Judge denies Georgia state senator's request for criminal charges against state House staffer

Independent

07-03-2025

A judge on Friday declined a Georgia state senator's request for an arrest warrant against a state House staffer following a confrontation between the two earlier this year.
State Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican from Trenton, had sought the arrest warrant against Keith Williams, a lawyer in the House speaker's office, after the two men were involved in a scuffle outside the House chamber in January. Fulton County Magistrate Judge Robert Wolf said at the end of a hearing that he hadn't seen sufficient evidence to support probable cause that criminal charges were warranted.
Phil Holloway, an attorney for Williams, applauded the judge's ruling.
'It's been our position all along that this event that happened at the Capitol was certainly unfortunate — I think probably everybody that was involved in it has at least some degree of regret — but it's never risen to the level of a crime,' he said after the hearing.
Catherine Bernard, a lawyer for Moore, said she believes the probable cause standard was met and that they intend to appeal the judge's decision to Fulton County Superior Court.
'I'm a bit depressed and disappointed," Moore told reporters. "I walked out of the courtroom thinking, 'Where will I find justice?''
Moore, one of the state Senate's most conservative members, was arrested Jan. 16 after he tried to push his way past House staffers who were blocking him as he tried multiple times to enter the state House chamber for the governor's state of the state speech. House Speaker Jon Burns, a fellow Republican, banned him from the chamber last year after Moore denounced late House Speaker David Ralston on a day when Ralston was being honored and his relatives were watching.
Before trying to enter the House chamber, Moore told reporters that the law didn't allow Burns to keep him from attending a joint House-Senate session to listen to Gov. Brian Kemp.
Williams put his arms around Moore and shoved him away as Moore tried to enter the House chamber, and the senator fell to the ground. State troopers handcuffed Moore and brought him to the Fulton County Jail, where he was booked on misdemeanor charges of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.
The day after Moore's arrest, Burns said he was lifting his ban on the senator entering the House chamber. State Senate and Republican Party leaders had rallied around Moore.
During Friday's hearing, the judge heard testimony from three Capitol police officers, as well as from Moore and his fiancee. Williams chose not to testify. Moore's lawyer had issued subpoenas to Burns, the speaker's chief of staff, Lt. Gov Burt Jones and House Majority Leader Rep. Chuck Efstration, but the judge threw out those subpoenas.
Video of the confrontation was shown in court. Moore's attorney also played video of the senator's bruised left hand taken several hours after the tussle.
Moore testified that, as an elected senator, it was his 'compelled constitutional duty' to attend a joint session of the General Assembly. 'I did everything I could to peacefully enter the chamber," he said.
But Andrew Fleischman, an attorney for Williams, suggested the senator was trying to make an 'end run' around Burns' decision to ban him from the House chamber.
Maj. Gary Langford with the Capitol police said Moore seemed to make sure to keep his hands down as he tried to enter the House chamber but that he's a big man and used his body to lean into those who were blocking him. There was 'pushing back and forth,' Langford said.
Under questioning from the judge, Langford said he would have pursued charges if he saw a crime happen. The judge noted that Capitol police did, in fact, charge Moore with a crime that day. The judge asked if Langford saw how Williams acted, and the officer said he did. Then the judge asked whether he sought a warrant for Williams, and the officer said he didn't.
Moore's attorney asked the judge to consider charges of battery, aggravated battery, criminal intent to interfere with government property, disruption of a session of the House and unlawful practice of law.
The judge said the question of Moore's ban from the House 'doesn't excuse or explain what either party did here.' He also said that regardless of who started the confrontation, there did seem to be a back-and-forth.