Cynthia J. Becker
Judge for the DeKalb County Superior Court, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit
In office
August 2000 – March 1, 2015
Personal details
Born
Cynthia Jeanne Becker[1]

(1957-02-26) February 26, 1957[2]
Patrick Air Force Base, Florida[2]
EducationUniversity of Central Florida (BA)
Georgia State University College of Law (JD)

Cynthia Becker Mello[3] (born February 26, 1957) is a former Georgia Superior Court Judge on the DeKalb Superior Court, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, from 2000 until March 1, 2015.[4] She presided over several high-profile cases, including the criminal trial of former Sheriff Sidney Dorsey[5] and the release of exonerated Clarence Harrison.[6]

Career

  • DeKalb County Drug Court, Tracks 1 & 2 - Presiding Judge
  • Judge of DeKalb County Superior Court (August 2000 – March 2015)
  • Trial lawyer and partner for Chambers, Mabry (1988 – 2000)[7]

Education

Controversy

Becker announced her resignation from the DeKalb County Superior Court in November, 2014, citing her engagement to be married,[8] under the cloud of a Georgia Judicial Qualification Commission investigation into her handling of a case where she rejected a witness' testimony in a public corruption case.[9]

In August, 2015, a Cobb County, Georgia grand jury indicted Becker on charges that she lied to the state judicial watchdog agency about her handling of that case.[10] The charges were dismissed a few days later[11] and the prosecutor was scolded for seeking the indictment.[12]

Acclamations

  • Master, Bleckley Inn of Court, Georgia State University College of Law
  • Board of Visitors, GSU College of Law
  • 2006 Member of Judicial Workload Assessment Committee and was appointed by Chief Justice Sears
  • Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia - Treatment and Accountability Courts Committee and has also chaired on Public Outreach; Court Security for the 4th Judicial Administrative District, Pattern Jury Instruction Committee, Uniform Rules Committee, the Executive Planning Team, and Special Committee on Other Courts
  • 2007 Transition into Law Practice Program Mentor
  • Judicial Outreach - “Challenges of Being a Single Parent”; Mock Trials for elementary and middle school students
  • Frequent Presenter at professional seminars for Judges, Lawyers, and other legal professionals focusing on: legal ethics, professionalism and implementation and expansion of Accountability and Treatment Courts
  • 2006 Named Law Dragon as one of the leading Judges in the Country
  • 2005 Decatur Rotary Past President, former Vice President of DeKalb Library Foundation, Class of Leadership DeKalb; member of the Southern Center for International Studies
  • Professional Affiliations include: DeKalb Bar Association, DeKalb Lawyers’ Association, Atlanta Bar Association - Judicial Section, President Elect, the Georgia Bar Association, the American Bar Association - Judicial Branch, and the National Association of Women Judges[13]

References

  1. ↑ Judge Profile: Hon. Cynthia Jeanne Becker
  2. 1 2 Hubbell, Martindale (April 1997). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho (Volume 6 - 1997). Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561602223.
  3. ↑ Ex-judge says voters may have voided her pledge to stay off the bench
  4. ↑ "Transitions". Archived from the original on 2015-03-25.
  5. ↑ Christensen, Tracey (15 August 2002). "Dorsey: Life Plus 23 Years in Prison". Free Republic. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Wrongly-Convicted Inmate Goes Free after 17 Years in Prison". Georgia Innocence Project, Inc. 31 August 2004. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Cynthia Becker". LinkedIn. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Niesse, Mark (10 November 2014). "DeKalb judge plans to resign". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Judge in DeKalb corruption case sends resignation letter". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Kent D. (20 August 2015). "Grand Jury Indicts Ex-DeKalb Judge Over Her Dealings With JQC". Daily Report. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "Charges against ex-DeKalb Judge Becker dropped". AJC.com. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. ↑ McDonald, R. Robin (27 August 2015). "Cobb Judge Blasted Prosecutor Over Ex-Judge's Short-Lived Indictment". Daily Report. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Judge Cynthia J. Becker". Stone Mountain Judicial Court Circuit. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.