House staffer who tackled Georgia senator won’t be arrested

Fulton County Magistrate Judge Robert Wolf told Moore during a Friday hearing he had not proved probable cause for Williams to be issued a warrant. Moore was asking for Williams to be charged on a variety of charges including battery and aggravated battery.

“Is there evidence of battery? Is there evidence of aggravated battery? Perhaps,” Wolf said. “But there’s not sufficient probable cause. It doesn’t rise to that level, and that’s why I’m denying the warrant applications for battery and aggravated battery.”

The legal move from Moore continues a long conflict with members of his own party in the House. Moore was banished from the House last year after disparaging deceased former House Speaker David Ralston, and the feud culminated in the physical altercation in January as he sought to enter the chamber.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Outside the courthouse, Williams’ attorney Philip Holloway told reporters he was happy with the ruling and hoped that any future disputes can be settled in a “civil way.”

“It’s been our position all along that this event that happened at the Capitol was certainly unfortunate,” Holloway said. “I think probably everybody that was involved in it has at least some degree of regret, but it’s never arisen to the level of a crime. And I think the evidence that came out in court today.”

Since Moore filed the petition, he was required to prove there was probable cause to arrest Williams, said Catherine Bernard, Moore’s attorney.

“The standard of probable cause is very low,” she said. “And certainly, as a longtime criminal defense attorney, I have seen the standard employed against individuals in other situations very differently. So we’re disappointed that the individual who assaulted Sen. Moore at the Capitol was not held accountable today.”

Moore had subpoenaed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, House Speaker Jon Burns, Majority Leader Chuck Efstration and Terry England, Burns’ chief of staff. England is in a rehabilitation facility recovering from a back injury he incurred in February during a heavy machinery incident and subsequent surgery. England was served his subpoena while receiving care in the intensive care unit, Moore said.

Attorneys for all four successfully requested the judge “squash” the subpoenas and none were required to appear.

In a statement, Burns’ attorney and spokesperson called the incident a “publicity stunt” that the speaker was grateful had been settled.

“Colton Moore’s self-serving sham of a publicity stunt was exposed for exactly what it was today,” Burns’ spokesperson Kayla Green said in a statement. “His attempts to harass an individual hospitalized in the ICU were egregious — but not out of character for the senator.”

Moore was arrested in January after the scuffle and charged with “willful obstruction of law enforcement officers,” a misdemeanor. No court dates have been set for these charges.

Moore’s disparaging comments about Ralston came as the Senate considered a resolution last year urging the University of North Georgia to name a new academic facility on its Blue Ridge campus after Ralston, a Blue Ridge native. Ralston died in 2022.

In response to Moore’s comments, Burns banished him from the House chamber.

In January, Moore announced he was going to ignore the ban to attend a joint session. Williams and House doorkeeper Cory Mulkey physically blocked Moore from entering before Williams pushed Moore, who fell to the ground. Burns reversed his order the day after Moore’s arrest.

But the bad blood between Moore and Ralston — and Ralston’s allies — goes back years. Burns was Ralston’s second in command in House Republican leadership and Williams also worked for Ralston.

The tension between Moore and Ralston began in 2019 when Moore was a member of the House. That year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an investigation that found Ralston, who was a defense attorney, appeared to use a policy called “legislative leave” to perpetually keep cases off the docket, potentially thwarting justice and putting the public at risk.

Outside the courthouse on Friday, Moore said he has always argued that the banishment Burns levied last year was unconstitutional and the speaker couldn’t keep him out of a joint session.

“Where do I find justice? Because until people can finally stand up to the tyrannical nature of someone like Jon Burns, then I don’t know if we ever find justice,” he said.