Judge faces ethics charges in assault on man after hearing May 10, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail KNOXVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia judge accused of assaulting an inmate who he said repeatedly cursed at him during a hearing is now facing ethics charges, according to a state judicial agency. The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission’s investigative panel alleges Crawford County Chief Magistrate Cary Hays III followed the inmate into a hallway after a December 2020 first appearance hearing, then grabbed him and pushed him against a wall while the man was handcuffed and restrained at his feet. The inmate was not identified. Hays, who was sworn into office in 2017, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday that he did not injure the inmate “in any way.”