DWI Conviction becomes Election Issue in DA’s Race
By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record
Published: February 4, 2010
NEWTON – An incident that happened almost a year ago has become a campaign issue for District Attorney Jay Gaither.
Gaither was in Buncombe County and let his friend drive his van. They were pulled over and his friend was arrested for drunk driving.
The arrest has become public knowledge and is a campaign issue as the incumbent prepares to file to run for re-election.
Gaither has admitted his role in the arrest and has apologized for what he characterizes as an “error in judgment.”
“In February of last year I was visiting a friend and I made the error of not recognizing that he had too much to drink,” he said in an e-mail. “I allowed my friend to drive me on the way to his home in Black Mountain, and he was stopped for speeding and charged with DWI.
”He accepted his responsibility and pled guilty,” Gaither said. “I apologize to the people of my District for my lapse in judgment, but also feel strongly that both my wife and I observed my friend that night and did not appreciate that he was significantly impaired.”
Shawn Clark has announced his intention to run against Gaither for district attorney in the May primary. He said he thinks voters should consider Gaither’s actions when they decide whom to vote for.
”I think it’s an issue of personal and professional responsibility or a lack thereof,” Clark said. “It’s an issue that voters have to take a look at.”
”I’ve had clients in the past who were charged with aiding and abetting DWI and had to go to court to answer those charges,” he said. “If Jay flashed his badge when the officer walked up, that’s an abuse of authority.”
Gaither has consistently pointed to his office’s aggressive prosecution of drunk and impaired drivers as one of the hallmarks of his tenure as district attorney and said that will continue.
”As District Attorney I have been tough on impaired driving offenses and have increased the prosecution of these offenses by more than 25 percent since 2002,” he said in an e-mail. “My office is committed to the continued tough enforcement of all of our laws and the protection of our roads through the prosecution of impaired drivers.
“I feel confident that the voters of this District are aware of the good work that our office is doing, and it is my intention to seek re-election based on that record of successful prosecution.”
The arrest
John Gold Borden Jr. of Johns Island, S.C., was arrested and charged with DWI on Feb. 24, 2009.
Borden, 48, was driving a 2000 Ford Windstar owned by Jay Gaither when he was pulled over in Black Mountain.
Gaither was in the passenger seat.
Borden’s blood alcohol content was .18 when he was arrested. The legal limit is .08 in North Carolina.
From March 28, 2009, to May 28, 2009, Borden lived in Pavillon, a residential substance program in Mill Spring and completed the six-week course. He attended follow-up counseling with a therapist in Mount Pleasant, S.C., and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Borden pleaded guilty to level 5 DWI on July 8, 2009.
He was given credit for the 24 hours he spent in the Buncombe County jail on the night of his arrest and received a 60-day suspended sentence and 24 months of unsupervised probation.
He was fined $100 and paid court costs of $121.
His driver’s license was suspended.
Hardly a news flash. We already knew this. And the HDR’s efforts to hide this little fact by burying in the article is proof of their bias. Mr. Gaither, resign. If it takes you over a year to take responsibility for your criminal act, you are not worthy of your office. The Newton newspaper today also calls for Gaither’s resignation. We now have 2 newspapers in our area with a pair of stones. Thank you. Let’s be straight up about all this. IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE. Eliminating Gaither only will not stop this mess. His side kick and best buddy Reid has got to go as well to TAKE OUR COUNTY BACK!
HDR article’s comments have been pulled down. Wonder if they will keep them down like they did the Reid articles? There’s some bias for you.
Wait a minute. Comments back up? Was this a sign of what’s to come? Let’s see how long they continue to allow comments.
Looks like the HDR is a week behind as usual. I’m glad they finally reported it. What could be next? Jay Gaither having s-x with farm animals?
It is time for a change. This goes directly to his ability to do his job. 1. If he can’t tell a guy’s as drunk as his friend was, then he’s got a problem (maybe he was drunk too?). 2. To b3e in the car with the guy while the guy is driving well over the speed limit and recklessly, that doesn’t jive too well.
How does DA Gaither think he’s going to get reelected with this kind of baggage. I guess he’ll do what he’s done in the past, say that all of his oppoenents are having affairs or giving money to the democrats while he claims to be crystal clean. We’ll don’t know if that’s going to work in this election, but we’ll see.
Is it just me or does Gaither come across in his comments as if he is “above the law”? wow! why are the taxpayers keeping this guy up?
Frank C., you have a good point.
I’ve been involved with the GOP in Catawba County for many years. I’ve seen how Jay Gaither has ran his campaigns in the past. He does a lot of mud slinging through one-on-one personal attacks of his opponents. In fact, he called me recently and asked me to complain to the Catawba County GOP Chairman Bill Shillito about his opponent, Shawn Clark. He asked me to request that Chairman Shillito demand that Mr. Clark not run. I just agreed with Jay because I’ve found that that is the easiest way to deal with him. If you disagree with him he becomes very “angry”. I use the word angry because it’s not like he’s mad but at the same time you can tell he’s not happy with the response he is receiving. So, I’ve just found it’s easier to go along with him in order to get along.
Jay’s reasoning for wanting me to request for Chairman Shillito to demand Mr. Clark not to run was that he “thinks” Mr. Clark had an affair with one of his clients. In light of the allegations Jay raised about Mrs. Stewart last year when he “thought” she had committed a criminal act 10 years ago, I higly suspected that this might be another attempt by Jay to unjustly attack an opponent. Also, my suspicions are raised with Jay from the fact that he accused two prior oppoenents in prior elections of having affairs and one prior opponent of being a homosexual. I’ve heard these comments come direclty out of his mouth, so it’s not hearsay on my part. I know with Mrs. Stewart he was wrong and now higly suspect that he’s wrong with Mr. Clark. It just doesn’t mesh that Mr. Clark, an attractive, successful attorney, would decide to have an affair with a lady that as many problems as Tiffany Turnmire does. Plus, Jay stated to me that he met with Mrs. Turnmire and helped Mr. Turnmire find an attorney to sue Shawn. It’s just too politically charged.
It is my opinion that Jay will do anything to keep his office as DA, even if that means spreading lies about good people. I’ve seen him do it in the past and I don’t believe that anything would be different this go around.
Old Party Person, I got involved in the GOP in Catawba County last year and attended a meeting that Mr. Gaither held where he talked about what he called “criminal acts” on the part of Michelle Stewart. Mrs. Stewart had announced here intention to run for Chariman of the GOP and Mr. Gaither was opposing her in that election. I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. He claimed that she committed a crime some 10 years earlier when she worked at the Newton Police Departement. He said he was going to have to prosecute her for this crime if she won election as Chairman of the GOP. When asked why he would only prosecute her if she won the election, he answwered that he would be forced to because the Democrats would make that an issue.
I still don’t understand his reasoning, but I did get some good insight into the type of person he is. He is purely politically motivated. For several months at the beginning of last year, he continously called me and many others involved in the GOP. He would not stop talking for hours about himself and how he was the “head of the Republican Party in Catawba, Caldwell and Burke Counties.” He was more concerned about his control of the GOP than he was about putting criminals away and I think that is wrong.
But what is more worrisome is that now I, like many others involved in the GOP, am beginning to hear about his involvment in the lawsuit against Shawn Clark. I’ve heard that he was meeting with Mr. Turnmire as early as November of last year and that in December he began coercing Mrs. Turminre into saying that she had an affair with Mr. Clark. Also, he found the attorney for Mr. Turnmire and has been directing the attorney as to what to do. That’s scary that the district attorney is more concerned about doing in his opponent (or anyone that opposes him – like Michelle Stewart) than he is about doing his job.
I guess the public is now getting to know the Jay “One Too Many” Gaither that many of us in the GOP have come to know. Mr. Gaither needs to stop being the district politician and start being the district attorney.
Gaither MUST Go!!This guy has many problems and he needs to do what’s the best for himself, his family and the people of the 25th District, which is step down as DA now!
Jay Gaither must step down as DA. I think that the county GOP should ask him to step down as he has become a disgrace to the Republicans as will as the people of the 25th District.
There was a time that I was drinking buddies with our DA and I could tell you some stories! But then came a time when I decided to stop acting like I was in collage with all the partying all the time and grow up. To bad our DA has not made that same choice.