Testimony: Murray County judge tipped officer to arrest Angela Garmley

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photo Bryant Cochran
photo Angela Garmley

ROME, Ga. -- Three weeks before Angela Garmley's arrest in August 2012, Murray County Sheriff's Office Capt. Donald Ridley says, he got a tip.

Ridley took the stand Thursday in former Murray County Magistrate Bryant Cochran's federal criminal trial on six charges, ranging from conspiring to distribute a controlled substance to tampering with a witness.

He told the jury that Cochran called him one night in July 2012. Cochran said to look out for Garmley's car, a white Dodge Charger, the only one in the county with red stripes running down the sides.

Cochran said Garmley was meeting with an informant at a nearby trailer. Stop the car, he said, and look at the sun visor above the driver's seat. There you will find drugs, Cochran told Ridley.

At that point, Ridley knew all about Garmley and Cochran. The whole county did. Residents gossiped all over town about the allegations they read in the newspaper.

Garmley accused Cochran of sexually harassing her. In turn, Cochran told colleagues she was a liar, a "crank whore."

Now Cochran was telling Ridley how he could make a drug bust.

"He said if I stopped [Garmley] it would help him out," Ridley testified Thursday.

"It would help him out?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Davis asked.

"In the situation, with the allegations and everything," Ridley said. "And I agree: it would have."

But Ridley couldn't make an arrest that night. He was on Davis Road in Chatsworth, helping a detective conduct surveillance.

On Aug. 14, 2012, Murray County Deputy Josh Greeson and Capt. Michael Henderson -- Cochran's cousin -- arrested Garmley after finding methamphetamine in the wheel well of her car. The charges didn't stick, though. The local district attorney dropped the case, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation examined the arrest, and Greeson and Henderson pleaded guilty to federal obstruction charges.

Another man -- Cochran's tenant -- admitted to planting a methamphetamine-filled tin on Garmley's car, framing her.

Federal prosecutors say Cochran orchestrated Garmley's arrest as revenge.

On Thursday, other law enforcement officers besides Ridley told the jury that Cochran and his cousin asked them to look for drugs in Garmley's car.

The officers all knew about Garmley's allegations against Cochran. All of them testified that they were uncomfortable arresting her.

"I didn't want to get involved in it," said Murray County Patrol Sgt. Jody Webb.

"It just didn't sit right with me," said Chatsworth Police Officer Jonathan Sosebee.

"It's not ethical," said Murray County Patrol Officer Delaine Mathis.

"It scared me," said Georgia State Patrol Trooper Dan Burt.

All of the officers told the jury that Cochran had never before given them a tip about anybody in town carrying drugs. No judge had.

Cochran's attorney, Page Pate, argued that Cochran's phone calls to the officers were simply the result of concerned citizens. People knew that Garmley's accusations threatened Cochran's job. Pate said these people also knew Garmley used drugs.

They were just passing the information along to Cochran, and Cochran was passing it to various officers, Pate said. He was doing his job.

Besides, he never forced the officers to make an arrest.

"Mr. Cochran didn't say, 'I need you to search this car?'" Pate asked Webb on Thursday.

"No," Webb told the jury.

The last two prosecution witnesses, including Garmley, are set to testify today.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.

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