state judicial review committee has dismissed an

anonymous complaint against Peachtree City lawyer

John Mrosek, who is running for a judge's seat in

the Griffin Superior Court Circuit.

"After

a careful review of the documents provided, the

Special Committee [on Judicial Election Campaign

Intervention] has concluded that no violation of

the Code of Judicial Conduct exists and the

complaint is hereby dismissed," said Cheryl

Fisher Custer, executive director of the Judicial

Qualifications Commission, in a letter to Mrosek

last week.

The

anonymous complaint sought to have Mrosek

disqualified in his bid for the judge's post for

comments critical of his opponent, incumbent

Judge Johnnie Caldwell, in an e-mail to a member

of the City Council of Peachtree City.

The

e-mail, which contains language that Mrosek has

admitted is "coarse" and

"offensive," speaks of Mrosek's

"obsessive disgust for Judge Caldwell's lack

of fitness for office," and includes

comments about Citizen Publisher and Editor Cal

Beverly as well as Peachtree City City Attorney

James Webb.

The

e-mail "is not sanctioned by, nor is it in

keeping with, the spirit of the Code [of Judicial

Conduct]," says the letter from Custer, but

it doesn't constitute a direct violation of the

code.

Mrosek

said he regrets sending the e-mail and accepts

the commission's chastisement, but added he still

believes Caldwell or someone involved in his

campaign is behind both the distribution of his

e-mail and the anonymous complaint.

Calls

to Caldwell's office for comment have not been

returned.

In

a previous interview, Caldwell denied any

knowledge of the e-mail until it was introduced

as evidence in a case over which he was

presiding. At that time, he removed himself from

the case.

The

e-mail makes reference to an investigation in the

1980s into allegations concerning Fantasy

Fitness, a failed fitness center, involving

Caldwell and Webb.

Webb

was accused of using his position as city

attorney to get the inside track on purchasing

the troubled business location, and Caldwell, who

was district attorney at the time, was accused of

partiality in halting an investigation into the

matter.

Webb

has since worked in Caldwell's election

campaigns, but both men deny any wrongdoing in

the Fantasy Fitness affair.

But

the incident has surfaced in recent weeks in a

court battle between The Citizen and Webb. Webb

has subpoenaed e-mails from Mrosek and others in

connection with Webb's libel suit against The

Citizen, and has specifically asked for

communications concerning Fantasy Fitness.

Webb

has sued The Citizen and Beverly for libel in

connection with a letter to the editor that

accused Webb of questionable business ties while

serving as city attorney.

Mrosek

has contended that Webb's request for his e-mails

came about because Webb has been in possession of

the Dec. 7 e-mail for some time and waited until

recently to distribute it to prevent Mrosek from

running against Caldwell.

Webb

wrote to Mrosek April 24 and called the e-mail

"outrageous and libelous," adding that

he had considered dropping his libel suit against

The Citizen but, after reading the e-mail, will

continue the suit and his search for e-mails

between Mrosek and friends. "...[T]he

document certainly makes me wonder exactly what

other documents of this nature exist," the

letter said.

"In

light of the contents of this document, I feel

that I must continue to pursue the matter so I

can determine whether or not there are other

outrageous allegations contained in other

communications you might have authored or

received," the letter to Mrosek added.

In

a letter to The Citizen this week, Mrosek said he

believes it is significant that someone called up

his campaign web site and downloaded statements

from it April 20, the day before a series of

copies of his e-mail were anonymously

distributed.

The

downloaded statements were sent to the Judicial

Qualifications Commission, along with copies of

the e-mail, by the anonymous complainant.

<!--

-----------