Judge facing new ethics allegations [The Brunswick News, Ga.]

Dec. 13--The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission filed an amended ethics complaint Monday against Judge Amanda Williams that expands on its allegations that she showed favoritism to members of two prominent Glynn County families and adds allegations that she allowed a lawyer defending her before the commission to appear in court before her without telling anyone about his relationship.

The amended complaint filed in the Georgia Supreme Court also added an allegation that Williams, the chief judge of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, violated state law by willfully violating her oath of office.

The amended complaint that added two new allegations was filed five days before the Friday deadline for Williams to respond to the initial 12-count complaint filed against her Nov. 9. That complaint alleged that she violated some defendants' rights, acted with "tyrannical partiality," displayed favoritism and lied to state investigators.

Williams still must respond to the initial complaint by Friday -- 30 days after she received it -- but has an additional 30 days to answer the new charges.

Williams' lawyers, John Ossick of Kingsland and Steven Collins of the Atlanta law firm of Alston and Bird, did not respond immediately Monday to telephone calls or e-mails for comment. Ossick is the lawyer the commission alleged appeared before her in court while the ethics complaint is pending.

In the amended filing that now alleges 14 ethics violations, the existing Count Six was expanded with more detailed allegations that Williams admitted Henry Bishop III into the Glynn County Drug Court program as a favor to his uncle, James A. Bishop, a prominent Glynn County lawyer and former University System of Georgia regent.

Henry Bishop III was allegedly charged with non-drug-related violent felonies included in a domestic relations case and was placed into drug court by Williams, according to the filing. Williams did so when she did not have jurisdiction over his case, which had been placed on a so-called "dead docket" of cases that prosecutors had postponed indefinitely for trial. She also did not require him to plead guilty, as other drug court participants must do to be in the program designed to erase a criminal record if they complete a drug treatment program.

When a drug court staff member challenged the placement of Henry Bishop III into the program, Williams, according to the judicial commission filing, said:

"It's called being a Bishop. And I don't want to have any more conversations about it. I know I'm doing the wrong thing."

The amended filing further alleged that Williams allowed Henry Bishop III, an insurance broker, into drug court to shield him from losing his state insurance license. According to the filing, she said:

"Let me put it to you this way. He will lose his (insurance) license and he will not be able to keep up his ... insurance situation. He owes his parents $900,000. And he has to support three children and a wife in a divorce case. He is the nephew of (lawyer) Jim Bishop and because of that I tried to do something for this boy I am not willing to do for anybody else! That's it. Period. Paragraph."

Williams, according to the complaint, told the drug court employee that she was indebted to James A. Bishop for his past support.

"Jim Bishop has been there for me for years and years and years. He has never asked me for anything, ever, in the entire time I have been on the bench, to use my power in any case to do anything for anybody and he has asked me to do this ... And it's that damn simple. I mean it's that damn simple," Williams said, according to the filing.

James A. Bishop did not return telephone calls Monday for comment on Williams' implication that he asked her for a favor. There is no allegation by the state that James A. Bishop asked Williams for aid, other than what she allegedly told the drug court employee.

According to judicial commission rules, if while investigating a judge the commission determines that a lawyer may have violated professional standards, the lawyer is reported to the disciplinary board of the State Bar of Georgia. Judicial Qualifications Commission Director Jeff Davis declined comment Monday on whether any lawyers implicated in Williams' case have been reported to the state bar.

Along with the drug court placement for Henry Bishop III, the commission alleged that Williams issued an illegal "lock-up" order on Lisa Bishop, Henry Bishop III's former wife, on his behalf.

Another member of another prominent family the commission alleged that Williams showed favoritism toward is R. Michael Torras, son of Robert Torras II and grandson of businessman and developer Bob Torras Sr. There is no indication in the filing that any Torras family member intervened on R. Michael Torras' behalf.

R. Michael Torras was allegedly admitted into the drug court program against recommendations of the district attorney's office and drug court staff, when he was charged with non-drug property crimes, according to the filing. According to drug court records, Robert Michael Torras entered drug court in June 2004 and graduated in October 2007.

In one of two additional allegations against Williams, the commission said she violated judicial canons by allegedly allowing lawyer Ossick, while representing her against the commission's allegations, to appear before her on behalf of his clients in a civil case without disclosing on the court record that he was her attorney. The commission alleged that Williams allowed her attorney-client relationship with Ossick to "influence (her) judicial conduct or judgment."

A new 14th count, citing the previous 13 counts, alleged that Williams broke state law by willfully violating her oath of office, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Williams was already accused of breaking the law by allegedly lying to commission investigators, but the commission is not a criminal investigative branch.

A criminal investigative branch, such as a district attorney's office, would have to bring charges against Williams for her to face criminal proceedings.

The new and amended allegations are in addition to those that alleged that Williams improperly sentenced some drug court participants to indefinite jail terms, prevented some from access to their attorneys, and allegations that she used abusive and insulting language in court.

After the Judicial Qualifications Commission made public its allegations against Williams, she and the other four Superior Court judges in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit signed an order Nov. 18 removing her from criminal and drug court cases until the Judicial Qualifications Commission action is resolved.

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