Sherry Sane testified Thursday that she listened in as her sister, Angela Garmley, was propositioned by the chief magistrate for Murray County.
Ms. Sane told a federal jury in Rome, Ga., that after Ms. Garmley paid a closed-door visit to Magistrate Bryant Cochran seeking a warrant, she came out saying, "Oh, my gosh. I've got to tell you something." She said Ms. Garmley "had a surprised, puzzled look."
The witness said Ms. Garmley often kept her cell phone on speaker phone and she afterward overheard several conversations between the judge and her sister.
Cochran is facing a six-county indictment of sex and corruption charges.
Ms. Sane said after the meeting with the judge, he said he would go out to see if there had been any damage to her car from an altercation with two women on Brown Bridge Road. She said Ms. Garmley went outside, but did not see Cochran so she called him on his cell phone. He told her he had already looked at the car and saw no damage.
The witness said Cochran proceeded to tell Ms. Garmley to "remember to tell Joe (her husband) that you have to come in Wednesday to sign some papers - and, if you do, wear a dress and no panties."
Ms. Sane said when she heard that "it surprised me. I didn't know what to think."
She said in the incident on April 9, 2012, they went on to McDonald's in Chatsworth for lunch. She said Ms. Garmley told her then that Cochran had told her he was looking for a mistress.
Ms. Sane said, "He was not interested in her case. He was interested in her."
While they were seated at McDonald's Ms. Garmley got a text from Cochran that said, "I see you." Ms. Garmley replied, "Where?" He said he was going through the line and would have come in except he had "too many haters."
Ms. Sane said after they went to Ms. Garmley's home, she again talked with Cochran. She said this time it was not on speaker phone because her husband was home. She said she got up close to the phone so she could listen.
She said Cochran said he had "called to ask you a question. I like to give and receive. Do you swallow?"
She said Ms.Garmley responded, "What?"
She said Cochran "kind of snickered and said, 'I've got to go.' "
Ms. Sane said she told her sister she had heard that Joe Garmley and Cochran were close friends and "it might be a setup."
The defense pointed out that phone records show Ms. Garmley placed two calls to Cochran that afternoon, and they spoke for 11 minutes on the second one.
The witness told of being at the Garmley property later after coming over to stay with her mother and go to church with her. She said she was awakened by her cousin at 12:30 a.m. to borrow her phone. She said while she up she saw someone drive up in a van. She said a man from the vehicle went to a trailer where Ms. Garmley was living at the time.
She said she was told the man was CJ. Prosecutors identified him as a Cochran tenant who allegedly was at the Garmley place to plant meth under her vehicle.
Ms. Sane said CJ was in the Garmley trailer for 5-10 minutes before climbing out a window next to where the Garmley vehicle was parked.
Former Murray County Commissioner Greg Hogan told the jury about an angry Joe Garmley coming to him, demanding the resignation of Magistrate Cochran.
The witness said the husband said he had learned that Cochran was pursuing an affair with his wife. He said they had recently met at Spring Place School, and he said he had pictures - though he did not show any.
But he did show sexual text messages he said were between Cochran and his wife.
Former Commissioner Hogan said Joe Garmley told him to instruct Cochran that if he did not resign by 10 the next morning that he would blow the lid on the alleged affair. The magistrate did not resign, and Joe Garmley was true to his word with the family attorney issuing a spate of press releases.
The witness said he confronted Cochran about the charge and told him the ultimatum. He said Cochran asked, "What's 'public' mean." He said he told him it meant that the story would be all over the news.
He said Cochran denied meeting the woman. He said he then told him, "What if I told you there were pictures?" He said Cochran "dropped his head."
He said the next morning Cochran told him he needed to talk to him and confided, "I lied to you yesterday." He said he replied, "I know you did."
Cochran said they did meet, but he said he never got out of his car.
Cochran did not resign at the time, but he did so shortly after winning re-election. The resignation came after an unfavorable report from the group that oversees judges in Georgia.
Angelia Garmley, daughter of Angela Garmley said her mother had sought warrants after she was jumped by two women at the Garmley property on Aug. 8, 2012. She said she got into the fight after she looked out and saw her mother on the ground.
She said the alleged attackers sped off, and officers later advised them to go see the megistrate for warrants.
The witness said she and her mother told their story at a hearing a few days later conducted by Cochran, but she thought he gave the other side more time. She said he did authorize charges against the two women.
Greg Ramey, who oversees the GBI's Calhoun office, said he was on vacation with his family at Myrtle Beach when Cochran called. He said he knew Cochran from when he was a county dispatcher, then deputy, then police officer for Eton and then Chatsworth. He said he had also played in a number of golf tournaments with Cochran.
He said Cochran asked if text messages could be altered so they appeared to come from a particular person, but actually did not. Agent Ramey said he would check with the texting expert at the office.
He said he later told Cochran that to get the analysis that Cochran would need to file a criminal complaint with a police agency. He said it would not be a partial phone study, but everyone on the phone would be checked. Cochran said that could be embarrassing, so he demurred.
A string of law enforcement officers told the jury that Cochran had asked them to stop her car and check for drugs, saying it would "help me out."
Murray County Sgt. Jody Webb said he drove out near the Garmley place to watch for her distinctive white Dodge Challenger with an orange stripe. But he said he turned and drove off, saying, "I thought better of it. I didn't want to get involved."
He and other officers said they had never before got a call from a judge asking them to "be on the lookout" for a particular vehicle.
Daniel Byrd of the Georgia State Patrol, who grew up with Cochran, said he ran into him at the Sauce and Bones Restaurant in Chatsworth. He said Cochran had told him he had gotten information that drugs could be found on Ms. Garmley or her vehicle.
The trooper said, "Everything that came up, it scared me. It didn't feel right. I just knew to stay away from it."
He said he twice saw Ms. Garmley speeding 15 miles above the limit, but he did not stop her on either occasion.
Donald Ridley of the Murray County Sheriff's Office, who hunted and golfed with the magistrate, said Cochran told him Ms. Garmley had been hanging out with Randy Crook and drugs were involved. He said Cochran said, "If I could stop them, it would help him out."
Jonathan Sosebee, K-9 officer with the Chatsworth Police Department, said he once played cards with the judge.
He said he asked Cochran if the rumor about him and the woman was true, and the magistrate said, "You can't believe her. She's a meth head."
He told another officer that Ms. Garmley was "an old crank (meth) whore."
He said Cochran also asked him to stop Ms. Garmley, saying if she got caught with drugs "it would take the heat off me."
But the officer said, "It just didn't seem right to me."
Dewayne Mathis of the Murray County Sheriff's Office said Cochran urged him to make a traffic stop of Ms. Garmley.
He said he checked with Sgt. Webb who told him, "I wouldn't touch that car with a 10-foot pole. You need to get away from it."
However, Murray County Deputy Josh Greeson and Capt. Michael Henderson - first cousin of Cochran - did stop the Challenger and found meth underneath the vehicle that had allegedly been planted at Cochran's direction. They both went to prison.
Capt. John Cherry of Murray County said Cochran told him that Ms. Garmley had been several places looking for drugs. But he said the fact that the judge was giving the tip "could have tainted the case."
Capt. Cherry said when he was at a hunting club with Cochran in November 2011 he made a crude remark about allegedly putting his finger in the private area of Virginia Rector, his chief clerk.