Defense calls first witness

A Pickens County sheriff’s officer assigned to conduct an internal investigation of a Walhalla car accident nearly three and a half years ago was the first defense witness this morning in the Oconee Common Pleas Court. Pickens County is the defendant in a lawsuit filed for an Oconee man whose car was involved in a 2016 accident which also involved a Pickens County deputy. The plaintiff is Mahlon Meredith. Lt. Musselwhite testified that no one ever claimed to him that the deputy, Charlotte Suddeth, was on her phone or was texting at the time of accident. The accident occurred at the four-way stop intersection of S. Church and S. Broad streets. Musselwhite also said that, near the scene of the accident, he spoke with Meredith and quoted him as saying he was not injured in the accident. Earlier this week, as part of the plaintiff’s case, the jury heard testimony about Meredith’s back issues.