CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News is investigating why a judge granted bond to two suspects arrested during the raid where a Riverdale police officer was killed.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne talked with the judge's boss, who said she is against the procedure that allowed this to happen.
“I think what happens sometimes is we're doing it that way because we've always done it that way. That's unacceptable,” said Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Wanda Dallas.
Dallas told Winne she wants to weigh all sides before reaching her decision on whether to push for a change in how the county handles first appearances for criminal defendants.
“We’ve always done it that way. It may not be the right way,” Dallas said. “(We want) to see if there's a better process that we can put in place.”
But she told Winne she's researching whether Clayton County should change who is present at first appearances.
Currently, no prosecutor, public defenders or police officers, other than her bailiffs, are normally present for first appearances.
Winne has learned that a part-time magistrate judge who granted bond at first appearances for two men arrested in the raid, where Riverdale police Maj. Greg Barney was killed, was not informed of their alleged connection to that raid.
Records indicate Robert Dixon Jr., 25, faced three felony drug charges, and Joey C. King, 26, faced two drug charges and a gun charge.
Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson indicated her office was not present at the initial appearance hearings, as is longstanding normal procedure in Clayton County, and so had no input on the bond amounts.
She says she will look at whether the process should be changed, but says she's concerned about manpower constraints.
“Budgetary restraints prevent us from doing some of the things that we want to do,” Dallas said.
Dallas told Winne that currently, a magistrate generally reviews only the arrest warrant or a probable cause affidavit and a criminal history before setting bond at the first appearances.
“All of my part-time judges have at least 15 years of experience practicing law,” Dallas said.
Public visitation for Major Greg Barney will be held on Friday, Feb. 19th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home and then from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the City of Riverdale Town Center.