DA probes alleged relationship between judge, public defender
Fayette County’s district attorney and chief public defender have been ordered to investigate allegations that Paschal English, who resigned as a judge on April 23 after decades on the bench, was having an inappropriate relationship with a public defender who appeared before him.
District Attorney Scott Ballard and Circuit Public Defender Joseph Saia both confirmed they had been directed by Superior Court Judge Christopher Edwards to investigate the allegation.
Saia said the allegation is that English was having a relationship with Kimberly Cornwell, who has worked at the public defender’s office for about four years. Cornwell has been placed on administrative leave, with pay, pending the outcome of the investigation, Saia said.
Neither English nor Cornwell returned repeated calls to them last week seeking comment.
“We’re under a mandate to conduct the investigation,” Saia said. “We’ll try to expedite it, of course.”
Both Saia and Ballard were directed to turn over their findings to two senior judges, Byron Smith and Grant Brantley, Saia said. It is not clear what would happen after the findings are presented.
English was the chief judge of the Griffin Judicial Circuit, which includes Fayette, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties. He was on Season 4 of the reality television show “Survivor.”
“It is with great remorse that I tender my resignation, but it is time for me and my family to concentrate on a different direction in our lives,” English wrote Gov. Sonny Perdue in his letter of resignation.
English resigned suddenly shortly after Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr., another judge in the Griffin circuit, also abruptly resigned.
In his resignation letter, Caldwell told Perdue, “I am 63 years old and want to visit with my grandkids and maybe practice law.” But Caldwell later told WSB-TV that he resigned after he was visited by an investigator with the Judicial Qualifications Commission and presented with allegations he made inappropriate comments to a local female lawyer.
The resignations by English and Caldwell left the Griffin Judicial Circuit with only two remaining Superior Court judges — Edwards and Tommy Hankinson.
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.
