Judge Accused Of Bigotry, Jail Sentence Reduced For Iranian Man

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — The city of Sandy Springs has reduced a sentence imposed by a Municipal Court judge accused of disparaging an Iranian-American defendant's heritage during a bench trial in 2017. The judge called the college student and Uber driver "despicable," and chided him for speaking in court with the comment, "I know where you come from, women don’t mean anything," which critics said showed the judge's bigotry.

Sandy Springs also agreed to a plea deal with the defendant, Fazial Azizan, who will serve a total of 78 days. However, he will receive credit for the 18 days he served in jail and will carry out the rest of that sentence — two months — on probation, according to a July 27 consent order shared with Patch by the city of Sandy Springs. Azizan was originally sentenced to five months behind bars by Judge Sharon Dickson, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday.

"We are relieved that justice was done in this case," said attorney Jason McLendon, whose law firm, The McLendon Firm, represented Azizan during his appeal of the ruling to the Fulton County Superior Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals.

This case and Judge Dickson's comments came to light last month when a report by WSB-TV revealed the exchange between the judge and defendant during a July 13, 2017, trial. Azizan was charged with disorderly conduct by Sandy Springs police following a two-car accident in March of that year. Azizan, who was driving for Uber at the time, was taking a passenger home when he was rear-ended by another vehicle on Glenridge Drive at Hammond Drive. Azizan, a Georgia State University nursing student from Iran, was found guilty by Judge Dickson and sentenced to five months in jail.

However, it was what the judge said during the bench trial that has raised eyebrows. According to court transcripts, Judge Dickson found Azizan guilty "without hesitation because of you and your selfishness, your being inconsiderate and just simply unconcerned and unbothered about the danger you created" for the passenger. When Azizan interjected, Judge Dickson interrupted him by stating, "You're not talking now."

"You don’t get to talk. It’s my turn. Okay?" she said. "But I know where you come from, women don’t mean anything. Okay? But that’s not how it works here. Okay? You can look up or you don’t have to. It’s up to you. I mean, I’m just a woman. I’m only a woman who is wearing a robe today. Doesn’t really matter. I get this. This is who you are.”

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The transcripts also show the judge went on to call Azizan a "small person" on the inside and that he has "no regard for anyone else."

"You need to go to jail," she said, according to the transcript. "You are despicable to me.”

Following the ruling, Azizan, who represented himself during the bench trial, hired McLendon as his attorney and appealed the judge's decision to the Fulton County Superior Court. While that court agreed that Judge Dickson's comments were wrong, it allowed the jail sentence imposed upon Azizan to stand. McLendon petitioned the Georgia Court of Appeals in an effort to get his client a new trial.

CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Edward Mitchell said his organization an amicus brief with the Georgia Court of Appeals in support of McLendon's petition. Mitchell added CAIR-Georgia welcomes the city's decision to reduce Judge Dickson's sentence, "which was fatally tainted by her expression of bigotry."

"This should not have been a hard decision for Sandy Springs to make," Mitchell said. "Bigotry has no place in our society, much less our courts. When a judge attacks a defendant's national origin from the bench, that judge's ruling cannot stand."

He also calls on the city to reconsider its relationship with Riley McLendon, LLC, the law firm of Bill Riley, the city's municipal court prosecutor. Mitchell said Riley "did not object" when the judge criticized the defendant's heritage.

"We got to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen again," he said. "We thank God for this ruling."

Dickson was appointed in June 2014 to serve as one of the city's municipal court judges, which serve for four-year terms. Patch reached out to the city of Sandy Springs to determine if Dickson would continue serving as a Municipal Court judge.

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