When Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister endorsed Mike Erwin for district judge in Division L in October 2014, he says he did so based on Erwin’s 23 years of experience and on his own investigation of Erwin in the legal community.
But more than two years later, McCollister says he’s conducted another investigation of the judge—this one concerning Erwin’s conduct outside the courthouse and what it says about his character.
“It is hard and uncomfortable to make judgments about other people, but it happens every day in the courtroom, your office, our schools and our neighborhoods,” McCollister writes in his latest column. “I feel the same pressure in writing this editorial column each issue. But it is easier to do when you have the proof.”
Erwin has found himself embroiled in a controversy over racist comments he allegedly made last month during an argument over a chair at Sammy’s Grill on Highland Road. An African-American woman involved in the argument, Kaneitra Johnson, claimed in a widely shared Facebook post that Erwin called her a “n****r” at least twice during their exchange.
“At first, through his staff members, Erwin issued a ‘no comment.’ On Facebook, Erwin’s friends defended the judge and Johnson’s supporters stood with her. It was a classic ‘he said, she said,’” McCollister writes. “But what was the truth?”
McCollister notes that Erwin, a longtime patron of Sammy’s, was notified a few days after the incident that his business was no longer welcome at the bar. The sheriff’s department followed up with an investigation and on Feb. 14 released a report stating it had not found any evidence or witnesses to corroborate Johnson’s accusation.
McCollister says Erwin’s “Waterloo” moment came in a statement he released following the investigation, which reads, “Now that the sheriff’s department has issued the report—which does not find one single witness that corroborates the original allegation—I can finally defend my actions and my record as a judge. I never have, never would and never will utter the language I was accused of saying.”
“As with my endorsement, I did my own investigation seeking proof (not speaking to ‘he’ or ‘she,’ but with others who had knowledge of the incident and wish to remain anonymous), and I learned that Johnson is telling the truth, not the judge,” McCollister writes. “I found the judge’s statement to be false.”
McCollister stresses he has reached his conclusion with “solid evidence, not hearsay,” adding that what Erwin said to Johnson “was offensive and the way he acted was an embarrassment to the judiciary and our community.”
And while Erwin might have considered owning up to his actions and apologizing, McCollister says he believes the judge “chose to deny the truth and cover up what he did.”
“In October 2014, my recommendation in this space was to voters in a judicial election,” McCollister writes. “Now, in March 2017, my verdict is directed to Judge Erwin: Step down.”
Read the full column. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
