News - David Fuller

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came.

That certainly seems to be the case with David Fuller, who apparently wasn't satisfied with the recognition and fellowship he enjoyed as a Gwinnett State Court judge.

As those who caught Fox-5's highly entertaining piece on Fuller already know, the veteran magistrate likes to kick off the robes after a long morning of passing sentence on others' transgressions and grab himself some Miller Time.

Investigative reporter Randy Travis followed Fuller over a period of 10 weeks as the judge repeatedly cut loose early, raced 29 miles from Lawrenceville to his favorite Atlanta watering hole and set to work getting snozzled at his regular perch.

The news crew's hidden camera caught Fuller as he belted out Jimmy Buffett tunes, engaged in a rambling discussion about the city's finer strip clubs and tossed back a steady succession of pints and shots. The tape also proves once and for all that HOV lanes can't even get respect from sworn justices of the peace.

Finally, as Fuller poured himself into his SUV after an especially long day of elbow work (19 drinks in seven hours), Travis confronted the besotted judge to ask about his unorthodox means of winding down.

Fuller didn't exactly rise to the challenge, slurring angrily that he had only been drinking iced tea before roaring out of the parking lot. Perhaps he meant the Long Island variety.

This is all somewhat ironic because, in his 11 years as a state court judge, Fuller has presided over numerous DUI cases, yet he allowed himself to be filmed driving with an apparent snoot full. Equally puzzling was that, while he regularly took afternoons off, Fuller had complained that Gwinnett's heavy case load called for the hiring of another judge.

Oddest of all, however, was the fact that Fuller couldn't seem to find a decent sports bar any closer to his courthouse than The Beer Mug on Collier Road near I-75.

Maybe now that he's been suspended from the bench while he attends a program for alcoholics, Fuller will have the time to locate a neighborhood haunt.

The Weekly Scalawag is now accepting nominations. E-mail scott.henry@creativeloafing.com.