Georgia Police Use Pre-Signed Blank Warrants

Here's a report from the Georgia Daily Report:

"DA Asks for Criminal Probe of Former Judge Over Pre-Signed Warrants

"District Attorney Bert Poston of the Conasauga Circuit has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate former Murray County Chief Magistrate Bryant Cochran's distribution of pre-signed, blank warrants to local law enforcement officers. Cochran resigned last week to end a state ethics investigation."

How odd!  There's no reference to any criminal or disciplinary investigation against the police officers who obtained and used the illegal warrants, nor of any prosecutors who might have been involved.

Comments

[David Hricik]

Welcome to Georgia, Monroe. Welcome to Georgia! Kidding. I don't know that it would have been reported.

[Charles Olson, General Counsel, Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia]

I would point out to the person who wrote "[t]here's no reference to any criminal or disciplinary investigation against the police officers who obtained and used the illegal warrants, nor of any prosecutors who might have been involved," that it was the District Attorney (a prosecutor) who requested the investigation.

For those who are interested and want more facts, the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission has posted a copy of the consent order that Judge Cochran signed that ended their part of the investigation. It can be found at http://www.gajqc.com/news.cfm.

[John Steele]

Charles, thanks for commenting and for that information.