A forum with DeKalb County State’s Attorney candidates Ron Matekaitis and Calvin “Clay” Campbell quickly turned into a heated debate Tuesday at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau.

The candidates each took shots at the other candidate’s experience and discussed what it takes to be an effective state’s attorney.

Campbell criticized Matekaitis’ prosecution record in his opening statement.

“Throughout his entire legal career, he hasn’t personally tried one felony case – I’ve tried hundreds,” Campbell said. “[The people] are electing a top trial lawyer. They deserve the top prosecution possible.”

Matekaitis said the State’s Attorney’s Office has prosecuted 22 cases involving death during his four-year term, all of which resulted in a felony conviction.

“You can’t do better than 100 percent,” Matekaitis said.

Matekaitis said a good state’s attorney is more than just a prosecutor. He said he is also an administrator who knows how to balance a budget and supervise a staff.

“[Campbell] is a one-trick pony, and that trick is not very good,” he said.

Matekaitis talked about several programs that have had a positive impact on court cases since he took office. Matekaitis said DeKalb County’s bad-check program returned more than $200,000 to local merchants last year.

The number should be higher, Campbell countered.

“I can train anybody in this room how to try a bad check case in a half-hour,” Campbell said. “Repeat offenders should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Campbell continued to criticize Matekaitis’ experience, saying Matekaitis has prosecuted mostly ordinance violations in his career.

“When I was in law school, I prosecuted people with traffic tickets for free. [Matekaitis] is getting paid $135,000 a year to do that,” Campbell said.

Matekaitis questioned Campbell’s comments over the safety of DeKalb County, at which point forum moderator Jerry Smith stepped in.

“Gentleman, lets follow the program,” Smith said after some freely flowing remarks from both candidates.

Two more interruptions caused confusion and delay during Matekaitis’ closing remarks.

An audience member walked up to the stage, upset his question was not asked by Smith. The man was sent back to his seat and the closing remarks resumed briefly, until Campbell interrupted Matekaitis’ claim that Campbell has tried only three felony cases in DeKalb County.

“That’s not true,” Campbell said, before the crowd’s shushes drowned out his retort.

The campaign trail

Eric Johnson, Campbell’s campaign manager, said the campaign has been going well since Campbell made his announcement to run in October, 2003.

“He’s been attending events around the community and has been doing a number of speaking engagements,” Johnson said.

Campbell said the encouragement he has received has been tremendous.

“I would not have done this if I had not had this kind of encouragement. It’s one thing to walk around doing the campaigning and it’s another to be able to meet people that are on your side,” Campbell said.

Kate Phillips, Matekaitis’ campaign manager, said Matekaitis has been working hard at re-election by going door to door.

“He’s been walking like crazy. He gets up early before work and walks until it’s dark afterward,” Phillips said. “During the last two weeks, we’ve constantly been getting phone calls. Winning is the plan right now.”

Matekaitis said Campbell’s politics have put a little damper on the race.

“This isn’t the type of campaigning I’m normally involved with. There are so many irrelevant and personal issues,” Matekaitis said. “Unfortunately, it’s not an election I’ve been very proud of participating in.”

One issue Matekaitis said he is upset with is Campbell’s accusation that Matekaitis played a role in the death of 20-year-old Stephen Boston.

“My opponent has sought to gain political advantage over a young man’s death,” Matekaitis said.

Campbell said Eric Fultz was driving under the influence when he crashed into a tree and killed Boston. It was the second time in two years Fultz was accused of driving under the influence. The first time he pleaded guilty, but because of a state-level mix-up, his license was never revoked.

Matekaitis said his office handles hundreds of DUI cases a year, and checking in on each case is not something he realistically can do.

“With the timing of it, he was hoping for a sensationalized story. Any sensationalized story this close [to an election] should be viewed with great skepticism,” Matekaitis said. “If he was looking for a serious discussion on it, we could have had done that months ago.”

Campbell said Matekaitis should have made the public aware of the situation right away, and added that he is not the one who even started the controversy.

“He had a responsibility to inform the public,” Campbell said. “It’s been reported by the [DeKalb Daily] Chronicle within the last couple of weeks. I didn’t bring it up. The Chronicle called me up about it and I told them what I thought.”