Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard appeared as a character witness at 40-year-old Jeffery David Allen's probation revocation hearing on June 14, much to the disappointment of district attorney officials in Bainbridge.

Ballard said Allen's attorney, Robert Augustus Harper of Tallahassee, Fla., subpoenaed him, thus compelling Ballard to appear in court. Ballard said he took a leave day and drove his private vehicle during the 437-mile trip to Bainbridge and back.

Ballard said he could have tried to get out of the court appearance, but he decided not to. As Allen's former attorney, Ballard knew he could not prosecute the case currently in this circuit because there was a conflict of interest, given his past defense representation of Allen.

Allen's relative, Jean R. Allen, Fayetteville, donated $1,000 to Ballard's campaign in May. Attorney Thomas Cook of Tucker, who is representing Allen in the Fayetteville obstruction case, also donated $1,000 to Ballard. But Ballard indicated this had no bearing on his decision to serve as a character witness for Allen.

Ballard, a prayer group leader, said he had worked with Allen in that context and he knew he could share some positive things about Allen, his personal friend, that weren't on paper.

"I received a subpoena and I suppose I could have tried to wriggle out of the subpoena, but when I thought about it I thought that for the judge to be able to have the full information he needed to make a fair decision in this case then maybe it would be a good idea for me to be able to tell what I know about this guy's character and his effort to be a good citizen," Ballard said.

A document requesting a special prosecutor was absent from Allen's case file Friday. But Ballard said he has petitioned the Georgia Attorney General for a special prosecutor to handle the Fayette case.

South Georgia Judicial Circuit District Attorney Joe Mulholland disagreed with Ballard's position to serve as a character witness on Allen's behalf. He said he was "shocked, stunned and offended" by Ballard's decision.

Mulholland said he didn't have a "clue" that Ballard was coming to serve as a character witness for the convicted child molester, who until recently resided in Fayetteville.

"I didn't get any phone calls or anything," Mulholland said. "I thought we had subpoenaed a DA and I was going to apologize and when I realized what he was doing I couldn't believe it."

Mulholland said he would gladly offer his services to Ballard since he cannot prosecute the obstruction case on Allen currently pending in his circuit.

"I'll be glad to prosecute the felony obstruction case," Mulholland said. "They can swear me in and I can clear my calendar tomorrow and be up there when they want."

Mulholland believed Ballard erred when he chose to stand up for Allen, a convicted child molester and former client of Ballard. Mulholland said Ballard's defense of Allen came at the expense of his current clients, the Fayetteville police officers who were involved in the altercation with Allen.

"I think my officers would be disappointed to know a prosecutor thought someone who fought with them should not get their probation revoked," Mulholland said. "I think that sends the wrong message that people who fight with police officers shouldn't have their probation revoked. If you fight with one of my officers, I am going to ask for jail time."

Mulholland vigorously disagreed with Ballard's stance regarding the strength of the evidence in the 1990 child molestation cases and his stance on whether child molesters can be rehabilitated.

Ballard said that it would be stereotypical to believe that all child molesters cannot be rehabilitated.

But Mulholland disagrees.

"It's a 52 percent chance that they will re-offend when they get out, so it's not really stereotypical to think that a child molester will re-offend again," he said. "The statistics back it up. That's why we have safeguards and parameters in place such as the sex offender registry and special conditions. Sexual offenders have a mental illness and oftentimes it can't be cured."

He pointed to Allen as an example stating that he re-offended several times during his probation.

He said the offense doesn't always have to be child molestation, but it generally has to do with something sexual such as Allen making obscene phone calls to women. Allen was convicted in Fayette County of telephoning at least 13 women in 2003 and making sexually suggestive comments to some of them.

"It's very disappointing that a prosecutor would question another prosecutor's evidence when he admitted he was a child molester," Mulholland said. "I don't know what else he wants. Who is going to walk around with that hanging over his head unless they are?"

Ballard continued this week to defend his actions with Allen. He also reasserted his stance on vigorously prosecuting sex offenders when new cases come before him.