Not That Surprising
Just moments ago, I left the trial of Kent Crider vs. Robert Holder and Robert Holder vs. Kent Crider. Kent had several witnesses that gave their recount of events. Several of Crider's witnesses stated that Robert Holder told Kent Crider "Meet me outside and I'll kick you ass." Thankfully, two of Crider's witnesses, Stephanie Mullings and Rebecca Hale, gave a truthful account of the events when they testified during the hearing. However, none of Crider's witnesses remembered the fact that Crider threw his papers into the audience, causing all of the elderly women that generally sit on the front row to retreat to the back of the board room. Robert Holder witnesses also gave their account of what happened and none of them recalled Mr. Holder using any profanity, but one witness did remember the throwing of papers. After both sides testified, Judge Anderson rendered his verdict. The prosecuting attorney presented the same evidence in both cases, but after hearing the testimony, Judge Anderson found Kent Crider not guilty and found Robert Holder, Sr. guilty of distrubing the peace.
Judge Anderson addressed the members of the court room and told them that they all are responsible for the tarnished image of the City of Lumberton and encouraged the aldermen to reason with one another and work for the progress of the city where they serve. Attorney William Ducker stated that those elected to serve the City of Lumberton have seemed to have forgotten the lessons learned in 7th grade Civic class. Judge Anderson stated that Mayor Holder is the Chief of Lumberton and she as well as her position should be respected by all. He also told the police officers present that it is the duty and responsibility to protect Mayor Holder and to respect her and the office she serves. Judge Anderson stated that the proceeding was not intended to be a cure for the things going on in Lumberton and said that it's up to those that were elected to make the decision to heal the city they have torn apart. As a part of the sentence, Judge Anderson has banned Robert Holder, Sr. from attending any more board meetings. The judge went on to say that we are all children of God and that the board members should start conducting themselves as adults. I guess Judge Anderson weighed the fact that it was a board meeting and that's why he was more critical of the testimony that was provided by Holder than he was of the testimony given for Crider but since Crider is also an elected official, his testimony should have been measured by the same reasoning. It was a case where either both men should have been found innocent or both men should have been found guilty. Noticeably absent from the hearing were Crider's besties: Bobby Gibson and Timothy Johnson. One person didn't get the opportunity to testify, but I was really intersted in hearing his account of the event. Nevertheless, one day we must all stand ... - That is, we must all be tried alike at the same tribunal; we must answer for OUR conduct, not to our-fellow man, but to Christ.
I hope the men of Lumberton realize that it is now up to them to attend every board meeting because Mr. Holder is no longer able to attend the meetings, Bobby and Tim don't respect women in authority and the police department is definately not going to do it. We need to be at the meeting now more than ever.
ReplyDeleteMy account of the event was simple. Although i didn't get to testify, i can still tell you what i would have said. I witnessed the disturbance that took place. I am not in favor of either side because i feel that they should have apologized, shook hands, and went on their way. When Mr. Holder told Mr. Crider that he needed to start showing his wife some respect, Mr. Crider stated that respect was a 2 way street. Mr. Holder went to turn away to walk out and then said to Mr. Crider "I'll take care of you outside." At that point, Mr. Crider put his hands on the table, and using them to push himself up, pushed his papers & pen onto the floor. As he sttod up, he said ok, at which point Alderman Gibson stuck his arm out and asked him to sit back down. I didn't hear Mr. Holder use foul language. I have known him many, many years and have never heard him use foul language. It was an incident that puts another black eye on this community and i think enough is enough. Like i said, i wasn't in favor of either side. I just wanted to be able to tell the truth.
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