Just days after Angela Garmley accused a North Georgia judge of propositioning her in his office, Garmley was arrested during a traffic stop for drug possession. Garmley's lawyer immediately contended his client had been set up on a trumped-up charge because she went public with her allegations.
On Friday, Bert Poston, the Murray County district attorney, said the charges against Garmley will be dismissed in light of a GBI investigation into the circumstances of Garmley's Aug. 14 arrest.
"The investigation is continuing," Poston said, declining further comment.
Early this month, Garmley, 36, of Chatsworth, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Chief Magistrate Judge Bryant Cochran of Murray County had asked her to be his mistress when she appeared before him in his office in April. She said Cochran told her he wanted a mistress he could trust and to return in a few days wearing a dress but no underwear.
Garmley also provided the AJC a recording of a phone conversation she had with the judge. During the call, Cochran asked Garmley if her sister had access to messages they had been sending to one another. "We have not done a damn thing," Cochran said. "I know we joked around and stuff on the text messages, but I don't know."
Cochran, who denied propositioning Garmley, resigned last week. The state Judicial Qualifications Commission was investigating Cochran for pre-signing arrest warrants for law enforcement officers to fill out when he was not around and for using his office for personal gain.
Cochran, a former law enforcement officer who is not a lawyer, accepted responsibility for the pre-signed warrants and said he was resigning solely for that reason.
Cochran had nothing to do with Garmley's arrest, his lawyer, Christopher Townley, said Friday.
"For Judge Cochran, it's a non-issue," Townley said. "He didn't have anything to do with her being arrested. It's not something he has any connection to."
Poston, the district attorney, asked the GBI to begin investigating the case after Garmley's lawyer said his client was set up.
Late Thursday, GBI Special Agent James Harris said the probe led the agency to recommend to Poston that charges against Garmley be dismissed.
"It's the right thing to do," Harris said. "It needs to happen as soon as possible. ... This is only a small part of what's going to be happening."
Garmley was arrested during a traffic stop only a few days after telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Cochran had propositioned her. Garmley was a passenger in her own car because she had just stepped on a nail, and a 29-year-old Chatsworth man, Jason Southern, was driving when they were stopped shortly before 10 p.m.
According to the incident report, Southern was pulled over because he failed to dim the car's bright lights. The deputy, with the help of a drug dog, then found what was believed to be crystal methamphetamine in a magnetic box stuck to the bottom of the car, the report said.
Both Garmley and Southern were arrested and charged with drug possession. Poston said drug charges against both Garmley and Southern will be dismissed.
Garmley's lawyer, McCracken Poston, who is not related to the district attorney, said his client knew nothing about the drugs.
"Obviously, my client is relieved," said Poston, a former state legislator. "We've yet to see how high and deep this goes. But I'm very confident that operatives of former judge Bryant Cochran are in on this."
Murray County citizens, he said, "should be outraged that this can happen in this day and time. It reads like some Southern Gothic novel."
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