Judge Terrinee Gundy. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Multiple defendants assigned to Atlanta Municipal Court Judge Terrinee Gundy's docket were illegally jailed until public defenders sued for their release because of Gundy's alleged failure to act on their cases, according to Georgia's judicial watchdog.

The allegedly illegal detentions stemmed from what the state Judicial Qualifications Commission said was Gundy's chronic tardiness. On Wednesday, the JQC's investigative panel filed formal ethics charges against Gundy, contending the judge has for years repeatedly breached the state Code of Judicial Conduct.

On a single day in 2017, Gundy's absence deprived six defendants of constitutionally required hearings that eventually required the city public defender's office to file a habeas petition in Fulton County Superior Court to secure their release on signature bonds, according to the JQC and the petition.

Gundy's alleged failure to hold hearings for misdemeanor defendants was “an abandonment of her duties … to the detriment of jailed detainees” that potentially violated two ethics canons and multiple rules governing the state's judiciary, according to the charges.

The judge is also accused of behaving “in a manner unbecoming to a judicial officer” by allegedly mistreating defendants and colleagues and “by improperly using her judicial position to advance her personal interests.”

Gundy's attorney, Frank Strickland of Taylor English Duma, declined to comment on the misconduct allegations. Gundy, who was appointed to the bench by former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in 2013, has 30 days to file a response to the charges.

The municipal court's Chief Judge Christopher Portis couldn't be reached for comment.

Other charges against Gundy contained in the JQC complaint—which is on file at the Supreme Court of Georgia—contend the judge repeatedly breached the judicial ethics code in other “multiple different and distinct ways” and then lied about it when questioned by JQC commissioners and their staff.

They include:

  • Failing to “fairly, promptly and efficiently dispose of the business of the court” due to a “willful and persistent pattern of absenteeism”
  • An alleged “persistent” failure to arrive at the courthouse until after proceedings in her courtroom were scheduled to begin.
  • Ordering that courtroom audio-video systems be disconnected or disabled while she was on the bench, allegedly to conceal excessive tardiness.
  • Ordering the municipal court operations manager to stop producing and distributing “case count” calendars and other official documents that could have revealed Gundy's alleged “pattern of improper absenteeism.”
  • Allegedly threatening to terminate a court security officer if he failed to secure seats for herself and her family to the 2018 inauguration of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
  • Allegedly using court resources unrelated to court business for her own and others' personal benefit.