Grand jury declines to indict judge on domestic violence charges

A Georgia Superior Court judge was cleared of domestic violence charges Friday after a Haralson County grand jury declined to formally indict him.

Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Meng Lim was arrested by the GBI in late June and charged with one misdemeanor count of simple battery, the state agency previously said. The arrest followed a monthslong GBI investigation into an alleged incident in February involving the judge’s wife, according to Haralson County District Attorney Jack Browning.

“All the evidence is consistent with the wife making a false allegation,” Lim’s attorney, Bob Rubin, told AJC.com on Monday.

During the course of the investigation, the GBI found Lim’s wife contacted a friend in Bremerton, Washington, and accused the judge of hitting her multiple times during an argument. She also sent her friend photos of her face that showed bruising and scratching, according to the agency.

In a statement, Browning said Lim’s wife recanted her original story and denied the version of events she shared with her friend.

“The wife’s initial report to her friend was that Judge Lim had physically beat her up following an argument over his disciplining of her son, his stepson, severely injuring her face,” he said.

The physical altercation was actually between Lim’s wife and the judge’s teenage daughter, according to Rubin. “It was clear from the evidence that the injuries were the result of the altercation with the daughter,” the attorney said.

“Judge Lim stated his involvement was only to break up the fight, but that he might have hit (his wife) in the process,” Browning said in the statement. “During their interviews, both Judge Lim and his daughter denied knowing how the wife received the injuries that she suffered, as shown in the photograph.”

“At this time, our office will consider this matter concluded and our file closed,” he said.