Former Ga. governor's son sentenced to jail time for making threats

<p>Accused of threatening several relatives with whom he is involved in a land dispute, the son of a former Georgia governor didn't back down in court, telling the family members from the witness stand, "I do wish you were all dead."</p><p>A Superior Court judge sentenced Herman "Gene" Talmadge Jr. to 20 days in jail Thursday and ordered him to complete an anger management course.</p><p>Talmadge, son of the late governor and U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge, was accused of threatening his brother's children, Rob and Elizabeth Talmadge, and their mother, Lyniece Talmadge, during a court break in July while a lawsuit involving the land dispute was underway. He was cited for contempt.</p><p>The land dispute involves division of a 217-acre property in Rockdale County, a suburb east of Atlanta, that is jointly owned by several people, including members of the Talmadge family.</p><p>Elizabeth Talmadge testified that, among other things, her uncle told her, "I'm going to take you out of the picture."</p><p>At Thursday's hearing, Herman Talmadge Jr. denied saying that, but later admitted during testimony that he was seeing a psychiatrist and "takes stuff" to keep him from snapping at his children.</p><p>He also told the court that he still has anger for several family members.</p><p>"I told Rob and Libby (Elizabeth) that I'd serve two years in the penitentiary for the satisfaction of killing their mother," he said.</p><p>In addition to the county jail sentence, Judge Sidney Nation ordered Talmadge to take a tour of the state prison in Jackson, home to Georgia's death row, so that he can reflect on the comments that got him into trouble in the first place, the Rockdale Citizen reported in Saturday's editions.</p><p>Talmadge can shave 10 days off his sentence if he completes the anger management course, the newspaper reported.</p><p>Talmadge's father served as governor from 1948-55 and senator from 1957-80. He died in March 2002 at 88.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/9/160551