Federal Judge Overturns Jury Conviction of Georgia Magistrate Judge
A federal judge has overturned a jury verdict against a former part-time magistrate judge in Clinch County, Ga., finding that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict her of perjury and making false statements.
“U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson ordered an acquittal of Linda C. Peterson on charges that she lied to a federal grand jury and to federal authorities investigating alleged corruption in southern Georgia’s Alapaha Judicial Circuit,” reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Peterson’s testimony–albeit false–wasn’t material to the grand jury investigation, Lawson held on Monday. He also called it “fundamentally unfair” for the prosecution to file charges based on one allegedly false statement and then prove an entirely different false statement at trial, the newspaper reports.
Peterson’s attorney described her as ecstatic and says he is working to get her reinstated to her judicial job, from which she has been suspended without pay following her July conviction.
There is no word on whether the government will appeal Lawson’s ruling.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ga. Chief Judge is Unindicted Co-Conspirator”
