Bill Sams is the best thing to happen to juvenile justice since.... Hell, he's the first good thing to happen to juvenile justice around here. He puts "justice" into juvenile justice in The Augusta Judicial Curcuit.
The young man suspected of killing Augusta Symphony cellist David Reader has a lengthy juvenile record, said the judge who decided Friday to open those records for public inspection.
Richmond County Juvenile Court Judge H. William Sams Jr. held a short hearing Friday to consider the various petitions, including one from The Augusta Chronicle and another from the district attorney's office, to open Anthony G. Joe Jr.'s juvenile court files.
Mr. Joe, 19, was accused of homicide when he was 12. He faced a manslaughter charge in the December 2001 beating death of a toddler.
Involuntary manslaughter wasn't his only charge as a juvenile, however.
Judge Sams said his review of the records revealed a burglary accusation, more than one battery charge and a 2003 arrest for robbery.
The robbery case in DeKalb County resulted in a five-year sentence. Mr. Joe spent part of it in detention, Judge Sams said.
Because of the lengthy record in juvenile court, The Chronicle 's published account about the 2001 homicide and the seriousness of the charge Mr. Joe now faces, Judge Sams decided the public had a right to know what is in Mr. Joe's records.
In Georgia, juvenile records are legally closed, though judges can open some proceedings and records, as Judge Sams did Friday.
In 2001, then-Juvenile Court Judge Herbert H. Kernaghan refused to open any of the proceedings involving Mr. Joe, who was never publicly identified by name.
The Chronicle learned about Mr. Joe and the death of the toddler through Department of Family and Children Services' records obtained for a 2004 investigation of the local DFCS department. The documents said that while Mr. Joe, then 12 years old, was alone with 17-month-old Taj'sha Sierra Adams, the baby suffered fatal internal and brain injuries.
Richmond County sheriff's investigators have been searching for Mr. Joe since May 11, when Mr. Reader was shot to death on East Boundary Street.
Judge Sams said Friday that he must review Mr. Joe's juvenile record before releasing it to the public. There could be information that should remain under seal, the judge said.
It could be Tuesday before the file is made public.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
REWARD OFFERED
A reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of Anthony G. Joe Jr. Call the Richmond County Sheriff's Office at (706) 821-1080 or the tip line at (866) 939-5050.
Comments
Bill Sams is the best thing to happen to juvenile justice since.... Hell, he's the first good thing to happen to juvenile justice around here. He puts "justice" into juvenile justice in The Augusta Judicial Curcuit.
The best thing to do is to scrap the entire "Juvenile Justice" system, along with the parole board and concurrent sentencing. Enact a "two strikes" law and dispense with all the fancy TVs and libraries and gyms at the prisons. If Alabama can feed them for $1.75 per day, so can we..
Good work Chronicle and bravo Judge Sams....
I think it is Arizona.
Again, can we shoot on sight? Wetsrn style justice. I don't care how old you are, under 18 or not, no release after "becoming" and adult. Get rid of thewm early, like cockroaches and we won't have problems with them later on.
Teachers in schools should be able to use a ruler across there little butts. Kids today know they can get away with disrupting class and they just continue untill they get older with more serious crimes. I agree 426Hemi. nothing like a good public hanging to show what will become of you if you break the law.
If I had been the Mother of the 17 month old child he murdered. He would have never made it to the age of 13. And just think I would have carried out due justice AND I would have saved a life!!
powfe...were you married to Herbert?
Pofwe must have owed Judge Kernaghan some money or was beaten by him in a lawsuit. Anyone who really knew Judge Kernaghan knew his goal in all juvenile cases was to help kids that needed it and correct them with punitive treatment is warranted. If that is how pofwe likes someone on a personal basis, please don't like anyone else; the world doesn't need it
Once again the Chronicle failed to disclose Mr. Reader was in a high crime area looking for drugs. What do you expect from a drug dealer? An altarboy? How about Mr. Hardworking Law abiding Citizen. If you deal with these criminals, you run the risk of harm. He should never have gone to this area, especially for the reason he did.
Mr. Reader lived in the area. I read that and saw it on the news.
Good morning RCR.
You can help kids ONLY when they want to be helped. Many these days are beyond help and should be jailed. The Juvenile Justice system is a joke in most cases and this is one of those cases. Maybe Judge Sams can get it turned around to some extent.
I hope this no-life is caught and punished. He should not have been out on the streets. It does not matter what color they are, if they do the crime, do the time.
RichmondCountyResident The problem I have for you is the "High Crime area" you mention. I'm sure there are plenty residents in that area that don't commit crimes. The area needs to be cleaned up. Instead of more cops patrolling the Hill area for Break-ins they should go to the source and round up the thugs in their "hood"
This article wasn't about Mr. Reader and why he was there, that was a different one, This was about the [filtered word] scum that shot him because he is a worthless waste of flesh!!
Good morning Rose and all. Old Towne is near the area we are referring to. Besides, he was looking for drugs and dealing with unsavory characters. No, they shouldn't have killed him, but he should not have gone there to buy drugs. They(Chronicle) need to tell the whole story and not pretend he wasn't in a bad area, doing wrong.I agree FedupwithAug, but you don't clean it up, by going to purchase drugs. This scenario happens all the time,he should have known better.
So as I see it RCR if a person was down in the area, a bad area made up of bad area people, that person should die? The way I hear it is that anyone just stopping for a stop sign and looks at a crowd on the streets these same thugs will automatically assume that they want what Drugs? What happens if someone is lost and is looking for directions to get out of that side of town do they deserve to be shot even if it is by mistake? The nasty criminal element should be taken out and put on a farm out in the middle of nowhere, forced to work for his meals and never allowed out again until they figure that selling drugs, killing people for giggles or "just because" is flat out wrong ...Work hard for a days wage or never be let off the farm again....Oh lastly that young man was a victim I don't care why he was down there he was the victim...
Without some of those good residents, the police would have very little to go on.
RCR i dont care where the man was or what color either of them were. If America would deal with animals like other countrys this animal would not have been there to kill him.What other countrys in the world do they have repeat offenders like America. He took a babies life at 12, any other country he would went away till he was 21. Then the burglary charge would have meant loss of a hand. The the robbery charge would have meant loss of another hand. Two hands gone. After 9 years in jail and loss of two hands, i think the crime would stop. But this is America, the land of the repeat offender. The land that thinks it to cruel to fry a man that rapes and kills childern. So they give him a shot to go to sleep. After 10 years on death row and 27 appeals. All these bleeding hearts that worry so much about the ones that commit the crimes need start thinking of the families of the ones that had their loves ones killed we would be better off. Look at other countrys, is there another country that has near the repeat offenders as America. No other countrys deal with the animals. All these bleeding hearts thinks it cruel punishment. Keep turning them loose. They will keep taking lives.
Christian, I said they should not have killed this guy. Stop trying to put words in my mouth.This area has good people as Kathy has said. They fingered the murderer, didn't they. People don't get shot asking for directions, but they may get shot, if they have dealings with this element of society. You and I both know, we would not go to certain areas looking for trouble. To do so is taking a risk. The Chronicle, seem to want to exempt Mr. Reader of any resonsibility for his action. Unfortunately for Mr. Reader, society doesn't work that way.
Just Me. Ditto what you said...he would not have made it alive very few days afterward...his disappearance would have been understood by everyone and would have been forgotten as justice had been served...if you take my child's life, for whatever reason, you just forfeited yours...end of story. kaput.
You see Tonytonytony, I have problem when people say color don't matter, because it usually does. Let's face it , if this thug, had killed another black thug, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Releasing this guys record, is only meant to inflame the situation and taint any jury pool. What about innocent, until proven guilty? This guy has already been tried in the media and you're discussing ways to kill him. We have a system of due process, that will determine this person's guilt or innocence.The treatment you are describing, is one used many years ago.
RCR, people are just fed up with the justice system and frustrated because in so many cases, as in this one, it has failed society. And it is in the court system in our country that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. If you had been a withness and had seen Joe draw his gun and shoot Reader, you would know that he was guilty before he got to trial and you would not be incorrect.
Hi Kathy, if only the court system assumed he was innocent till proven guilty, then potential jurors have made up their minds.I kinda believe he is guilty, but we need to catch him, then determine his guilt or innocence.Our justice system is not perfect, we know that all too well.
A ruler, Fedup? Man, you had it made. I had a 1" thick wooden paddle with holes drilled in it for less wind resistance used on me. ....and at 35, it's not like I was raised in the 50's. ...and you're damn right they need to go back to that type of discipline.
RCR, you know that I have posted before that I served on a jury that led a known drug dealer, caught redhanded, go because the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond a resaonable doubt ACCORDING to the rules of law as explained by the judge. The judge counseled us, the jury, in private after we had reached our verdict, that we had done the right thing and told us not to feel bad, that the next time he got caught, they would make a better case. It is not wrong for the public to believe someone is guilty. The guilty but presumed innocent can get a fair trial under our rules of law if the jury members do their jobs correctly and the defense attorney does his.
I don't think there is much discipline of any type going on these days. "Time out"????
POFWE-Personally attacking Judge Kernaghan makes you the one of the biggest dicksmacks! If he had released his record, what would you have done? Nothing!! Put some lipstick on that pig that wrote the article and move on your merry way!
emo, is that you?
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
