FAMILY BANNED, BUT NOT YET TRIED

Judge Ousts 3 In Drug Case From Peachtree City

Get Out Of Town. Leave Peachtree City. And don't come back.

That's the order of a Fayette County judge, who banished three people
from Peachtree City after they were arrested on drug charges.

Magistrate Judge Joe Tinsley set the unusual condition of bond for [DELETE],
35; [DELETE], 38; and [DELETE], 17; after each was charged with selling 14
bags of marijuana for $160 from the lakefront house they rented in the
Wynnmeade subdivision.

"So the Wild West has come to Peachtree City," said Jack Martin, a
longtime Atlanta criminal defense attorney who heard about the case.
"Get out of town by sundown --- and take your golf cart with you."

In Georgia, creative sentencing isn't all that unusual.

State law allows judges to banish convicted criminals from towns and
counties across Georgia, but they're not allowed to kick someone out
of the state altogether, said Russ Willard, spokesman for the Georgia
attorney general's office.

But in this case, the three people banished from Peachtree City were
arrested just last week.

They haven't been convicted --- in fact, they haven't even gone to
trial.

In the eyes of the law, Martin said, the three are still
innocent.

"This is a very unusual condition and it seems it would create an
unusual hardship . . . to deny them a right to live in their own
residence," said Martin, who does not represent the family.

The judge's order, said Debbie Seagraves, the executive director of
the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, is definitely unique.

"Normally," Seagraves said, "a judge would require that they not leave
[town]."

Judges don't have to grant bond. They're allowed to set conditions on
those who are free while awaiting trial.

Tinsley, the magistrate who issued the order, did not return calls
Wednesday and Thursday seeking comment.

The Hardys are each free on $60,000 bond. Florence is out of jail on
$20,000 bond. They are no longer living at their Wynnmeade residence.
A trial date has not been set, but the trial would take place in
Fayetteville, the county seat.

Viki Hardy declined to comment. Attempts to reach Jesse Hardy and
Florence were unsuccessful.

Peachtree City, an affluent, well-manicured city about 30 miles
southwest of Atlanta, is best known for the golf carts its residents
use to get around town. Crime is rare.

But the Wynnmeade section of the city has more than its fair share of
problems, residents say.

Many of the 1970s ranches and split-levels look tired and faded. The
lawns are mowed --- not landscaped.

"For Rent" signs are almost as common as those proclaiming "For
Sale."

Still, the sound of a buzz saw echoes through the trees, a sign of
rejuvenation taking place. And the neighborhood has its golf cart
paths. Billy Gay has lived in the neighborhood for four years. If the
Hardys and Florence sold drugs, as the police say they did, then "they
shouldn't come back," Gay said.

During last Friday's bond hearing, Peachtree City Police Chief James
Murray said he wanted the family held without bond "on behalf of the
citizens of the Wynnmeade subdivision . . . due to the magnitude of
the charges," according to a press release on the arrest.

Even if the judge hadn't banished the three from the city, they would
have had to leave the house they've rented for three years.

That's because their landlady, Pamela Todd, started eviction
proceedings the day after the three were arrested.

Still, Todd, who owns 10 rental homes in the neighborhood and also
lives in Peachtree City, is glad the courts ordered them to leave.

"We just regret it was one of our tenants," Todd said.

Chandler Brown contributed to this story.
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