Indicted ex-judge denies charges
A former North Georgia judge indicted on federal civil rights charges on Thursday pleaded not guilty and then issued a statement denying wrongdoing.
“I’ve certainly not sexually harassed anybody or planted any drugs,” Bryant Cochran, the former chief judge of Murray County’s Magistrate Court, said outside the federal courthouse in Rome after a brief first appearance hearing.
Cochran, 44, of Chatsworth, was indicted this week on charges that he conspired to plant drugs on a woman who had publicly accused him of propositioning her in his chambers. The woman, Angela Garmley, watched the court proceedings with her husband from the gallery.
Cochran served as a judge from early 2004 until August 2012, when he resigned in the face of an investigation by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission. The GBI and FBI then began their own investigation which led to this week’s indictment. Cochran also is charged with sexually assaulting a court employee over a six-year span, witness tampering and conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.
Cochran entered the courtroom with his wrists in handcuffs and his legs shackled. He formally entered his plea of not guilty and was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Asked how it felt to appear shackled before a federal magistrate, Cochran said, “I’m no better than anybody else. … It didn’t bother me. It’s the beginning to an end.”
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
