Fulton County prosecutors have dropped felony charges against Amanda Williams, the former chief judge in Brunswick who resigned from the bench in disgrace after being slapped with a dozen ethics charges.
Almost two years ago, a Fulton grand jury indicted Williams, 70, accusing her of making a false statement while being interviewed by the state's judicial watchdog agency and for violating her oath of public office. The charges stemmed from Williams' answers to questions about her decision to lock up drug court defendant Lindsey Dills in solitary confinement.
Dills, who had previously been flagged for suicidal tendencies, was detained by Williams in 2008 with no access to mail, phone calls and visitors, except for a drug counselor, according to court records. Dills tried to commit suicide by slitting her wrists after being in solitary confinement for 61 days, court records said.
On Tuesday, Dills said she wasn’t happy that the case against Williams was dropped. “But I knew the state wasn’t going to prosecute those charges,” she said. “This was Amanda Williams.”
The Fulton indictment said Williams made a false statement when she told the state Judicial Qualifications Commission she had given no direction to the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office regarding Dills’ incarceration. Prosecutors said they had an audio recording of Williams giving a direct order to lock Dills up.
David Botts, one of Williams’ attorneys, said the former chief judge should never have been indicted.
“The main thing Amanda Williams was interested in as a judge was to help people,” Botts said. “And she helped out a lot of people. I’m glad she can now get on with her life without having this hanging over her. I’m sorry she had to go through all that.”
Prosecutors requested the case be dropped in a recent motion filed in Fulton County Superior Court.
The motion noted that, since Williams' indictment, voters approved a constitutional amendment and the General Assembly enacted legislation to change the operation and configuration of the Judicial Qualifications Commission. The stated purpose of the changes was a "concern with a lack of due process protections for judges appearing before the JQC," the motion said.
"Such concerns included the use of statements made by judges during purported confidential interviews being later used against that judge in a criminal proceeding," the motion said.
Because of these developments, the DA’s office changed course, the motion said.
“Judge Williams has expressed regret regarding the conditions of Ms. Dills’ detention and … disputes the charges,” the motion said. It added that the motion to dismiss was filed “with the consent of Ms. Dills.”
But Dills. 30, said Tuesday that was not the case.
She said when she was informed about the resolution of the case, she was under the impression it was a done deal.
“”No, I’m not OK with it,” she said. “I nearly lost my life. I was stripped of my civil rights for a very long time.”
Last week, Superior Court Judge Henry Newkirk approved the motion, which was signed by District Attorney Paul Howard.
Williams’ courtroom practices were the subject of the public radio show “This American Life” in a broadcast called “Very Tough Love.” When the state judicial watchdog filed ethics charges against Williams, it accused her of jailing drug court participants for indefinite periods, behaving in a tyrannical manner on the bench and allowing family members who were attorneys to appear in cases before her.
Williams resigned from the bench in January 2012, avoiding a trial on those ethics charges and agreeing not to seek or hold judicial office again. She is now a practicing attorney in Brunswick.
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