Fulton Sheriff wrongfully evicts Mother and children

Deputies put daughter in patrol vehicle until Mother vacated the home

On January 12, 2023, Fulton County Sheriff Deputies evicted a woman and children without a court order. The home was located in the Country Club of the South at 955 Tiverton Lane, Johns Creek, Fulton County, GA. The Sheriff's Deputies arrived at the home to evict former resident Derrick Jackson pursuant to a Writ of Possession (i.e., court order for eviction) entered by Fulton County Superior Court Judge, Melynee Leftridge on December 21, 2022. The court order did not have anyone else's name on it, not even the common catchall party "All Other Occupants." The order named Derrick Jackson and Derrick Jackson only as the defendant subject to the Writ of Possession. Mr. Jackson was not home when the Sheriffs arrived. Jackson's fiancé refused to leave the home without the Sheriff Deputies producing a court order with her name on it, so the Deputies proceeded to detain Jackson's daughter in a patrol vehicle until Jackson's fiancé finally came out of the house. A moving crew removed all personal items from the home, including the family safe, which they proceeded to break open and confiscate its contents. What would possess the Fulton County Sheriff's Deputies to take such constitutionally void action against a woman and children (whom they should otherwise be protecting)? To answer that question, perhaps events in the days leading up to January 12, 2023 will shed light on the sinister motives of both the Fulton County Sheriff's Department and Fulton County Judiciary.

The Usual Suspects: Fulton County Sheriffs and Judge Melynee Leftridge

Judge Melynee Leftridge

On December 28, 2022, Navigating Justice published an article entitled "Karma prevails and Recusal Motion ensues: Fulton Judge circumvents jury in an 'attempt' to distribute over $40K in Registry funds," which was moderately popular on two major social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, garnering over 5,000 user engagements primarily from the Metro Atlanta area. The article explains how Fulton County Superior Court Judge, Melynee Leftridge, entered an order on December 21, 2022 releasing all money held in the Registry of the Court to a plaintiff despite the fact that ownership of over $40,000 of those funds is still left to be determined by the jury in that case. Judge Leftridge further ordered that the defendant, Derrick Jackson, be evicted immediately and required that Mr. Jackson pay an additional $30,000 into the Registry by December 31, 2022. However, Mr. Jackson (represented by Matthew D. McMaster, Esq.) had already deposited over $190,000 into the Court’s Registry before November of 2022 making it mathematically impossible for the plaintiff to be entitled to all money already in the Registry and for Jackson to owe an additional $30,000 in rent through December 31. The plaintiff in the case was represented by Hall Booth Smith, an Atlanta based law firm with at least one attorney on Judge Leftridge's donor list. That donor, R. David Ware who is the former County Attorney for Fulton, was previously married to Sharon W. Ware, a former employer of Judge Leftridge according to her resume posted on fulton.org. In light of the Judge's unconstitutional order and relationship with at least one attorney in the law firm representing the plaintiff in the case, counsel for Jackson filed a motion to recuse Judge Leftridge on December 28, 2022.

The SCORPION Unit

It is that same court order described above that the Fulton County Sheriff's Deputies claimed gave them the authority to remove all residents from 955 Tiverton Lane, which is completely erroneous and a violation of the remaining residents' Due Process rights under both the Georgia and U.S. Constitutions. Though a typical eviction is conducted by the Civil Processing Unit, that wasn't enough for Sheriff Pat Labat's team in this instance. Rather, the Sheriff's Deputies called the infamous SCORPION Unit for backup when Jackson's fiance refused to vacate the home. The Fulton County Sheriff's SCORPION Unit has been under fire as of late since the World watched recordings of the Memphis SCORPION unit beating Tyre Nichols to death in Tennessee. The NAACP has since put pressure on Sheriff Labat to disband Fulton County's SCORPION Unit completely. Ironically, in an article printed just weeks later in response to the NAACP's request, "Sheriff Labat said the main focus of the SCORPION Unit in Fulton County is repeat offenders in high-crime areas with warrants out for their arrest." We'd be hard pressed to buy into the notion that this alleged focus should include evicting a woman and children in the Country Club of the South without a court order. Perhaps Sheriff Labat holds broader, more creative definitions to the words "warrants" and "high-crime areas" than the rest of us.

Captain Leon Gates

Following the December 28, 2022 publication of the Karma prevails and Recusal Motion ensues article, but before January 12, 2023, Deputy Sheriff Captain Leon Gates "posted a comment about the above described article stating 'Ya'll will believe ANYTHING'. More exchanges took place on Facebook between counsel for [Derrick Jackson] and Leon Gates."

Leon Gates has been a public supporter of Melynee Leftridge Harris on Facebook, and the judge has publicly expressed her appreciation for Leon Gates's support, stating specifically: "Thank you so much Captain Gates! I appreciate your support a great deal!!!!"

The Sheriff's Deputies claimed that they had a court order allowing them to evict Derrick Jackson's fiancé and children, though one was never produced. At least one of the Sheriff’s Deputies told Jackson’s family member that they had "the judge's phone number."

In light of her personal relationship with Captain Leon Gates and the unconstitutional eviction of the residents at 955 Tiverton Lane, counsel for Derrick Jackson filed a second motion to recuse Judge Leftridge from that case. There are presently three motions for recusal pending against Judge Leftridge who has yet to voluntarily recuse herself from the case.

Where do we go from here?

Was this a mere misinterpretation of the law by the Fulton County Deputy Sheriffs? Recall the exchange of communications regarding the Karma prevails and Recusal Motion ensues article criticizing Judge Leftridge that took place between Derrick Jackson's attorney and DS Captain Leon Gates just days leading up to the unconstitutional eviction of Jackson's family. Regardless, Captain Gates should not feel comfortable flattering a judge with public innuendos such as stating she "Looks great in the robe [heart emoji]." It is fair to say at this point that Fulton County's law enforcement and judiciary are in need of new leadership. As the old adage goes: A fish rots from the head down.

By

If you are aware of similar problems in Georgia legal matters, send the details and documents here: https://navigatingjustice.org/reporting/
February 9, 2023

This article comes as a follow-up to the previously published Karma prevails and Recusal Motion ensues (December 28, 2022).

See also

• Part 1: Karma prevails and Recusal Motion ensues
• Part 2: Fulton Sheriff wrongfully evicts Mother and children
• Part 3: Georgia Ethics Code Does Not Apply To Fulton Judges
• Part 4: Cobb County judge sets the record straight in Fulton, or is it all a facade?
• Part 5: Fulton Judiciary Weaponizes Project ORCA