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View Full Version : Court knew man jailed for a year for non-support was not child's father




disorderlyvision
07-16-2009, 02:54 PM
http://www.ajc.com/news/court-knew-man-jailed-91036.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab


Frank Hatley has languished in a South Georgia jail for more than a year.

The reason? He failed to reimburse the state for all the public assistance his “son” received over the past two decades.

The problem? Hatley is not the biological father -- and a special assistant state attorney general and a judge knew it but jailed Hatley anyway.

“I feel bad for the man,” Cook County Sheriff Johnny Daughtrey said Tuesday. “Put yourself in that man’s shoes: If it wasn’t your child, would you want to be paying child support for him?”

Daughtrey said he hopes a hearing Wednesday will resolve the matter. Hatley has been held at the county jail in Adel since June 25, 2008, costing the county an estimated $35 to $40 a day.

Even after learning he was not the father, Hatley paid thousands of dollars the state said he owed for support. After losing his job and becoming homeless, he still made payments out of his unemployment benefits.

Hatley’s lawyer, Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, said two independent DNA tests -- one nine years ago and one just a few days ago -- prove he is not the biological father.

“This is a case of excessive zeal to recover money trumping common sense,” she said. “What possible legitimate reason can the state have to pursue Mr. Hatley for child support when he does not have any children?”

It may be difficult for Hatley to get out from under the court order, said Atlanta family lawyer Randall Kessler, who is not associated with the case. “It’s definitely unfair,” Kessler said. “But at the same time, he’s dealing with a valid court order.”

Russ Willard, a spokesman for the state attorney general, said if Hatley can show at the hearing that he is indigent, the state will not oppose his release.

Willard said Hatley could have applied to the state Office of Child Support Services to request that he be relieved of his obligations. He said Hatley has not made such a request.

According to court filings, Hatley was never told that he could have a court-appointed lawyer if he could not afford one. Geraghty said she only recently took on Hatley as a client after the sheriff asked her to talk to Hatley about his predicament.

Geraghty said Hatley had paid a total of $9,524.05 in support since April 1995, but records of payments before that time are not available.

In the 1980s, Hatley had a relationship with Essie Lee Morrison, who became pregnant, had a baby boy and told Hatley the child was his, according to court records. The couple never married and split up shortly after Travon was born in 1987.

In 1989, Morrison applied for public assistance through the state Department of Human Resources. The state then moved to get Hatley to reimburse the cost of Travon’s support, and Hatley agreed because he believed Travon was his son.

But in 2000, DNA samples from Hatley and Travon showed the two were not related, according to a court records.

With the help of a Georgia Legal Services lawyer, Hatley went to court and was relieved of his responsibility to pay future child support. But he still had to deal with being a deadbeat dad when it was assumed that he was really the dad.

Homerville lawyer Charles Reddick, working as a special assistant state attorney general, prepared an order requiring Hatley to pay the $16,398 he still owed the state for child support.

The Aug. 21, 2001 order, signed by Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins, acknowledges that Hatley was not Travon’s father.

After that, Hatley paid almost $6,000. But last year he was laid off from his job unloading charcoal grills from shipping containers. He became homeless and lived in his car. Still, Hatley made some child support payments using his unemployment benefits.

By May 2008, he apparently had not paid enough. In another order prepared by Reddick and signed by Perkins, Hatley was found in contempt and jailed. When he is released, the order said, Hatley must continue making payments to the state at a rate of $250 a month.

Sandman33
07-16-2009, 03:09 PM
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

http://www.tenetsofleykis.com/leykis_101_rules/05_tabasco_sauce.php

bossman068410
07-16-2009, 03:11 PM
In some states even

IF YOU DO NOT DONATE THE SPERM

You will be responsible for the child if you stay in the Marriage.

Immediately get a divorce if she cheats on you If you still like her stay with her as a boyfriend.

satchelmcqueen
07-16-2009, 08:23 PM
laws need to change that protect people from liars.

RM918
07-16-2009, 09:00 PM
I've heard stories like this for years. The court just wants somebody to pay, even if it's someone unrelated. There's a large amount of cases that even if someone isn't the father, if he's been paying child support and the child has an 'attachment' to this person as a parent, he is still obligated to pay even if it's proven he's not the father, usually letting the real father off scot-free.

A woman, however, can simply take advantage of safe haven laws and leave a newborn infront a firehouse or a church and abdicate all parental responsibility, not even having any obligation whatsoever to inform the father.

Oyate
07-17-2009, 03:29 AM
Interesting. The Cook County Sheriff Johnny Daughtrey stood up for the rights of a citizen and went to bat against the system. Because he knew it was the right thing to do.

Meanwhile these asshats Russ Willard, a spokesman for the state attorney general and Homerville lawyer Charles Reddick, working as a special assistant state attorney general do the dirty deeds. Trampling an honest and honourable man into the dirt. All apparently under the administration of AssHat In Chief, Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins.

What not drop "hiz honor" a line and tell him what we think of people like him?

Alapaha Circuit
Chief Judge Carson Dane Perkins
201 N. Davis Street, Room 261
Nashville, GA 31639
Work Phone: 229-686-2180

(if the asshats don't like their contact info posted here, you can find it publicly posted here: http://www.georgiacourts.org/courts/superiordirectory.asp)

And let's not leave out the state's prosecutor's office. Tell them Charles Reddick and Russ Willard sent you.

Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Main office telephone numbers
Switchboard: 850-414-3300
Citizens Services: 850-414-3990
ADA Coordinator: 850-414-3900
Florida Relay/TDD: 800-955-8771
Florida Toll Free: 1-866-966-7226

(info for these asshats is at http://www.myfloridalegal.com/contact)

Since the asshat Charles Reddick is publicly listed, why not try all his numbers?

Reddick Charles R PC Atty at Law
301 W Sycamore St
Homerville, GA 31634
(912) 487-5224‎
(912) 487-5225‎
(912) 487-5228‎
(912) 487-5257‎
(912) 487-5258‎

BUT LET'S SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST. LET'S TELL SHERIFF JOHNNY DAUGHTREY WE APPRECIATE THE JOB HE DID IN PROTECTING THE PEOPLE AND UPHOLDING HIS OATH OF OFFICE. THREE CHEERS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL COPS (OR SHERIFFS AS THE CASE MAY BE)!!!

Cook County Offices: Sheriff's Office
1000 County Farm Rd
Adel, GA 31620-7914
(229) 896-7471‎

For more info:

http://wheniwrite.com/2009/07/16/frank-hatley/

http://www.atlantaprogressiveblog.com/tag/dane-perkins/

Danke
07-17-2009, 03:35 AM
A woman, however, can simply take advantage of safe haven laws and leave a newborn infront a firehouse or a church and abdicate all parental responsibility, not even having any obligation whatsoever to inform the father.

Wow, never thought of that. Interesting contrast.

tron paul
07-17-2009, 11:47 AM
I'd leave the Court Order to Pay at the firehouse save haven.

Along with a copy of the 14th Amendment.

acptulsa
07-17-2009, 11:54 AM
Got no link. Don't remember where I heard it, though I think it was News of the Weird. But some years ago, Florida got sick of men claiming they weren't the fathers and decided they'd shut them up. So, they did a whole rash of DNA testing and discovered the judge was tapping the wrong man over two-thirds of the time.

What the state did not do is overturn two-thirds of their child support demands...

roho76
07-17-2009, 12:12 PM
This lawyer and judge should go to jail. Period.

klamath
07-17-2009, 12:36 PM
This lawyer and judge should go to jail. Period.

And the mother ordered to pay the back welfare for lying.

phill4paul
07-17-2009, 01:56 PM
Simple enough. The sheriff should defend this man's rights by letting him walk.

youngbuck
07-17-2009, 02:05 PM
This lawyer and judge should go to jail. Period.

That's exactly what I thought. :mad:

Mani
07-17-2009, 02:18 PM
I can't believe he is STILL responsible for the payments, just because they didn't find out until later.

UGH, this is sickening.

Mini-Me
07-17-2009, 02:22 PM
This lawyer and judge should go to jail. Period.

+1000000.
This kind of crap will never end until the criminals responsible are made to fear justice.

acptulsa
07-17-2009, 02:22 PM
I can't believe he is STILL responsible for the payments, just because they didn't find out until later.

UGH, this is sickening.

Business as usual. What, you thought the family law system in this nation was about justice and/or what's best for children?

pcosmar
07-17-2009, 02:46 PM
UGH, this is sickening.
Welcome to the "justice" system.

Conservative Christian
07-17-2009, 11:23 PM
This lawyer and judge should go to jail. Period.

Hear, hear!

Sandman33
07-18-2009, 03:29 AM
STILL WANNA GET MARRIED?!!

Step right up men! Stand in line, drop your pants, and grab your ankles.