Brad Smith will be the new District Attorney for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit. Smith won the runoff election against Donna Sikes 5,502 to 4,218. The balloting for the seat was in Jackson, Barrow and Banks counties.
In Jackson County, Hunter Bicknell won the board of commissioners chairman's seat against Ron Johnson 2,648 to 1,788.
In Barrow County, challenger Danny Yearwood defeated incumbent Doug Garrison 2,542 to 1,600.
While it appears folks move here for the 'small town' feel, I fear this is lost. Why are hometown folks not supporting hometown businesses?
How do we prevent Gwinnett from moving in, when we open our arms to them and utilize their many services instead of those in our wonderful area.
Please support our local businesses as Donna does. We are the reason many of you moved here.
And to the Sikes family, I wish you many restful evenings.
THANK YOU to the people of OUR community for not voting her into this important office.
NOW, Mr. Smith.....all eyes are uopn you please serve this community with honor, ethics and Goodness. We are watching you very closely.
Donna did not run a negative campaign. The issue
Donna brought to the public eye was a legitimate one.
Should a convicted child molester, who later commits
crimes of violence, "battery", receive a recommendation
of probation and no jail time by the prosecutor in the
case? The accusation charging Mr. Caylor clearly reflects
that Brad Smith signed as the prosecuting attorney.
Furthermore, I think Donna did not get the votes due to
her sex. I heard many people in Jackson County
state that they did not think a woman was qualified to be
a district attorney. Come on people get with the times.
My best wishes go out to the Sikes family and I wish
congrats to Brad Smith as well.
Also, Brad didn't stoop to her level, he could have brought out that she herself has leins on her home and that how is she to manage a multimillion dollar budgeted department if she can't even manage her own money?
I hate seeing people complain about something after the fact, half of these people that are complaining probably didn't even get out and vote. If you don't vote, you have no voice to complain.
And to Brad Smith, congrats on a wonderfully run campaign and thank you for being professional, honest and keeping the interigty of the law enforcement community.
First, my earlier comment was not an attack on Brad Smith. I have every expectation that he will be a good district attorney.
My only point was that the sentence of probation recommended by Brad in the Caylor cases was not "mudslinging" but a legitimate issue to be raised for the public to consider.
Now raising the issues of liens against one's home is "mudslinging" and has nothing whatsoever to do with an attorney's performance. Moreover, your point is meaningless. I would venture to say that 95% of the citizens of Jackson County, Barrow County, and Banks County have liens against their homes: they are called mortgages and security deeds.
Regarding experience, the term "death qualified" applies only to appointed defense counsel in capital cases and to jurors sitting on capital cases. It does not apply to hired defense attorneys or to the office of the district attorney. If any attorney, for whatever reason, desires to become "death qualified", it is not that difficult, and can be accomplished quickly.
The real problem I have with your article is that you imply that any attorney who represents someone whom you have arrested is representing a "scumbag". Whatever happened to the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" and everyone has a right to a fair trial, and representation at trial. Your view frightens me and I pray there are not many law enforcement officers out there who share your view on this issue.
Finally, I do not understand why people who voice an opinion want to do so anonymously. I have been reared to stand up and be counted.
Many people submitting commits are prohibited by policy, procedures, or ethical declarations from publically supporting political candidates, thats why they can't post they name just as I can't. You have a valid point about the Caylor case; however, the problem is not that Mrs. Sikes brought it up. The problem is that she used it in a manner to convince the voters that the reason Caylor killed that poor girl was because Brad Smith didn't punish him. If you will review the punishment for misdemeanor crimes, you'll find that the maximum sentence by law is 12 months and $1000.00 fine per count. Secondly, if you will review the sentences for felony cases on the Georgia Department of Corrections web page you will find that nobody serves the full sentence rather only about 25% to 40% of their sentence. So, even if Caylor would have been sentenced he would not have served only a very short amount of time, if any. You see BRad Smith signing off on the plea deal had nothing to do with Caylor murdering that girl and deep down Mrs. Sikes knows that and how the system works; for gods sake she is a defense attorney she studies these things. Mrs. Sikes intentions weren't to provide valuable information it was to provide deceiving information to make the voters believe that Brad Smith was some how responsible for the death of the child. I hope this clarifies you response. Best regards.
And as someone pointed out earlier, Mr. Caylor got the maximum punishment for a misdemeanor offense. I'm sure Mr. Smith saw nothing out of the ordinary with the paperwork he signed within the very short amount of time that it's in front of him.
As soon as I saw the mailer that Ms. Sikes sent out, I felt bad for those that don't know all the facts laid out above because they don't know how the system works and therefore believed this garbage. She didn't give them all the facts - I feel that's dishonest and underhanded and takes advantage of the public that don't have courtroom experience. But I'm glad that the people of this circuit rose above that and voted for the right candidate.
Jennifer, the issue that Donna Sikes presented to the voters was NOT a legitimate one.
Caylor got what was expected for the crimes he committed at that time.
Sikes had every intention of deceiving the voters, and she was almost successful. She is dishonest. What she did was unethical. She did not deserve the votes that she DID get.
That, to me, is the saddest thing...that she got any votes at all.
And she didn't even have the nerve to talk to the press herself regarding that phone call. She had her "trustworthy" husband do it. That speaks volumes to me.
In case you have not heard, you LOST and the campaign is over. Pick up your signs. Your staff was very good at pulling up other candidates' signs and replacing yours with theirs- now it is time for you to do what the law says and remove your signs.
signs like your husband did with the Sikes OIL..
Maybe the you and Stan have a deal worked out?
Kum Bah Yah, my Lord...Kum Bah Yah...