Shocking moment stunned lawyer is given a tongue-lashing by judge on national TV for missing a court appearance because he’d suffered a STROKE

• Matt Tucker, a lawyer in Clayton County, Georgia, suffered from a stroke over the weekend and was unable to attend jury selection for his client Hannah Payne
• Tucker claimed he emailed the court to notify them of his medical emergency, but Judge Shana Rooks Malone said he didn’t 
• She also accused of him not having a stroke, telling the courtroom: ‘There, however, is no indication that he had a stroke, so I cannot go forward…’
• Malone also said she was going to file a ‘grievance’ with the State Bar because this was not the ‘first time I’ve had an issue with him’ 
• Tucker said he was ‘astonished’ by her reaction and said from his hospital bed: ‘I couldn’t believe it. She kind of made me look real bad on TV’ 
• After Malone’s accusations, Tucker is considering filing a motion to have her removed from Payne’s case over fears his client, 23, may not get a fair trial 

A lawyer was stunned after a judge gave him a tongue-lashing on national television after failing to appear in court following his stroke. 

Matt Tucker, a lawyer in Clayton County, Georgia, suffered from a stroke over the weekend and was unable to attend jury selection for his client Hannah Payne, who was accused in 2019 of killing Kenneth Herring, 62, while trying to make a citizen’s arrest. 

Tucker claimed he emailed the court to notify them of his medical emergency, but Judge Shana Rooks Malone was having none of it and suggested she didn’t believe him. 

‘There, however, is no indication that he had a stroke, so I cannot go forward with the trial today because Miss Payne is not represented,’ she said on Monday in court, which was aired on Law & Crime. ‘I am going to find that Mr. Tucker is in contempt of court [because] he failed to follow the rules of court and notifying the court. 

‘I am going to also file grievance with the State Bar of Georgia because of his behavior. This is not the first time I’ve had an issue with him failing to come and come on time.’ 

Tucker said he was ‘astonished’ by her reaction and told WSB-TV from his hospital bed: ‘I couldn’t believe it. She kind of made me look real bad on TV.’ 

Judge Shana Rooks Malone accused Tucker of not having a stroke, saying: ”There, however, is no indication that he had a stroke, so I cannot go forward with the trial today because Miss Payne is not represented’ 

Matt Tucker (pictured), a lawyer in Clayton County, Georgia, suffered from a stroke over the weekend and was unable to attend jury selection for his client Hannah Payne. After seeing how Malone dismissed his work, he said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. She kind of made me look real bad on TV’ 

Malone also advised Payne (pictured) ‘seriously seek new counsel.’ She said: ‘You have a right to have counsel who’s going to be diligently representing you and advocating on you zealously, and he has not been doing that’ 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4tGcA-qidm0%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

He also said he was confused as to why Malone wouldn’t accept Payne’s answer when she told him he was hospitalized, saying: ‘I’ve never lied to the court. I’m an officer of the court. It is not a disservice. We’ve been waiting on this trial for three years.’ 

After Malone’s accusations, Tucker is considering filing a motion to have her removed from Payne’s case over fears his client, 23, may not get a fair trial. 

In addition to Malone’s doubts about the lawyer’s health, she also deeply encouraged Payne to ‘seriously seek new counsel.’ 

‘He’s doing you a disservice because you’ve been here. We’re ready to start a trial today,’ she said on Monday. ‘You have a right to have counsel who’s going to be diligently representing you and advocating on you zealously, and he has not been doing that.

‘Miss Payne should make sure she has counsel who’s going to be here. Now I’m not really making any disparagements on Mr. Tucker, but he knows what he should have done so that this we could have all been aware prior to today.’ 

Payne, dressed in a cream sweater and a black blazer, sat quietly with wide eyes as Malone went on her tangent. 

When the State of Georgia representatives requested calling Tucker to see how he was doing so they could get a trial date set up, Malone declined, saying she didn’t know when she would have time. 

At this moment, the trial and jury selection has not rescheduled. 

Payne allegedly shot Herring on a busy highway after attempting to stop him from leaving the scene of a minor hit-and-run crashed. She claimed Herring pulled the trigger. 

Tucker argued in 2019 that the shooting was in self-defense and described his client as a ‘Good Samaritan’ for blocking Herring’s pickup truck with her Jeep after witnessing the man strike a semi-truck and make an attempt to drive away at around 6.15pm in May of that year. 

Payne (left, in 2019) was accused in 2019 of killing Kenneth Herring, 62, (right)while trying to make a citizen’s arrest

Clayton County police testified in 2019 that an altercation between Payne, who was armed with a 9mm gun, and Herring ended with the man fatally shot in the stomach.

Major Anthony Thuman told the court the earlier hit-and-run involving Herring’s vehicle did not cause extensive damage and no one was injured. He also revealed that Payne is licensed to carry a gun.

Witness Nicole Jackson told WSB-TV at the time she saw the 5-foot-7, 190-pound Payne grappling with the 62-year-old grandfather and ordering him to ‘get out of the car.’

Police in Georgia say Payne shot Herring in the stomach after blocking his Dodge pickup truck with her Jeep after a crash in May 2019 (pictured) 

‘All of a sudden you hear a “pow,” and she got on her phone immediately and was like, “He pulled the trigger,”‘ Jackson said.

According to police, it was Payne who called 911 to summon help.

Herring’s estranged wife, Christine, told the station that the fact that Payne got out of her Jeep and confronted her husband means that she did not feel like she was in any danger.

‘I think she needs to go to jail because she committed murder,’ Christine Herring said.

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