We just finished two weeks of trials in Spalding County. As will happen when you are in a fight, we got our noses bloodied a little. But, as Sherlock Holmes told Watson, “I emerged as you see me. My opponent went home in a cart.”

It began with my murder trial. After one day of testimony, the defendant pled guilty to all counts. Judge Johnnie Caldwell sentenced him to life plus ten years in prison.

Almost immediately another murder defendant pled guilty. The sentence was life in prison.

Stephen Knights, our drug prosecutor in Griffin, convicted two drug traffickers. Judge Caldwell sentenced one to 40 years. The other got 60.

The second week of trials arrived. We sent Alaina Sullivan into the courtroom. She just passed the bar in October. The defendant was charged with armed robbery of three convenience stores. Throughout the trial, during breaks, the defendant and his family jeered Alaina. They called her names. They cussed her. When the fur finally settled, the jury convicted. Judge Caldwell took it from there. “On count one you can serve twenty years. On count two you can serve the rest of your natural life in prison consecutive to count one. Get him out of here.”

In the other courtroom, Ben Coker, one of my pit bull prosecutors in the Upson office, took on three men charged with trafficking drugs; two of them had big-fee Atlanta lawyers. They lost. Judge Chris Edwards will sentence them soon.

Then we tried Joey Gilbert. He has slipped out of the grasp of Spalding County law enforcement for years—always a little too slick to get caught. Now he faced drug trafficking charges. I put an ace on the mound. Warren Sellers from the Fayetteville office prosecuted the case. Guilty as charged. The sentence from Judge Caldwell? Life plus 30.

Monday the show comes to Fayette County. We’ll have two weeks of criminal trials. Protesters, step aside. Fayette County jurors need to enter the courthouse.