Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Leon Barfield, who served the Southern Judicial District for more than 30 years, died Feb. 11 after a brief illness. He was 75.
Originally from Moultrie, Ga., Barfield dreamed of a golf career before becoming a decorated Vietnam war veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart in 1968 and numerous other commendations, according to his obituary.
Barfield emerged from the war with a serious injury to his leg and a newfound commitment to his studies.
“A lot of people don’t know that when he was in his college days and law school, he was a very fine scholar, and it showed in his legal work,” said Senior U.S. District Judge Dudley Bowen.
After college and law school at the University of Georgia, Barfield became an assistant district attorney for the Augusta Judicial Circuit. Four years later, he was named an assistant U.S. attorney.
For the next 12 years, he prosecuted cases in Bowen’s and the other courts of the Southern District, in Augusta, Savannah and Dublin.
“He was among the best trial lawyers I’ve ever encountered,” Bowen said. “He had a magnificent memory and feel for the cases and the law and the jury. He was a very effective prosecutor.”
Barfield tackled complex and high-profile cases in district court, including the 1984 conviction of Augusta’s first Black mayor, Edward McIntyre.
In audio of an undercover agent giving McIntyre a $9,000 payment, Barfield told the jury the mayor’s lack of a “thank you” proved the money was not a campaign contribution as McIntyre had claimed.
Barfield was tough, but compassionate, Bowen said. “He’d been through a lot. He knew about pain and suffering. He was probably one of the most courageous men I’ve ever met.”
Barfield mentored wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with the CSRA Wounded Warrior Care Project and other veteran organizations. In 2013 was awarded the Robert L. Allgood Service Award by the Augusta Bar Association.
The district judges “enthusiastically” named Barfield U.S. Magistrate for the Southern District in 1993, Bowen said.
An eight-year appointment, the magistrate handles initial appearances, bond and pretrial motions in criminal cases, misdemeanors occurring on military posts and the initial levels of civil litigation.
Barfield remained in the position for 20 years while residing in Augusta and Savannah, where he was living with his wife, Lennie Shores Barfield, when he died.
