By Rosie Manins

Law360 (June 9, 2021, 3:55 PM EDT )

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton

The emotional double whammy of the Georgia Supreme Court's first in-person hearing in over a year combined with the last oral arguments for outgoing Chief Justice Harold D. Melton drew tears from multiple judges Wednesday.

Before the court heard argument in two criminal appeals, about 50 court staff, judges, attorneys and members of the public gathered to thank Justice Melton for his three decades of public service and celebrate his pandemic-related efforts to safely reopen Georgia courts. Justice Melton will end his 16-year tenure as a state supreme court judge on June 30.

The outgoing chief justice joked as he wiped away tears that he had to imagine everyone wearing only their underwear to get through his brief farewell. Justice Melton's emotional response during his last day on the bench was prompted by a tribute from Presiding Justice David E. Nahmias, who choked back tears of his own as he finished his speech with a standing ovation.

"It's been a great journey and a great blessing, and I hope I've made y'all as happy as y'all have made me," Justice Melton said. "One of the greatest blessings is to be able to work with people you admire, love and care about."

Justice Melton announced his departure in February and has yet to reveal what his next role will be. Before being appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court in 2005, he served as executive counsel to the state governor and spent 11 years in the Georgia Department of Law.

Justice Nahmias said the chief justice embodied all four of Socrates' essential qualities of a good judge — to hear courteously, answer wisely, consider soberly and decide impartially. He said Justice Melton's decency, humor, loyalty and compassion had made him a friend to many.

"These are the qualities that so many judges strive for but few if any judges in this state's history have actually embodied these qualities more than Chief Justice Melton," Justice Nahmias said. "His opinions reflect his wisdom and his ability to cut to the heart of legal cases with a heavy dose of common sense."

Justice Nahmias praised Justice Melton's leadership throughout the coronavirus pandemic, saying he never lost his cool despite it being the greatest crisis that Georgia's judicial system had faced in generations. He said Justice Melton is "unfailingly courteous" both on and off the bench, and that he consulted broadly with all judicial stakeholders to decide remarkably difficult and complex issues wisely.

"In a crisis a lot of people get really riled up but Chief Justice Melton never did," Justice Nahmias said. "In the course of many vigorous discussions over the past 15 months, I've never heard him raise his voice or express a cross word to anyone. He's always a calming presence."

Justice Nahmias will take over as chief justice on July 1. He said it was a fitting tribute to Justice Melton's leadership that oral arguments resumed in-person for his last session on the bench.

The court heard oral arguments in two criminal appeals Wednesday. One focused on whether the Georgia Court of Appeals rightly vacated a trial court's dismissal of a woman's drunk-driving related charges for want of prosecution. The other case tasked the court with deciding whether a felony murder conviction and life prison sentence was appropriate for one of five men accused of trying to rob a drug dealer.

Court clerk Tee Barnes said that although it was sad for it to be Justice Melton's day, having litigants and spectators back in the court for oral arguments felt strange in a good way. Hearings have been held remotely in the court since March 2020.

"It's great to see everyone," Barnes said. "It's so nice to look out and see some people in the audience."

Attorneys arguing before the court Wednesday told Law360 they were both nervous and excited to be back facing the justices in person.

Michelle L. Dissman of the Office of the Cherokee County Solicitor-General, representing the state in a criminal appeal, said she was happy to see business return to normal.

Ben Sessions of The Sessions Law Firm LLC, who was representing a criminal defendant in the first case argued Wednesday, told Law360 the in-person hearing made clear how much interaction is missed in Zoom proceedings.

"The series of questions and dialogue that builds in an in-person argument were really missed," Sessions said. "It was really exciting being back in-person and obviously being the first case heard added to that."

--Editing by Gemma Horowitz.

Update: This story has been updated with a comment from an attorney.

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