Millions for wife of murdered judge

The wife of a Fulton County judge gunned-down in an Atlanta courthouse 3 years ago will get over $5-million dollars. The $5.2 million dollars to be paid to Claudia Barnes will settle one of several suits against Fulton County and sheriff Myron Freeman. Judge Rowland Barnes was one of four people killed in the shootings in March 2005. Brian Nichols is the accused gunman. Jury selection is underway for a trial that has been delayed several times.

Auditors unveil spotty record-keeping

Auditors have discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in accounting discrepancies in bank accounts run by the Fulton County Sheriff. However, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Sheriff Myron Freeman didn’t do anything illegal. The paper says the discrepancies show a chronic lack of oversight, spotty compliance with policies and inadequate accounting staff. In one instance, auditors found one bank account was nearly $300,000 short of what jail records indicated.