DAs Duel Once More in Runoff Debate

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Incumbent District Attorney Joe Hendricks and Challenger B. Alison Sosebee sparred again last night on ETC to garner votes for the August 21st run-off. Hosted by FYN’s Brian Pritchard, the debate showcased the two candidates following the path forged by their month’s long campaign.

The night’s line of questioning followed the accusations and claims made by the two candidates over the last few months. In a previous campaign flyer, Hendricks accused his opponent of “fixing DUIs.” Early in the debate Hendricks reasserted the claim.

“Ms. Sosebee dead-docketed a DUI case where Mr. Weaver was the defense lawyer,”

he said,

“while she listed Mr. Weaver on her letter head…There’s a formal advisory opinion by the state bar that says you can’t be on two sides of the same case.”

He went on to say the police officer was never contacted, never subpoenaed, or never brought to court to testify. Responding, Sosebee said in the flyer Hendricks, in fact, accused her of a crime, fixing a DUI.

“As the chief law enforcement officer of the circuit,”

she said turning to him,

“I find it shocking to believe that you would have known that I have committed a crime and yet, you never charged me with one until the last minute mailing you sent out.”

She added if people wanted to find out what really happened they could contact Ellijay Chief of Police Larry Callahan. Based on Hendricks’ accusation, Sosebee argued that if she was guilty of fixing the DUI, then Larry Callahan, Judge Ron Armstrong and the City of Ellijay are guilty of the same crime. Click here for the full DUI story.

In his rebuttal, though, Hendricks said Sosebee’s violation was a not a criminal violation, but an ethical one, which only addresses the alleged two-sides-of-the-same-case violation, not the accusation of fixing the DUI.

The flyer also accuses Sosebee of being a Liberal Democrat, citing that she had once donated $200 to former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes. For Hendricks, this colors Sosebee a Democrat. Responding during the debate, Sosebee reiterated that she has always been a Republican since she first registered to vote. She went on to explain she once donated money to a fellow attorney, who tried death penalty cases, although the Barnes connection was never thoroughly explained.

By making this one of the perennial issues of his campaign, Hendricks forged the topic of campaign donations to the fore of the discussion. As such, Moderator Brian Pritchard delved deeper into the issue by asking Hendricks if he had ever made contributions to a Democratic candidate. Hendricks said, no. Pritchard then asked if he ever made a contribution to Cherokee County Superior Court Judge Frank C. Mills. Hendricks admitted he had made donations to Judge Mills, but emphasized Mills was a non-partisan candidate.

“When I gave money to Judge Mills,”

Hendricks said,

“I certainly didn’t know he was a Democrat; he wasn’t running as a Democrat; he didn’t call me and say he was a Democrat.”

Pritchard pursued the issue, saying,

“The first time he (Mills) ran for superior court judge, the state of Georgia did not require you to be non-partisan. He ran for superior court as a Democrat and he said if he ran today he would (still) be a Democrat.”

Hendricks reaffirmed he was not privy to this information.

Through out her campaign, Sosebee also made bold charges against the incumbent regarding the backlog of pending cases in the circuit. Previously, she stated the circuit currently has over 3000 pending cases. During the debate, Hendricks said this was a misrepresentation, asserting the true number was closer to 1654. He explained that of those 3000 plus cases, at least half either have been dead-docketed, given pre-trial diversion or bench warrant. He added that some of the cases in question are at the beginning of the process, which would disqualify them as backlog. Hendricks went on to say that this year, so far, 1700 new cases were opened and 1200 were closed. More generally, he noted,

“We’re opening about 16 to 1700 cases a year, but we’re closing about 18 or 1900 cases a year. So, we’re closing more than we’re opening; we’re moving the backlog down.”

Regarding the pending cases, he broke the numbers down by county. Gilmer County, he said, has less than 600, Fannin under 300 and Pickens, less than 800.

Sosebee though was more concerned with cases that have taken extended periods to address. In her response, she cited two cases from 1999—both sexual battery cases—that were closed in 2011. “I do not understand why cases were on the calendar that long,” she said.

In addition to these, other, perennial topics were debated, such as Hendricks fulfilling his campaign promises of addressing the drug problem, cracking down on sex-offenders and DUis and implementing new technology into the DA’s office, while Sosebee pursued her platform, saying the DA’s Office needs to be run with fairness, efficiency, and integrity, which she believes is not occurring under Hendricks’ administration.

But, overall, the night’s topics were ones introduced at one time or another in past months by the candidates themselves, where Pritchard simply facilitated the discussion. And, in the end, the discussion seemingly revealed, among other things, the character of the candidates and left viewers with at least one piece of valuable advice:

“Be informed voters.”

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