The Commercial Appeal
3-way primary may pick Ark. judge
Date: May 22, 1994 Section: Metro Page: b1 Source: Bartholomew Sullivan The Commercial Appeal Edition: Final
Voters may need to summon the wisdom of Solomon to select a candidate in a rare three-way race for circuit court judge in the Democratic Party primary Tuesday. Unless there's a runoff, Tuesday's winner in the only contested circuit judge's race in Arkansas's Second Judicial District will take office in January. He won't face an opponent in November.
Circuit Judge David Burnett of Osceola, who also stands for election this year, did not draw an opponent.
In the contested race, seeking the post from which Circuit Judge Gerald Pearson of Jonesboro is retiring are Craighead County Deputy Prosecuting Atty. Mike Walden, 42; Crittenden County Deputy Prosecuting Atty. John N. Fogleman, 38; and Trumann lawyer Chet Dunlap, 50.
Second Judicial Prosecuting Atty. Brent Davis, who was Walden's law partner for 10 years and just finished trying the sensational West Memphis triple-murder case with Fogleman, said he's staying on the fence.
``I don't know anyone in the legal community who knows how this one will turn out,'' he said. He called both Walden and Fogleman ``very competent'' and said of Dunlap: ``Chet's a good defense attorney.''
All three candidates were expected to do some last-minute hand-shaking at a street festival in Paragould this weekend.
All say they will reduce crowded court dockets and bring greater consistency to procedures. The district includes Greene, Poinsett, Mississippi, Clay, Craighead and Crittenden counties. Circuit judges elected this year will earn $89,188 when they take office Jan. 1, 1995.
Citing the canons of their profession, none of the candidates spoke critically of his opponents.
Walden, a partner in the law firm Henry, Walden and Halsey in Jonesboro, has been a deputy prosecutor in Craighead County since 1976, when he was hired right out of law school by the late prosecutor and later Circuit Judge Olan Parker.
A Memphis native and a graduate of Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) and Washington and Lee University Law School in Virginia, Walden said he has worked with every prosecutor and judge in the district over the last 17 years. He is married and the father of two daughters.
Walden has prosecuted several high-profile murder cases, including the 1989 Michael Ronning case from Craighead County that was moved to Marion on a change of venue. He has a broad civil practice.
``I possess what I think attorneys could call a fair judicial temperament,'' says Walden, summing it up as common courtesy and as greater concern for the people involved in legal disputes than for their lawyers.
Walden is active in the Jonesboro Foundation of Arts.
Fogleman, a partner in the law firm Hale, Fogleman and Rogers, attended Arkansas State University and the law school of the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He is married and the father of two sons.
Fogleman, whose uncle was a chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, also serves as city attorney of Marion and is a school board member. He has been a deputy prosecutor for Crittenden County since January 1984, most recently prosecuting the West Memphis child-murder case and winning three convictions.
He discounts any suggestion he is running now to capitalize on his recent publicity, but says that the people of the judicial district have had a good opportunity to judge him.
``I was under a public microscope for almost two months'' during the trials in Corning and Jonesboro, he noted. ``People had a chance to see me at my best and at my worst.''
Dunlap claims the most experience, both in the diversity of his law practice and in life. A Marked Tree native and an Air Force veteran, he worked five years as an accountant. He has been a lawyer in Trumann for 10 years, and estimates he does 50 percent civil and 50 percent criminal defense work.
``They're beating me over the head with `They're going to be tough on crime,' '' said Walden. ``But all of us, regardless of the campaign rhetoric . . . will take an oath to fairly and impartially uphold the Constitution.''
Dunlap went to Arkansas State University and to law school at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He worked as a deputy prosecutor for six months right out of law school.
Dunlap, married and the father of three children, said he would like to see plea bargaining handled consistently over the six-county district.
3-way primary may pick Ark. judge
Date: May 22, 1994 Section: Metro Page: b1 Source: Bartholomew Sullivan The Commercial Appeal Edition: Final
Voters may need to summon the wisdom of Solomon to select a candidate in a rare three-way race for circuit court judge in the Democratic Party primary Tuesday. Unless there's a runoff, Tuesday's winner in the only contested circuit judge's race in Arkansas's Second Judicial District will take office in January. He won't face an opponent in November.
Circuit Judge David Burnett of Osceola, who also stands for election this year, did not draw an opponent.
In the contested race, seeking the post from which Circuit Judge Gerald Pearson of Jonesboro is retiring are Craighead County Deputy Prosecuting Atty. Mike Walden, 42; Crittenden County Deputy Prosecuting Atty. John N. Fogleman, 38; and Trumann lawyer Chet Dunlap, 50.
Second Judicial Prosecuting Atty. Brent Davis, who was Walden's law partner for 10 years and just finished trying the sensational West Memphis triple-murder case with Fogleman, said he's staying on the fence.
``I don't know anyone in the legal community who knows how this one will turn out,'' he said. He called both Walden and Fogleman ``very competent'' and said of Dunlap: ``Chet's a good defense attorney.''
All three candidates were expected to do some last-minute hand-shaking at a street festival in Paragould this weekend.
All say they will reduce crowded court dockets and bring greater consistency to procedures. The district includes Greene, Poinsett, Mississippi, Clay, Craighead and Crittenden counties. Circuit judges elected this year will earn $89,188 when they take office Jan. 1, 1995.
Citing the canons of their profession, none of the candidates spoke critically of his opponents.
Walden, a partner in the law firm Henry, Walden and Halsey in Jonesboro, has been a deputy prosecutor in Craighead County since 1976, when he was hired right out of law school by the late prosecutor and later Circuit Judge Olan Parker.
A Memphis native and a graduate of Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) and Washington and Lee University Law School in Virginia, Walden said he has worked with every prosecutor and judge in the district over the last 17 years. He is married and the father of two daughters.
Walden has prosecuted several high-profile murder cases, including the 1989 Michael Ronning case from Craighead County that was moved to Marion on a change of venue. He has a broad civil practice.
``I possess what I think attorneys could call a fair judicial temperament,'' says Walden, summing it up as common courtesy and as greater concern for the people involved in legal disputes than for their lawyers.
Walden is active in the Jonesboro Foundation of Arts.
Fogleman, a partner in the law firm Hale, Fogleman and Rogers, attended Arkansas State University and the law school of the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He is married and the father of two sons.
Fogleman, whose uncle was a chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, also serves as city attorney of Marion and is a school board member. He has been a deputy prosecutor for Crittenden County since January 1984, most recently prosecuting the West Memphis child-murder case and winning three convictions.
He discounts any suggestion he is running now to capitalize on his recent publicity, but says that the people of the judicial district have had a good opportunity to judge him.
``I was under a public microscope for almost two months'' during the trials in Corning and Jonesboro, he noted. ``People had a chance to see me at my best and at my worst.''
Dunlap claims the most experience, both in the diversity of his law practice and in life. A Marked Tree native and an Air Force veteran, he worked five years as an accountant. He has been a lawyer in Trumann for 10 years, and estimates he does 50 percent civil and 50 percent criminal defense work.
``They're beating me over the head with `They're going to be tough on crime,' '' said Walden. ``But all of us, regardless of the campaign rhetoric . . . will take an oath to fairly and impartially uphold the Constitution.''
Dunlap went to Arkansas State University and to law school at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. He worked as a deputy prosecutor for six months right out of law school.
Dunlap, married and the father of three children, said he would like to see plea bargaining handled consistently over the six-county district.
