Attorney running for Fulton judge seat disqualified for not showing up to hearing over residency

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — One of two candidates running against the judge presiding over the Georgia election interference case involving former President Donald Trump has been disqualified.

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne spoke to all three candidates: Judge Scott McAfee, Robert Patillo and Tiffani Johnson.

Johnson, an attorney, says she will appeal a decision to disqualify her on a residency challenge, but there is also the issue of why she wasn’t at a hearing about it. She claims she didn’t know about the hearing until it was over.

“If you were a judge, you’d be ticked off if somebody didn’t show up for hearing,” Winne said to Johnson.

“I would be, but I would make sure that they were actually served,” she responded.

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She says she will fight to keep her name on the ballot for the Fulton County Superior Court seat.

Johnson maintains that she was never served with notice of an April 2 hearing before an administrative law judge over a residency challenge to her candidacy.

“I even reached out proactively when I heard there was a possibility of a challenge. I never got a response through phone call or through email,” she explained.

A decision from the April 2 hearing says notice of the hearing was sent to the parties and says an administrative law judge found that Johnson did not meet her burden of proof to establish her eligibility for the office of Judge of Superior Court.

General Counsel for the Secretary of State’s office Charlene McGowan says that since the Atlanta Judicial Circuit is made up only of Fulton County, Johnson is disqualified because of her residency in DeKalb County.

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She says she does not dispute that she lived in DeKalb County when she qualified last month to run for the post. But she says, if elected, she will move to Fulton County and says that is allowed under Georgia law.

“If you run for judge, you ought to understand and try to follow the law as best you can. And, as I understand it, ultimately when she was given an opportunity to show up and explain her own paperwork, she didn’t appear,” Judge McAfee said.

“I’m hoping it’s just a clerical error or paperwork issue that can be cleared up. I think we need as many voices in this race as possible,” Patillo said.

Attorney Jeremy Berry represents Sean Arnold, a Fulton County voter, who brought the residency challenge against Johnson. He says that under Georgia law, a candidate must live in Fulton County to run for Fulton County Superior Court judge, rather than at some point in the future.

“We will be filing an appeal, and I will make sure that I will be present at any other future hearings that are moving forward,” she said.

McGowan says that ballots have already been printed, but if the disqualification stands, there will be signs posted that any votes cast for Johnson will not count.

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