Parties agree to dismissal

The civil lawsuit Bartee versus Blackwell is no more. The parties have signed a stipulation of dismissal, and an officer of the Oconee Common Pleas Court says it’s a dismissal “with prejudice”—meaning the case cannot be brought back. In 2012, James Bartee waged a campaign for Oconee Sheriff, only to see that campaign collapse when he was arrested and later convicted and sent to prison for solicitation to commit a felony. Bartee later filed a civil suit against Nicholas Blackwell, who testified against the former Secret Secret Service agent at trial. The lawsuit, filed in Janaury 2013, alleged Blackwell  fabricated a claim that Bartee had sought to kidnap a third party as a result of other civil litigation aimed at derailing Bartee’s run for Sheriff. But in September of that year an Oconee jury found Bartee guilty of the criminal charge. He was sentenced to a five-year term. The stipulation of dismissal was signed by Ryan Beasley, attorney for Blackwell, and by Elizabeth Rachelle Bartee, power of attorney for James Bartee.