Following the appeal of a recent conviction on perjury and false statements, Clinch County Associate Magistrate Judge Linda C. Peterson was acquitted in federal court.

According to court papers filed Monday, United States District Court Judge Hugh Lawson concluded that the jury’s findings in the original trial were against the weight of the evidence. Therefore, Peterson’s motion for judgment of acquittal was granted.

“The evidence was not there to convict her, and the public needs to know that she is innocent,” said Attorney William “Bill” Moore, who represents Peterson.

“She’s elated, and we’re elated by the judge’s ruling.”

Legal counsel for Peterson filed a motion for acquittal after a jury returned two guilty verdicts during a week-long trial in July in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

During the July trial, Peterson was found guilty of perjury and making false statements and was acquitted on a charge of conspiracy to commit extortion by a public official.

The charges against Peterson stemmed from an ongoing probe into the Alapaha Judicial Circuit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Superseding federal indictments, filed March 11, outlined the basis for the charges against Peterson.

According to the indictment, Peterson falsely testified in federal court on June 13, 2007, that she never referred a defendant to her father as a bondsman and that she lied to FBI special agents when asked whether she had asked Clinch County Sheriff’s Office employees what steps needed to be taken for her father to write bonds.

The final count of the indictment, for which she was acquitted, alleged that the judge conspired with others in the Alapaha Judicial Circuit to affect interstate commerce by illegally obtaining money from an individual.

Moore stated that the judge’s ruling for acquittal is a relief for Peterson and her family.

“This has been a burden on her and her family for a long, long time,” he said.