east of Dalton, all the way over to the Alabama line. Now you know GW would watch your back if you ever decide to come down for a visit.
tw
PS - I think the title of your reality show should be “The Real COOK-ed Judges of Chattooga County”. BTW, have you seen all the national news on the Tonya Craft trial? Crooked Prosecutors, too, up here in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.
tw
Hello Bill. You’ve been MIA. NY isn’t the only place to find little amusements.
Tonya Craft just announced a serious lawsuit about a half hour ago against her accussers. Good for her. Her life is ruined at this point and she should be compensated for the damage done.
“Buzz” Franklin, Bobby Lee’s bitch, is so full of crap. This guy belongs in jail. I guarantee you that this criminal organization up in the LMJCC has placed innocent people in jail on purpose. They are all crooks. This could be the biggest RICO conspiracy of all time. Franklin, lied to the FBI about my experience in Cooksville. He knew damn well what happened to me but chose to go along with it to help his master. They will all rot in hell, it’s coming. God bless GW.
Dear Bill,
I have a file where the wife accused ex of child molestation up in LMJC, later, she recanted, and Buzz Franklin’s staff threatened that if she did not stick to her story, they would prosecute her! She testifed under oath, lying, under duress via threats by Buzz Franklin’s office, who CRIMINALLY allowed that testimony KNOWING It was fraudulent.
I have a letter from the wife, to the ex who is sitting in prison, confessing to all of this.
UN-Believable! But this spoor man did not have the wealthy parents that Tonya had, (and thank God she did!).
And, you all know the Sherry DeRoche story. The DA in that case told me over the phone, “Look here sugar, we know all about you and your little website….”
That ENTIRE DA’s office needs to be indicted.
tw
Some people are just plain EVIL.
I have found that out the hard
way. Being the victim! Trying to
care for an infant of 22 months
old, that had been alledgedly
molested, placed with me by
Social Services and Judge….
Eight and one-half years later,
an EVIL judge and SS, placed
her back with that family. The
child, at 10 1/2 years old, never
having been around these people,
put into this den of thieves,
drug dealers, and a murderer.
This injustice happens all the
time.
It is totally SICKENING….
As my deceased brother used to say, “There is no Justice, it JUST IS.”
Dear dw -
My sister was a Sex Crimes prosecutor in a major southern city, for seven years. The title of her unit was “Crimes against women and children” which usually meant either violence, sex or both. She saw the failures of those placed in charge of overseeing the welfare of children. So many times, children would get either worse abuse in a foster home, or, would be sent back to a violent and criminal family after too short a time, only to be sexually abused or beaten, (or both) again, and sometimes, their young fragile bodies so badly abused that when death came, it was a blessing.
Those were tough years on my sister. She used to weep for hours over the victims she worked so hard to get justice for. Gut wrenching.
Justice is Blind, because it Just Is.
tw
PS - BTW, my big sister has the same initials as you.
tw
What is a person to do? This is the reason I applaud you for doing what you do. We need more communities and people to do this, to clean up some of the corruption.
As for gut wrenching and weeping, I know how your sister felt.
I still can’t sleep at night for ‘the atrocities’ being done to this child. She is only 16, in a group home until school is out, then being sent to a theraputic home. As of right now she is on no medication. She just has an anger issue, and who wouldn’t, with what she has been through. CPS and Social Services need to be brought down a notch or two.
There is no end in sight of what this bio-mother(I’m the one she called Mom) is continuing to do to her and the judge has no clue.
Sorry for being off topic. I just have to vent occasionally. All this corruption just brings it out in me.
Dear dw -
Do not apologize. You are really not off topic. We are talking about corrupt judges, including one of LC’s Offspring Legacy, Kristina Cook Connelly Graham. I know how the decisions of corrupt judges affect devastate children.
Bear with me, and read this story,, because there is a point at the end.
When my son was 12 years old, after fighting off his father, a Savannah attorney, in custody battle after custody battle, EVERY TWO YEARS for almost ten years, I was broke and out of money, and mentally and emotionally exhausted.
The Floyd County PUBLIC RECORD is replete with psychologist report after psychologist report, always ordered by the court to assess the situation, insisting my son was well adjusted with me, that I was a good parent, and that my ex AND His father had serious problems, and that my son DID NOT NEED to go live with them.
One report by a psychologist from the Harbin Clinic detailed how my ex and his wife tried to manipulate and influence him to find in their favor. When he released his report, even though we still all had a final visit with the doctor, the ex’s wife called him and said they would no longer be participating in evaluations with this particular doctor. It would have been funny if it had not have been tearing my son apart.
My son was an “A” student, a gifted athlete AND a member of the middle school band, clarinet section.
But the night before that last hearing, according to what he told me and my attorney, (over the phone), the night before the meeting, when my son’s father picked him up to take him to dinner, he took him to his attorney’s office, where my son was introduced to Floyd County Superior Court Judge Larry Salmon, (ILLEGAL EX-Parte communication), and they sat and had pizza at my ex’s attorney’s office.
According to what my son told me and my attorney, he was told by Judge Larry Salmon that he had evidence of criminal activity by me, (HE DID NOT, and holding back if there had been would have been illegal…as it was, it was BLACKMAIL and intimidation of child), and that he would keep it confidential IF Jeremy agreed during the hearing the next day to go live with his father.
According to my son, Larry Salmon and his father told him that if he agreed to this, that not only would they protect me from criminal charges, but that his father would BUY ME A NEW HOME AND A NEW CAR and That Jeremy could finish out his school year. I already owned a home in COlleg Heights here in Rome, an older but affluent neighborhood, full of doctors, lawyers, and the like.
When my son was shaking and crying and telling me all of this that night, I called my attorney, and he re-told the story to my attorney, AND DESCRIBED Larry Salmon down to the last detail of his evil little goatee.
MY attorney assured him that there was nothing criminal they had against me, and assured my son that he did not have to try to protect me. I assured my son as well.
The next morning, at the hearing, Larry Salmon took my son into his chambers WITHOUT a witness, and a few minutes later, emerged with my son crying and begging not to be taken away. Judge Salmon ordered that custody be transferred to my ex husband. NO reason, just an order.
It is all PUBLIC RECORD, and if anyone finds that all of the psychologists reports are NOT in the Floyd County file, then please let me know, because that will mean someone ILLEGALLY rifled through and pulled out what they did not want anyone to see. I have all those reports…the originals.
My son, who just graduated from UGA last December, and is NOW trying to decide which of the several Ivey League Law Schools vs Southern Schools which have accepted him he will choose to attend come August/September, is still well adjusted and loves his momma. After the several years with his father and step mother, he wanted to disengage relationship with the two of them entirely, but it was MY and my son-in-law, a Methodist minister, who counseled him
NOT to turn his back on his father, despite all of his flaws. The mental and emotional distress and manipulation engaged in by his father and his step mother had been brutal, and my son immersed himself in high school athletics, to escape.
But he and his father now enjoy as good relationship, as long as his stepmother stays out of the picture.
However, back when he was applying to college, even though he was offered an appointment to both the Naval Academy and West Point, and Harvard and Yale found private donors to subsidize his education, all for him to attend AND play football, my son turned one after another down. He visited all of the schools, a couple of them twice, on their dime, because they were so anxious to have him. But my son told me he was tired of playing football. He confessed that he had only thrown himself into high school football, basketball and track, to escape his horrible home life with his father and stepmother.
My son and I are still very close, as are my daughter and I, who was an adult already, with children of her own when Custody of my 12 year old son was taken away. A couple of weeks ago, In my son’s Mother’s Day Card, he detailed how grateful he was for the strong foundation I gave him prior to his being ripped away from me, and offered as his Mother’s Day Present this year, a Free Pass to “Beat up BLC” – LOL… It was a JOKE, of course, but he still remembers that old pervert saying those things to his momma at the deposition in December 2007.
He has loved re-telling that story around the UGA campus where he attended undergrad.
So, trust me when I tell you that your young charge will always remember and respect and lean on the good years and love you gave her. IT is SOoooooooo tough now, I know, but she will always come home to your door.
tw
Thank you.
Dear dw-
Stay in touch with her, if you can, especially if your address changes.
tw
When I called the bar about KCG a month ago after I saw her inactive status I was told they didn’t know why she was inactive & referred me to the JQC who said that was “interesting”.
I’m sure KCG will run & hide behind her daddy.
She should be prosecuted because she DID commit a misdemeanor. She also violated the following qualifications to run for judge:14. Every public officer must take the oath of office and any oath prescribed by the Constitution of Georgia and must swear that he or she
a) is not the holder of any unaccounted for public money due this state;
b) is not the holder of any office of trust under the government of the United States, any
other state, or any foreign state which he or she is by the laws of the State of Georgia
prohibited from holding;
c) is otherwise qualified to hold said office according to the constitution and laws of
Georgia; and
d) will support the constitutions of the United States and of this state.
O.C.G.A. §§ 15-6-6, 45-3-1
& also numerous bar violations.
My question is what other violations have occurred with KCG & other in the LMJC that have yet to be uncovered.
p.s. I do have a dog in the fight as my husband was convicted by her in 2009 when she was inactive
Dear K -
That is VERY Interesting that the JCQ ALREADY KNEW, but said nothing.
BUT WHAT IS HUGE, is that you called the State Bar, noting that she was inactive, A MONTH AGO, yet they did not have an emergency meeting or inform KCC-G until last week when the Fulton Daily Report reporter called….The State Bar has been complicit in protecting daddy-kins, when he called me vulgar names in a deposition, under color of law, BUT NOW, they have tried to sweep this inactive status under the rug, until the FDR got involved. VERY CURIOUS, indeed.
That Part “c” of the O.C.G.A. is VERYyyyyyyyy interesting, and I suspected as much - c) “is otherwise qualified to hold said office according to the constitution and laws of Georgia;”
Let us keep our fingers crossed.
But you should call R. Robin McDonald who did that story for the Fulton Daily Report, or e-mail him. Call me, and I will give you his e-mail address.
I called the GaSOS’ office about that very thing, yesterday, and heard back from them TWICE today, telling me they were working on it. I did get the very distinct impression today that there is much going on behind the scenes at the GaSOS IG’s office, more than meets the eye.
You need to get a good attorney. Several folks who have had civil cases in front of her, where they lost, have already contacted attorneys. I do not know if it is her, the LMJC or the Council of Superior Court Judges which one should sue, but the CofSCJ is the overseer of all Superior Court Judges.
tw
They should take a closer look into her ex-husband’s “assisted suicide”. I’ll bet anything that she was involved in his death. What ever happened to that lady friend of Branche’s that swore up and down that KCC killed her husband and/or was involved in the death ?? Just wondering, now that the heat is getting turned up.
Hey Guys, I believe the time has come for all counties in the LMJCC district. Still reading your site TW but since I actually live in Catoosa Co., I am all over William Anderson’s web site. I don’t know when but I see the axe falling for the whole LJMC legal system. Brian House did them no favors in the Craft case. I am proud to say he did not receive my vote. Phil Summers (who I went to school with), Buzz Franklin, Arnt & Gregor are all elected officials and as far as Catoosa is concerned they are out come next election, if not before. The minute Craft was acquitted of all 22 counts her lawyer was on the phone to the FBI. In my opinion! Since Summers wasn’t man enough to call in the GBI when he saw that there was no merit for Craft’s indictment, her lawyers wasted no time contacting the FBI. I believe that Brad Wade may get an appeal due to both of these situations. How interesting that Kristina was sitting at the bench, with an inactive status, when this man was railroaded. Maybe, if Summers had called John Everett he might would have found out that Arnt is a looney & does not know how do his job legally. Gregor & Arnt are the laughing stock of the community, as well as Tim Deal, who will more than likely end up being their escape goat. No matter, if you are an elected official your days are numbered. I am praying & hoping that these investigations flows over to Floyd County & that Lorraine Fleming may really see the calavary coming her way. Do you really think it was just a coindence that Craft was acquitted and within the same week Kristina was reprimanded and then her unactive status was brought to light? In my opinion, I think not!! Just waiting on the the Fireworks!
Dear SAK - WOW! You really have been keeping up. This is exciting, if your fellow Catoosa voters feel the same way, (and I suspect they do).
tw
Sorry, for the above mistake; Lorraine Lemming, I believe is her correct name.
Dear SAK,
Correct - Lorraine Lemming, but it is almost too late for her. The habeas corpus in Floyd County was denied, as the prosecution raised an issue of some distant connection between Judge Niedrach and some other individual related to the case, so, they forced him to recuse himself. That habeas action was filed in Floyd County, as Loraine Lemming was held there after the January hearing, for about two months during Judge Niedrach’s deliberations.
So, a habeas corpus has now been filed in the county where she is assigned permanently, where Arrendale State Prison is.
tw
I filed an online complaint just now with the GA sec of state elections division. After I found out KCG was inactive I looked up (random) other judges around the state & she was the only sitting judge with an inactive status. KCG isn’t special & no exception should be made for her.
Dear K5-
Good talking to you just now. You are taking the right steps. You may also want to file a JQC complaint, although it is a tedious process, and YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT tell anyone that you have filed one, until the case is made public. Judges are almost as protected a classs of individuals as Diplomats are.
tw
Local jeweler helps teen get her wish
by Doug Walker8 days ago | 1481 views | 0 | 11 | |
Map data ©2010 Google - Terms of Use
Brittany Weldon graduated from Woodland High School and is getting ready for trip of a lifetime.
The 18-year-old’s trip to Hawaii is not a graduation gift, though. The Make-A-Wish Foundation and Rome partner Ford, Gittings & Kane jewelers are sending the teenager and three family members to the islands.
The teen suffers from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Half a century ago, very few children with cystic fibrosis survived to make it through elementary school so Brittany’s graduation from high school over the weekend was no small feat.
Ford, Gittings & Kane will be hosting a reception for Brittany tonight from 5 to 5:30 p.m. and then will take Brittany out to dinner at her favorite restaurant, the Olive Garden.
“We’re trying to fulfill all her wishes, the big ones and the little ones,” said Ford, Gittings and Kane’s Jan Fergerson.
Fergerson said that while Brittany’s wish is being fulfilled, citizens will have the opportunity to meet her and write a check to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help others like her. Make-A-Wish assists children from 2½ to 18 years of age.
“You know these children, they have a glow, smiles that when you learn of their health problems you wonder where those smiles come from,” Fergerson said. “Being involved with Make-A-Wish has been such a blessing.”
Ford, Gittings & Kane is a member of the Jewelers for Children organization, which not only works with Make-A-Wish, but also St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, CASA and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Jewelers for Children has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through charity auctions at their annual conclave, an education gathering for members of the American Gem Society. “We’ve been very fortunate to have been associated with a group like this.” Fergerson said. “There was no hesitation when we were asked about getting involved.”
“We get to work in a world with a lot of beautiful things. We live in a happy place so we see it as our responsibility to do this for other people,” said Fergerson.
COMMENT ON ABOVE: It takes a village to raise children. Where was this local jeweler and staff when their President/Owner Joe H. Gittings died to assist/minister to his children left behind? No one from his family or staff/families considered their lose. What hypocrites to boast of their charitable givings. The Bible teaches charity begins at home, etc. which is definitely not what they practice.–They are all “SPLOSTERS and “Downtowners”. Off RECORD- BTW-Doug Walker is “in” with this group to cover-up their real reputations.
Been a while since I last posted. I hope all are well. As far as our esteemed judge is concerned, I have a few “what if’s”. What if it is determined that she has been practicing law without a license? If she has done so, she should be removed from the bench and serve whatever sentence( if any) is prescribed for the crime. The major concern and issue is, will all of her rulings be considered invalid? If they are will she be required to provide funding for these rulings to be reheard? I am a taxpayer in CC and I certainly don’t relish having to pay for these rulings to be heard again. I realize that at least some of the rulings deserve a rehearing and some will have a vastly different outcome if heard by an impartial judge. Just a few thoughts.
Dear Brian,
The State Funded Council of Superior Court Judges pays their salaries, and is responsible for their failures, as I understand it. The ENTIRE State, ALL OF Georgia Tax Payers, I believe, will be responsible for paying for all of this. But I bet you a bunch of cases will have significantly different outcomes, and that could be a very good thing.
Unfortunately, that pendulum swings both ways, and there will be some criminals who SHOULD be locked up, but who may NOW get to go free because of this.
tw
My, my , my, how are they gonna explain this away
or spin their dance this time?
Daddy must be burning the lines seeking favors for
his brat.
Dear S,
I have updated the article with some other critical information, including the fact that the Georgia SOS Inspector General’s office has promised to call me back after they review the situation to determine if this nullifies Judge Graham’s election.
tw