State awaits verdict on DA’s residency following more than 5 hour hearing

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March 12, 2010

Richfield health officials, sheriff, officers testify

By Jim Lisk, Editor CNHI The Stanly News & Press Fri Mar 12, 2010, 08:11 AM EST

Thursday, March 11, 2010 — He bought his first home in Richmond County in 2001, then sold and bought a second one in 2004. He gets some mail at his 103 Old Coach Lane address in rural Richmond County, but gets most of his personal mail, including his financial information, at a Rockingham post office box. He banks there, pays taxes there, votes there and even gets his dress shirts laundered there, receiving a monthly bill from the Rockingham dry cleaner at his Rockingham post office box.

But District Attorney Michael Parker also has three tracts of land in Moore County that he has inherited or been gifted by family. The vast majority of that land is the farm home that was the home of his youth and has been in the family since 1926. Today, his wife and two sons live there, as does Parker on weekends. Furthermore, Mom home-schools the two sons there and they have won awards for academic excellence in Moore County.

Which is home to the 20A Prosecutorial District District Attorney, who was appointed in 2004 and elected in 2006?

Is it Richmond County ... or is it Moore County?

And has he legally abandoned his former domicile, coupled with the intent of not returning to the first domicile as is the state statute regarding residency and candidacy?

Those are the questions a panel of three selected by the State Board of Elections (SBE) were entrusted with answering on Tuesday afternoon.

A challenge to Parker’s residence was brought by Faye Gathings, a Richmond County mother whose son was killed by his ex-wife. Gathings has disagreed with Parker’s handling of the case and filed a challenge to his candidacy with the SBE on Feb. 25.

In a five-hour-and-15-minute hearing, the panel found out from Parker himself where he does his personal business — Federal tax returns, car insurance, credit car bills and the like — and a history of his residency in Richmond County since 2001.

The panel also heard Parker detail a myriad of health issues involving his family since October 2007, including a number of surgeries for his sons, his wife’s breaking of her arm and finally the illness and subsequent death of his father-in-law on Dec. 15, 2009.

Parker said his in-laws have lived just a mile from his Moore County farm since 1993 and in recent years his wife has assisted them with declining health.

They heard from Parker’s current Richmond County neighbors that said they see his red pickup often parked at his house and that they consider him their “neighbor.” These neighbors also said they rarely see a female and have never seen children at the residence.

The panel also heard from Richmond County Sheriff Dale Furr, who has been the county’s sheriff for the past 15 years. He stated that he had been called into the chambers of Judge Chris Collier in April 2009 and asked to investigate Parker’s residency in Richmond County. From that point forward, Furr said that he began “an informal inquiry.”

Furr said that he estimated seeing Parker’s truck at the residence a third of the time when he personally observed the residence. When asked if he ever observed any activity there, Furr said: “No, sir.” His response to if he’d ever seen Parker there was also: “No, sir.”

Furr admitted that he and Parker had disagreed in the past, particularly on three separate murder cases, and the two had exchanged harshly stated letters, including Furr’s response, telling Parker “to clean up your house before you try to clean up mine.”

On cross-examination, Furr said that he had contributed $1,000 to the campaign of Reece Saunders, who is challenging Parker in the May 4 Democratic Primary. Saunders is a Rockingham lawyer.

In addition, the panel heard from a number of other law enforcement officers from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, who supported Furr’s statements.

Chief Deputy Philip Sweat said that he had never had a “run-in” with Parker, but also said he had sponsored a fund-raiser for Saunders at the local VFW for which he paid $400 out-of-pocket for food and paid rental fee for the building.

The panel also heard B.K. Jones of the Richmond County Health Department say that Parker’s water usage in Richmond County was 765 gallons per month, whereas the average family of four uses 5,000-6,000 gallons per month.

Closing arguments against Parker painted his Richmond County residency as a “sham” and that “no one in this room believes he has abandoned his Moore County home.”

On the other hand, the closing argument supporting Parker contended that a sham may be the case if he’d been in Richmond just months, but not with nine years, and that “where Mrs. Parker lives, where she educates their kids is not an issue.”

The member panel of Paul Bowers (Stanly County), James Paxton (Anson County) and Chairperson Hilda Pemberton (Richmond County) will present a written decision to the State Board of Elections.

Bowers said Wednesday afternoon that a decision was made in executive session following the hearing and a press release with the verdict will be forthcoming.