Carroll County judge attends final pretrial hearing

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, September 23, 2026

BERRYVILLE – Carroll County Judge David Writer appeared in court Monday for what is currently scheduled as his last pretrial hearing. He is facing a Class A Misdemeanor Harassment charge for threatening to kill a member of the public following a January quorum court meeting.

The special prosecutor, David Barrett, determined that the charge in the case was Harassment. Writer is being defended by attorney Samuel Flanagin.

During the hearing, the defense said they were not requesting any more pretrial hearings. The prosecutor verified that the state had provided all discovery. Judge Scott Jackson set the jury trial date for January 28, with a witness list due 30 days prior. Jury selection will occur the morning of January 28.

The charges stem from a January 20 Carroll County Quorum Court meeting. During a period of public comment, Eric Scheunemann was acknowledged by Judge Writer to speak. Writer interrupted Scheunemann’s comments, telling him that his road maintenance issue wasn’t within the purview of the quorum court. After some back-and-forth between the two, Scheunemann returned to his seat for the remainder of the meeting.

Following adjournment, this reporter was speaking to Scheunemann regarding his issue with county roads when Writer approached him to continue the debate. A spirited discussion ensued, culminating with Judge Writer telling Scheunemann, “I’ll kill you, you son of a [expletive].”

Scheunemann said that he was directed by deputies at the courthouse to make a report the following day. An affidavit revealed that a week later, Berryville Police Lieutenant Daniel Crawford contacted the judge by phone. While he did not ask Writer any questions, the affidavit says that Crawford advised him “several times” to speak with his attorney and do whatever the attorney told him to do. During that conversation, Writer revealed that, “I’m bad about getting ahead of myself and saying something that doesn’t do me justice.”

Following the incident, Judge Writer told the Times that he did not remember exactly what he said, but wished Scheunemann no harm.

Scheunemann has expressed frustration that the charge against Writer is misdemeanor harassment instead of terroristic threatening and assault, both felonies. He believes that the act of pushing up against him and threatening his life should carry a higher charge, especially from the highest elected official in the county.

Judge Writer is running for reelection against Jim Wallace in November.