Todd Orr to spend the next 631 days in jail

Orr’s girlfriend, Carla Allen, testified that she was near Orr during the phone calls and he did not tell his wife that he wished he had blown off her head. Her version of what happened was backed up by testimony from her young daughter and the girl's boyfriend.

However, Teresa Orr told the court that after she hung up on her husband that night, he called back yelling into the phone loudly enough for everyone sitting around the table to hear him without the use of the speaker phone. And when she told him that she wished she had divorced him a long time ago so that their daughter would still have her arm, he said she had hit him below the belt with that comment and told her he wished he had blown her “f…. head off” instead of trying to kill himself earlier.

She testified that her husband then advised her he could come home that night if he wanted to. And he asked her if she believed him when he said he could.

The most moving testimony came while Tiffany Thomas, the injured daughter, was on the stand. She broke down as she recalled the words her father spoke to her mother.

However, the judge seemed most affected by the testimony of Todd Orr’s younger brother, Brian Orr, who said he had gone to the Orr family’s home that night of July 30 to discuss what was really going on with his brother and to see if there was anything that could be done to help him.

He told the judge that he was sitting next to Teresa Orr when his brother's phone calls came in and that he had heard every word of both sides of the conversations. His testimony closely aligned with the accounts of Todd Orr’s wife and daughter.

However, defense attorney Billy Healan introduced evidence that contradicted those accounts.

The defense witnesses, including the Barrow County sheriff’s deputy who took the initial incident report, testified that Orr talked about coming back home toward the beginning of the conversation – not after making the alleged comment about shooting off his wife’s head.

Because the statements weren't not said together, Healan said his client’s statements did not constitute a terroristic threat, which is the outstanding felony charge at the center of the probation revocation hearing.

Healan also brought to the court’s attention that Teresa Orr in the days leading up to the phone call had cut off her husband's cell phone service and his bank cards while he was out of town, and on July 26 had called his girlfriend and, with a loud voice and coarse language, had angrily confronted Allen about sleeping with her husband.

However, prosecutor James Knox argued to the court that it is not uncommon for a woman in Teresa Orr’s place to confront a mistress.

Superior Court Judge Currie Mingledorff said that due to the discrepancies in the testimonies, he had to weigh the witnesses’ credibility.

He said he found credible the testimonies of the prosecution’s witnesses.

He specifically mentioned the credibility of Brian Orr’s account and said to Todd Orr: “It is clear to the court that your brother loves you and respects you and is concerned for you. I don’t think he is here because he has an ax to grind. I think he’s trying to do what he can to help the situation…”

Mingledorff said while the deputy’s report varied from the accounts of the prosecution’s witnesses, he felt the report didn’t reflect the information “with the preciseness that it was delivered to him with.”

Saying he had “grave concerns” about the Orr family’s circumstances, the judge told Todd Orr that he found it interesting that with as much as has occurred within his family, there are “a lot of folks who have stood by you, including your daughters, your wife and other family members who have hoped that things would go well for you.”

When Mingledorff announced that he was revoking Orr’s probation, Orr’s wife and daughters and friends began weeping and exchanging tissues.

Orr’s girlfriend left the courtroom before the judge had finished his remarks and could later be heard screaming in the hallway at the wife of Brian Orr.

Mingledorff ordered the Orr women still inside the courtroom to stay there until the disturbance had ended. Court security officers later called for the assistance of a marked patrol car to see that the girlfriend and other supporters of Todd Orr moved out of the parking lot.

Knox told the Barrow Journal at the conclusion of the hearing that because Orr's probation stems from two misdemeanor convictions, he will not be sent to a state prison. The judge's order states he will be incarcerated at the Barrow County Detention Center.

However, Knox said the felony terroristic-threat charge remains to be adjudicated.