Many cases are dismissed in

the Magistrate Court of Fayette County only to be later indicted by the

grand jury or prosecuted by the district attorney or solicitor-general.

The findings of the magistrate court in a pre-issuance hearing are not

jurisdictional.

That is to say, there is nothing

to prevent the "victim" whose case has been dismissed in the

magistrate court from renewing his or her complaint with the solicitor-general

or district attorney.

Sometimes people appear in

the magistrate court at pre-issuance hearings without attorneys to represent

their interests. As a result, their presentations may lack thoroughness,

so the magistrate judge has no alternative but to dismiss the case. There

is nothing to prevent the victim from proceeding further in another court,

such as the Superior or State Court of Fayette County.

Apparently, Mr. Allen's

case was dismissed at the magistrate court level. I suspect that the victim

in Mr. Allen's case thereafter went to either or both of the two

victim witness advocates whose offices are in the Fayette County Courthouse,

and asked that her case be prosecuted further.

It is tough for a prosecutor,

such as Steve Harris, to refuse to prosecute a case when a woman has alleged

physical abuse. It is Mr. Harris's job to present such cases to Judge

Fletcher Sams or, in Mr. Allen's case, to a jury of Mr. Allen's

peers.

Our system of justice may not

be perfect, but thank goodness for a criminal defendant's right to

present his or her case to a jury.

I am glad that Mr. Allen's

charges were found not proven by the jury. However, I am not glad that

Mr. Allen has chosen to accuse Harris of political wrongdoing or improper

motives.

I normally do not write letters

to newspapers, but this time I could not sit idly by and allow someone

to attack Harris and his office when the attack was so far from being

true. We are fortunate to have our interests protected by men and women

of ethically sound character such as exist in the office of solicitor-general

of Fayette County.

Paul S. Liston

Fayetteville, Ga.