State Attorney Candidate Pete Williams Talks About Willie Meggs Good Ol’ Boy Dealings In Public Forum

State Attorney Willie Meggs and his fall-election challenger, former statewide prosecutor Pete Williams.  /  Glenn Beil/DEMOCRAT

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Former statewide prosecutor Pete Williams lambasted State Attorney Willie Meggs for his handling of cases over the past four years according to The Tallahassee Democrat.

Williams warned the audience during the buffet luncheon to cover their ears if they didn’t want to hear anything negative “because I can’t do this without talking about his record.”  “Now, he’s done some good things in his career, so he’s got a lot of supporters,” Williams said. “But he’s also made a lot of mistakes that have hurt a lot of people. He’s had absolute power and now he wants four more (years).”

Williams accused Meggs of double-dipping by enrolling in the DROP state retirement system in 2008 and leaving office for 30 days, which he said “left us without an elected state attorney.” And he criticized Meggs for his handling of a variety of cases, from the prosecution of former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom to the arrest of a Maclay baseball coach after a shoving incident involving an assistant coach. Both cases were ultimately dropped.

The Tallahassee O stands behind Pete Williams with all of his statements as we have published the stories that he has referred to in the public forum today.

“It was an important opportunity to try and get the issues out in this race,” said Williams.

Williams has received a pretty big endorsement. He’s been backed by the Police Benevolent Association.

Meggs is seeking reelection for what would be his eighth term. He’s held the title for 28 years. Williams said it’s time to end what he calls selective prosecution.

“I wanna move forward to the future and end the good ol’ boy network. Which means it shouldn’t matter who you know. Every case is handled the same. Every person’s handled the same. No favoritism. No enemies list. Just everything by the book and professional,” said Williams.

Sources Of Comments And Information From Tallahassee.Com And WCTV.Tv