N.C. judge calls it a career before term ends

MANTEO, N.C.

From behind the bench, first as district judge, then senior Superior Court judge, J. Richard Parker was known to be somber, seldom joking or reacting to testimony that ranged from ridiculous to pitiful to gruesome.

Murderers, drug dealers, child abusers and rapists have had their day in front of him. Some he sent away for life; one man was sentenced to death. Some cases tore at his heart. In one case, he was acquainted with the murder victim.

"It got to the point, I'd have to leave it at the courthouse," said Parker, who retired in September after three decades as a judge. "I'd try to get it out of my mind as soon as I could. These cases involving sexual molestation of children - they're horrible."

The 61-year-old judge packed up his court files, his fishing citations and his family photographs from his spacious office at the Dare County Courthouse and took down his shingle a year before his term was up.

"People have said to me, 'You'll know when it's time to retire,' " Parker said, leaning back in his chair, smiling. "I know it."

One reason is, he's ready to spend more time doing what he loves: hunting, fishing, traveling and being with his family. His wife is a former math teacher, and he has a daughter, 26, and a son, 27.

But more than that, Parker said, he had been doing far less of what he enjoyed in the courtroom: trying cases. Instead, he said, most cases are being resolved by guilty pleas.

"I quite frankly think there should be more trials in Superior Court," Parker said, his deep melodic drawl reflecting his Murfreesboro roots.

"I don't understand why criminal courts break down on Mondays and Tuesdays when the jails are filled with people waiting to be tried," he said, meaning that cases are resolved, usually with plea agreements, early in the week.

In recent years, it seems that lawyers are under more pressure to settle cases, he said, and more judges are reluctant to go to trial.

"I think judges ought to let lawyers try their cases," Parker said. "I think some judges tend to bring lawyers in chambers and twist arms."

Tony Hornthal, a 73-year-old Elizabeth City attorney, said he agrees with Parker, but he attributes much of the decrease to the fact that district attorneys, rather than judges, control the court calendar.

"The difference between the old days and now," Hornthal said, "is there were a lot of lawyers who were ready to try cases.... If I was a judge, I'd be very frustrated."

District Attorney Frank Parrish, however, said law enforcement today is presenting better-quality cases, and that accepting pleas in the face of strong evidence is cost-effective.

Scheduling, availability and resources also influence trials and case flow in a courtroom, he said, and the issue is not "susceptible to simple answers."

"If judges had control of calendars, it would not bother me in the least," he said. "I'm not satisfied that that is the root of the problem."

Back in 1973, Parker was hired by then-District Attorney Herbert Small in Elizabeth City. He was between his second and third years at Wake Forest University School of Law, and when he graduated the next year, he was hired as an assistant district attorney.

"He was very conscientious and sincere and dedicated to the profession," Small recalled.

Small, 84, who was a Superior Court judge from 1974 until he retired in 1991, said that over the years his protege earned a reputation as a fair, knowledgeable jurist.

In 1979, then-Gov. Jim Hunt appointed Parker to the District Court in the 1st Judicial District - for Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank and Perquimans counties.

Over the course of his career, Parker has seen illicit substance abuse evolve from moonshine to methamphetamine.

Jails became stuffed with drug offenders, a problem he said could be alleviated with the use of residential treatment facilities instead of prisons.

But Parker said he believes most people behind bars belong there, and though he thinks judges should have more discretion, he doesn't consider sentencing laws to be excessive.

"I've never been accused of being a soft judge," he said. "I hope my reputation is that I've always tried to provide litigants with a level playing field."

Parker presided over the 1994 trial of Norfolk resident Michael Dial, who was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his girlfriend, Brenda Dozier. On July 4, 1991, Dozier's body, missing her head and hands, had washed up on a Nags Head beach.

The only death sentence Parker handed down was in a 1990 case. D efendant Jerry Wayne Conner was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of rape in the deaths of two women at a Gates County convenience store.

In 2000, Parker tried the murder case of Jon Pimental, who was convicted of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Warren O'Neal, a 90-year-old boat builder from Manteo whom the judge had known and admired. In anticipation of trying the case, Parker declined to attend O'Neal's funeral.

Randy Jones, a broker with Resort Realty in Kitty Hawk, was a young attorney when he represented a defendant in the "Seasons Greetings" drug case in 1995, which Parker presided over.

As a judge, Jones said, Parker never engaged in chitchat, but he didn't try to intimidate the attorneys. He focused on the facts and was not prone to flashiness.

"One thing I liked about Parker is, he respected everybody," Jones said. "He was strict, but he was always fair to each side.... You always walked away feeling good about the trial."

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com