District Attorney To Retire
By Debbie Lurie-Smith
debbie@jcnews.com
(Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted with permission from the Jones County News in Gray, where it was published last week.)
The longest serving district attorney in the history of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit announced his retirement last week following a distinguished career as a prosecutor that has spanned 34 years.
Fred Bright made the announcement July 1, after notifying Gov. Nathan Deal of his decision to step down from his office effective August 31. He was elected district attorney of the circuit in 1994 and had served as an assistant district attorney for 13 years prior to his election. He was assigned to Jones County from 1987–1994.
The Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit covers Jasper, Jones, Baldwin, Greene, Hancock, Morgan, Putnam and Wilkinson counties and is the largest circuit in the state.
The district attorney said in an interview Monday afternoon that he had already decided not to run for re-election in 2016, but health concerns moved up the date of his retirement. He was diagnosed three years ago with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and has been undergoing treatment. Recent test results have shown the disease has spread to his lymph nodes and he is scheduled for another PET scan in September.
“I’m mentally prepared to fight and beat it. We are looking at all options, but realistically we are probably going to go through an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant,” Bright said. “I’m nervous, but I’m going to be OK.”
Because of his years of service, he maxed out his retirement in 2013 and said he joked that he could walk out the door anytime.
“But when it came time to do it, this was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. It’s hard to let go of something you love,” the district attorney said.
He said, by law, Chief Assistant District Attorney Stephen Bradley would be the acting DA after he leaves, and then it would be up to the governor.
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Bright graduated from the University of Georgia Law School in 1981 and went to work for then-District Attorney Joe Briley.
“I’ve done this my whole life. I’ve never been in private practice. My entire legal career has been spent in the DA’s office,” he said.
Bright recalled typing on a manual typewriter when he started and doing research out of actual law books.
“Computers were probably around but not in our office.”
He said at that time the staff of the entire DA’s office consisted of five people. Now the total is 33 for the circuit with five full-time people in Jones County.
During Bright’s career, he handled 13 death penalty cases and successfully sent eight of the offenders to death row, including Daniel Lucas and Brandon Rhode, who were found guilty of the 1998 murders of three members of the Moss family in Jones County.
“That murder scene was horrific,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. Thirteen shots were fired, and all 13 hit flesh.”
Rhode was executed in 2010 and Lucas has completed his final round of appeals.
Bright said all executions have been delayed because of issues with the drugs being used.
The prosecutor filed notice to seek the death penalty in August of 2011 for Terrence Burney and Tyrone Richardson in the 2008 murder of Joseph Kitchens. Richardson pled guilty to the murder July 29, 2013, as part of a plea agreement with the state and received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Bright was still trying for the death penalty for Burney until the defendant’s competency came into question. Burney was found guilty of murder at his trial May 1 and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Another notable Jones County case handled by Bright was the murder trial of Pamela Moss that took place in August of 2013. Moss was found guilty of the murder of William Douglas Coker and was also sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
The district attorney said he looks at his career with satisfaction, and he credits his success to teamwork.
“The DA’s office, sheriff’s office, and police department are a team. It’s important that the community is safe and people feel safe walking along the streets of Jones County and Gray. I think they do,” he said.
Bright said he would have liked to have finished his term, but the recent results forced his hand.
“This job has been the greatest blessing of my life. We are a family. We laugh together and sometimes cry together,” he said. “It’s hard to let go, but to everything there is a time and a season. I reluctantly accept the fact that it is time for me to retire.”
