In this election I am offering my experience, ideas, energy, management, and advocacy skills in support of law enforcement to restore integrity and fairness to State Court and improve the Court system. If the people of Glynn County bestow upon me the honor and privilege of serving our community as the Solicitor of State Court, the people of Glynn County will become my client. It will be my duty to seek justice without fear or favor and to represent the people of our county and state with integrity, fairness, efficiency and compassion.
“I will seek justice and not play games with people’s lives”
What I Will Do For You,
the People of Glynn County
01
WORKING HAND-IN-HAND WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT
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I support law enforcement and I have their respect.
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I support open communication and coordination between law enforcement and the Office of the Solicitor.
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I will stop the practice of issuing subpoenas that waste police resources. Unless testimony is necessary at trial, police should be fighting crime on the streets and not sitting in the Courtroom.
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I will ensure that law enforcement is treated with fairness and dignity and that their concerns will always receive consideration.
02
INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS TO GET RID OF CASE BACKLOG
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I will institute a meaningful and real pre-trial diversion program.
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I will institute a Domestic Violence Intervention Program
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I will institute a DUI and Substance Abuse Intervention Program
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I will work with the county as I am doing in my role as a Municipal Court Judge with the City of Brunswick to create a meaningful community service program. Traditional punishment for misdemeanor offenses includes imposition of a fine, but with the increase in our homeless population and inflation spiraling out of control and hurting families; community service and alternative sentencing options can benefit our county and deter crime without imposing impossible penalties upon those who cannot afford to pay a fine.
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I will not wait until I am in Court to resolve cases. Solving the case backlog is going to require hard work and being both tough and smart on crime.
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I will evaluate each individual defendant and the facts of each case and will prosecute with the sole purpose of seeking fair and equitable justice for all stakeholders.
03
CONSTITUTIONAL CONSERVATIVE VALUES AND FISCAL CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT
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I believe in the justice system and Constitution of the United States. I believe The Office of Solicitor can seek justice within the confines of the Constitution and that doing so will benefit Glynn County. I believe in due process.
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I believe victims, defendants and witnesses should be treated with respect and dignity. The goal of doing justice and the goal of upholding the Constitution are not mutually exclusive.
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I will work to ensure that the Office of Solicitor does not waste your money, waste court time, and ensure that cases are tried and disposed of in a timely and efficient manner that upholds the rule of law.
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I will not unnecessarily spend taxpayer dollars by outsourcing appellate work and other legal work of the Solicitor to outside counsel. I have the skills, experience, and success at trial and on appeal and I am ready on day one to represent the people of Glynn County.
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I have practiced law in Brunswick, Georgia for 18 years and I have successfully started my own business, managed trial teams, managed staff, and run small businesses since 2009. I will bring private sector management principals to the Office and will cut government waste. The people of Glynn County deserve an efficient and effective prosecutor in State Court.
04
INTEGRITY, TRANSPARENCY and FAIRNESS
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Communication will be clear, and no stakeholder will be ignored. Police, Victims, Defendants, Court Staff, and the Court will be treated with respect.
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No police officer, crime victim, court staff or defendant will be bullied or disrespected.
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Defendants will receive plea offers and all the evidence against them as is their Constitutional right, so that they can decide how they want to resolve their case, in advance of Court.
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I will seek justice and do what is right. I will empower my assistant solicitors to do justice and seek what is right. I will not engage in petty games that clog the court docket. Fairness and Equal Justice for All will be my goal and mission.
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Repeat and recidivist offenders who engage in domestic violence, drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol, those who hurt our businesses and those that repeatedly drive without a license and/or insurance will be a top priority if I am elected. These offenders will be put on notice that I will have zero tolerance for their disrespect of the law and I will prosecute them to the fullest extent allowed by law.
05
READY FOR TRIAL
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I have successfully defended thousands of individuals accused of felony offenses throughout Georgia in both State and Federal Court.
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I have tried murder cases, burglary cases, violent felonies, theft cases, drug cases and countless other classes of felony cases (too many to mention.) I have tried countless misdemeanor cases.
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I have been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as a Top 100 Criminal Attorney in the State of Georgia, Top 40 lawyers under 40, and named countless times as a Georgia Superlawyer by Superlawyer magazine.
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I have presided over countless misdemeanor cases at the Municipal Court of Brunswick.
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I have worked with law enforcement at the Federal, state, and local level to investigate crime and have assisted in the prosecution of criminals.
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I have applied for and successfully procured criminal arrest warrants against offenders.
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I have tried civil rights cases, divorce and custody cases, intellectual property cases, medical malpractice, personal injury, and sundry other cases in State and Federal Court.
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There will be no need for me to bully defendants. If a Defendant wishes to exercise his/her right to trial then Law Enforcement will know that I will have their back and defendants will know that I will be ready to present the case against them in a professional, relentless, and aggressive manner until justice is done.
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If I am elected as solicitor the practice of withholding exculpatory evidence and obstructionist tactics will cease and desist. Defendants will be put on notice about the evidence against them and will not be bullied or threatened into waiving their rights. Those Defendants who exercise their right to trial will know that I will be ready to present the case against them in a professional, relentless and aggressive manner until justice is done. Law Enforcement will know that I am ready to present the evidence and prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. I will also work with law enforcement to review case files and evidence and when a case cannot be proved by law it will be dispensed with in a timely manner.
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Cases will be evaluated and if they should be transferred to Superior Court as a felony offense on repeat offender or factual grounds, I will promptly notify the District Attorney and file the appropriate motion. The practice of sitting on cases that should be transferred to Superior Court until It is too late to transfer them due to negligence or worse deprives victims of justice and undermines law enforcement. I will proactively evaluate cases to ensure each case is being prosecuted in the appropriate venue and in a timely manner and will coordinate with the District Attorney and law enforcement on a regular basis.
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I will not allow Defendants to strategically enter guilty pleas on misdemeanors that should be tied to corresponding felony offenses being prosecuted by the District Attorney. Cases must be screened to ensure that double jeopardy rules are not exploited due to clerical error in sending misdemeanors to State Court that occurred in the same criminal event as felony offenses. I will operate the Office of the Solicitor at all times in support and coordination with Law Enforcement to ensure that serious offenders do not avoid justice due to negligent evaluation of cases in the Solicitor’s office.
Why It's Important
The role of State Court Solicitor is very important and impacts the lives of nearly everyone in Glynn County. The Solicitor represents the people of Glynn County and prosecutes misdemeanor crimes and traffic offenses in State Court. We all have an interest in the effective operation of the State Court and the prosecuting attorney carries much of the responsibility in ensuring that justice is served for the people.
The solicitor is a key law enforcement player, ensuring that our citizens are safe by enforcing the rule of law and presenting cases investigated by local law enforcement. Because the solicitor prosecutes everything from speeding tickets to driving under the influence, the office holder should treat everyone with respect and dignity and must move cases through the system efficiently. State Court is the only place where most citizens will ever encounter the legal system. Everyone drives to work and school and church, and in this day and age, it is easy to get distracted and make a mistake. Some citizens engage in irresponsible behavior such as driving under the influence and domestic violence. That behavior must not be tolerated as it puts our families and children at risk. The treatment of the approximate 19,000 cases that move through State Court each year is in many ways more important than any of the high-profile felony matters we read about in the newspaper.
State Court is about accountability and supporting our community. It is a place where efficiency, fairness and compassion can make a difference in the lives of our citizens or where waste, gridlock, and an inability to process cases can undermine faith in our court system.
The current office holder has been in office for 16 years and is running for another term. Talk to any stakeholder who is involved with the State Court, and you will quickly learn why change in management at the Solicitor’s office is needed. Law enforcement resources are wasted, and officers are not treated fairly. Victims of crime are not kept apprised of the status of their case and are ignored. Defendants are treated poorly by the solicitor and cannot timely resolve their cases. The result is inefficiency, backlog and waste of taxpayer dollars and inconsistent enforcement of the law. This costs Glynn County money, demoralizes law enforcement, and leaves our citizens with little faith in our justice system.
The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and hoping that it will improve. We cannot afford another four years of the same thing.
Who I Am
I moved to Brunswick 18 years ago and my wife and I are raising our three children here. I have been a small business owner here since 2009. I am an active member of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church and a proud member of the Brunswick Exchange Club.
I lead and teach young boys and girls and serve as a committee member, den leader and assistant scoutmaster in both Cub-scout Pack 204 and BSA Troop 204. My family believes in this community, and I am running to improve the Court system and the lives of our citizens. My little girl will be starting her high-school journey at Glynn Academy next year and soon after that she will be driving on our roads (which is terrifying for me to think about!) But we all have our own reasons and interests with a shared responsibility for keeping our community safe and creating the environment we want to live within.
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Rather than continue to criticize the Office of the Solicitor from the sidelines, I am running for State Court Solicitor because I have the energy, ideas, experience and work ethic that is needed to move Glynn forward and help law enforcement protect our community.
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I am a partner at Williams Litigation Group, P.C., specializing in criminal defense, civil rights litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, and intellectual property litigation as well as civil and criminal appeals in State and Federal Courts.
With over 18 years of trial and appellate experience, I have successfully represented clients in complex and high-profile criminal cases at the state and federal level, including murder, complex-multijurisdictional multi-defendant drug trafficking cases, and have litigated cases on behalf of plaintiffs’ bringing claims for wrongful death, wrongful conviction, and civil rights litigation. I have specialized experience in criminal and civil appeals in State and Federal appellate courts. My mission is to provide effective, zealous, and ethical advocacy for my clients, while advancing the public interest, social justice, and fairness in the legal system.
I also serve our community as a Municipal Court Judge pro tempore for the City of Brunswick, GA, where I preside over misdemeanor criminal and traffic cases, as well as civil ordinance violations. I apply my extensive legal knowledge, judicial ethics, and impartiality to ensure fair and timely resolution of these cases, while respecting the rights and dignity of all parties.
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