At each step in the now-infamous Genarlow Wilson legal saga, Douglass County prosecutor, David McDade, has behaved without any sense of decency or proportion. And now there’s a brand new development.
First let’s recap the underlying case: Genarlow Wilson is the football star from the state of Georgia, homecoming king, 3.2 grade point average boy with no priors who, at 17-years-old had the bad sense to have consensual oral sex on New Year’s Eve of his senior year with a schoolmate. His partner was a 15-year old girl who, like Wilson ran on the high school track team. According to both teenage participants, the sexual encounter was initiated by the girl, who was clearly having a night of questionable judgment herself.
Wilson was arrested for having oral sex with a minor-–never mind that he was a minor too. Incredibly, the offense carried a mandatory ten year prison sentence. Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation and sentenced to the required decade in lock-up. The law has since been changed to exclude teenagers, but the change doesn’t apply retroactively. As of now, Wilson has served nearly 29 months of his sentence. [For further backstory check my earlier posts here and here.]
After 28 months in prison, Wilson was fiinally set free by a sensible Monroe County Superior Court judge who reduced Wilson’s felony conviction to a misdemeanor. But then the state Attorney General Thurbert Baker and prosecutor McDade appealed the judge’s decision. So Wilson remained locked up. A few weeks ago, the young man’s attorney tried to get him out on an appeal bond, but the judge turned the bond request down. The Georgia State Supreme Court was to have heard the appeal in October.
Then today, suddenly there was good news. The State Supreme Court has moved up the appeal date by three months, to July 20—over the objections of the prosecutor. The court also decided to hold an expedited hearing on the Douglas County Superior Court judge’s decision to deny Wilson bond pending his appeal. (Here’s the AP story.)
Meanwhile, prosecutor David McDade continues to behave abominably. It seems that McDade’s original case against Wilson was greatly bolstered by the cooperation of Verna Cannon, the mother of the 15-year-old girl in question. Yet, after Wilson was sentenced, Cannon felt she’d made a mistake and talked to a local reporter about her thoughts on the case. In particular, she told the reporter that much of the reason she cooperated with the prosecution was because McDade told her that if she didn’t, he might charge her with neglect for letting her daughter attend an unchaperoned party.
In other words, he threatened her—in the nicest possible way.
When word of Cannon’s chat with the reporter got back to McDade, he sent two of his assistants to Cannon’s house to intimidate her into “clarifying” her remarks to the reporter about McDade’s alleged threats. Cannon refused to be pushed by the staffers’ goon-like behavior, and politely declined.
Now an audiotape of McDade’s staffers visit is floating around the Internet. According to this Atlanta Journal Constitution editorial, the recording ain’t pretty.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the audio and to part of the transcript.
UPDATE TWO: And just when you think things can’t get worse….this happens. (Sigh. Just follow the link.)
Celeste, I’m choosing to read “… floating unaroused he Internet” as floating around ‘teh’ Internet. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Okay. This case is a stinking swamp. Let’s hear a cheer for the Georgia Supreme Court’s ability to expedite the matter. Genarlow deserves at least that much. May he be vindicated soon. My, my, such a charming bully is Mr. David McDade.
It appears that this case was originally about RAPE.
A 17 year old girl claimed that Wilson had RAPED her and there was a video tape of this happening. There was video tape of Wilson having sex with a “listless” girl who claimed that she did not consent.
The rape charge, he was found innocent, but it was harder to deny the oral sex with a 15 year old, which was another add on.
Here is another issue to think about. TWO WOMEN caused all of these problems for Wilson.
First the 17 year old, claimed rape. Then the mother of the 15 year old claimed child molestation.
Now, 2-3 years later the Mom of the 15 year old feels bad about the part she played and says “the white devil made me do it.”
Is it fair for the DA (goons) to go to her house and remind her what she said under oath, and to refresh her memory with what part she played in the prosecution of this boy. Maybe not, but maybe so.
But they did turn over the tape of their entire conversation to the newspaper, (just not the paper after the DA’s hide).
Maybe prosecutor David McDade can join Duke rape case Prosecutor Mike Nifong in his punishment for overzealous and dishonest prosecution. Likewise, Patrick Fitzgerald. (Why haven’t you protested those last two?)
Nifong and McDade, fraternal twins separated at birth?
Ha, didn’t see woody’s comment first…. Slow Down Roper, Slow Down!
Woody and GM—Yeah, yeah. I’m there with you. If I’d been less sleepy last night when I was typing (as evidenced by the strange, new typo Listener caught; thanks Listener!), I’d have mentioned Nifong, who is a criminal, as far as I’m concerned. McDade does resemble his weasel-ish little brother. I kept thinking about it, but never wrote it.
(You’ll note I didn’t take the bait on Fitzgerald, although I see you tossed that worm in the water, hoping for us sleep-deprived fish to bite. I’m tired. But not THAT tired.)
(Still on deadline. Also, had to replace laptop, transfer all programs and data. Discovered that whoever decided to release Windows Vista before it learned to play better with others, is likely in league with Satan. Arrrrggggghhh.)
re: update two
speechless….
The United States attorney says David McDade, the prosecutor who has fought so hard to keep Genarlow Wilson behind bars, is himself guilty of a crime. And not just any crime. No, we’re talking the distribution of child pornography.
[…] make me do all the multiple links again. If you don’t know the Wilson back story, click here, and then retrace the path of electronic bread […]
Of course the act was also videotaped, which makes it not just spur of the moment kids-being-kids consentual sex, but child pornography by any other standard. I had no problem with the consensuality aspect of the issue until I heard it was videotaped. That brings about an entirely different aspect that most pro-convict wish to leave out. If an 18 year old had done it– and in most states 17 is considered a legal adult– I think people who clamor for his release would be hesitant to do so. It seems most aren’t looking at this case from the aspect of the minor girl having no right to consent to being videotaped in the act of consentual sex. The law simply doesn’t work like that. He should face charges for child pornography and not rape.
[…] WLA stories on the subject here, here, here, here and […]