The simple battery criminal cases involving community activist Woody Merry and Coliseum Authority member William Fennoy have been resolved without going to trial.
A resolution worked out by the State Court solicitor allows the city to put behind it -- $13,000 in taxpayer-paid legal bills notwithstanding -- the May 29 fracas that one judge called a civic embarrassment.
Monday's resolution shifts blame to Mr. Merry but requires only that he write a letter of apology and behave himself at public meetings.
"Fifty-year-old men don't need to resort to violence," Mr. Merry, 55, said outside the courtroom Monday morning, after State Judge Richard Slaby signed an order "dead docketing" the simple battery case against him and dismissing the simple battery case against Mr. Fennoy, 60.
Mr. Merry also said, however, that he wrote the apology letter "just to get it to go away," and later his attorney, Chris Hudson, led him away from Solicitor Harold V. Jones II when he started forcefully telling him about his dental bill and being called a "redneck."
Mr. Fennoy would not comment Monday.
Mr. Jones said he interviewed seven witnesses, all but one of them Coliseum Authority members. Five said they didn't see what started the fight, but two -- authority member Mildred McDaniel and Ben Hasan, host of Comcast TV's Community Concerns -- said Mr. Merry pushed Mr. Fennoy first.
According to various accounts, Mr. Merry, founder of CSRA Help and the Association for Fair Government, confronted Mr. Fennoy in a corridor of the James Brown Arena minutes before a Coliseum Authority meeting. There he challenged him for not attending a previous meeting, which prevented a quorum and a likely vote to rehire former facilities director Julie Huggins.
Mr. Fennoy told him, "Get out of my face," but Mr. Merry went on criticizing him as he followed him into the meeting room, witnesses said.
The first chest bump happened when Mr. Fennoy turned around, the solicitor said. It's unclear if Mr. Fennoy intentionally bumped Mr. Merry, or if Mr. Merry was following him too closely.
The argument continued, the dead docket order says, and Mr. Merry pushed Mr. Fennoy, causing him to fall backward. When he regained his balance, he pushed Mr. Merry to the floor and kicked him. Some witnesses said Mr. Merry kicked back from the ground, but others disputed that.
Both men were arrested on misdemeanor charges June 27 after a probable cause hearing. Civil and Magistrate Judge Scott Allen urged them to make up, but Mr. Fennoy's attorney, Evita Paschall, said he wished to proceed. The Coliseum Authority had voted a few days earlier to pay Mr. Fennoy's attorney costs.
Ms. Paschall was paid $3,000 to represent Mr. Fennoy and an additional $10,000 for time spent visiting the crime scene, interviewing witnesses and "extensive research," according to her bill.
With his case dismissed, Mr. Fennoy can apply to have his record expunged. Mr. Merry has to wait a year.
Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.
WOODY MERRY'S APOLOGY LETTER
Dear All:
Please accept this letter as my unconditional and heart-felt apology to the Coliseum Authority, to Mr. William Fennoy, personally, and to the Citizens of Augusta-Richmond County for disrupting the Coliseum Authority's meeting on May 29, 2008.
As you all know, my goals as a Community Activist in Augusta-Richmond County have always been to facilitate a constructive discourse regarding issues of economic development and the fiscal responsibility of our local government; however, on rare occasion, I may become over-zealous with respect to my sincere belief that we must all come together as one Community in order to achieve these goals.
Please know that I am truly sorry for this incident, and that I have learned a valuable lesson regarding diplomacy which I will take forward with me for the remainder of my life.
Very Sincerely,
Bradford W. Merry
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