Television judge Glenda Hatchett is taking legal action against a former Georgia sheriff following a groping incident that occurred at a 2022 conference. The judge best known for her television shows "Judge Hatchett" and "The Verdict with Judge Hatchett," has filed a complaint against former Bleckley County Sheriff Kristopher Coody, who has already pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor sexual battery charge. Hatchett's lawsuit alleges the Georgia Sheriffs Association should not have invited Coody to their event due to his history of "habitual intoxication" and assault.
The unsettling incident, which took place at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel and Convention Center’s Tosca Blu Bar, was detailed in court documents reported by Atlanta News First. Hatchett claims Coody publicly and drunkenly groped her breast, leaving her seeking therapy and experiencing a profound sense of helplessness. After the battery, shaken to her core, she struggled to find her grounding, "could not stop crying and could not get out of bed" according to the lawsuit.
In a recent interview, Judge Hatchett expressed that the lawsuit was filed as a matter of principle rather than monetary gain. "It's not about the money. It really isn't and if I recover anything, I will put every penny toward building a Boys and Girls Club," she told WSB-TV. In pursuit of justice, the lawsuit demands a jury trial for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, also naming the Georgia Sheriff’s Association as a defendant.
Recalling the incident, Hatchett mentioned that then-Sheriff Coody poked her in the chest and grabbed her breast during an introduction at a reception for sheriffs from across the state. "I didn’t want to be the poster child for this, Karyn, I really didn’t. But if it had to happen to someone, it was best it happened to me because I did have the resources, I understood the law," Hatchett said in the statement obtained by WSB-TV.
Coody's past behavior had been under scrutiny earlier as well, with an internal Georgia State Patrol investigation from 2007 where he allegedly left the scene after he and his girlfriend got into a shoving match at her home in Cochran. Following his guilty plea in August 2023, Coody resigned from his position and was handed a sentence that included 12 months of probation, 400 hours of community service, and mandatory participation in an alcohol and drug abuse course alongside undergoing a psychosexual evaluation, as reported by Atlanta News First.
