Friday afternoon, Bobby Worthy and Paul L. Nally turned themselves in to the Coffee County Jail after a Coffee County Grand Jury issued a Special Presentment last week, charging the duo with filing false documents. Both were booked into the jail and posted bond shortly thereafter. If convicted, the charge, a felony, carries a sentence of one to five years in prison.
On March 5, 2021, Worthy and Nally filed a petition with the Clerk of Court requesting that they be given an opportunity to present evidence to the Coffee County Grand Jury and requesting that they file a Special Presentment. In Georgia, if evidence of criminal conduct comes withing the knowledge of a Grand Jury, the Grand Jury may file a Special Presentment, charging a person with a crime. A Special Presentment functions the same as an indictment, only there is no “prosecuting witness” as the evidence is within the Grand Jury’s knowledge.
The petition alleges that Superior Court Judge Kelly Brooks committed the following criminal acts: False imprisonment by keeping a prisoner confined and detained past his legal release date without legal authority to do so; false imprisonment under color of legal process which was manifestly illegal after January 5, 2021, an act showing malice and oppression; violation of oath of office; conspiracy against rights; and deprivation of rights under color of law.
Worthy and Nally allege that Judge Brooks should have released Roscoe Allen from jail on or around January 5, 2021. At the time, Allen was being held in the Coffee County Jail on aggravated stalking charges for violating a restraining order Judge Brooks granted to Mayor Tony Paulk in January of 2020. The restraining order prohibited Allen from getting within 500 yards of Mayor Paulk, which Allen violated in July of 2020. He had been jailed since then. According to the petition, because the restraining order expired in January 2021, keeping Allen beyond the expiration date of the order constituted false imprisonment and the other aforementioned charges.
The Grand Jury found their allegations to be false and, since it is a violation of Georgia law to knowingly file, enter, or record any document in a public record or court knowing (or having reason to know) that the document contains false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, the Grand Jury in turn issued a Special Presentment against Worthy and Nally. A Superior Court judge issued a bench warrant against Worthy and Nally and the two turned themselves in Friday.
The Special Presentment is a charging instrument and is not evidence of guilt. All persons charged with crimes are innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.