10 MAR 09: Turner Battlefield

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: All jokes for today are suspended, because of the nature of this subject.)

When this humor blog began more than six years ago, we never imagined it would lead so often to the court clerk's office. But there we were Monday, reviewing a divorce case which was mentioned by a Southern Poverty Law Center journal - a case which from what we can tell has NOT been mentioned publicly here before now.

BLOG EXCLUSIVE: The "Intelligence Report" quoted accurately from a 2006 divorce filing by the estranged wife of then-Muscogee County Municipal Court Judge Haywood Turner. Alis Van Doorn-Turner claimed he was a "30-year member" of the National Alliance. A book by a National Alliance leader was even offered as evidence.

The Southern Poverty Law Center focused on the neo-Nazi part of the divorce papers -- which is understandable, because that's a main area of emphasis for that group. But other parts of the case are even more troubling. They suggest a sitting local judge was a spouse abuser - perhaps due to a dangerous mix of alcohol and prescription drugs.

Then-Judge Haywood Turner married Alis in May 2002. They separated about three years later, but it was actually the judge who filed the divorce suit - and he actually had his wife arrested in August 2004, as part of what he claimed was a pattern of abuse on her part.

Haywood Turner told Columbus Police at the time Alis Turner was "holding him at gunpoint." She was arrested for domestic violence - but not for long. Officers decided there was insufficient evidence. And they eventually concluded the judge was hallucinating, due to "drug-induced automatism."

In the divorce petition, Judge Turner claimed: "Defendant has on a number of occasions gone completely ballistic, or subjected to numerous violent episodes in his own home." A response from Alis Turner filed months later says otherwise.

"The husband struck the wife in the face.... on many nights while the wife was sleeping or trying to sleep...." the "Divorce Answer" said. Alis Turner's document lists the combination which led to this - a mix of "rum, Zoloft, Halcion and Wellbutrin."

Alis Turner described herself as a housewife in the response document. It states, "Many times, the husband would fail to provide food in the home." This also could explain the couple living without electricity, which she says happened from September to November 2003.

All the Muscogee County district judges must have known a little bit about all this. They signed a form recusing themselves from the Haywood Turner divorce case, due to an obvious conflict of interest. A judge from another circuit was brought in, to oversee the case.

Court records show this couple had a five-hour mediation session in July 2006, which settled property matters related to a divorce. Alis Turner had to return a pistol to Judge Turner, and he was allowed to keep ownership of some land in Upson County.

(We should note two documents in the court file are sealed in envelopes. If Haywood Turner specifically answered his wife's accusations, the response might be there - or it might not be.)

Does all this information explain some of Haywood Turner's other actions, during his years as Municipal Court Judge? Less than two months after the 2006 mediation session, he was arrested for brandishing a pistol on J.R. Allen Parkway. He eventually pleaded guilty to one count of reckless driving.

So what started as a tip about a former judge's political leanings turns out to be much more -- and much uglier at that. I wonder if the reader who tipped us off to the Southern Poverty Law Center report expected us to uncover all this. But that report seemed so one-sided and incomplete that it cried out for further examination.

(And to be fair, our examination is incomplete as well. We lack any phone numbers for contacting Haywood Turner or Alis Van Doorn. An admittedly last-ditch e-mail to the judge's re-election office account had no response as of Monday night.)

If someone wants to offer funny punchlines about all this, send them here. We truthfully do not feel comfortable joking about spouse abuse, or even drug abusers. But we suppose some people privately are snickering over all these details finally coming out in the open, to blow up another "dirty Columbus secret." Whether they're laughing at the judge to avoid feeling sorry for him is another matter.

Today's topic was the result of a blog reader's tip. To offer a story tip, advertise to our readers, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

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