LEO and unwelcome sailors.

[Rennsail]

Taking a stab at adding some clarity to OP's most recent update. The judge has retired - back in 2018.


***


Smith to retire
Meanwhile, U.S. Magistrate Judge George R. “G.R.” Smith retired on Oct. 1 after more than 30 years on the federal bench in the Savannah Division of the Southern District of Georgia.

Smith, now 67,was sworn in to the magistrate’s post on Feb. 8, 1988.

The selection process for Smith’s successor has not been completed.

The selection will be made by the district’s judges, both active and senior, in the Southern District of Georgia. Smith is one of three magistrate judges in the district.

In the meantime, retired Magistrate Judge James Graham, who sat in Brunswick, will sit as a recall judge until Smith’s successor is named and sworn.

“I applied,” Smith recalled of his selection process. “I was young. I thought I might be too young.”

Smith, who was a law clerk for U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Lewis R. Morgan after law school, was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Savannah Division from 1981 until he took the magistrate’s post.

In that initial role and subsequently, Smith said he saw first-hand “the absolute independence and devotion to the law” of the federal judiciary.

“It has been a privilege and an honor to serve as a judge in that system,” Smith said. “Its truly nothing but the law.

“My goal has always been to live up to the oath of office.”

In that role he assisted the district judges in preliminary criminal matters, such as initial appearances, bonds and arraignments, and in civil issues.

Judges B. Avant Edenfield in Savannah, Anthony A. Alaimo in Brunswick and Dudley H. Bowen Jr. in Augusta appointed Smith to his first eight-year term.

He has been reappointed three times and will leave office just short of completing his final term. Smith said he informed court officials a year ago of his decision to leave this October.

Bowen, who was involved in each of Smith’s appointments, said he remains an ardent supporter and enthusiastic about that selection.

“Judge G.R. Smith is, in judicial terms, a class act,” Bowen said.

He cited Smith’s demeanor, scholarship and “prodigious work ethic” as among his qualities.

“He is a scholar, energetic and he does not wait around (to rule). ... He gets things done.

“He has done well by the court and could have served with distinction in any court in the 11th Circuit.”

Georgia’s three federal districts are in the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Bowen said the court’s judges expect to appoint a judge “who fulfills the record that G.R. Smith has established and compliment it as well.”

[sailorboy1]

How could I have missed this thread in 2016?

It is a wild long winding and groovey story. But I "think" it is really only about getting a ticket about a dog with a bunch of distraction tossed in.

I certainly would expected another story from the OP in the 4 years since as I bet frequent comedies of life happen to him.

[bobnlesley]

Originally Posted by Rennsail

Taking a stab at adding some clarity to OP's most recent update. The judge has retired - back in 2018.
...Judge G.R. Smith is, in judicial terms, a class act,”
...cited Smith’s demeanor, scholarship and “prodigious work ethic” as among his qualities.
...a scholar, energetic and he does not wait around (to rule). ... He gets things done.
...He has done well by the court and could have served with distinction in any court in the 11th Circuit.”

Sorry, but IMO this adds no clarity whatsoever to the thread, as conspicuous by its absence is any reference whatsoever to the Judge's golf handicap.
Without some idea of the Judge's prowess on the links, how can we hope to guess at how often he was likely to have been using his tee platform and/or the liklihood of his not only being able to hit an offlying yacht when he did, but whether he could get sufficient backspin on the balls to keep them on the deck if/when he did.

[introverted]

I lost about 4 or 5 IQ points reading this thread. If anyone finds them please PM me as I don't have many left.

[a64pilot]

I have my own story to tell about that part of the world.
I was an Army Specialist assigned to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah about 1984, I was riding my jet ski on the River on highway 17, a small Bass Boat came screaming though at full throttle in the no wake zone and ran it aground on the beach.
A man was fishing with his Father and the Father had a heart attack. Someone started CPR, I got on my Jet ski and at full throttle ran over to the Game Warden and told him the man had a heart attack, the Game Warden you could tell didn’t want to get involved, so he said what do you want me to do? Old guy.
I said you have a radio don’t you? He said yes, I said well call someone and have them send an ambulance.
This was before cell phones.

Well hours later he walked up and gave me a ticket for speeding in a no wake zone.
I thought thats ridiculous so I took it to court, wife sitting in there with me holding our baby Daughter all day, me in my Class A uniform, every other case had been seen, Game Warden never showed, Judge finally called me up and I told my story, thinking of course no accuser, I had a good reason to be speeding, he would throw it out, well he slapped his gavel down and fined me I think $200. I refused to pay, Bailiff locked me in a room, actually handcuffed me to the wall. He was acting as the intermediary between the Judge and I. He said they would put me in jail. I said fine, put me in jail. Eventually you will have to let me out, and that’s when I’ll call the News, ought to be an interesting story.
Well he came back and said the Judge reduced the fine to $110. I said I don’t have it. He said “how much do you have” I said I think $50.
They took it, and let me go.

I should have pushed the issue and refused to pay, but it likely wouldn’t have been good for my Career.

I’m no Lawyer, but I think the LEO has to show up?

[introverted]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Game Warden never showed, Judge finally called me up and I told my story, thinking of course no accuser...

I’m no Lawyer, but I think the LEO has to show up?

I'm no lawyer either. but, what you should have done is said, "Not Guilty. I'll listen to the evidence against me before I respond to the charges."

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by AnglaisInHull

Great thread - glad to see it revived.



And to add to my personal confusion, I read LEO = low earth orbit.

Law Enforcement Officer. AKA the Po Po as my 10yr old calls them.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I have my own story to tell about that part of the world.
I was an Army Specialist assigned to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah about 1984, I was riding my jet ski on the River on highway 17, a small Bass Boat came screaming though at full throttle in the no wake zone and ran it aground on the beach.
A man was fishing with his Father and the Father had a heart attack. Someone started CPR, I got on my Jet ski and at full throttle ran over to the Game Warden and told him the man had a heart attack, the Game Warden you could tell didn’t want to get involved, so he said what do you want me to do? Old guy.
I said you have a radio don’t you? He said yes, I said well call someone and have them send an ambulance.
This was before cell phones.

Well hours later he walked up and gave me a ticket for speeding in a no wake zone.
I thought thats ridiculous so I took it to court, wife sitting in there with me holding our baby Daughter all day, me in my Class A uniform, every other case had been seen, Game Warden never showed, Judge finally called me up and I told my story, thinking of course no accuser, I had a good reason to be speeding, he would throw it out, well he slapped his gavel down and fined me I think $200. I refused to pay, Bailiff locked me in a room, actually handcuffed me to the wall. He was acting as the intermediary between the Judge and I. He said they would put me in jail. I said fine, put me in jail. Eventually you will have to let me out, and that’s when I’ll call the News, ought to be an interesting story.
Well he came back and said the Judge reduced the fine to $110. I said I don’t have it. He said “how much do you have” I said I think $50.
They took it, and let me go.

I should have pushed the issue and refused to pay, but it likely wouldn’t have been good for my Career.

I’m no Lawyer, but I think the LEO has to show up?

That's an absolutely outrageous miscarriage of justice. Worth of some sinkhole banana republic. Unbelievable story.



Yes, if you are accused of a crime or administrative violation, there has to be SOME evidence of it. Generally the arresting officer needs to testify. It's possible to get by without such testimony under rare circumstances but (a) there has to be SOME evidence (and in a criminal case, it has to be sufficient to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt; I'm not sure about an administrative case and that may vary from state to state); AND (b) under the 6th Amendment, you have the right to confront your accuser and dispute his testimony, at least in a criminal case.


It could be that your speeding ticket was a non-criminal administrative violation, where you don't have the same rights and the stanrdard of proof is different, but at the very least, there MUST be some evidence.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I have my own story to tell about that part of the world.
I was an Army Specialist assigned to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah about 1984, I was riding my jet ski on the River on highway 17, a small Bass Boat came screaming though at full throttle in the no wake zone and ran it aground on the beach.
A man was fishing with his Father and the Father had a heart attack. Someone started CPR, I got on my Jet ski and at full throttle ran over to the Game Warden and told him the man had a heart attack, the Game Warden you could tell didn’t want to get involved, so he said what do you want me to do? Old guy.
I said you have a radio don’t you? He said yes, I said well call someone and have them send an ambulance.
This was before cell phones.

Well hours later he walked up and gave me a ticket for speeding in a no wake zone.
I thought thats ridiculous so I took it to court, wife sitting in there with me holding our baby Daughter all day, me in my Class A uniform, every other case had been seen, Game Warden never showed, Judge finally called me up and I told my story, thinking of course no accuser, I had a good reason to be speeding, he would throw it out, well he slapped his gavel down and fined me I think $200. I refused to pay, Bailiff locked me in a room, actually handcuffed me to the wall. He was acting as the intermediary between the Judge and I. He said they would put me in jail. I said fine, put me in jail. Eventually you will have to let me out, and that’s when I’ll call the News, ought to be an interesting story.
Well he came back and said the Judge reduced the fine to $110. I said I don’t have it. He said “how much do you have” I said I think $50.
They took it, and let me go.

I should have pushed the issue and refused to pay, but it likely wouldn’t have been good for my Career.

I’m no Lawyer, but I think the LEO has to show up?

Kinda makes ya wanna move to that thar southern place...don't it?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I have my own story to tell about that part of the world.
I was an Army Specialist assigned to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah about 1984, I was riding my jet ski on the River on highway 17, a small Bass Boat came screaming though at full throttle in the no wake zone and ran it aground on the beach.
A man was fishing with his Father and the Father had a heart attack. Someone started CPR, I got on my Jet ski and at full throttle ran over to the Game Warden and told him the man had a heart attack, the Game Warden you could tell didn’t want to get involved, so he said what do you want me to do? Old guy.
I said you have a radio don’t you? He said yes, I said well call someone and have them send an ambulance.
This was before cell phones.

Well hours later he walked up and gave me a ticket for speeding in a no wake zone.
I thought thats ridiculous so I took it to court, wife sitting in there with me holding our baby Daughter all day, me in my Class A uniform, every other case had been seen, Game Warden never showed, Judge finally called me up and I told my story, thinking of course no accuser, I had a good reason to be speeding, he would throw it out, well he slapped his gavel down and fined me I think $200. I refused to pay, Bailiff locked me in a room, actually handcuffed me to the wall. He was acting as the intermediary between the Judge and I. He said they would put me in jail. I said fine, put me in jail. Eventually you will have to let me out, and that’s when I’ll call the News, ought to be an interesting story.
Well he came back and said the Judge reduced the fine to $110. I said I don’t have it. He said “how much do you have” I said I think $50.
They took it, and let me go.

I should have pushed the issue and refused to pay, but it likely wouldn’t have been good for my Career.

I’m no Lawyer, but I think the LEO has to show up?

Was it an actual "fine" or did they play the "court costs" game. We don't have anything, so we'll let you off with paying court costs...with traffic tickets, they know most will pay the "protection money" rather than pay more to hire a lawyer to fight it and risk getting points on their license.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Kinda makes ya wanna move to that thar southern place...don't it?

Think it's peculiar to the South? Ha!

What about the Perdock case on Clear Lake?

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Think it's peculiar to the South? Ha!

What about the Perdock case on Clear Lake?

This is sadly true. Then that guy tried running for "Good ol boy" office and didn't make it.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's an absolutely outrageous miscarriage of justice. Worth of some sinkhole banana republic. ......

Yep, that sounds like Georgia and the rest of the deep south. Except cotton instead of bananas.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

This is sadly true. Then that guy tried running for "Good ol boy" office and didn't make it.

Perdock was then MAYOR of Clear Lake. Was recently appointed to the city council:


https://www.record-bee.com/2019/06/0...ouncil-member/

[redneckrob]

Guys the OP is clearly mentally ill, it's probably best to just let him be. There is a block feature on the site that will allow you to ignore posts from a user. I have exactly one user on the list and it's the OP after another similar bizarre rant that funny enough from the half of the conversation I see here circled around to him defaming the same retired judge who seems to be one of the centers of the guys obsession. Regardless, probably not cool to use him for entertainment, he's clearly not well.