Attorney Bobby Lee Cook is photographed in the law library of his office in downtown Summerville, Ga.A prominent Georgia lawyer believes a local judge should be kicked out of court.
Bobby Lee Cook, a Summerville attorney who has been practicing law since 1949, said Friday that Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr. needs to be punished after Van Pelt accused Cook of rigging a grand jury two decades ago. Van Pelt told the Times Free Press on Wednesday that Cook somehow pulled a trick to get a series of criminal cases disqualified because the two men were political rivals.
"I definitely intend to see that you are punished for such a deliberate and egregious act," Cook said in a letter to the judge. "Your malice and statement cannot go unattended. It could result in a disbarment, and you can take it from me that I intend to employ separate counsel and proceed in a manner to get your attention."
Van Pelt declined to comment Friday.
This back-and-forth is part of a fight that erupted Monday morning, when Van Pelt told Cook's daughter, Kristina Cook Graham, that she would not be the circuit's chief judge. Retired chief judge Jon "Bo" Wood appointed Graham to the position last week, but Van Pelt told her that he and Judge Brian House wanted to hold a vote for the position instead - now that Wood is out of the picture.
In a three-person election, Van Pelt and House then voted for Van Pelt to be the new chief judge, a position that allows him to make appointments to local boards and run the law libraries in Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties.
Graham has not returned multiple calls seeking comment this week, including one made Friday evening. But Van Pelt said he expects another vote on the matter once Gov. Nathan Deal appoints either District Attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin or defense attorney Don Thompson to be Wood's replacement.
Van Pelt also wrote Graham a letter this week, explaining why he thought she shouldn't be chief judge. He accused her of spending most of her time in a downtown Chattanooga townhouse, rather than living inside the circuit as is required by Georgia law. He also said she has berated House multiple times.
Van Pelt told Graham that he has been quietly sending tips against her to the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the agency that oversees judges.
"Now that you are aware of this and knowing you," Van Pelt wrote to Graham, "it will be impossible for us to be in the same room."
On Friday, Cook defended his daughter. He said she has a Chattanooga house because her husband works as a cardiologist at CHI Memorial Hospital. He needs to be in town whenever he is on call. Cook said his daughter still spends most of her time living in Georgia.
Cook also called Van Pelt a "snitch" for supposedly keeping secret tapes of Graham yelling at another judge. He said Van Pelt broke the law by recording Graham without her permission - though Georgia is a one-party consent state, meaning you can record people without their knowledge.
He also accused Van Pelt of sexism because he stopped his daughter from being the first female chief judge in the circuit.
But Cook said Van Pelt's "most egregious and dishonest act" was his making public statements about a court case from 1994, when Van Pelt was the district attorney of the circuit. After a jury convicted one of Cook's clients of theft by taking, Cook appealed, pointing out that the grand jury indicted her three times on the same charge before it went to trial.
The Georgia Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, pointing to a Georgia law that said a district attorney couldn't indict someone more than twice for the same charge. The case needed to be indicted three times because a judge learned that elected officials sat on the first two grand juries, which is illegal in Georgia.
The Court of Appeals' ruling meant several other cases were thrown out, Van Pelt said. He said this week that he thought Cook had been behind the grand jury problems out of revenge against Van Pelt, who had unsuccessfully tried to bring charges against Cook's friend, former Catoosa County Sheriff Ronnie Bowman.
On Friday, Cook told Van Pelt that former Gov. Zell Miller would never have appointed him as a judge without Cook's blessing.
"That was my mistake for which I will be eternally sorry," Cook said. "Your lasting legacy will be that you have attempted to destroy in this Circuit the goodwill and trust that lawyers and the public should enjoy."
In his letter to Cook earlier this week, Van Pelt said he heard through a third party that Cook was threatening a "blood bath" if Van Pelt didn't let his daughter be chief judge. On Friday, Cook said he was not trying to send a message and was merely saying the dispute would be a political mess.
"You are quite safe," Cook wrote. "Speaking only for myself, I want you to finish your two years remaining on your term and to qualify for re-election - if you have the stamina and resolve! There is nothing so interesting as a Northwest Georgia election where politics for generations has been a 'blood sport.'"
Contact Staff Writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.