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Article published Jan 21, 2004
Letter shakes up campaign for judge
Tom Langhorne
Staff
Writer
Solicitor Trey Gowdy has asked state officials to
investigate an anonymous letter portraying his top assistant, a candidate for a
judgeship, as a rabid racist.The letter to state Sen. Glenn Reese,
D-Spartanburg, with copies sent to an unknown number of other legislators,
describes Principal Deputy Solicitor Barry Barnette as a racist and sexist who
sometimes gets so angry that "his leg begins to jerk and saliva exits the sides
of his mouth." The writer claims to be an employee of the 7th Circuit
Solicitor's Office.The letter praises Spartanburg County Master-in-Equity Roger
L. Couch, Barnette's opponent in the race for a vacant circuit judgeship, as a
"fine man."Couch, who is competing with Barnette in a Feb. 4 legislative
election to choose a successor to former Circuit Judge Don Beatty, said Tuesday
that neither he nor his campaign generated the anonymous letter. Beatty was
elected by the Legislature to a seat on the South Carolina Court of Appeals in
April."I don't believe in those kinds of tactics, I don't engage in those kinds
of tactics, and I condemn anyone who does," Couch said from Columbia, where he
is campaigning for legislators' votes.Gowdy, who called the letter "a scurrilous
lie and an attempt to subvert the process by which judges are selected," wrote
the Legislature's Judicial Merit Selection Commission on Jan. 16 to request an
investigation."I respectfully ask that the Judicial Merit Selection Commission
investigate the allegations contained in the letter, the source of the letter,
and seek to determine who received copies of the letter," Gowdy wrote.The
solicitor sent copies of his request to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the
FBI, the State Law Enforcement Division, the state Judicial Department's
Commission on Lawyer Conduct and Senate President Pro-Tem Glenn F.
McConnell.State Rep. Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, a member of the Judicial Merit
Selection Commission and a Barnette supporter, said he probably would ask the
commission to consider Gowdy's request for an investigation.Smith also said he
has asked the Legislature's Black Caucus to allow Barnette and/or current and
former Solicitor's Office employees to address the caucus about the anonymous
letter's allegations."I am beginning to sense that this letter is having an
impact," Smith said.Barnette, 40, manages the day-to-day operations of state
criminal court for Gowdy. He was a magistrate for 4½ years before taking that
position in 2000.A former high school chemistry and physical science teacher,
Barnette also served as an assistant solicitor under the previous solicitor,
Holman Gossett, before being appointed as a magistrate. From 1997 until 2001, he
was a member of the state Supreme Court's Commission on Judicial Standards,
which hears formal complaints against state court judges.The anonymous letter
states that Barnette often inquires about the race of crime victims, has made
"horrible comments" about black legislators and has boasted about punishing
certain law firms when he takes the bench.The letter's typewritten sign-off
reads, "Someone who believes it's never too late to do the right thing."Gowdy
said the accusations about his deputy are so outlandish that the letter-writer
"needs to run, not walk, to the nearest mental health clinic.""And when they get
through there, they should hire themselves a really good libel defense lawyer,"
the solicitor said.Hope Blackley, an African-American who has been a victim
advocate in the Solicitor's Office for six years, said Barnette's persona is
easygoing, not angry."I don't think I've ever seen him angry," Blackley said.
"He's always treated me fairly."Assistant Solicitor Erika McJimpsey, who is
black, agreed."I've never seen or even heard of anyone accusing Barry of being a
racist," McJimpsey said. "That's a strong term. Barry is a good man."Barnette
said the anonymous letter was hurtful and shocking to him."It's an attack on my
character," the deputy solicitor said Tuesday from Columbia.Rep. Brenda Lee,
D-Spartanburg, a leader in the Black Caucus, said members do not appear to be
taking the anonymous letter seriously -- but Barnette said a black legislator
whom he would not name told him the letter is of serious concern to some."I've
told them that nothing in that letter is true," he said.Tom Langhorne can be
reached at 562-7221 or tom.langhorne@shj.com.