Deriso’s options; apologize or get sued
Cordele's embattled Commission Chairman is already facing multiple lawsuits regarding official conduct
CORDELE, GA – Cordele City Commission Chairman Joshua Deriso is already facing multiple lawsuits in his brief tenure with the gavel, but he could dodge another if he’s willing to simply say he’s sorry.
Brian Huckaby, an Atlanta attorney representing former Cordele Police Chief Mike Hathaway, has given the controversial chairman a Tuesday deadline to formally apologize to his client, for alleged misstatements Deriso has made regarding the former Chief of Police.
Hathaway turned in his resignation a few weeks after Deriso was sworn into office, citing multiple issues with the new city commission and a chairman Hathaway said was “meddling” in police business.
On May 17th, Huckaby sent Deriso a “retraction demand” letter, stating that Deriso made a false and defamatory claim in an article published by the Cordele Dispatch newspaper in the March 2nd edition
“Mike Hathaway told a lie in saying that I said “I’m gonna be y’alls boss soon”.”
Huckaby goes on to state in the letter:
“In making the defamatory communication, you intended it to mean that Mr. Hathaway was making a false statement when he relayed to members of the media that you made statements to Cordele police officers that included “I’m about to become all y’all’s boss”. The persons to whom the defamatory matter was communicated understood the words to have such meaning.
Based on the above statutes and information, Mr. Hathaway is requesting a written retraction from you regarding the above-mentioned statements no later than May 31st, 2022. The retraction may be sent in hard-copy format with original signature by U.S. Postal Service Certified Mail to the address in the signature block at the end of this letter. In addition, a scanned electronic copy may be provided to the Cordele Dispatch.”
Monday afternoon, South Georgia Television News reached out to Cordele Dispatch Editor Neil McGahee who says he has yet to hear from the Chairman.
Deriso is already the subject of two lawsuits, one by former City Manager Roland McCarthy who says his January firing was racially motivated and a Cordele businessman who says his driving school has been illegally targeted by the Chairman.
