Solicitor Greg Hembree has dismissed the charge of leaving the scene of an accident against former Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha Pierce.
I have written about
discretion before and how it starts with the officer on the street and continues up to the prosecuting attorney. Well, this is a good example and it comes from the top prosecutor for this county.
Pierce was found guilty of resisting arrest recently and sentenced to 18 months probation. According to Hembree:
Certainly the most serious charge was resisting arrest. Once she was convicted of that, it was the maximum sentence. If we took her in on that case, she would not get an additional bit of punishment. It would run concurrent to what she is serving.
Could the state have gone forward with this case? Sure. Would they get a conviction? Who knows? Probably, but who cares? What good could come from prosecuting this case?
Another word for discretion is judgment. Solicitor Hembree has shown good judgment in dismissing this case. Nothing else could be served from going forward with it.
You are wrong. A conviction would have removed here from office for good. She is ill suited to serve and Hembree played soft and will be held responsible for the Town being embarrassed again.
Thanks for your comment Harold. I don’t think a person’s political aspirations should be a factor when deciding whether or not to prosecute the person.