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.