By Dorothy Rowley
AFRO Staff Writer
Stalking charges have been dropped against former DC Mayor Marion Barry. (Courtesy Photo)
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(July 12, 2009) - The U. S. Attorney’s office has dropped charges against former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry, who had been accused of stalking a former girlfriend.
In the aftermath, Barry, 73, said he is considering bringing a law suit against the U. S. Park Police which arrested him on July 4. At the time of the arrest, Barry and Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, 40, had gotten into a heated argument on their way back home to Washington after she decided not to attend a party in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
The Ward 8 councilman was arrested in Anacostia Park after Watts-Brighthaupt said he had been stalking her.
According to Barry, he did nothing to warrant the arrest. The case was dismissed Thursday after prosecutors cited a lack of evidence.
Watts-Brighthaupt had agreed to talk to the AFRO this weekend, but several attempts to contact her by phone went unanswered.
Barry, through his attorney Frederick Cooke, said that the matter had caused him great pain, particularly after being handcuffed and taken to a police station where he waited four hours before being read his rights.
Cooke said the matter shouldn’t affect his client’s probation stemming from tax evasion charges brought on earlier this year, now that the charges have been dropped.
“He has not re-offended,” Cooke said.
However, prosecutors are mulling whether Barry should be charged with misappropriation of city funds related to his hiring of Watts-Brighthaupt, a former lobbyist who worked for him about 4 months earlier this year.
Watts-Brighthaupt and Barry had been engaged in a contentious relationship that began nearly a year ago when he was campaigning for re-election to the City Council.
According to the Washington City Paper, Watts-Brighthaupt had an encounter with Barry in mid-June after he followed her in his car. She said that they began an intense discussion after she pulled over.
Watts-Brighthaupt was employed by Barry as a special assistant specializing in “poverty reduction strategies.” She was employed under a $60,000 contract that paid her a weekly salary of $1,250.
The money was drawn from Barry’s tax-payer funded budget. But the job was short-lived after Barry reportedly had the position abolished in February.
All totaled, Watts-Brighthaupt was paid about $15,000. As of late last week, a purchase order for her in the amount of $5,000 awaited approval.
In May, Watts-Brighthaupt accompanied Barry on a trip to Denver. The couple had a falling out and Barry allegedly kicked her out of their hotel room.
Meanwhile, some of Barry’s Council peers are calling for an investigation into the $60,000 contract Barry negotiated for Brighthaupt.
Barry’s only statement on the contract issue has been to say that “we'll address that at the appropriate time.”