Trump prosecutor running for appeals court judge

“If everyone’s not held to the same standards … then we don’t have a system at all,” he said.

Wooten began his legal career as a public defender in a rural four-county circuit outside Knoxville, Tennessee, spending roughly four years representing indigent clients before returning to the Atlanta area in 2018. He eventually landed at the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office prosecuting cases ranging from homicide to drug trafficking and gang activity.

In Clayton County, Wooten found himself increasingly drawn to white collar fraud cases — and to a troubling pattern he kept noticing in them.

“Often they’re CEOs; they can be doctors, they can be lawyers, they can often be wealthy and have, you know, political connections,” he said. “The rules that apply to them are a little bit different from the rules that apply to everybody else. To me, that seemed unjust.”

Willis brought him to Fulton County in early 2021 to lead her White Collar Crime Unit. His first day on the job was Jan. 6., the day pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Six months later, Willis called him into her office and assigned him to the election interference investigation. He didn’t ask for the case, he said.

“I did not come into that case looking to indict anyone,” he added. “I came into that case just like any of the other cases that I handle, looking for the truth.”

In August 2023, a grand jury indicted 19 defendants, including Trump, on charges stemming from an alleged effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.

The case began to unravel the following year. Trump and his allies moved to disqualify Willis, arguing she had a conflict of interest stemming from a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Trial judge Scott McAfee rejected the most sweeping version of that argument, ruling that Willis could remain on the case if Wade stepped aside. Wade resigned, and Willis stayed.

Later that year, however, the Court of Appeals overturned McAfee’s decision. The ruling authored by Brown held that Willis’ office could not continue prosecuting the case because of an “appearance of impropriety” created by her relationship with Wade.

The disqualification decision ultimately proved fatal to the prosecution. The Georgia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, declined to hear Willis’ appeal. A replacement prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis, subsequently moved to dismiss the charges.

That outcome looms large over Wooten’s decision to challenge Brown in the May 19 election.

Asked about the disqualification ruling, Wooten declined to offer his opinion, citing judicial conduct rules that limit what candidates can say about cases that could return to the court. A dispute over legal fees in the Trump case remains pending, and the Court of Appeals could still be asked to resolve related issues.

Instead, he pointed to the dissent by Judge Benjamin Land, who argued that Georgia precedent for more than four decades held that an appearance of impropriety alone was not enough to disqualify a prosecutor. Land was later appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court by Gov. Brian Kemp.

Although Wooten acknowledged Brown’s ruling was one factor in his decision to run, he said his campaign is about something broader than the Trump case.

“I believe so strongly that appellate court judges have to treat everyone the same way,” he said. “Doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter who you know. It shouldn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, a Democrat or a Republican.”

The political reality, however, is that the race may be an uphill battle for Wooten.

Elections for Georgia’s Court of Appeals are held in May, when turnout is typically low. Most appellate judges reach the bench through appointment and run later for reelection as incumbents.

Brown is a product of that system. He was first appointed to a State Court judgeship in Putnam County by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, and later elevated to Superior Court and then appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2018 by then-Gov. Nathan Deal, also a Republican. As an appellate judge, he has never faced a contested election — until now.