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Chris McFadden
2011 - Present
2028
14
Chris McFadden is a judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals. He assumed office on January 1, 2011. His current term ends on December 31, 2028.
McFadden ran for re-election for judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals. He won in the general election on May 24, 2022.
Education
McFadden received his bachelor's degree from Oglethorpe University in 1980 and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1985.[1][2]
Career
McFadden opened his own law firm, Christopher J. McFadden, Attorney at Law, in 1998 and was a solo practitioner until his 2010 election to the Georgia Court of Appeals.[1]
Awards and associations
Awards
- Atlanta Bar's Distinguished Service Award
- Charles E. Watkins Jr. Award[1]
Associations
- Founding past co-chair, Appellate Practice Section, State Bar of Georgia
- Former officer and director, Atlanta Bar Association
- Past chair, Atlanta Bar Association Sole Practitioner/Small Firm Section
- Member, Atlanta Bar Association
- Member, DeKalb Bar Association
- Member, Fayette County Bar Association
- Member, Lawyers Club of Atlanta
- Member, Old Warhorse Lawyers Club
- Member, Federalist Society
- Member, American Constitution Society
- Member, Saint Thomas More Society
- Member, Oglethorpe University's Stormy Petrel Bar Association
- Former member, State Bar of Georgia's Committee on the Judiciary
- Member, American Bar Association's Appellate Practice Committee, Litigation Section and Tort and Insurance Practice Section
- Member, ABA Appellate Judges Conference's Executive Committee
- Vice Chair, Georgia Commission on Interpreters
- Member, Board of Trustees of the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Georgia intermediate appellate court elections, 2022
General election
General election for Georgia Court of Appeals
Incumbent Chris McFadden won election in the general election for Georgia Court of Appeals on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chris McFadden (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 1,620,325 |
| Total votes: 1,620,325 | |||
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2016
McFadden ran unopposed and was re-elected on May 24.[3]
Election results
| Georgia Court of Appeals, Chris McFadden's Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Chris McFadden Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 774,428 |
| Total Votes (159 of 159: 100%) | 774,428 | |
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State Official Results | ||
2010
- Main article: Georgia judicial elections, 2010
McFadden ran against Edward Johnson, Adrienne Hunter-Strothers, Antoinette Davis, Stan Gunter, James Babalola and David N. Schaeffer in the general election. In the general election runoff on November 30, he defeated Antoinette Davis, with 62 percent of the vote.[4][5]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris McFadden did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy cases
New trial ordered in rape case
William Jeffrey Dumas was convicted by a jury of repeatedly raping a woman with Down syndrome who was 24 at the time. Judge McFadden, after sentencing Dumas to 25 years in prison, ordered a new trial, because he was not convinced that Dumas was guilty. The judge's reasoning centered around his observations that the victim did not "behave like a victim."[6]
The judge's motion for a new trial did state that there was sufficient evidence to sustain the two rape charges and one aggravated sodomy charge against Dumas. However, the judge's justification for granting a new trial hinged on the woman's lack of outcry. He wrote,
| “ | [The woman] testified that, in a twelve-hour period, Mr. Dumas raped her three times...that he did so while the two of them were in a modest-sized house along with two responsible adults who were charged with protecting her; and that those attacks were interspersed with periods when she interacted with those protectors and had ample opportunity to ask for their help.[6][7] | ” |
According to the court documents, the incidents occurred in October 2010 while others were in the house, and the woman did not initially cry for help. The woman was staying with family friends while her mother and stepfather were working. Dumas was a friend of her hosts. The woman brought up the situation to one of her hosts later, and evidence of intercourse was discovered.
The prosecuting attorney, Scott Ballard, said he felt "disgust" at the judge's ruling and stated,
| “ | I had to go visit the Down syndrome woman who was the victim of the rape and tell her that even though a jury had convicted her assailant of the crime, the judge was giving the guy a new trial...Her parents were, as you can image, outraged. …I just hope we can get some justice.[8][9][7] | ” |
David Perry, in an opinion piece on CNN's website, defended the woman by writing: "People with intellectual disabilities, even those with strong communication skills, can be vulnerable to sexual assault because they are unsure of what's right or wrong or whether they can say no."[10]
Judge McFadden was presiding over this case as a temporary superior court judge. An appeal of the decision would go to the Georgia Court of Appeals, where McFadden also sits as judge. However, he recused himself from the case, following a request by the District Attorney's Office.[8][9]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ Martindale.com, "Judge Profile: Christopher J. McFadden," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying candidate information," accessed March 14, 2016
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2010 Official Results of the General Election Runoff," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Non-Partisan Candidates on the November 2, 2010 General Election Ballot," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Superior Court of Fayette County Georgia, "Georgia v. William Jeffrey Dumas, Order on Motion for New Trial," January 7, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Appeals court judge under fire for ordering new rape trial," February 26, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Salon, "Judge overturns rape verdict because the victim 'didn’t behave like a victim'," March 6, 2014
- ↑ CNN, "Rape case not just about Down syndrome," March 11, 2014
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