The Law and “Justice” Are Often at Odds
“Boy… you know what a Superior Court judge can do? Any damn thing he wants!”
— Late Augusta Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Franklin Pierce to a brand new assistant prosecutor on his very first day in court
Before you accuse me of making that quote up, because I am sure some of you have already done that, let me tell you who Pierce was talking to when he said that: current Columbia County Chief Magistrate Judge Bobby Christine.
But don’t think Judge Christine was singled out with the admonition/advice; virtually every young prosecutor was told that as they stood before the curmudgeonly jurist for the first time, according to current Superior Court judge and former District Attorney Danny Craig. Hearing it from Judge Pierce, for a local young lawyer, was almost a rite of passage.
Simply put, within reasonable limits, the judge was right. When it comes to decisions made about people and cases in their own courtroom, a Superior Court judge almost has the power of the good, sweet Lord.
Which is why I was baffled, honestly totally befuddled, when I was told about the way Judge Mike Annis handled the now infamous Keena Ware case that played out in his courtroom a few weeks ago.
Ware, convicted in the recent past on multiple charges of DUI, was again facing the charge, this time with three of her children, ages 8, 5, and 4, in the car with her. Oh… and a beer. An open beer that Ware said was her third of the night. Not likely.
Ware was pulled over for traveling at a high rate of speed near the corner of Windsor Spring and Spirit Creek roads. According to police reports, Ware tested at a blood alcohol level of .237 on an Alco-Sensor test, which indicates she was possibly three times over the legal limit of .08. Experts say that such a high reading for most adults is usually indicative of ingesting between 10 and 14 12-ounce beers in the hours prior to the test.
Sadly, the Alco-Sensor test is only used to show that other, legally binding tests are called for, and in and of itself, is not admissible in court.
Ware was savvy enough to refuse any other field sobriety test or a legal blood alcohol test at the scene, which means the court had to rely on witness testimony to determine if there was to be a conviction in the case.
In these days of street-smart drivers, traffic cops have seen sobriety test compliance drop drastically. You can imagine the number of court cases decided on the testimony of witnesses, and other mitigating circumstances, such as, oh, I don’t know, the physical signs of intoxication (which were documented in the police report), or the fact that a driver tells an officer that she is on her “third beer” while driving a car with three small children along for the ride.
The only witness called in the case, for either side, was Deputy Albert Parrish. He was the second deputy on the scene and arrived only after the original officer followed Ware, with blue lights running, to her home, just over a mile from where she was first spotted.
For some reason, the original officer, Deputy Daryl Broome, was not called to testify. In retrospect that is an obvious mistake, but it should not have been a fatal one in such a case. There was overwhelming documentation that the woman was likely intoxicated, but Judge Annis insisted that he needed to hear from the officer who actually saw Ware driving too fast.
Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine was unable to get in touch with Broome at that moment to secure his testimony, so Judge Annis acquitted Ware on the DUI charge for insufficient evidence. He did give her a $250 fine for driving with an open container, and sent her along her merry way.
The case has been debated back and forth for what many call Judge Annis’ insistence that he hear from an eyewitness. If this line of reasoning is followed, we can assume all of Deputy J.D. Paugh’s upcoming cases will be dismissed, because the late officer certainly cannot testify from the Great Beyond. At least they will be dismissed in Judge Annis’ court.
I was contacted by two local judges in this situation (for the record… neither of the them Judge Christine or Craig) to question why Judge Annis would not go to a greater effort to get the eyewitness to court, if it was so important. An adjournment for the day would have done the trick easily, and it happens all the time.
A Superior Court judge can do such a thing staying completely within the letter of the law, and drawing not one hint of trouble from any appeal court in the country. At the very least, why not weigh Ware’s previous DUI convictions into the sentence on the open container, ordering mandatory alcohol treatment, and requiring that she put an ignition interlock device on her vehicle to guard against future drinking and driving episodes? How about ordering DFACS to investigate the home life situation of a multiple DUI offender convicted of driving with an open container with her three small children in the car?
As Judge Pierce used to say, a Superior Court judge has the ability to do many things, as did Judge Annis in this case. For some reason, he simply chose not to do them.
He did follow the law in his acquittal, but he could have followed the law in many other ways that would have been far, far better for all involved. Especially, Ware’s three kids.
Just like O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony, Keena Ware got the law, but she likely did not get justice.You Might Also Like:
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