.
Murphy – Local attorney Franklin McKinney was found guilty of simple assault and assessed $683 in fines and fees following a hearing in Cherokee County District Court on April 7.
In an unrelated matter, McKinney was found in contempt and sanctioned $500 in a visitation and custody agreement with the mother of his child on March 27.
McKinney faced a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a 70-year-old neighbor in Granny Squirrel in July 2024. He pleaded not guilty.
According to records and an audio recording of the 911 call, McKinney was confronting a neighbor who was in the vicinity of McKinney’s house because the neighbor is a registered sex offender.
The victim was not identified in sheriff’s records, but a state database of registered sex offenders identifies one who lives around the corner from McKinney.
McKinney could be heard in the audio file, yelling in the background and becoming increasingly enraged as the caller tried to explain the situation to the 911 dispatcher. At some point, McKinney allegedly struck the neighbor in his face.
McKinney was taken into custody and booked at the Cherokee County Detention Center. He was released on a promise to appear in court and was not required to post bond.
District Court Judge Edward Marshall issued the April 7 verdict. That verdict followed a March 27 decision by District Court Judge Hal Harrison finding McKinney in contempt and sanctioning him $500.
The March 27 decision came from a 2019 child custody and child support order with Sarah Ferguson. The two were never married, but had a child born in 2017.
The case was filed by McKinney, but Harrison said he heard testimony from McKinney and “had the opportunity to observe his tone, tenor and demeanor. The court specifically finds that testimony of the plaintiff not to be credible,” the judge said, referring to McKinney.
Harrison said McKinney was “evasive and cryptical” in his testimony. He ruled that McKinney violated visitation orders, location of custody exchange, allowing the child to have reasonable daily phone contact with the other parent, restrictions against disparaging the other parent and payment of $700-per-month child support.
“Plaintiff (McKinney) willfully and without legal justification violated each and every portion of the order cited above,” the judge said.
The court received into evidence audio recordings of the plaintiff answering defendant’s phone calls, saying “What up,” followed by a disparaging word for female genitalia.