Georgia judge charged with threatening garden owner after allegedly taking vegetables
A Georgia judge has been arrested on charges that he threatened a man who confronted the jurist about taking vegetables from his garden.
Tattnall County Chief Magistrate Judge Eddie Anderson, 70, was charged Monday with felony counts of making a terrorist threat and violating his oath of office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a news release. He was booked at the county jail and released on his own recognizance.
The GBI said a man reported to the county sheriff that he believed the judge had come onto his property and taken vegetables without permission. The man told authorities Anderson threatened him with violence when confronted during a phone call.
Witnesses overheard the judge making the threat, the GBI said.
TRENDING STORIES:
Anderson did not immediately respond to an a phone message left at his office or an email seeking comment Tuesday
Whether Anderson remains on the bench pending resolution of the charges ultimately depends on the Georgia Supreme Court. An investigative panel of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates judicial misconduct, has authority to ask the high court to suspend him.
Records show the state Supreme Court reprimanded Anderson in 2019 for non-criminal misconduct after the judge was accused of calling an auto dealer and demanding that he return a woman’s car that had been repossessed for lack of payments. When the dealer refused, the judge advised the woman to file a case in his court, according to the complaint against the judge.
IN OTHER NEWS:
