Fulton DA: Judge Bedford and I are ‘not fine’
October 30, 2008 at 5:41 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsFulton County District Attorney Paul Howard — who as you may recall was ordered handcuffed during a trial by Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford — says that contrary to a recent piece in the Fulton County Daily Report, he and the controversial judge haven’t exactly made up and become best buds.
The DA’s office sent the following message to the Superior Court today. (It was also posted in our comments):
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2008
Statement from District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr.
Refutes Claim of Reconciliation with Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr.
On Tuesday, October 28, 2008, The Daily Report published a story about the judicial election between Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr. and his opponent, Magistrate Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms. As part of the story, the newspaper report quoted Judge Bedford as saying, “Howard and I have shaken hands and have spoken since then. We’re fine.”
Since my election as District Attorney, I have refrained from participating in judicial elections involving incumbent judges. National Prosecution Standards require prosecutors to avoid any activities which may appear to conflict with the duties and responsibilities of the prosecutor’s office. My belief is that involvement in incumbent judge elections is one such activity. That position notwithstanding, the statement made by Judge Bedford demands clarification. We have not shaken hands and resolved this matter. We are not fine.
I regard Judge Bedford’s treatment of me and the office I represent during this incident as one of the most sinister, ignominious and personally painful actions that I have witnessed or experienced as a lawyer and as a person. I believe that illegally limiting or curtailing the freedom of any citizen violates one of the highest protections guaranteed by the Constitution and our system of laws.
I stand strongly behind the findings of independent special prosecutor Danny Craig, who, incidentally, is now a judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit, that Judge Bedford’s actions constituted “an unlawful arrest”.
October 30th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I am so pleased that the truth about this unqualified, misguided and embarrassing “judge” has come out! I just hope it is in time for the citizens of Fulton County to vote him out of office for good! Bedford has got to go!
October 31st, 2008 at 8:51 am
T. Jackson Bedford’s more whacked than Free Snake Handlin’ Day at the Gold Dome. He got on the PA at the (potential) jury holding pen at the courthouse last week, where I was being held for hours alongside dozens of other free Americans in case of the miracle of lawyers getting their sh*t together ever occurring (it never did so we were eventually set free, but I diverge…), and started rambling on and on and on with some drool about the Revolutionary War, a point in history of which he seemed to have learned about mostly from a Reader’s Digest left in an outhouse circa 1948. Dude is whacked. Totally.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
[...] news media, but this one is different, probably because some of T-Jack’s actions – such as chaining Fulton DA Paul Howard to a radiator – have brought him a measure of [...]
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
[...] to another blog post about Paul Howard’s statement that he still bears a grudge over being handcuffed, forcibly removed from Bedford’s courtroom and placed in a holding [...]