Argument between Watson, Jones leads to fist fight

By Lisa Majors-Duff

The incident happened around 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, in Watson's office at the Jackson County Justice Center.

Jones, 64, of Savannah Drive, Sylva, faces a felony charge of assault on an executive/legal/court officer. Misdemeanor charges include second-degree trespass and communicating threats.

Watson and Jones have both been active in Democratic Party politics for many years. Watson is in his sixth term as clerk of court, having first been elected to the post in 1978. Jones is a former member of the Sylva Town Board and for many years was executive assistant to District Attorney Marcellus Buchanan.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident since the Justice Center is county property.

Both men agree they have been friends for nearly 30 years and that Watson asked Jones to come to his office to talk. They disagree about who threw the first punch and the nature of the dispute.

In an incident report, Sgt. Shannon Queen of the Sheriff's Department said he received a call indicating Watson had been assaulted, the altercation was over, and the suspect had left. Just as Queen was about to leave the Sheriff's Office, Jones arrived saying he had been assaulted by Watson.

"I quickly spoke with Mr. Jones, who said he and Mr. Watson had been in an argument in Mr. Watson's office," the report states. "The argument ensued into a fist fight with Mr. Watson throwing the first and only punches.

"Mr. Jones did have a bloody red mark on the left side of his nose where his glasses met his nose. He also had a small amount of blood on the right side of his lower cheek. Mr. Jones also had a small scratch on the back of his right upper arm," the report says.

Queen then went to the Justice Center and met with Watson.

"(Watson) advised that he and Mr. Jones had been in an argument," Queen says in the report. "The argument continued into a fist fight when Mr. Jones raked some items off of (Watson's) desk into the floor. Both men stood up and Mr. Watson states that Mr. Jones swung his right fist at him first and struck him on the lower left cheek bone.

"Officers did see a small round red mark with some type of abnormality underneath the skin. Mr. Watson said the fight continued when he returned at least one or two swings at Mr. Jones striking him at least once. In addition to the mark on Mr. Watson's face, he sustained a horseshoe shaped cut on his right hand over his left knuckle that appeared to go down to the bone. He later went to the doctor's office and said he had to have stitches on his hand and on a cut tendon."

Queen noted that while both men accused the other of swinging first, there were no direct witnesses who could have seen the initial punches.

Witnesses to the end of the altercation included County Commission Chairman Jay Denton; County Manager Ken Westmoreland; Wanda Jones, wife of Marion Jones; and employees at the Clerk of Court's Office.

In a statement to officers, Watson said, "I asked (Jones) if he was upset with me, that I understood that he was. Marion then said he was upset somewhat about me not helping him get the Highway Commissioner position. I told him if he had got the (appointment) he wouldn't give me credit, but he sure wanted to give me the blame for him not getting the position.

"Marion got mad and called me a 'SOB' two or three times. Marion then raked all of the things off of my desk into the floor. I walked around my desk and told him that he wasn't going to tear up everything in my office. I told him to get out. This is when he hit me on the left side of my face near the chin with his right hand. I then hit him back in the face. Marion was still aggressive and cussing me, and I hit him again," Watson said.

The Highway Commission position referred to is a seat on the N.C. Department of Transportation Board that went to County Commissioner Conrad Burrell. Jones had sought the post and had been endorsed by the Sylva Board of Commissioners. County commissioners had endorsed someone from Jackson County for the post but not an individual.

Jones told the Herald the DOT position "had nothing to do with" the argument, and that he had not been upset with Watson about anything. He declined further comment.

In his statement to officers, Jones said, "(Watson) said I had been talking about him. I stated I deny that. (Watson) said I told somebody he was fixing tickets. I said not so but I do know that all the judges sent him a letter one time asking him to stop practicing law or something. I don't recall exactly what it was.

"Then he gets really mad and red-faced so I told him I was leaving. I don't need this conversation. Then I started to leave. He grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall, and took a swing at me. He hit my nose and glasses a glancing blow, and his fist broke a picture on the wall," Jones said.

Watson denied Jones' statement about "fixing tickets" and explained that the letter he received from District and Superior Court judges actually went to all clerks of court in the district in 1991. The letter indicated that court clerks and their staff should be careful not to appear to be practicing law. The letter primarily addressed providing citizens with divorce information, a practice Watson said his office never engaged in.

By the time blows were exchanged, Denton had entered the clerk's office with Westmoreland, who was in his first day on the job. Denton was in the process of introducing the new county manager to department heads at the Justice Center. After being told Watson was in a meeting, the men started to leave.

"As we were leaving, I heard a loud exchange of voices in Mr. Watson's office," Denton said in his statement to officers. "I realized there was probably a heated argument and started to walk away when the noise escalated and sounded like a fight was taking place within Mr. Watson's office.

"I started toward the door and saw Mr. Watson and Mr. Jones in a fight through the window in Mr. Watson's door. Mr. Watson had Mr. Jones pinned against the wall next to the hallway entrance to Mr. Watson's office. Mr. Watson hit Mr. Jones with his fist in the stomach. I went in and pulled Mr. Watson away from Mr. Jones," Denton said.

In Westmoreland's statement to officers, he said, "We had not yet entered (Watson's) office when I became aware that an altercation was in progress. Two individuals came into view and were engaged in an episode of pushing and shoving. Both gentlemen were engaged in loud and abusive language towards one another.

"The pushing and shoving expanded into physical blows between the two. One party, whose name I learned was a Mr. Jones, fell into a picture on Mr. Watson's wall causing it to break. Mr. Watson subsequently received a laceration on his hand from the broken glass from the picture. Mr. Denton jumped into the room and separated the two men. There was some additional bad language between the two men and Mr. Jones left abruptly," Westmoreland said.

In her statement to officers, Wanda Jones said, "When I went to Frank's office I could hear Marion and Frank arguing. Jay Denton was in the clerk's office and heard arguing. I looked in the door. When I opened the door to Frank's office, Frank and Marion came toward the door. Frank came after Marion and started swinging with his fists. He hit Marion, and Marion told him to stop.

"Jay Denton came in. Frank swung again and missed Marion and hit a picture on the wall and broke the glass on the picture," Mrs. Jones continued. "All this time Jay and I were trying to pull Frank off Marion, who was in the corner next to the door. Jay got Frank, and I got Marion. Marion and Frank were still arguing as I got Marion out the door."

Employees in the office said Mr. Jones walked in and went straight to Watson's office. They indicated as he left Jones was cursing Watson and threatening to take out a warrant against the clerk.

After being served with the warrants, Jones was released on a written promise to appear. His court date is set for Tuesday, Aug. 14.

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