OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla.,None — Former Osceola County clerk of court Malcolm Thompson appeared in court for the first time Friday to face charges of misdemeanor battery and assault.
Investigators say Thompson, who was recently suspended from office, shoved an employee last year and assaulted another in January.
WFTV reporter Kathi Belich saw Thompson wink at one of the alleged victims in court. He winked in the direction of his employee, Latifa Ramadi, who his lawyer said he still considers a friend. She did not wink back.
He said they go back 18 years, but she said he shoved her at work one day, so hard she had a mark on her shoulder for three hours.
Ramadi and Kim Zander said that within two weeks, he pushed one of them and verbally assaulted the other.
Ramadi said he pushed her because she wouldn't take down Christmas cards just days after the holiday, but Thompson's lawyer said he was just joking around.
Zander said he yelled and pointed a finger in her face, angry that she had called Florida Department of Law Enforcement behind his back to report the pushing incident.
Thompson's lawyer said bosses, teachers and parents do those things all the time, and he questioned whether the women had ulterior motives to try to prevent Thompson from being re-elected, or even to make money off their complaints that the incidents have caused them to suffer physical symptoms.