[JonInMiddleGA]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...arnessuit.html

Attorneys representing the widow of a judge fatally gunned down in his courtroom sent written notice today to county officials that a wrongful death lawsuit will be filed soon.

The notice, sent to the Fulton County manager, commission chair and Sheriff Myron Freeman, warns that the suit will single out the sheriff's employees who violated departmental policies and failed to protect Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and others.
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When he was killed, Barnes was overseeing a civil case without an armed deputy in the courtroom — something the Barnes' family attorneys says is a violation of Georgia law.

The notice names Capt. Chelisa Lee, an 18-year sheriff's department veteran who failed to pass along information about the discovery of metal in Nichols' shoes and failed to assign additional security to Nichols. Investigators say Lee lied to cover up for her inaction. She was one of several employees fired or forced to retire in August.

Lee, who is appealing her firing, had sent a subordinate to get her breakfast at a time when the subordinate was supposed to be monitoring security cameras around the courthouse. Neither security specialist Alphonzo Wright nor deputy Paul Tamer were at their posts in the video control room when Deputy Cynthia Hall, who was escorting Nichols, was overpowered, investigators said. The investigators also found that the video monitoring equipment had not been activated for that day.

Wright and Tamer are also named in the notice as targets of the upcoming lawsuit. So is Maj. Orlando Whitehead, who was in command of courthouse security. Whitehead, a 17-year department veteran, retired in August in lieu of being fired.

"Another of the most culpable officers is Lt. Gary Reid," the notice of an expected suit claims. "As a direct result of Reid's abuse of sick leave, there was a critical under-staffing in the area immediately surrounding Judge Barnes' office and courtroom."

Reid, an 18-year sheriff's department veteran, received a 20-day suspension and no longer works at the courthouse. He had no comment on the allegations against him.