Recently I wrote about “Sweet Sixteen” parties. During the March term of court we held a different kind of party. I’d call it a “20-20 Party.” Twenty years. Twenty years…

It began in Judge Johnnie Caldwell’s courtroom. Two men had robbed a teenager at gunpoint at an ATM in Fayetteville. One defendant pled guilty during the trial. The other took his chances with a jury. He shouldn’t have done that. Warren Sellers prosecuted. The jury convicted. Judge Caldwell gave him twenty years in prison.

Jeremy Hayes, one of my rookie prosecutors, began an attempted trafficking case in the other courtroom. The defendant had tried to sell 29 pounds of marijuana and a kilogram of cocaine to undercover officers. Guilty. Somebody forgot to tell Judge Chris Edwards that this was a 20-20 party. He sentenced the guy to 35 years in prison and 15 years of probation when he gets out.

The next week Greg Stein, another rookie, prosecuted his first case. It was a burglary. Our case was strengthened by a good neighbor who reported suspicious activity to the police, helping us catch the burglar. Greg did a fine job and the jury convicted. Judge Caldwell sentenced the burglar to twenty years in prison.

In Judge Edward’s courtroom, Ben Coker tried a child molestation case. These are always tough. Guilty. Twenty years in prison.

Judge Caldwell called Christopher McDaniel to trial. He was charged with aggravated assault for shooting his girlfriend in the shoulder. On a prior occasion, he had shot at her in Clayton County. He avoided prosecution for that when his girlfriend refused to cooperate with police. This time, in Fayette, the girlfriend again refused to help us.

Bullies can’t shoot people and get away with it by convincing their victims to hinder the police investigations. That’s what Lura Landis believes. Lura prosecuted Christopher McDaniel without the testimony of the victim. Guilty. Twenty years in prison.

The sign on the road says “Fayette County”. Criminal, understand what that means.