Has court been canceled? Who’s in charge? Here’s the latest on Columbus DA’s suspension
Has Muscogee Superior Court been canceled?
That’s the question some panicked callers posed to Judge Gil McBride’s staff when rumors spread that all criminal court proceedings were to be delayed after District Attorney Mark Jones was suspended from office Monday.
The rumors were wrong, the result of people misinterpreting McBride’s decision to put a hold on certain cases in his court as an interim district attorney takes office.
The interim will be Chief Assistant District Attorney Sheneka Terry, who has been out of state on maternity leave, McBride said. Terry was returning Tuesday to Columbus, and likely would be sworn in on Wednesday morning, McBride said.
Because of this impending change in leadership, McBride decided that he will postpone hearing particular cases involving negotiations on guilty plea agreements and probation violations.
Since those agreements were made under Jones’ administration, and Jones no longer can present them to the court, Terry should have time to review them to determine whether she agrees with them, the judge said.
“She has to be in a position to make this recommendation her own, and it would be unfair to ask her to do that until she’s had a chance to actually look over those files,” he said.
He said this delayed 10 cases on his Tuesday docket, and may delay 10 more on Wednesday. He emphasized that this affects only his court, not other judges’. Other court proceedings remain on schedule, he said.
Jones last week was the lead prosecutor in a child molestation case, with a guilty verdict on two counts. That defendant is to be sentenced Thursday in Judge Arthur Smith III’s court, and that sentencing is expected to go through, with an assistant district attorney stepping in.
The interim
Terry is to serve as interim DA until the felony charges that led to Jones’ suspension are resolved. If acquitted, Jones may return to office. If he’s convicted, the governor may appoint a replacement to serve the rest of Jones’ term in office, which ends in 2024, McBride said.
State law requires that Jones be tried during the current court term that began Monday. That term concludes at the end of the year.
McBride said the circuit has consulted the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, which is offering its advice and support during the changeover.
The prosecuting attorneys’ council provided the clarification that Terry would serve as the interim DA during Jones’ suspension, rather than Gov. Brian Kemp appointing a replacement, the judge said.
“Once she takes the oath of office, she will be vested with the authority of the district attorney, to make the decisions that a district attorney can make,” he said.
Terry could be a witness in the case against Jones, who’s accused of bribery for offering her and another assistant district attorney a $1,000 bonus for winning convictions in murder trials.
McBride said this presents no conflict of interest in Terry’s serving as interim DA, because her office isn’t handling Jones’ prosecution.
The Georgia Attorney General’s office is prosecuting Jones, and an out-of-town judge, Katherine Lumsden of the Houston Judicial Circuit, has been appointed to preside. Jones so far is representing himself.
The charges
Jones’ indictment alleges he tried to persuade police Cpl. Sherman Hayes to testify that a homicide suspect had a motive to shoot a Hamilton, Georgia, woman here in February, though Hayes found the shooting to be accidental, and charged the suspect with manslaughter.
Jones’ second charge of influencing a witness stems from his allegedly using threats and misleading conduct against Chris Bailey, the nephew of a 62-year-old Columbus man fatally injured in February 2020 during a confrontation with two brothers over kids playing street basketball in a north Columbus neighborhood.
Bailey filed a motion claiming Jones’ family wasn’t notified when one of the suspects was released on bond, but he withdrew the motion after speaking to Jones. The indictment alleges Jones violated his oath of office by not assisting Bailey.
Besides those charges, Jones still has a pending felony case related to a November 2019 traffic accident on the Manchester Expressway, where he allegedly rear-ended a woman’s car. Police charged him with DUI, reckless driving and serious injury by vehicle. Elected in 2020, Jones was not in office at the time.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 4:14 PM.