The agency that oversees Georgia’s judiciary will hear consider in October whether former DeKalb County Judge Cynthia Becker acted improperly when she sentenced a former school superintendent to jail instead of the probation that was part of a plea deal.
Another issue that will be discussed in the hearing before the Judicial Qualifications Commission is whether Becker truthfully answered official questions from a JQC commissioner about the events around the sentencing of former DeKalb County School Superintendent Crawford Lewis in November 2013.
The JQC charges also say she violated the Code of Judicial Conduct when she refused to swear in a grand jury for the November-December 2014 term or to accept indictments in open court, which the law requires. She is also accused of having a conversation with defense attorneys that did not include prosecutors and of talking about the Lewis case before a DeKalb County civic group.
The order scheduling the Oct. 5 hearing came Friday a day after a special prosecutor began presenting a case to a Cobb County grand jury for possible criminal charges based on the interview Becker had with commission member Robert Ingram Sept. 8 at his Marietta law office.
Parks White, the district attorney from the Northern Judicial District, which includes Elbert, Hart, Franklin, Oglethorpe and Madison counties, was appointed to investigate possible criminal charges against Becker for allegedly making false statements. He did not finish his presentment on Thursday and will have to come back to the Cobb County Courthouse to speak again to grand jurors.
Lewis and two co-defendants were charged with racketeering involving school construction. According to a deal Lewis made with prosecutors in October 2013, he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor and they would recommend 12 months probation. In return, Lewis would testify against his co-defendants — the former head of the districts construction, Pat Reid, and her architect former husband Tony Pope.
Reid and Pope were convicted and sentenced to prison. When it came time to sentence Lewis, Becker refused to honor the agreement that his punishment would not include jail. She then refused to hold a hearing on a bond request until she returned from a trip to attend the Army-Navy football game.
When the JQC interviewed her in September, Becker denied there was any discussion of bond for Lewis before she left town.
Becker retired from the bench in March as the JQC investigation began. She said was retiring because she was getting married and moving to another county.
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