From Paris Post Intelligencer
kenWALKER
District Attorney Matt Stowe fired Rebecca Griffey, one of his assistants, April 27 in Henry County Circuit Court while taken part in a conference about a murder case in Henry County Circuit Court.
Stowe had been directed by Circuit Judge Donald Parish to attend the conference in person along with Griffey, who prosecutes most Henry County cases at the direction of Stowe.
Stowe and Griffey apparently got into an argument in which he fired her from her job as assistant D.A.
Both left the courthouse, leaving Parish and the others in the case in limbo until Stephanie Hale, another assistant D.A. in Stowe’s office, arrived to finish the proceedings.
Then in open court, Parish attempted to explain what happened so it could be p laced in the public court record. He said while he was in his chambers he heard a disturbance. Stowe and Griffey were actually in the courtroom.
Stowe announced to the court that he had terminated Griffey and that he was leaving to secure his office.
Parish called the episode an “unprecedented ocurrence” in his time in the legal profession.
Stowe issued a statement on the matter which read in part: “This office made the tough decision to treminate a longstanding employee. This action was taken in response to complaints and after all reasonable options had been taken to avoid this result.
“As your District Attorney, I will always be ready to make tough decisions to ensure that violent offenders will receive the toughest possible sentences.”
Griffey, the wife of Bruce Griffey, who is running for Circuit Court Judge, also issued a statement. This is what it said in part:
“In my opinion, yesterday’s (April 27) actions on the part of Matt Stowe were politically motivated. My termination yesterday came on the heels of a post of Facebook the evening before wherein Sheriff (Josh) Frey endorsed Neil Thompson for District Attorney and made a statement that “Weak plea deals lead to unsafe streets.”
“I had absolutely nothing to do with the weak plea deals ot which Sheriff Frey referred, and Sheriff Frey made that clear to Matt Stowe in a telephone communication immediately preceding my termination. Nevertheless, Matt Stowe announced in court before numerous witnesses that he had no choice but to terminate me due to Sheriff Frey’s statement in his social media endorsement of Neil Thompson.
“The manner in which this was handled was highly unprofessional and inappropriate. It is also in violation of the law.”
