Newspaper Page Text
The
Commerce News
MARCH 4, 2009
PAGE 6A
On The R ecord
Mistrial Declared In
Trial Of Former
Arcade Mayor Joe Sikes
The trial of former Arcade
Mayor Joe Sikes ended in
a mistrial last week after a
jury deliberated for more
than 10 hours without reach
ing a decision.
Sikes was on trial on charg
es that he made terroristic
threats against Arcade city
officials in 2005.
After the hearing, pros
ecutor Ashley Wright of
Augusta said she will retry
the case. Presiding Judge
John Ott of the Alcovy
Judicial District mentioned
March 23 as a possible trial
week.
Wright and Ott were
appointed to the case after
local officials recused them
selves because of a possible
conflict of interest. Sikes’
wife is a Jackson County
lawyer and former district
attorney candidate.
The jury was polled after
the trial ended and seven
said Sikes was not guilty
while five felt he was guilty.
Earlier in the deliberations,
one jury member said that
it was 11-1 not guilty.
Sikes, 57, was facing charg
es related to a now-closed
oil company he owned in
the town and to allegations
he made terroristic threats
against Arcade city officials
when they revoked his busi
ness license after an explo
sion at the facility killed a
worker.
Judge Ott issued a direct
ed verdict of “not guilty" on
six of the 12 charges fac
ing Sikes. Sikes was found
not guilty on three counts
of transporting hazardous
waste without the proper
permit and not guilty on
three counts of transport
ing hazardous waste to an
unpermitted facility.
The charges that received
the most focus during the
three-day trial were alle
gations that Sikes made
threats against Arcade offi
cials after the city council
revoked his business license
in 2005. Several Arcade offi
cials, including Mayor Doug
Haynie, testified early in the
week that Sikes’ comments
had them scared for their
lives.
Sikes made his comments
to former Arcade police
chief Dennis Bell. Bell called
then District Attorney Tim
Madison and was directed
to call Sikes back and record
the conversation.
Sikes said that he thought
that he and Bell were good
friends and he was “just
venting" when he made the
comments about the coun
cil. He said that he and Bell
had previously talked about
all types of things, includ
ing personal matters and he
didn’t believe that he would
tell anyone what they had
discussed.
Sikes added that he and
Bell were both laughing
when the phone call ended.
Sikes said he never contact
ed the city council members
or any of their family mem
bers.
Among those testifying in
the matter were former D.A
Madison, who is currently
in jail after being convicted
of theft charges, and Bell,
who was forced out of his
position by Arcade leaders
last year.
Among the character wit
nesses for Sikes was Jackson
County Sheriff Stan Evans,
who said that Bell does not
have a credible reputation
in the law enforcement com
munity.
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Commerce Police Department Arrests
BC Powder A Headache For
Four Charged With 'Drug' Sales
BC Powder is supposed
to cure headaches, but four
men who allegedly passed
it off as cocaine created
some major headaches for
themselves.
The Commerce Police
Department charged the
men with trafficking cocaine,
selling cocaine, possession
of cocaine with intent to
distribute and possession of
tools for the commission of
a crime — even though there
was no cocaine.
“They were basically just
trying to rip a confidential
informant off," explained
Chad Knight, head of the
department’s Criminal
Investigations Division. He
said the “cocaine" appeared
to be BC Powder.
Police used an informant
to buy $100 worth of “pow
dered cocaine" Thursday
at a location on Madison
Street. Later that day, they
made an arrangement to
buy an ounce of cocaine
from the same group, this
time for $900.
They busted the group
prior to the second sale.
The suspects are Joe T.
Hardy, 19, 2581 Jackson
Trail Road, Hoschton;
Justin R. Hyde-Cervantes,
20, 139 Clyde Short Road,
Nicholson; Klint Allen
Kesler, 17,59 Blue Jay Court,
Nicholson; and Brandon
Dean Reineman, 20, 4735
Hwy. 334, Commerce.
According to Knight, the
department has recorded
conversations with the
suspects discussing price
and arrangements. Under
Georgia law, he said,
whether the actual sub
stance turns out to be a
narcotic or not, the charge
— and punishment — are
the same.
A second attempt to buy
drugs through an informant
also came up short of an
actual purchase, but police
arrested Brittani Diane
Bicksler, 17, of 144 Bowden
Street, Commerce, on a
charge of “criminal conspir
acy."
“We have some recorded
conversations, some video
footage, discussing amounts
and money and things like
that," Knight said. “She’d
say she could get it (the
drugs) and would call us
back and we’d never get a
call back."
Other Arrests
Others arrested or cited
during last week include:
•Patrick Gary Emerson,
69, 91 Leigh Street,
Commerce, disorderly con
duct. He was charged after
he summoned an officer to
complain about neighbors
“burning trash" and became
irate and cursed at the
responding officer.
•Gary Lynn Buice, 47,
P.O. Box 907411, Gainesville,
on an unspecified warrant.
•Kathy Ann Reece,
29, 481 Ila Road, Lot 2,
Commerce, on a proba
tion violation warrant from
Jackson County after an
officer ran the tag on her
vehicle and learned about
the warrant.
• Ronald Joe Dean,
65, 3227 Leprad Circle,
Gainesville, no insurance.
• Tyrus Duran Cornish,
no age given, 530 Kings
Road, Athens, arrested on a
probation violation warrant
from Clarke County.
Winter Storm Keeps Criminals Cooled Off
The winter storm kept
Commerce police officers
busy Sunday and Monday,
but the storm apparently
curtailed crime as well.
Only four incidents were
reported during the past
week. They include:
• shoplifting at Quality
Roods, Maysville Road,
where store personnel
watched a man leave the
store without paying for 10
boxes of Gain detergent,
four containers of Tide
liquid detergent and six
bags of potato chips. The
report said the man loaded
them into a vehicle and,
when confronted by a store
employee, drove off. The
employee was able to pro
vide a tag number.
•theft of an automobile
reported by a 24-year-old
white male, who said he left
the keys under the floor mat
of the vehicle in the drive
way of his Huntington Lane
residence. A few minutes
after it was reported sto
len, police found the vehicle
overturned in a ditch on Mt.
Olive Road.
• financial transaction
card fraud reported by a
34-year-old white female
who said her purse was sto
len at Rock Springs Baptist
Church and someone used
her debit card at Ingles
and United Community
Bank.
• criminal trespass at a
Carson Street address in
which a 52-year-old white
female said that someone
cut her phone line follow
ing a dispute she had with
her daughter. She gave
police the names of three
suspects.
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