Coroner of Crawford County P.O. Box 1009 Roberta, GA 31078 Office 478-836-3116 Cell478-954-9804 DAVID ALLEN O'NEAL CORONER March 16,2015 Crawford County Commissioners P.O. Box 1009 Roberta, GA 31078 As of April1, 2015, I will no longer use my personal vehicle to go on Coroner Calls for Crawford County. I WILL STILL FAITHLY EXECUTE MY LAWFUL DUTIES AS CORONER. However, as of April 1, 2015, when I receive a call, I will notify the County that I need a ride to the call. Further, all faxes and access to internet will stop after 5 p.m. each day Monday through Friday since those services are not provided at my home to utilize after hours. AGAIN, I WILL STILL FAITHLY EXECUTE MY LAWFUL DUTIES AS CORONER. However, since the Secretary at the Sheriff's Office, who also works for the Office of the Coroner, is only available Monday through Friday, 8:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. then all requests or needs for after-hours information must be directed through that office during those hours. I am sorry it has come to this. However, reasonable attempts to resolve this issue since December 2012 have yielded no results. Please take this seriously as I do not want a grieving family to have to suffer. I WILL STILL FAITHFULLY DO MY SWORN DUTY, AND EXECUTE MY LAWFUL DUTIES AS CORONER OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. David A. O'Neal Coroner . • JAMES BATES I JAMES • BATES • BRANNAN • GROOVER LLP D UKE R. GROOVER D IRECT L INE: (478) 749-9931 EMAIL: [email protected] -PLEASE REPLY TO T HE MACON OFFICE- March 19, 2015 Sent via U.S.P.S. and E-Mail ([email protected]) Ms. B. Michelle Smith P.O. Box 8633 Warner Robins, Georgia 31095 David Allen 0 'Neal vs Crawford County, Georgia Superior Court of Crawford County, Civil Action No. 14-CV- 173 Re: Dear Michelle: This correspondence is in response to the letter from your client David Allen O'Neal dated March 16, 2015, addressed to the Crawford County Commissioners, my client, and subsequently forwarded to me by you. I am unsure whether you or Mr. O'Neal drafted the letter and whether you intended to have your client contact my client directly. Mr. O'Neal's letter is, put simply, a threat by Mr. O'Neal against Crawford County and, by extension, against the citizens of Crawford County. Mr. O'Neal threatens that, if he is not given the items he has demanded but to which he is not legally entitled, he will refuse to take charge of bodies as he is required to do under O.C.G.A. § 45-16-25(a). Please remind your client that he is legally required to execute his duties as Coroner of Crawford County. If he refuses to perform his duties, the County will have no choice but to pursue legal action against Mr. O'Neal and request his removal from office. In his letter, Mr. O'Neal threatens that, if the County does not provide him a vehicle or an individual to chauffeur him to death scenes, neither of which the County is legally required to do, MACON ATLANTA 23 1 RI VERSIDE DRIVE • MACON, G EO RG IA 3 120 I I I I 478.742.4280 • FAX 478.742.8720 \ II () I( 'J " " \ I I .\ \\ - \ II \II II 3399 j) II \ ll II I 1\ NE SuiT E 1700 • A T LANTA, GEORGIA 30326 ·r F I 404.997.6020 • r I\ X 404.997.602 1 PEAC HTREE Ro AD, I' \ R I \ I R s II II' - ( J! () R ( J I \ sI ·\ wI I R M ( () \I Ms. B. Michelle Smith, Esq. March 19, 2015 Page 2 Mr. O'Neal will refuse to perform his duties as Coroner. Mr. O'Neal is not entitled to a Countyprovided vehicle, nor is he entitled to a County-provided chauffeur. Mr. O'Neal might as well have demanded a significant pay increase, to which he is not entitled by law, and stated that, without that pay increase, he would refuse to travel to death scenes. The effect is the same - to blackmail Crawford County and its citizens into acceding to his unlawful demands. As Mr. O'Neal testified in his deposition, he has been fully able to perform the duties of Coroner for thirty or more years without being provided a vehicle or a chauffeur to and from death scenes. Instead, the County has provided Mr. O'Neal with a significant raise above his statutorily-mandated salary to compensate him for any expense that may arise due to the use of his vehicle. Mr. O'Neal's testimony in his deposition showed that he is clearly aware that his duties as Coroner include going to death scenes to determine the cause and manner of death. Mr. O'Neal's knowing refusal to carry out his duties as Coroner will carry with it significant consequences, both for Mr. O'Neal and for the citizens of Crawford County who deserve a fullyfunctioning Coroner's Office. As set out more fully in the motion for summary judgment brief that was filed on March 6, 2015, the County is providing all of the items, expenses, and materials necessary for Mr. O'Neal to perform his job duties. In fact, Crawford County has greatly exceeded the statutory requirements regarding what it must provide the Coroner, all in an effort to help Mr. O'Neal better perform his duties. The County is providing him an extra Deputy Coroner to which he is not statutorily entitled. The County has also offered Mr. O'Neal an office, including a fax and internet line paid for by the County, but Mr. O'Neal has refused it because the office wasn't "nice enough". The County is providing Mr. O'Neal with a cell phone. The County is going Ms. B. Michelle Smith, Esq. March 19,2015 Page 3 above and beyond that which is required by law to help provide good public services for its citizens. Despite the County's provision of items above and beyond those that are required by law, Mr. O'Neal petulantly and illegally threatens the Crawford County Board of Commissioners and, by extension, the citizens of Crawford County with the withholding of Coroner services to the entire County. I am unsure whether Mr. O'Neal's letter only threatens refusal on his part to travel to death scenes or whether he is threatening this refusal on behalf of his deputies as well. Please provide clarification as to whether Mr. O'Neal was speaking only for himself or for his deputies as well. Please remind Mr. O'Neal that Georgia law provides that Mr. O'Neal is legally responsible for the refusal of his deputies to perform their lawful duties. Mr. O'Neal states in his letter that if his demands are not met by April 1, 2015, then he will refuse to conduct his duties as coroner of Crawford County. If this is his true intention, my suggestion is that he resigns his office immediately. Otherwise, the County will pursue any and all legal remedies, including, but not limited to, his removal from office and/or a writ of mandamus requiring Mr. O'Neal to perform his legal duties, to ensure that the citizens of Crawford County receive the Coroner services that they expect and deserve. Mr. O'Neal has chosen time and again to run for Coroner of Crawford County and has sworn an oath to fulfill his duties. Crawford County expects him to comply with this oath. I await your response. DRG/asp
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