Cobb County - Judicial Misconduct

Judicial misconduct occurs when a judge acts in ways that are considered unethical or otherwise in violation of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct.

The Cobb Web

For those familiar with the multiple close friendships and family connections amongst the people in power of the Cobb County court system, there may be a clearer picture of why and how Cobb’s Superior Court judges make their decisions. The relevant applicable laws and the facts of the cases may tell some of the story, but perhaps there is more to consider.

Cobb County located in the State of Georgia had a population of 760,141 as of 2019 making it Georgia’s third most populous county. Despite Cobb County’s large population, there are more close connections and relationships amongst those in power than would seem to be the result of natural occurrences.

A Short List

• Roy E. Barnes
• Thomas "Tom" J. Browning
• Tyler J. Browning
• Thomas E. Cauthorn III
• Hylton Dupree
• Hon. Robert E. Flournoy III
• Katie K. Leonard
• Hon. Robert D. Leonard II
• Hon. A. Gregory Poole
• Hon. Allison B. Salter
• Charles B. Tanksley
• Kathryn Tanksley

For more information see WikiLaw page The Cobb Web.

Robert D. Leonard II - Chief Superior Court Judge of Cobb County

Judge Robert D. Leonard II was appointed to the Cobb County State Court bench in 2010 by former Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue, appointed to the Cobb County Superior Court bench in 2012 by former Governor Nathan Deal, and presently serves as the Chief Judge for the Cobb Judicial Circuit. He has been re-elected three times without opposition.

A Participant in Cobb's Notorious "Pay-to-Play" Way

There is evidence showing that Cobb County Superior Court is a "Pay-to-Play" judicial system, which by definition is technically a violation of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct. What exactly does Pay-to-Play mean in the judicial system context? It means that when a judge has discretion to appoint someone to a paid role (e.g., mediator, Guardian Ad Litem, etc.) in a case, the judge will select an individual that contributes, usually substantially, to the judge's election campaign.

• List of Cobb County Guardian Ad Litems
• List of Cobb County Mediators

Ellis v. Seaver - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 16-1-08365

In an article by Arvind Dilawar published in 2020 by the SCALAWAG online magazine, Judge Leonard is exposed for appointing a Guardian Ad Litem in 2017 to a child custody case that happened to also be the highest financial donor to his re-election campaign. When one of the parties requested that the Guardian be removed from the case, Judge Leonard required that the requesting party pay to the Guardian the full amount billed by the Guardian which totaled $12,350.00, despite the fact the Guardian failed to complete work worth that amount of pay.

Myton v. Starks - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 21-1-03662

Judge Leonard's execution of the Pay-to-Play method has revealed itself as recent as August 2021. In Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 21-1-03662, Judge Leonard appointed Tyler J. Browning of Browning & Smith LLC, as a Guardian Ad Litem over a custody matter. Based on public records as of January 2021, Browning & Smith is the highest donating law firm to Judge Leonard's re-election campaign since 2014, which is presently known as Friends of Judge Leonard, having donated a total of not less than $3,600.00 to date. Unless the owners of Browning & Smith have a habit of making poor arbitrary business decisions, its donations to Cobb Superior Court judges are undoubtedly investments by the firm from which history has shown a return.

• Update: Shortly after the original publishing of this article the parties in Myton v. Starks were referred to mediation.

Incompetence or Cronyism (Does it even matter?)

Curry v. Rivera et al. and Rivera v. Scharle - Cobb County Superior Court, Case Nos. 21-1-02536 & 21-1-01795

In June of 2021, Judge Robert E. Flournoy III was asked by way of motion to recuse himself from presiding over a custody case in which Tom Browning, founding partner of Browning & Smith who was Judge Flournoy's attorney in his 2010 custody case, longtime friend and campaign treasurer of Flournoy's, was representing an opposing party. The case was temporarily assigned to the Chief Superior Court Judge, Robert D. Leonard II to hear the recusal motion. Despite the known relationship between Tom Browning and Judge Flournoy, Judge Leonard denied the request for recusal and the case was assigned back to Judge Flournoy. A motion for reconsideration was subsequently filed against Judge Leonard's order and that matter is still pending.

Ellis v. Grubbs - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 21-1-06837

Conversely, on September 9, 2021, a Petition for Writ of Mandamus was filed against the Honorable Adele Grubbs along with a request for recusal against the entire Cobb County judicial circuit. That request was granted by the Chief Superior Court Judge, Robert D. Leonard II on September 24, 2021 and was ordered to be transferred to the 7th Judicial Court Administrator for further appointment to a Superior Court Judge outside the Cobb Circuit. Ironically, the 7th Judicial Court Administrator as of September 2021 was the Honorable Robert E. Flournoy III also of Cobb County Superior Court. In short, Judge Leonard handed the case to another Cobb County Superior Court judge to pick a judge outside of Cobb County to handle the matter. The petitioner in that case filed an immediate motion to recuse Judge Flournoy from the matter, which was subsequently granted by another administrative Judge, William T. Boyett, on September 27, 2021. The case was a day later assigned to the Honorable Joe C. Bishop.

While the District Attorney, as an agent of the Georgia Department of Law ("GDL"), would typically represent a Superior Court judge in defending against a writ of mandamus in the State of Georgia, the GDL declined representation of Judge Grubbs in this particular matter "due to a potential conflict" as outlined in Governor Brian Kemp's Executive Order dated September 24, 2021., and three attorneys from the law firm Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP have been appointed to represent Judge Grubbs against the Petitioners. This case is still pending.

A (Not So) Voluntary Recusal in Waffle House Sex Tape Case

In an article written by Bill Rankin for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Judge Robert Leonard recused himself from Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 14-1-04143 after making biased rulings in favor of co-defendant Hylton Dupree.

One alleged conflict was that an ethics complaint had been filed against Leonard before the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission. JQC Commissioner Richard Hyde works as an investigator for Rogers’ legal team in the sex tape case, the motion said, creating a question about whether Leonard would favor Rogers’ side in the litigation to curry favor with Hyde.

The motion said Leonard had presided over a case with attorney Katie Kiihnl, whom Leonard would later marry. Also, Leonard appointed Diane Woods, one of his divorce lawyers, as a guardian in a case before him, a motion said.

On Thursday, Leonard signed an order in which he declined to recuse himself from the Rogers case. On Friday, he changed his mind, based on yet another recusal motion that said a lawyer involved in the litigation once represented Kiihnl. This created enough of an appearance of conflict to require him to step down, Leonard said.

The judge said removing himself from the case enabled him to respond to the “many wild and salacious allegations that the court believes were designed to strategically place the court in the middle of a classic Morton’s Fork.” (A Morton’s Fork, named after 15th century Archbishop of Canterbury John Morton, forces one to choose between two paths that both lead to an undesirable destination.)

Previously, Leonard said, he had chosen to “stand tall, tolerate the false allegations against the court, its wife and other members of the legal community, and continue to preside over the case.” Recusal motions have “become a popular method for disgruntled litigants, like Cohen, to attack their assigned judge in an effort to judge-shop,” he said.

In his 10-page order, Leonard addressed each of Cohen’s numerous allegations, calling them either a “falsehood” or a “misleading statement.”

First, Leonard wrote, he is not under investigation by the state’s judicial disciplinary agency.

Judicial Qualifications Commission director Ben Easterlin confirmed that “there is no pending complaint against Judge Leonard and no investigation pending against Judge Leonard.”

As for his wife appearing in cases before him, Leonard accused Cohen of “cherry-picking” from the court record to make it appear unethical. “Despite Cohen’s attempts to mislead the court and the public, neither this court’s wife, nor any member of her firm, ever made any appearance in front of this court after its relationship began with her,” Leonard wrote.

As for Woods, his former divorce lawyer, Leonard said when he appointed her as a guardian in a case he disclosed his relationship with her in open court, and both parties agreed to Woods’ involvement. “There was no wrongdoing here despite what Cohen claims,” Leonard wrote.

Rogers’ lawyer, Robert Ingram, said Leonard should not have been subjected to such attacks.

“Judge Leonard has bent over backwards to be fair to everybody in this case,” Ingram said. “This is the kind of behavior lawyers shouldn’t be engaged in.”

As for Leonard’s final order, Ingram said, “You could tell he had some pent-up frustration.”

Frank R. Cox - former Chief Magistrate Judge of Cobb County

Former Cobb County Chief Magistrate Court Judge Frank R. Cox

Former Cobb Chief Magistrate Judge Frank R. Cox took office in 2001. He supervised a staff of 50 people, including 14 judges. He received his B.S. Degree from Georgia State University and his Juris Doctor from Woodrow Wilson College of Law. Prior to his judgeship, Cox served as an assistant district attorney in Cobb for 15 years.

JQC Complaint Leading to Resignation

In an article written by Dan Klepal for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "two attorneys filed separate complaints against Frank Cox with the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates accusations of judicial misconduct and makes disciplinary recommendations to the Georgia Supreme Court."

"Both complaints center around judicial temperament, and how people were treated in Cox’s courtroom." Judge Cox subsequently resigned in January 2015.

Wrongful Termination of Wanda Spann

"Wanda Spann served as Cobb County Pretrial Court Services Director from 1983 – 2003. She was appointed to this position by the Cobb County Superior Court Judges Council at age 23, becoming Cobb County’s first African American department head and judicial appointee." According to the justiceforwandaspann.com website:

Mrs. Spann had a stellar career in Cobb’s court system for 23 years but was unlawfully terminated in May of 2003 by Chief Magistrate Judge Frank Cox, a person who had absolutely no authority over her or Pretrial Court Services. Spann served at the pleasure of the Cobb County Superior Court Judges Council according to the Uniform Superior Court Rules of Georgia.

Cox orchestrated a witch hunt against Spann to remove her from her position. His plan consisted of deceitful and unethical practices such as accessing Spann’s computer from a remote site to obtain a letter she was writing to the Superior Court Judges seeking protection from his constant harassment. Cox was angry because Spann complained he was trying to force one of her employees to sign a letter he dictated in the employee's name, which contained lies to circumvent conditions of a murder defendant's bond. She also complained of his improprieties concerning the bonds of child molesters and other serious offenders.

On March 19, 2003 Cox was given a memo by Superior Court Judge Mary Staley which stated that the Georgia Supreme Court had approved for the Chief Magistrate to have supervisory authority over Spann and her department. This was not true. Cox used the letter to place Spann under house arrest/suspension.

On May 21, 2003 Mary Staley gave Cox another letter containing similar information which he used to terminate Spann the following day.