Does the truth matter anymore?

By Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney MARIE BRODER

At the end of every trial, both the State and the Defendant ask the jury to enter a verdict. “Verdict” is derived from an old Latin term, “verdictum,” which means “to say the truth.”

Sometimes in closing arguments, prosecutors will ask that the jury “speak the truth” with their verdict, telling the defendant that they are guilty of the crimes for which they have been charged, and telling a victim that the truth of what happened to them has been heard. But trials are often filled with anything other than the “truth.”

Two cases our offices successfully prosecuted showed the perils of not being truthful in life and in the courtroom. In Fayette County, a jury convicted Dawn Harmon of Making a False Statement and Tampering with Evidence. These charges arose from the murder of Harmon’s ex-husband, Joshua Kellum.

Mr. Kellum had visited his daughter and accidentally left some important papers in a bookbag with her. He tried to retrieve these documents from Dawn Harmon and Jermaine Harmon, Dawn’s husband, who had physical custody of his daughter, and an altercation ensued. Jermaine Harmon shot Mr. Kellum dead. A Fayette County jury convicted Jermaine Harmon of murder in 2022 and he is serving a life sentence for his crime.

While Dawn Harmon did not pull the trigger, she impeded the investigation into the killer, Jermaine Harmon, by lying to police and hiding evidence. The Honorable W. Fletcher Sams sentenced her to a 15-year sentence with 5 years to be served in prison.

Lest there be any doubt, it is a felony in the State of Georgia to make a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to law enforcement. The consequence can be one to five years in prison. Of course, if the statement was an accident or not actually made to police, then it would not be a crime. But, here, in the case of Mrs. Harmon, she lied to try to protect a killer. In this Circuit, such behavior will not be tolerated.

A Spalding County jury spoke the truth in a recent case as well. Cedravious Wilkerson was convicted for the murder of Parrish Pierce. Wilkerson executed Parrish in a wooded area near the Griffin Municipal Golf Course. Gang charges were filed against Wilkerson as well.

In this case, Wilkerson had given prior conflicting statements to police and others — including that he shot Parrish in self-defense, that he shot Parrish because Parrish was going to snitch on him, and that Parrish was actually killed by someone else. He also took the stand at trial and made further conflicting statements about what happened.

A jury saw through these various fabrications and arrived at the truth — Wilkerson was the one who shot Parrish in cold blood, all because Wilkerson was hiding a secret, and he believed Parrish was going to reveal the truth.

Now, because Wilkerson was leading a lie about who he was and the truth was about to come out, he maimed his friend with 6 shots to the back and silenced him with a final bullet in the back of the head.

Like Mrs. Harmon, Wilkerson refused to be truthful, and it cost one man his life and the other his future. Wilkerson’s case was tried before the Honorable Judge Scott L. Ballard and Wilkerson’s sentence will be heard at a later date.

In both cases, I was pleased to see that the juries chose to “speak the truth” and hold the defendants accountable for their crimes. This was refreshing to see, as we now live in a world where being truthful in our speech or having even a slight factual basis for our opinions is the exception, rather than the rule.

One need only watch talking heads on television to see that entertainment or messaging is more important than telling people the who, what, where, how, and why of any story.

A commitment to the truth is one of the many reasons I love our local print and radio news — they tell you like it is and they strive to do so truthfully. Our office strives to do the same in and outside of the Courtroom. And these recent verdicts show that the good citizens of this community will also hold those accountable who don’t speak the truth.

Until next time, please be good to each other.

[Marie Broder has served as the Griffin Judicial Circuit district attorney since 2020. She resides in Griffin.]