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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 29. 2021
Continued From 1A
Dropped
In their motion to have
charges dropped, filed April
22, the attorney general’s of
fice says they interviewed
Allen about Rosemary’s
knowledge of his purchasing
history before he pled guilty.
In their motion, the state said
they made the request be
cause they no longer believed
they could prove guilt be
yond a reasonable doubt.
More specifically, regard
ing the charge related to the
computer, the attorney gen
eral’s office writes, “Mr.
Wigington proffered.. .that
the decision to charge the
computer to the county’s pur
chasing card was solely his
decision as he was the sole
purchaser of the Surface Pro.
Further, Allen Wigington was
alone when he made this pur
chase at Best Buy.”
Regarding the three
charges made against Rose
mary that relate to purchases
at K&G and the mock trial
student’s suit, the attorney
general’s office writes,
“There is no direct evidence
that Rosemary knew that
Allen used the Pickens
County purchasing card. As
previously noted, Allen prof
fered that Rosemary had no
knowledge of the usage of
the government credit card.
Additionally, it is a reason
able explanation that she
could have believed that their
personal Chase card was
used, and the local attorney’s
cash contribution would have
covered the credit card pur
chase.”
According to the state, a
local attorney who works
with the Pickens High School
mock trial program offered to
buy a student a suit for com
petition in exchange for the
student applying to colleges.
Allen told the attorney he
would pay for the suit, but
the attorney insisted and gave
Allen and Rosemary $200.
Allen then used the county
card to pay for suits at K&G,
the motion states.
The final two dismissed
charges involve a board of
education-related conference
in Florida. Allen used his
county-issued credit card to
Continued From 1A
Trial
ority involve defendants who
are incarcerated. Over the
last year, the DA’s office has
worked closely with sheriffs’
offices to identify which de
fendants needed to remain or
return to jail during the
lengthy trial delay period; not
all of the defendants in these
cases have been incarcerated
since last March.
Sosebee said in some in
stances, when possible, cases
have been settled out of court
during the pandemic. She did
not have exact number of
cases in queue for jury trial at
this time, but noted that now
that trials are being scheduled
there have been pleas that
“are helping alleviate the
backup.”
Trail start dates in the
three counties in the Ap
palachian Circuit were stag-
gard over a three-week
period. Trails began the week
of April 12 in Fannin County,
the week of April 19 in Pick
ens County, and the week of
April 26 in Gilmer County.
There are two trial weeks
on the calendar in Pickens
County in May.
In addition to a backlog in
trials, adhering to COVID-19
safety protocols aren’t help
ing speed things up.
“It’s much more time con
suming,” Sosebee said, “and
we have to use substantially
more space in the courthouse
to adhere to these guide
lines.”
In addition to mask man
dates, air purifiers, plexiglass
booths for witnesses, judges,
juries and clerks, there are so
cial distancing guidelines that
require jurors to have more
space inside courtrooms dur
ing the trial, and in certain
cases be brought into areas in
smaller, staggard groups. Ju
rors are also deliberating in a
separate courtroom.
More jurors are being
summoned as well.
For Pickens first trial last
week, 300 jurors were sum
moned, which is double the
150 usually called in for a
jury trial. Of those 300,
around 80 were excused for
various normal exemptions,
and there were also exemp
tions based on COVID-19
vulnerabilities. All potential
jurors fill out a COVID-19
questionnaire.
“I wanted to be liberal in
my COVID excusals,” said
Pickens Clerk of Court Jen
nifer Jordan. “If anyone felt
like they had any reservation
serving I gave them the op
tion of serving later.”
The district attorney said
she has been impressed with
jurors who seem to demon
strate a desire to serve their
community.
“We’ve had top-notch ju
rors,” Sosebee said. “I think
there’s a sense of wanting to
get back to normal and it
seems that jurors really want
to come in and do their civic
duty. We want jurors to know
everyone has been and is
being very diligent and en
sure that we are following
COVID guidelines. We are
taking every precaution we
can.”
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purchase two plane tickets
and Rosemary later applied
for reimbursement for her
ticket, according to the state’s
motion.
“Allen indicated that
Rosemary did not have any
knowledge of the purchase of
the plane tickets with the pur
chasing card, and he was
solely responsible for using
the magistrate card for this
purchase,” the state writes.
“Without any knowledge that
the magistrate card was used,
Rosemary’s reimbursement
request would not have been
illegal if a personal card had
been used, thereby divesting
Rosemary of the necessary
criminal intent to commit
Theft by Taking. In fact,
Rosemary asked Allen for
their personal credit card
statement to submit for reim
bursement and he refused to
give it to her as evidenced by
her note on the reimburse
ment request that she submit
ted to the school district.
Given that, even if the state
could overcome the spousal
privilege, the primary crimi
nal actor would exculpate
Rosemary Wigington in this
matter.”
When asked to comment
about the dismissed charges,
Pickens Sheriff Chief Deputy
Jeff Hall - lead investigator
on the Wigington case that is
being jointly investigated by
the GBI - said law enforce
ment’s job is to detect and in
vestigate criminal activity,
not prosecute.
“That’s up to the prosecu
tion and judicial system,” he
said. “What they do is up to
them....It’s not law enforce
ment’s job.”
Allen Wigington is sched
uled to be sentenced at the
end of May. The case
stretches back several years
and involves improper use of
a county-issued credit card.
His charges range from Theft
by Taking, to Racketeering,
to Financial Card Fraud, and
Violating Oath of Office. Ne
gotiations led to nine charges
being dropped. He can be
sentenced up to 165 years
plus 60 months for the 49
charges he pled guilty to, in
addition to fines of up to
$530,000.
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