ROBERT STEINBUCH: Know your Friends |
Statewide, there will be a runoff election on March 31 for those primary (partisan) elections where no candidate won over 50 percent of the vote last week. (The runoff election for judicial contests, which are nominally non-partisan, will be during the general election in November.)
Nine of the 11 candidates that I supported in this column won outright or made it to a runoff. Two of the nine are in runoff elections: Richard Friend, who's running for Saline County sheriff, and Scott Davidson, who's running for Circuit Court judge in Independence, Cleburne, Izard, Fulton, and Stone counties.
As to the former, two weeks before early voting, online posts circulated alleging that Friend was a domestic abuser. They were lies.
These allegations stem from Friend's decades-old divorce, which he filed for in 2012. At that time, Friend's now ex-wife sought an order of protection.
The process of getting such an order begins with the complainant filing a request "ex parte," i.e., without the other side present. The court, relying solely on the one party's bare assertions, usually grants that request only temporarily and quickly schedules a hearing so that the other side can be heard. Then the petitioner must serve that temporary order on the other side who was not before the court. And that initial order typically instructs both sides not to contact each other, as was the case here.
When Friend got a copy of the ex-parte, temporary order, he followed its instructions and didn't contact his then-wife. But she contacted him numerous times, notwithstanding that it was she who sought the order. The transcript of Friend's then-wife's testimony from the hearing shows she repeatedly contacted him.
At the end of Friend's ex-wife's testimony, Friend's lawyer was about to put Friend on the stand, when the judge interrupted the attorney to remind her that she could make a motion that Friend's wife hasn't presented sufficient evidence for the argument to continue. After the lawyer then did just that, the judge dismissed the case without even hearing from Friend.
Shortly thereafter, the judge issued a written ruling finding that "[t]he allegations of the Petition are NOT sustained by proof and that the Temporary Order of Protection . . . SHOULD BE VACATED, and the Petition Dismissed." (Emphasis and capitalization in original.)
To add insult to injury, the anti-Friend activist also posted about an order from another county for an entirely different person named "Richard Friend" with a different date of birth, claiming it was the Friend running for sheriff. Ugh, such incompetence. And the coup de grâce to the credibility of this attack on Friend is that the post originated from the brother-in-law of Friend's runoff opponent.
The brother-in-law, in a "the lady doth protest too much, methinks" situation, later asserts on Facebook that "[d]iscussing [public records] accurately and in good faith is not defamation." True, but failing to disclose that false charges were dismissed by a court after a full hearing, because they were unsupported by evidence, is the opposite of accuracy and good faith, isn't it?
But wait. There's more.
Another false rumor that came and went was that Friend was questioned after $300 went missing from the Saline County Jail in 1996.
What that smear failed to mention is that:
All the officers on duty at the time of the event were questioned--not just Friend.
Friend volunteered for an interview and provided a written statement.
Friend fully passed a polygraph.
Friend was completely cleared as a suspect in a written statement from the state police examiner.
During the time when the over two-dozen other employees were scheduling or having interviews, one employee abruptly resigned.
And while that calumny has since disappeared, it sits among the many false attacks against Friend. The powers that be must really feel threatened.
Then, a day before early voting, another supporter of Friend's opponent broadcast a lengthy video falsely accusing Friend of corruption, theft, abuse of authority, and other crimes--contending that Friend engaged in conduct warranting prosecution and decertification as a law enforcement officer. This complainer repeats some of what you already heard and crafts new claims, to boot.
Shortly after this latest attack, Friend decided he had enough. He hired adept counsel and is suing for defamation and related claims. Good for him for standing up to bullies by using the legal system as it's designed.
Friend's actions contrast admirably with Saline County's troubled history for law enforcement. Recall Dan Harmon, the disgraced former Saline County prosecutor who was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy to extort property, and conspiracy to possess drugs with the intent to distribute. (Many years ago, Friend was physically attacked by Harmon when Friend was a local cop.)
Friend has put out for everyone to see his personnel records from the Arkansas Highway Police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that show a 28-year record of public service and commendations, not the false allegations of misconduct that malign detractors have promoted.
More importantly, Friend promises that if he becomes sheriff, that he'll finally release all the records about the "Boys on the Tracks"--the 1987 case of two teenagers found dead on train tracks that was initially covered up as an accident but later viewed as likely homicide involving local corruption and drug smuggling. In the last 40 years, nobody in the Saline County Sheriff's Office has ever provided the transparency that Friend promises, including Friend's opponent--who is currently the chief deputy sheriff.
A 23-year veteran of the Arkansas Army National Guard and Navy Reserves and a nearly 30-year law enforcement officer who has served as a police chief and instructor, Friend ran a grassroots campaign. He raised money locally--with donations coming from friends, family members, and Saline County residents. He attended local groups' meetings and gained a following by building on relationships from a lifetime as a Saline County resident.
Despite being outspent and beset by false attacks, Friend advances to the March 31 runoff. Voters deserve full, timely facts--not rumor-driven smear campaigns. We should demand transparency and accountability. Friend offers precisely that.
This is your right to know.
Robert Steinbuch, the Arkansas Bar Foundation Professor at the Bowen Law School, is a Fulbright Scholar and author of the treatise "The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act." His views do not necessarily reflect those of his employer.