JONESBORO, GA -- Sheriff Victor Hill is publicly defending his arrest of the wife of a political foe – alleging she harassed him by email after her husband quit the sheriff’s office. The Clayton County sheriff is well known for staying silent when controversy surrounds him.
But the arrest of Gerrian Hawes was quite public – posted live on social media by her husband as deputies took the woman out of their home in handcuffs. The husband, Robert Hawes, vows he will oppose Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill in the 2020 election. He says the arrest of his wife had the strong whiff of political intimidation.
"Victor Hill thinks the law is his personal tool to use," Hawes says during the video of his wife's arrest.
But it appears Sheriff Hill jumped through proper legal hoops – by getting a deputy to file an affidavit seeking a warrant – and by apparently getting a judge to sign it. Clayton County was able to produce a copy of the warrant, though the Magistrate Court couldn't find one bearing a judge’s signature. Mrs. Hawes has a preliminary hearing scheduled in Magistrate Court September 6.
“If there was a warrant issued… I wouldn’t think there would be anything unwarranted” about the arrest, said Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson, president of the Georgia Sheriffs Association.
That organization challenged Hill’s fitness for office when Hill was indicted on corruption charges in 2012. Hill beat the challenge, won re-election to office, then beat the corruption charges in court.
Late last year, Hill says Robert Hawes became the subject of an investigation into two missing Sheriff’s Office firearms. He says Hawes resigned – though no criminal charge was ever filed. Earlier this month, Gerrian Hawes sent emails to Hill repeatedly saying “Where there is LOVE, fear can NOT exist” among other things. In reply, Hill described Hawes emails as “condescending and of a harassing nature” and asked her to stop sending emails. She continued. Four days later, Hill got a warrant for Hawes’ arrest.
Clayton County sheriff releases emails, defending recent arrest
The sheriff had one of his sergeant's contact the IT department so they could keep a record of the emails.
Victor Hill hasn’t conducted a news media interview in nearly six years. He described Robert Hawes’s social media coverage of his wife’s arrest as “media antics,” which Hill vowed to ignore.
