Tuesday column reprise: Time for Sheriff Hunt to go
westernvirginiaregionaljail.org
Note from Dan: This column originally ran June 2, 2011. The following November, former Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt finished third of three candidates in his re-election bid.
A couple of years ago, the campy foibles of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office were funny in a tawdry, “Dukes of Hazzard” kind of way.
Back then, according to a grand jury’s report, it was a corn pone soap opera: Sheriff Ewell Hunt’s tantrum-prone teenage daughter, a part-time clerk on the sheriff’s payroll nicknamed “Hurricane Ashley,” bossed around full-time deputies and played dress-up cop.
She yelled at her dad in front of his staff, turned in highly questionable time sheets and defiantly carried on an eye-rolling relationship with an older married officer, Deputy Jonathan Agee.
Now, events have turned tragic. Agee’s ex-wife, Jennifer Agee, is dead, allegedly slain by the enraged deputy Monday outside a Roanoke convenience store — in front of one of their daughters. Then, Agee allegedly shot a state trooper during his getaway.
Negligent and indefensible actions by Sheriff Hunt preceded these crimes. That’s why he should resign his office now.
It’s rare when police get specific advance warning of a killing about to happen. It’s even rarer when the putative killer is a trained gunman, armed with a semiautomatic rifle, driving a marked police cruiser, miles away from his intended target, and when the tip comes from another law enforcement officer.
That is what happened roughly 25 minutes before Jennifer Agee’s slaying.
What did Hunt do under these circumstances? He nixed an order to warn Roanoke County and Salem police to be on the lookout for Jonathan Agee.
Hunt said he would take care of it himself. So he called Salem police and left a message shortly after Agee headed north from Boones Mill.
By the time Salem police returned the call, Jennifer Agee was dead.
We will never know if she would be alive today had that lookout been issued. Many other things still are unclear about the case. But it’s hard to conceive that her chances would have been better the other way.
Issuing a lookout, however, might have proved embarrassing to the sheriff, who won election by less than 250 votes in 2007.
It would likely have led to some uncomfortable questions in an election year in which Hunt already was facing a stiff challenge from a candidate he barely edged four years ago — before he turned the sheriff’s office into a laughingstock.
Who was this loose-cannon deputy? Why was such an unstable man on the force?
The answers would have led back to Jonathan Agee and his controversial relationship with Ashley Hunt, the sheriff’s daughter, and to more questions.
Why wasn’t Agee canned back when it was clear he was cavorting, on duty, at all hours, with a teenager?
Was it because the teenager was the sheriff’s daughter?
As an anonymous person posting under the nickname “Retired Officer” commented on my blog Wednesday:
“Sheriff Hunt found himself in a position of either protecting life or protecting his department. . . There was only one decision to be made and the sheriff chose not to make it.”
I would put it a bit differently: It looks like Hunt was protecting his own skin for November’s election. And perhaps because of that, a woman is dead, her two daughters have been orphaned, a state trooper has been shot.
Now Hunt has another decision to make: whether or not to resign. It is well past time for him to turn the department over to someone capable.
If Hunt declines to do the right thing, voters can take steps to force this issue.
Under Virginia law, a judge may remove a constitutional officer for neglect of duty, upon petition.
In Hunt’s case, that would require the signatures of at least 1,545 registered voters — 10 percent of the total number of people who cast ballots in the 2007 sheriff’s election.
Precisely 8,299 people voted for somebody other than Hunt in that four-way contest.
Under the circumstances, it shouldn’t be that hard to round up 1,550 signatures calling on a judge to give the sheriff the boot.
April 10, 2012 - 6:00 AM
Wisconsin Republicans appear to hate women as much as they hate unions. This should help Walker in his recall election:
“Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly repealed his state’s equal pay law last week, a decision that will make it harder for victims of wage discrimination to sue for lost earnings and back wages. The law was enacted primarily to address the massive pay gap that exists between male and female workers, which is even bigger in Wisconsin than in other states.”
“Repealing the law was a no-brainer for state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R), who led the effort because of his belief that pay discrimination is a myth driven by liberal women’s groups.”
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/04/09/460917/wisconsin-state-senator-money-less-important-wome/
If pay discrimination by sex is a myth in Wisconsin, then a law against it hurts nobody. If it’s NOT a myth and employers desire to pay women less, it stands to reason they would want the law repealed.
“Lies and the lying liars that tell them”, the story of this nation it seems!
Still waiting for any republican, anywhere, to have a good idea.
Alienating women is never a good choice for politicians and during an election year, it is absolutely insane. The Republicans seem determined to destroy themselves.
But the republicans are not at war with women!! Right!!
Dan, that sounds like some screenplay to be written with a story like that.
As to what those on the right consider to be a myth or not, well there’s a long line of myths. Global warming myth, the 99% myth, liberal press myth, the Northeast liberal myth, our President was not born in the US myth and lords knows what else.
#4 I would not hold my breath on that one.
Aw, c’mon Kristen, several Republicans had the same great idea to drop out of the race.
dobbs, I stand corrected.
Looks like Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign.
http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/10/11122920-nbc-santorum-to-suspend-presidential-campaign?lite
Ron @ 2:27
I was going to chalk that one up to another Republican with that same good idea. But I have to turn off my snarkyness (is that a word?) for a guy who needs to be with his daughter.
He does have a child with a potentially fatal disorder and he should be spending time with her. I suspect if he were in Romney’s position, it wouldn’t be happening.
Head are exploding over at Free Republic, which claims to be the top site for REAL conservatives on the Internet. Here’s what Jim Robinson, owner of the site, posted after it became clear Santorum was quitting:
“To hell with the GOP-e. Barring a miracle, they got their big government, unconstitutional mandate loving, socialist abortionist Obama-lite RINO on the ballot, they can now get him elected.
We are the resistance!!
Shove him down our throats today, we shove him up your donkeys in November!!
I can see November from my house!!”
dobbs,
I agree with you. I think he’s realising that his daughter is more important to him than his ambitions.
I susepct you’re right,Kristen.
Looks like the moneychangers are now back in frm control of the Temple, if there was ever any doubt.. This capaign has completely exposed the two faces of the Republican partyt—one based on evangelical emotion which appeals to people who are immune to reason and easily susceptible to deep rooted long held prejudices and stereotypes. The other is the rich and powerful who are smart enough to use their money and position to use the emotions and prejudices of the other face to keep themselves in power and control. They are cynical and masters at manipulation and are typified by pweople like Karl Rove, the Koch Bros. and the Dan Issa’s and Mitt Romneys of this world.