Wednesday, January 21, 2004

It is Solicitor Harris’s job to prosecute allegations of spouse abuse

I am a practicing attorney in Fayette County. I do a lot of criminal defense and divorce litigation. I have done battle with the solicitor-general’s office many times, and I have had the occasion to represent people in divorce and criminal cases who have been the victims of family violence.

John Allen’s letter accuses Steve Harris of being politically motivated when Harris prosecuted Mr. Allen for some form of family violence in the State Court of Fayette County. Mr. Allen felt that since his case had been presented to the Magistrate Court of Fayette County, and subsequently dismissed, that the prosecution by Harris’s office was improper and politically motivated.

Many cases are dismissed in the Magistrate Court of Fayette County only to be later indicted by the grand jury or prosecuted by the district attorney or solicitor-general. The findings of the magistrate court in a pre-issuance hearing are not jurisdictional.

That is to say, there is nothing to prevent the “victim” whose case has been dismissed in the magistrate court from renewing his or her complaint with the solicitor-general or district attorney.

Sometimes people appear in the magistrate court at pre-issuance hearings without attorneys to represent their interests. As a result, their presentations may lack thoroughness, so the magistrate judge has no alternative but to dismiss the case. There is nothing to prevent the victim from proceeding further in another court, such as the Superior or State Court of Fayette County.

Apparently, Mr. Allen’s case was dismissed at the magistrate court level. I suspect that the victim in Mr. Allen’s case thereafter went to either or both of the two victim witness advocates whose offices are in the Fayette County Courthouse, and asked that her case be prosecuted further.

It is tough for a prosecutor, such as Steve Harris, to refuse to prosecute a case when a woman has alleged physical abuse. It is Mr. Harris’s job to present such cases to Judge Fletcher Sams or, in Mr. Allen’s case, to a jury of Mr. Allen’s peers.

Our system of justice may not be perfect, but thank goodness for a criminal defendant’s right to present his or her case to a jury.

I am glad that Mr. Allen’s charges were found not proven by the jury. However, I am not glad that Mr. Allen has chosen to accuse Harris of political wrongdoing or improper motives.

I normally do not write letters to newspapers, but this time I could not sit idly by and allow someone to attack Harris and his office when the attack was so far from being true. We are fortunate to have our interests protected by men and women of ethically sound character such as exist in the office of solicitor-general of Fayette County.

Paul S. Liston

Fayetteville, Ga.