Woman seeks arrest warrants against Rockdale County Probate Court Judge Charles K. Mays Sr.

Editor's note: Your ProbateShark would like to "seek arrest warrants against" Cook County Probate Court judges.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

 

Woman seeks arrest warrants against Rockdale County Probate Court Judge Charles K. Mays Sr.

Want daily summaries and Breaking News alerts?

By Alice Queen
alice.queen@rockdalecitizen.com

Monday, October 27, 2014
© Copyright 2014 Rockdale Citizen

• Favorite story Your favorites
• Discuss Comment, Blog about
• Share this Email, Facebook, Twitter
• Print Story

##CONYERS — A woman who claims Rockdale County Probate Court Judge Charles K. Mays Sr. has refused to pay her nearly $20,000 in back wages filed an application for arrest warrants against the judge on Monday.

##Freya Pearson, who is represented by Conyers attorney Michael Waldrop, is requesting a hearing in Superior Court and is seeking warrants charging Mays with two counts of theft of services, two counts of theft by deception, and one count of forgery, all of which are felonies.

##An email seeking comment from Mays was not returned as of presstime.

##In addition to seeking warrants related to the back wages, Pearson alleges that Mays committed theft by deception when he used nearly $8,000 from the state and a small amount of money from Rockdale County to finance a trip to California, purportedly for the purpose of getting information for a mental health court or veterans court.

##According to Pearson’s filing, Mays had been told prior to the trip that it was not legal under Georgia law for him to operate a mental health court or veterans court. Georgia law requires that either a Superior Court judge or an appointee of the Superior Court judge preside over a mental health or veterans court. According to Pearson’s application, Mays does not have a license to practice law in the state and is not eligible to serve as a Superior Court judge.

##“In addition to the law making it perfectly clear that (Mays) could not operate such a court, Rockdale County Chief Superior Court Judge David Irwin advised (Mays) on at least two separate occasions — once before (Mays’) trip to California and once after (Mays’) trip to California — that it would not be legally possible for (Mays) to operate either of these courts,” according to Pearsons’ filing.

##Pearson alleges that Mays also committed theft by deception by encouraging her to continue to work toward starting a mental health or veterans court even though he already knew that he could not legally operate such a court.

##Mays’ office applied for a state accountability court grant in March seeking nearly $360,000 to operate an adult mental health court or veterans court. The grant request was denied.

##The forgery allegation is related to a plumbing repair bill that Pearson claims Mays forged in order to get reduced water billing from Rockdale Water Resources.

##According to the warrant application, Mays was carrying a past due balance on his water bill from month to month in early 2014. Pearson claims that in April, an inquiry to RWR on Mays’ behalf was made seeking a downward adjustment on his outstanding bill due to a plumbing leak. Mays allegedly presented a forged plumbing repair bill for $400 and received an adjustment to his water bill.

##In the warrant application, Pearson points out that an analysis of Mays’ water consumption at his McCalla Street residence would have shown that there was no plumbing leak, and that if there were a leak, Mays’ landlord would have been responsible for paying for the repair.

##Pearson’s claim for back wages is based on work she did as a consultant for the Probate Court to establish an accountability court, although she claims that her responsibilities in the Probate Court expanded beyond that.

##Pearson alleges that Mays agreed to pay her $24 an hour and an additional $12 per hour in overtime or holiday or weekend hours worked. She claims that she provided about 858 hours of service to the Probate Court and was paid for about 225 hours — 120 of which she was underpaid.

##Attorney Waldrop sent a letter to Mays on Oct. 15 demanding that the back wages be paid by Friday, Oct. 24, and warning that he would bring further legal action against Mays if the deadline was not met. Pearson has not received any back wages.

##The demand for back wages followed a filing by Mays to have Pearson, her daughter and her granddaughter removed from Mays’ residence, where they have been living with his family since moving here from California.

##Mays’ dispossessory case will be heard in Rockdale Magistrate Court on Nov. 5. Magistrate Judge Phinia Aten has recused herself from the hearing.

##Pearson has also filed a motion asking that Chief Superior Court Judge Irwin and Superior Court Judge Robert Mumford be recused from hearing the warrant application.

##If both judges are recused, Waldrop said a regional administrator will appoint a judge to hear the case. The hearing could be scheduled in two to three weeks.

##Waldrop said Pearson and Mays met through a mutual friend and both have family ties to St. Louis, Mo. He said she continues to live at the Mays residence.

##“She’s still there for now,” Waldrop said. “She’s looking for a place, but she doesn’t have any money.”