White County Superior Court Judge Joy Parks has denied bond for former Cleveland auto dealer Mitch Simpson who was arrested March 26th following complaints by customers after the dealership closed suddenly leaving vehicle purchasers without paperwork to register the vehicles and obtain tags.
Officials initially obtained three warrants before Simpson was arrested; Thursday, prior to the bond hearing, the state produced two additional warrants charging Simpson with theft.
Based on the witness testimony, Parks said she felt Simpson was not likely to flee the jurisdiction, but based on other elements presented, she believed there was a threat to the community as far as community property and also a potential threat to commit other felonies while Simpson awaits trial.
During the over two-hour hearing, defense attorney Jeff Wolff called five witnesses, including Simpson’s mother and former White County Tax Commissioner J.H. Tow, Jr., who all stated they believed Simpson would not be a flight risk before his trial.
Assistant District Attorney Bill Clark called Georgia Department of Revenue investigator Brian Crisp and White County Sheriff investigator Clay Hammond to make statements.
Enotah Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jeff Langley spoke to WRWH following the hearing.
"Bond is denied at this point. That provides us 90 days from the time of his arrest to present this to a grand jury, and we’ll be working to try and make that deadline with as complete of an indictment as we can obtain at that point,"Langley said.
Langley added that his office’s top priority was making sure people were able to get their vehicle tags.
"I certainly respect Judge Parks and her decisions and respect the courts," Wolff said. "I think my client would be an excellent candidate for bond and would certainly abide by any orders of the courts, so I’m hoping in time we can get the court to agree to let him out on bond. He is certainly needed to aid in his defense."
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