ALBANY, Ga. — Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Stephen A. Goss was found dead from a gunshot wound behind an Albany home on Saturday morning, Albany police said.
According to an email from Phyllis Whitley-Banks with the Albany Police Department, officers were dispatched to a home in the 600 block of Greenwood Drive at about 8:11 Saturday morning.
When they arrived, they discovered the body of 60-year-old Judge Goss dead from a gunshot wound.
Whitley-Banks said that foul play is not suspected at this point.
“Judge Goss was a man who brought so much dignity and compassion to the delivery of justice all across this great state. He was a national figure, known for his work on mental health and substance abuse treatment programs," said Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton in a statement on Saturday afternoon. "His legacy is as great as our sense of loss. Our Court and this state's judiciary express our profound condolences to the Goss family.”
Goss was a native of southwest Georgia, and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1983 before attending the UGA School of Law. He graduated from law school in 1986.
Judge Goss returned to Albany and was a partner in multiple firms. In addition, he tried indigent felony criminal cases and served as solicitor for the Dougherty Circuit Juvenile Court. He was past president of the Dougherty Circuit Bar Association and a life fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia.
He was appointed as judge of the Daugherty Circuit Juvenile Court, serving from 1995-1999, before being appointed by Gov. Roy Barnes to fill a vacancy on the Superior Court of the Dougherty Judicial Circuit in 1999. Goss served as a Superior Court judge for 19 years, having been elected five times.
In 2002, Goss founded the Dougherty Superior Court Mental Health/Substance Abuse treatment program. It was the first felony mental health court in Georgia and one of the early felony programs in the U.S.
He participated in a small workgroup that helped to develop the national essential elements guide for mental health court programs. Since 2006, the Dougherty Superior Court program has served as one of four national Learning Sites for mental health courts as designated by the United States Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Council of State Governments.
He has published book chapters and articles on mental health and drug courts, mental competency issues, co-occurring disorders, trauma impacts on behavioral health, trial court professionalism issues and death penalty litigation. He has been a trainer in southwest Georgia for many years for Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for law enforcement officers dealing with persons struggling with behavioral health issues.
Speaking to 11Alive on Saturday afternoon, Whitley-Banks said she hopes the Daugherty County Coroner's Office would be issuing a statement quickly in connection with the death of the judge.
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