The charges and arrests were clearly unjustified and an act of pure vindictiveness on the part of Weaver. Weaver got pissed off at Thomason because Thomason “questioned” her honesty in the Fannin Focus. She was actually quoted as saying, “I don’t react well when my honesty is questioned.” As Steve Martin would say, “Well, excuse me!”
The facts are that Stookey subpoenaed court bank records relevant to a suit Thomason is involved in. I don’t want to get too far into the weeds but Stookey was attempting to obtain proof that the Weaver used court funds to pay a private litigant’s attorney’s fees. Weaver went to her buddy, Sosebee, and convinced her to get a grand jury to indict Thomason and Stookey on charges of identity theft, attempt to commit identity theft and making false statements about a public official. Sosebee, who is relatively new to the D.A.’s job, used to clerk for Weaver and was employed for a while with Weaver’s lawyer husband.
The identity theft charges were based on the premise that Thomason and Stookey were somehow stealing the court’s identity by obtaining the court’s bank records which, incidentally, are public records of public funds. The false statement charge was based on the fact that the subpoena suggested that Weaver may have unlawfully authorized the payment of a private litigant’s attorney’s fees—an issue which was not only germane to Thomason’s lawsuit but was also the subject of a couple of critical articles in the Fannin Focus. Thomason contends such a payment violates state law.
You do not need to be an attorney to realize that the charges are total bullshit. The requested records are public records. If the subpoena was improper the appropriate procedure would be to move to quash the subpoena. If there was sensitive information in the records the proper procedure would be to move for a protective order to redact the sensitive information.
How, you may ask, did Sosebee manage to get a grand jury to indict Thomason and Stookey on these bullshit charges? I’m no expert on grand juries but, as one news article put it, you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. It seems obvious that Weaver lost her cool and with the connivance of Sosebee lashed out at pesky Thomason. Really a dumb move for someone who is supposed to be so smart.
When news of the arrests got out there was a shit storm of outrage from news outlets and journalist’s organizations both inside and outside the state. Hell, even the Drudge Report ran a piece on the incident. All the news reports were extremely critical of Weaver’s attempt to muzzle Thomason. Some of the reports quoted lawyers versed in criminal law as saying the charges were unwarranted and unjustified. The Atlanta Press Club, Georgia First Amendment Foundation and Georgia Press Association and other journalist organizations demanded that the charges be dropped. The Georgia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists made a complaint to the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) about Weaver’s actions.
Oh, guess what? Weaver is also the head of the state JQC.
It is clear that Weaver and Sosebee did not anticipate this tidal wave of criticism. Two weeks after Thomason and Stookey were arrested and in the face of overwhelming criticism Weaver requested that Sosbee drop the charges. Sosebee dutifully filed a motion to drop the charges. To me that’s just further proof the charges were unwarranted to begin with. I mean if Weaver and Sosebee really believed that a crime had been committed don’t they have some obligation to proceed with the case?
But the saga continues. There is a hearing tomorrow on Sosebee’s motion to drop the charges. Apparently that is unusual in and of itself. From what I’ve read the standard procedure in Georgia is for a judge to grant a prosecutor’s motion to drop charges automatically without the necessity of a hearing. Obviously, Weaver is not going to preside at the motion hearing. Well, maybe that’s not so obvious around here.
What’s more, Stookey has said he does not want the charges dropped. He is outraged at the assault on his reputation and wants to go to trial on the charges to prove his innocence. Thomason is happy to have the charges dismissed.
The hearing on motion should be interesting. Sosebee will be arguing strenuously to have the charges dropped because she wants to avoid the humiliation of having it shown that she brought bullshit charges, and Stookey will be arguing for the opportunity to defeat the charges in front of a jury. I think the odds are 50-50 that Sosebee will send one of her assistant district attorneys to cover the hearing rather than show up herself. Thomason believes that there will be a crowd of press are the hearing, and the last thing Sosebee wants to do is answer questions or try to justify the charges. She has clammed up on the advice of the state prosecutors’ association.
Thomason has been talking about suing Weaver and Sosebee for deprivation of his civil rights. I presume the claim would be that they violated his First Amendment right of free speech and freedom of the press and his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures. I suppose there are some state law claims such as false arrest, malicious prosecution and abuse of process that could be alleged also. I’m not sure how far any of these claims will get. Thomason will have to overcome strong defenses such as judicial and prosecutorial immunity.
For me this has been a strong dose of reality. I have been painting a picture in these posts that Fannin County is this idyllic place of rural bliss and tranquility where small town values reign, people are friendly and the discord, abuses and evils of contemporary America happen elsewhere. I guess I was being naïve and overly romantic.
The root of the problem, as I see it, is that persons in power in the local establishment do not understand that Fannin County is no longer the remote, rural county unconnected with the larger world that it was 20 or 30 years ago. Back then they could do things and get away with it without being subject to scrutiny.
A prime example of this is that last year a judge and a prosecutor used the N-word in open court. Thomason reported on the incident in his newspaper much to the embarrassment of the court and prosecutor. Regardless of how you feel about using the N-word, smart people—particularly those in public office—simply do not use the word in this day and age. (Incidentally, that incident and Thomason’s reporting of it is the genesis of the present controversy but that’s a story for another day.)
A few posts ago I poo-pooed the idea that I could get in trouble for writing columns critical of the local establishment. Now I’m not too sure.
I’ll tell you one thing. Having never lived in a small town I find the local politics and political machinations fascinating. I’m trying to understand them. I feel like Margaret Mead exploring the culture of Samoa. I just hope I don’t run into a tribe of head hunters and end up in some local stew pot.
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