By Joe Johnson
Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez on Tuesday released a statement in response to a story published by Classic City News concerning an unusual open-court exchange she recently had with a Superior Court judge.
The statement refers to CCN's use of a "leaked" transcript of a publicly-available transcript of the Sept. 21 Colloquy Between Judge Lawton E. Stephens and Deborah Gonzalez.
The exchange occurred at the end of recent proceedings in Stephens' courtroom when the DA blamed the judge for the abrupt resignation of one of her assistant prosecutors from her critically understaffed officehttps://www.classiccitynews.com/post/judge-rebukes-athens-da-blaming-him-for-prosecutor-resignationhttps://www.classiccitynews.com/post/judge-rebukes-athens-da-blaming-him-for-prosecutor-resignation.
For Immediate Release: Response to Classic City News Article Referencing Leaked Courtroom Transcript
On September 26, 2023, Classic City News published an online article referencing a leaked transcript from Judge Lawton Stephen's courtroom, where DA Deborah Gonzalez and Judge Stephens discussed his behavior toward Assistant District Attorneys.
In response to this leaked transcript and news article, DA Gonzalez shares the following statement:
"I will always fight for my staff to be fairly treated just as we fight every day for the people of Oconee and Athens Clarke. I will continue to accept responsibility for the actions of this office, but I will never allow my staff to be mistreated in a court of law."