ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a state appellate judge accused of ethical misconduct should be impeached, despite saying the case was “close at first.”
Christian Coomer, who was appointed by former Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018, has been accused of breaking ethical rules about how a lawyer should treat a client and looting his campaign bank account to fund a family vacation to Hawaii and loans to his to keep troubled law firm afloat.
A three-member panel of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission recommended in January that the state Supreme Court remove him from the bench. It confirmed this decision after further examination.
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The panel’s findings show that Coomer “exploited a vulnerable person, repeatedly violated campaign finance rules and disregarded professional norms, and did so knowingly and for his personal financial gain,” the judges said in a unanimous decision.
“By refusing to comply with laws and professional standards when it was in his best interest to fail to comply, he has undermined public confidence in his ability to honestly and fairly obey and apply the law in the cases before him,” it said it said in the reasoning court.
In a statement, Coomer said he was disappointed but his own “misjudgments” led to the decision to remove him from the bench.
“I will use this setback as an opportunity to revisit my mistakes and do better,” he said. “I remain committed to my core values: devotion to God and my family and commitment to service to others.”
Coomer may ask the court to reconsider his decision, but the decision to remove him is otherwise final.
His attorney, Mark Lefkow, said his client was a “good man.”
“I’ve gotten to know him and his family over the past three years and seen his strength and character for myself,” he said in a phone interview.
Coomer had previously been suspended.
He was accused of accepting a $130,000 loan on favorable terms from a client and drafting a will and trust deed that made him and his heirs beneficiaries of the client. Coomer returned the money to client Jim Filhart, but only after Filhart sued Coomer, the Supreme Court said.
Coomer, a former state legislator, was also accused of using campaign funds to fund airfare and other items for a fall 2018 trip to Hawaii.
“Although Judge Coomer attempted to establish a legislative purpose for the trip, the trip was ultimately purely recreational,” the state Supreme Court said.
The court found some evidence to support many of Coomer’s conflicting statements, but said enough of the panel’s findings were supported by sufficient evidence.
