COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Bleckley County’s Sheriff did not appear as expected this morning in a Cobb County Courtroom. He was scheduled to appear to face a sexual battery charge.
TV Judge Glenda Hatchett accused Kris Coody of groping her in a hotel bar in Cobb County on January 18, 2022 at a GA Sheriff’s Association event. Cobb Police Department investigated and issued a warrant 10 days later.
Coody was out of the country at the time on a church-sponsored mission trip that Chief Deputy Daniel Cape told us was planned for months before but later turned himself in.
He faces a misdemeanor sexual battery charge and was scheduled to appear Thursday for the first time since being charged.
When Judge Carl Bowers got to Coody’s name, he said the case was “on-call.”
Prosecutor Lindsay Chancellor said this means the case will go on the court calendar for sometime in the next few weeks and could get called for trial. She says she doesn’t believe it will.
Coody remains on the job in Bleckley County and has not responded to our requests to talk about the case as we have followed the case for more than a year.
But last year he released a statement saying he “looks forward to personally expressing his regrets for any offense at the appropriate opportunity.”
“There’s nothing nefarious going on here. Most of the people in there today signed an on-call, or pleaded guilty," Coody's Lawyer Joel Pugh told 13WMAZ. "The other option is the state dismissing the case, and we don’t think that’s going to happen.”
He says they’re prepared to go to trial if they don’t work things out with the state.
If Coody does not make an appearance in the next three weeks. His next court appearance could be Aug. 17.
13WMAZ will provide updates on Coody's case and if it will go to trial once that information is made available.