Today was our republican county commissioner Coy Privette's day in court after being charged with 6 counts of "aiding and abetting" prostitution back in July.
I decided to get up early and go watch this circus.
I arrived at the Rowan County Court house in Salisbury at 8.30 am. The Court session was supposed to start at 9 am.
At 8.55 am Tiffany Summers arrived, the woman Mr. Privette paid for her "services".
She was immediately confronted with the press corps that had showed up "en masse". After giving no comment she entered the building.
Since the court cases were handled alphabetically everyone quickly figured out Mr. Privette wouldn't show up for quite some time (we were told 10.30 am).
Everyone went to get some coffee and returned an hour later.
At 10.25 Mr. Privette and his lawyer were escorted into the building by several police officers, while being swarmed by cameras.
I managed to get into the courtroom right in front of him and took a seat with the rest of the press corps (apparently when you show up with a little notepad and pen everyone assumes you're press).
At 11 am his case started.
Mr. Privette's lawyer entered a guilty plea on all charges.
Rowan County district attorney Bill Kenerly agreed to defer prosecution which means if Privette meets the conditions of the court orders, the charges against him will be dismissed. Those conditions include supervised probation for the next year, completing 48 hours of community service, paying court fees and continuing psychological counseling that he had already initiated (some people might say there are other republicans who also might benefit from psychological treatment).
Mr. Kenerly then listed the details of the case and the evidence they had against Coy Privette.
The whole investigation started on June 27th after Tiffany Summers cashed a check from Coy Privette for an "unusually high" amount. His bank then contacted Mr. Privette who stated that the check was stolen. The bank reimbursed Mr. Privette and contacted Kannapolis police in the matter.
When police interrogated Summers about the check she immediately said that it was a payment for sex and went on to tell the whole story.
Police found out that on several occasions Mr. Privette, who's 74, had rented a room in 2 motels under his own name. Closed circuit camera surveillance in those motels showed Privette and Summers entering the premises. Summers had taken pictures of Privette with her Camera cellphone, which she handed over to police. Summers then also agreed to make some phone calls to Privette which were recorded. In all I would say they had a very solid case.
Mrs. Summers case was heard at 11.30 am. She pleaded guilty to one charge of prostitution after being offered a deal by the prosecution. She only got 60 days of unsupervised probation, didn't have to pay any fines or court costs and couldn't have any contact with Privette anymore. She basically was rewarded for cooperating so well with the investigation. Afterwards I was able to talk with her lawyer, Mr. James Davis, for a bit who stated that his client basically "walks out the door" and said that he thought it was a "fair and reasonable arraignment". He also stated that they were offered this deal by the prosecution about 2 weeks ago.
When Mr. Privette exited the court he didn't say anything but handed out a statement which thanked everyone for their support and stated "As I undergo much needed personal and spiritual reflection I sincerely ask everyone to keep me in their thoughts and prayers in my journey to earn back the trust that I have lost.”
This last sentence hints to me that he doesn't plan to resign as a County Commissioner, although I don't see how someone who's receiving "psychological treatment" can be a good and effective Commissioner. When press asked Mr. Privette if he would resign, His attorney simply stated "We'll address that later."
Since apparently a commissioner in Cabarrus County can not be forced to resign after being convicted of a misdemeanor, it is up to Mr. Privette personally to decide his political future. I hope he makes the right decision, but it wouldn't be the first time Coy Privette surprises everyone.
Update 07/23: Apparently our local NBC affiliate WCNC had an exclusive interview with Tiffany Summers. The article shows some of the pictures of Privette that she took with her cellphone and explains the reason why Privette reported checks stolen. A friend of Summers tried to cash the checks because Summers herself didn't have any ID. When the bank called Privette and asked questions about the checks he didn't recognized the friends name and said the checks were stolen.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
My day in court with Coy Privette - Guilty as charged.
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5 comments:
It would not be surprising to see Mr. Privette remain in office. A few years back Charlotte had a city councilman named Bob Walton who was a minister and "involved" in the community just like Privette. he was convicted of similar offenses and remained in office until his death. Though Walton had lost all credibility with his fellow councilmen he remained though he never accomplished anything noteworthy simply because he lost the trust of everyone except for his blinded followers. Again quite similar to Privette. I hope Coy steps aside and does not let his ego interfere with him making the right decision. I still believe the big story here is where the money for these checks originated. The Rowan DA did not say their was not a crime just not enough evidence to convict. Perhaps a local paper will pick up the investigation. People wonder why is Privette staying in office. It is not the pay. I believe if you audit his county expense reports you will find the taxpayer subsidizes his travels around the country for him conducting "county business". Im sure these are public records.
Prostituition should be legalized, you can start the bonfire to roast me now. I saw no problem with Mr. Privette's need of those services.
Coy Privette lied about the check, that's something quite different. In my eyes he committed a criminal act by falsely claiming that check was stolen. People go to jail for that. So, even with supervision and counselling he's still a thief in my eyes and should have gone to jail, "Do not pass Go", "Do not collect $l00.00". Now there's a mighty lucky man who should have resigned immediately.
Prostituition should be legalized, you can start the bonfire to roast me now. I saw no problem with Mr. Privette's need of those services.
Oh, no bonfire here. In normal circumstances I would totally agree with you. But Coy Privette is a special case. If a guy has made a political career by preaching to everyone how they should behave and "follow the Lords' word", then turns his back and visits a prostitute (at least 6 times),I have a serious problem with that.
Coy is not the only official in Cabarrus County dealing with sex issues - Does anybody know why 15 Sheriff's Deputies were fired after a wild party??? I hear there was wife-swapping going on...
Funny how making toast out of Clinton was more important than ANYTHING happening in the world at the time and look what happened! While the very compassionate christian conservatives who were making the devil out of Clinton were actually the ones who needed investigation!...from his accusers on Capitol Hill to little county commissioners in NC!
At least Clinton did not kill 4,000 more American Patriots with an illegal war based on lies! It will take until my great grandchildren's middle age to straighten this country out after the likes of Coy Privette, George W, and this whole generation of Republicans who rather be Far Right than Free!
This case is just another point to be made that religiion should be kept out of government! To keep it in makes us no better than those who wish to kill us based on religion! Religion needs to focus on the individual - not politics! Start with Coy Privette!
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