| ► Attorney Ernest H. (Bucky) Woods III of Clarksville, GA; ethical dwarf |
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Attorney Ernest H. (Bucky) Woods III of Clarksville, GA; ethical dwarf
The Georgia Supreme Court presented Ernest H. (Bucky) Woods III with a law license in 1980 after he graduated from the Atlanta Law School.
In 1992, Bucky duped the voters into electing him as a Superior Court Judge in the Mountain Judicial Circuit that encompassed Habersham, Rabun and Stephens Counties.
During his tenure on the bench, the Georgia Judicial Commission found Bucky guilty of the following misconduct.
Bucky began to contact Ms. Tara Black via e-mails after seeing her on Facebook, telling her he noticed that she worked for a hair salon and he was thinking of finding someone new to give him a haircut. The lady responded by telling Bucky she didn’t cut hair, but offered to make him an appointment with a colleague. She then gave Bucky her work and cell phone numbers.
In subsequent emails, they discussed her pending theft and drug cases of her friend, and they eventually agreed to meet. After the first meeting, the woman asked Bucky to loan her money to pay her rent.
In the case of Ms. Blacks’ boyfriend, she pressed Woods to help him get out of jail by offering him a year of free massages from a friend. In he email to Bucky, she said “LOL,” and “I’m not really trying to bribe you.”
When Black asked Bucky for help in her own theft case, he advised her on the legal strategy of how and when to respond in court and how to plead and said he was discussing the matter with the DA on her behalf. Bucky subsequently signed an order releasing her on her own recognizance. He then told her he had negotiated a “deferred prosecution” agreement with the DA.
Bucky told Black not to talk to anyone about their arrangement, and then said, “I can help you more behind the scenes so long as very few people know it.”
As is the case with most Judicial Misfits facing removal from office, Bucky did what most cowards did and retired from the bench, thereby closing the Judicial Commission’s investigation of his misconduct.
As we speak (ca. March 2012) Ernie is practicing with the firm of Oliver & Weidner, LLC at 854 Washington Street in Clarkesville, Georgia.
On its self-serving website at www.northgeorgialawyers.com, in regards to Bucky, there is no warning to prospective victims that he was forced to resign his judgeship. Bucky merely says that he “retired from the bench and returned to private practice,” which falsely gives the impression that it was voluntary.
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