Judge Mumford Denies Peace Order

It was clearly another very interesting day in Court today as the Somerset County Sheriff Bobby Jones defended his honor against a Peace Order filed against him from Mrs. Donna Pusey. Sheriff Jones was represented by attorney David Moore, who asked some of the most unbelievable questions during the case but I'll get into that later.

Mrs. Pusey started off by asking the Judge for a continuance as she wanted to file criminal charges against the Sheriff and needed more time to do so. Considering Mr. Jones had two continuances and the fact that Mrs. Pusey was willing to delay this case herself, I kind of thought the Judge would grant her wish. Another main reason Mrs. Pusey wanted an extension was because all but one of her witnesses couldn't make it to court today.

What I find interesting about this is, these lawyers know exactly how to beat the system. Give me an extension, give me another extension and when the thing finally makes it to court, witnesses simply can't afford to continue to take off work and show up. This was the case today. This was the third time Mrs. Pusey and her witnesses were asked to be in court in 9 days.

As for her story to the Judge, you all know what happened from my last story and she pretty much told the Judge exactly what she had said in the past. Her witness was brought in and he too confirmed what had happened. Mrs. Pusey did say that she has been asking for the 911 tapes and said they refused to give them to her but they would be willing to give them to her lawyer. Mrs. Pusey explained that she could not afford a lawyer.

Mr. Moore asked Mrs. Pusey, if you were so afraid, why did you approach Mr. Jones vehicle? Mrs. Pusey replied, I was afraid, that's why I went to the passengers side and knocked on the window. Mr. Moore started to ask if Mrs. Pusey knew of Mr. Joe Bisshop's criminal history and started reading off his background. Now look folks, keep in mind, Mrs. Pusey never turned over her list of witnesses. Even though the previous Judge had told her she had to, she did not. The fact that the Sheriff and his attorney were able to obtain his name and do a criminal history check on this man simply for a Peace Order, (IMO) was completely out of line. Mrs. Pusey was not allowed access to ANY information, not even a Case Number.

Mr. Moore then started saying, at no time have you shown any signs of ill affect from any injuries from this accident. Mrs. Pusey replied she had a concussion and many bruises from Mr. Jones hitting her twice with the car. Mr. Moore then said, Mrs. Pusey, do you wear a shawl? She replied, yes I do. He said, is there anything special about that shawl? She replied, it's just a regular old shawl, why do you ask? Mr. Moore said, Mrs. Pusey, do you have a history of any mental conditions? She replied, that's none of your business, your Honor, do I have to answer to these kind of questions? The Judge asked Mr. Moore to move on. He then said, Mrs. Pusey, isn't it true you wear that shawl to keep the demons away? Well, Mrs. Pusey certainly didn't like that at all and quite frankly as an observer, I didn't either.

Again, they went into more testimony as to what had happened and quite frankly Ladies & Gentlemen, Mrs. Pusey was very convincing and right to the point about everything. Her witness made a very good impression as to what had happened as well and the Judge turned to Mrs. Pusey and said, are you afraid of Mr. Jones? She replied, "every time I see that man I'm scared to death." The Judge replied, "BUT WHY, DO YOU THINK HE'S GOING TO DO IT AGAIN?" You see Folks, this is where I don't get it. The Judge even stated AGAIN. That would tell me that the Judge was convinced that something did in fact happen. You had to be there to have a feel for everything that was going on but clearly there was no question as to what had actually happened.

Mr. Moore stood up and said, Judge, we'd like to have the charges dismissed. Judge Mumford denied his request and asked Sheriff Bobby Jones to take the stand. Were you there? YES, said Bobby. Mr. Moore asked him if he had ever been there before? After 22 years of being with the Sheriff's Department he said he had only been there one other time in his life. As things went on he said things like, "The first time I did not see someone behind my car. The second time I did." HELLOOOO! One witness had stated other people were yelling at him to stop because he had just hit Mrs. Pusey and people were yelling at him and he backed up and hit her again. Mr. Jones went on to say, I slowly pulled out of the spot and I slowly pulled away. Mr. Jones also admitted that he did have a young female passenger. Again, both stories were matching up pretty well as to what was going on, the timing of things. The only difference was, some said he hit her, he never really denied it at all, not once. When they asked Mr. Jones if he recognized anyone there he said, no.

Mr. Jones was then asked, why were you there? He said. "I was gathering information for an investigation on a case I'm on." Interesting, I thought he had never been there before. He couldn't identify or recognize any of the witnesses, everyone stated they could smell the alcohol on his breath from quite a distance. They stated the young girl that was with him was known to hang out there to purchase drugs from one of their neighbors.

The Judge then stated there were two dramatic opposing testimonies. He then stated, Mr. Jones has the right to be there. I have to pick who to believe. Peace Order Denied. Mrs Pusey asked the Judge if she could file criminal charges for assault and the Judge said the case must be reviewed by a States Attorney.

Again, delay, delay, delay, Mrs. Pusey seemed quite convincing. Mr. Jone's said several things that almost admitted to much of what had been stated that happened and never denied once that he didn't hit her once and or twice with his vehicle.

If you'd like to read more about what Mrs. Pusey claims happened, GO HERE. I felt just horrible for Mrs. Pusey as she was clearly scared to death of this man. I will keep in close contact with her as I'd like to know just how things go over the next few months. Hopefully Mrs. Pusey is able to get somewhere with the States Attorney as I have it from a very reliable source that Mr. Jones admitted to allegedly drinking that evening as well as his passenger allegedly there to purchase prescription drugs. There's more here than meets the eye but you know, it is the Eastern Shore.

I want to add this closing statement. I do have faith in the Judicial System. I firmly believe that each and every Judge has wisdom far beyond my scope and quite frankly I would never want to be in their shoes. However, I would be lying if I didn't say that after being on this earth now 47 years, here we have a Sheriff who has been a part of that Department for 22 years and a professional career on the line. Then we have a woman who has been on disability for quite some time. This is a woman who cannot afford a lawyer and if I were to make a decision to let this one walk away out of my Court Room, odds are she's not going to sue anyone and the case goes away. Sadly, that's not how the system is supposed to work but with any hope Mr. Jones has learned his lesson and is now aware that his years of allegedly drinking and driving will be past him now. If I were Mrs. Pusey I'd have a video camera ready as well as my neighbors and I'd make very sure everything was recorded from this point forward. A Police Office cannot deny you the right to video everything going on. Cameras/pictures work extremely well too.

There was a point and time when a Mayor many of us once knew had a reputation of drinking quite heavily. I offered a reward to anyone and everyone that if they caught this person doing so and made a video tape available to Salisbury News we would be happy to post it. I'd suggest the same to Somerset County. The Mayor I speak of has never been seen drinking and driving again. It works, trust me.

I need to add, clearly there is some kind of drug market going on in that immediate community. The fact that Mr. Jones had never been there in the past should clear up the fact that he should never, (or rarely) be there again. The fact that he had his Son's Girlfriend in the car with him and as was stated in the court room was known to purchase drugs there, I somehow doubt this was the Sheriff's first time there after 22 years. Here's something else I wanted to add. What's the deal with the article from the Daily Times about this. They weren't even there! Are they simply taking information from what I post and others report and coming up with their own version?????