Keaton and Davis are two of three candidates vying to replace retiring Cobb Superior Court Clerk Jay Stephenson. Powder Springs attorney John Skelton is also running.
The board met for about three hours late Monday afternoon, listening to testimony in a cramped room in the elections office off Whitlock Avenue, with some attendees spilling into the hallway. Cobb NAACP Chair Deane Bonner, Cobb GOP Chairman Joe Dendy and Stephenson were in the audience.
Four of the board members — Guy Drexinger was absent — sat at a front table with board attorney Gregg Litchfield.
They first heard the Davis case, with Davis and her attorney, Sims W. Gordon Jr. of Atlanta, sitting at one table, and Barry J. Schwartz, who lives in the Cumberland area, and his attorney, Alan Manheim, sitting at another.
The two sides presented their arguments from about 4 to 6 p.m., at which point the board entered executive session, coming out about 15 minutes later to deny Schwartz’s request to keep Davis off the ballot in a 4-0 vote.
Manheim argued that Davis should be kept off the ballot because she listed “lawyer” as her occupation on her declaration of candidacy but has been disbarred by the Supreme Court of Georgia since February.
After meeting in executive session, board chair Beverly Smith asked Litchfield to issue an opinion on the matter. Litchfield said nowhere in Georgia law does it require a candidate for Superior Court clerk to have a particular occupation.
However, Litchfield went to read another Georgia law about who can call themselves a lawyer.
“‘It is unlawful for any person other than a duly licensed attorney at law to assume or use the title’ — and they specifically quote ‘lawyer’ l-a-w-y-e-r — ‘or equivalent terms in any language in such a manner as to convey the impression that he is entitled to practice law or is entitled to furnish legal advice, services or counsel,’” said Litchfield, noting that it was a fact that Davis had been disbarred.
Litchfield went on to cite another law.
“‘Any person knowingly making any false statement in connection with qualifying as a candidate for party nomination commits the offense of false swearing,’” he said. “It also states … ‘that the district attorney shall commence prosecution of any person when it appears that a violation of this code section has occurred.’”
While Litchfield said it is not within the election board’s jurisdiction to determine if the offense of false swearing occurred, he said he believes the board should notify the Cobb District Attorney “of this violation.”
Davis was mostly happy with how the hearing turned out.
“I think it was a proper ruling,” she said. “They followed the law, just as I followed the law.”
But she objected to handing the case over to the district attorney.
“There is no false swearing,” she said. “We covered that pretty appropriately, that it simply said what was the profession. I said ‘lawyer’ only because of law school, but the prohibition they’re worried about is I’m not supposed to hold myself out as having the ability to practice law, which I’m not doing that because … you can’t in this position.”
Manheim said he was considering appealing the board’s decision to Cobb Superior Court, “but we also will follow the board’s mandate and recommendation to refer this to the district attorney’s office.”
In his original complaint, Manheim had listed a second reason for Davis to be bumped from the ballot, which was that she listed existing chief deputy clerk Elva Dornbusch as who she would appoint chief deputy clerk if elected. Manheim dropped that complaint against Davis during the hearing, but still brought it up, saying it spoke to Davis’s character. Testifying to the elections board, Dornbusch said that she never agreed to serve with Davis and would never agree.
Next up, the board considered the challenge to Keaton’s candidacy by attorney Michael Carvalho of west Cobb. Carvalho argued that Keaton failed to follow election rules, which state that on the date of qualifying for office, the candidate must specify with the Cobb Probate Court who they would appoint as their deputy clerk if elected.
Carvalho said Keaton qualified on May 24 but didn’t file the name of Jason Shepherd as her running mate with the Probate Court until the day after. Later that day, she amended that filing by swapping out Shepherd’s name for that of Kimberly Carroll.
Carvalho sat alone at one table while Keaton, flanked by Marietta attorney Tom Browning and his son, attorney Tyler Browning, sat at another.
In arguing for Keaton, Tom Browning pointed out that there is a general law that covers Superior Court clerks across the state and then there is local legislation that only pertains to Cobb County. General law allows citizens to challenge candidates based on such qualifications as whether they are a citizen and whether they live in Cobb. The local legislation requires the candidate to select a deputy clerk on the same day the candidate qualifies. That requirement is not included in the general legislation, which trumps the local legislation, Browning said.
The board agreed in a 4-0 vote.
Carvalho said he would consider over the next 10 days whether to appeal.
“The rules are important, and I think it’s even more important that somebody that holds a position of clerk know the rules,” he said. “Is it a technicality? Yeah, but that’s what the board gets to choose.”
Keaton said she had expected the board to rule in her favor.
“I really wasn’t worried about it,” she said. “He’s a lawyer and he doesn’t even know the law, so that’s what’s kind of comical. He’s busy talking about the statute of limitations. All the things that he was talking about were things that lawyers have to do, not clerks.
“He misses his statute of limitations, that’s not my problem as a clerk.”
During the hearing, Davis objected to two of the board of elections members — Rob Garcia and Pat Gartland — participating because they are listed on Keaton’s website as endorsing her for office.
Yet Litchfield said he does not believe they had to recuse themselves.
“This board is political by its very nature,” Litchfield said. “The Republican Party appoints a member, the Democrat Party does, the Legislative Delegation does, and the chairman does … They can give money, they can support candidates.”
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MARIETTA — Elva Dornbusch has withdrawn from next year’s race for Cobb Superior Court Clerk because of an immediate health issue.
Dornbusch is the chief deputy court clerk, under Clerk Jay C. Stephenson, a job she has held since 2004. Stephenson is not seeking re-election when his term ends on Dec. 31, 2012. Dornbusch said she now intends to retire when Stephenson does.
“I thank all my supporters,” Dornbusch said. “I had a lot of them, and thank them for their confidence in me. But my health requires that I take care of myself first. I hope I can be of service to them in any other way.”
Dornbusch had intended to run with John Skelton as her choice for chief deputy. On Tuesday, Dornbusch said she has encouraged Skelton to run for the clerk’s seat.
OMG…. her health is better now to be a Deputy Clerk, GIVE ME A BRAKE… hey Elva what happen to retirement when Jay does? Skelton “the only candidate with the ethics and moral compass you” shame on you, which direction does your compass point to….west or should I say, left?
“Again, more reason to vote for Skelton. Maybe he did make a mistake on his disclosure statement” Really, no really…… to me that’s more going to trail than let say…white out….grow up and quit making excuses, it’s like everyday there’s an excuses, now we have a new clam, Mr. Skelton’s signs are being removed, did you ever think his signs were on the county right of way and what do the rules say about signage on county right of ways? I know….. It’s another rookie mistake right? PLEASE and “the only candidate with the ethics and moral compass” give me a break, Skelton sounds like Obama every day, won’t stand up to his mistakes and throwing the blame/excuse card everywhere.
I want someone who is an adult in office for Cobb County Superior Court Clerk and Ms. Keaton clearly is an adult, not once has she throw the blame/excuse card, she has my vote….
Now I see Mr. Carvalho is thinking about filling an appeal against Ms. Keaton... really... it's over and STOP wasting my and every Cobb County Tax payers MONEY, Mr. Skelton if Mr. Carvalho does (he stated he supports you) appeals, you Sir are no different than Obama wasting money...
For Ms. Davis, if I go around saying I'm a Police Officer on my resume and I'm not, I lose my J.O.B... she states she's a Lawyer (we know she's not) but allowed to be on the ticket, now that's just wrong...
That’s fine if she is a Lawyer in other States; however, in the State of Georgia she is not.
It can also refer to the actions of an individual. If a person is known to do 'questionable deeds' then one may come to expect this as normal behavior from that person.
If Ms. Davis fails to disclose an issue of such importance as her disbarment, then we must wonder what else she would fail to disclose.
Our government is in such chaos now, why oh why would anyone consider voting for someone who is this dishonest?
Joan Palmer Davis
"On Feb. 27, 2012, the Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Joan Palmer Davis (State Bar No. 210810). Davis received $1,200 from a client but failed to appear for a hearing and effectively withdrew from the case without advising the client or otherwise communicating with him. Davis' answers to the grievance and the resulting notice of investigation were untimely. the court found that Davis lied in her answer to the Notice of Investigationand in her testimony before the special master in the disciplinary case by claiming falsely she had appeared for the hearing in the client's case.
In a second matter Davis again failed to file a timely response to a properly served Notice of Investigation arising out of a grievance filed by a different client.
The Court took into consideration Davis' disciplinary history, the aggravating factors noted above, and the absence of any factors in mitigation."
I don't really know what else needs to be said about her. that about says it all.
disbarred in Georgia as well as three other
states, I think it time for her to be punished
as per Georgia Law has specified.
Just make a copy of the old document, cross out the old terms, write in the new terms, retitle it as amended and sign the new document. It is that easy.
And it is done in courts all over the country every day.
Next question... were concerned parties properly notified of this particular amendment, as would be required in the steps you describe for most filed court documents?
Prediction: Keaton will lose once again.
keaton should be dq'd just for not following simple instructions - a basic requirement for a clerk's role.
As for Keaton, she messed up with her qualifying. Last month it was reported in the MDJ that Skelton messed up his campaign disclosure report.
If you want to nit-pick on behalf of your candidate, there are certainly things the other side can nit-pick about yours.
Let's hear what these candidates have to say and decide from there.
Also, can someone PLEASE tell me all of these races Keaton supposedly ran for and lost. All I am aware of is a 1998 race for Solicitor General and a 2010 race for judge...which was cancelled and put off to this year. By my calculations, that means Keaton has lost one election. Newt Gingrich lost two before being elected. So did Ronald Reagan (who breifly ran for President in 1968 and then challenged Ford in 1976).
As for other races, I know Ms. Keaton was involved in a race for State Court judge against Rusty Carlisle in 2000 that turned pretty ugly on both sides.
From the MDJ, Feb. 28, 2012, regarding Davis' disbarment:
The court acted primarily due to her misconduct in the case of a client who was seeking to have his child-support obligations dismissed in the wake of a DNA test showing he was not the father. According to the client, Davis failed to appear for a Dec. 3, 2008, hearing in Cobb Superior Court and effectively withdrew from the case without advising him or otherwise communicating with him.
An investigation into the allegations by Catherine Koura, a special master appointed by the State Bar, concluded disbarment was “the only appropriate punishment” given Davis’ actions, “poor disciplinary history, the fact that multiple offenses were proven; failure to comply with disciplinary procedural rules; submission of false statements or evidence; and refusal to acknowledge the wrongful nature of her conduct.”
Davis insisted she had been at the Dec. 3 hearing in question, but the high court found there was “ample support … in the testimony of opposing counsel, the DHR representative and Davis’ client and his wife” that she was not.
Concluded the Supreme Court’s ruling, which was announced Monday, “Ample evidence exists to support the conclusion that Davis made false statements. … This Court has little tolerance for attorneys who make false statements during disciplinary proceedings.