Retired Ga. Judge Wounded With Larry Flynt in 1978 Dies

A retired Gwinnett County judge who was seriously wounded in the shooting that paralyzed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt nearly 40 years ago in Lawrenceville has died at the age of 85.

The funeral for Gene Reeves, Jr., of Auburn, was held Tuesday, according to his online obituary. He passed away on Friday, July 31 at his home.

Reeves, a U.S Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War and studied law in Atlanta, was a Magistrate Judge in Gwinnett from 1994 until his retirement in 2011.

He likely was better known for representing Flynt during a 1978 obscenity case in Lawrenceville, the Associated Press reported.

Reeves and Flynt were both shot while they were walking to the Lawrenceville courthouse in March of 1978. Flynt was left in a wheelchair; Reeves was in the hospital for a month recovering.

No one was ever prosecuted for the shootings, though many pointed the finger at Joseph Paul Franklin, a known white supremacist and convicted murderer who reportedly admitted to carrying out the crime after seeing an interracial photo in the magazine, the Gwinnett Daily Post said in its obituary. Franklin was put to death in Missouri in 2013.

Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter told the Post the Flynt incident didn’t define Reeves as a distinguished judge and lawyer. “I think to the lawyers in Gwinnett County, the Larry Flynt case was just a footnote in Gene’s career,” Porter said.

In a 2013 article in Atlanta Magazine, Reeves said the bullet pierced his gallbladder and pancreas and left him in the hospital for 26 days. ”I got my five minutes of fame. If I had it to do over, I’d pass,” he told the magazine.

Reeves was buried Tuesday with Air Force military honors and Masonic rites according to his obituary posted by Tom M. Wages Funeral Home.

More from the obituary:

Judge Reeves was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi, and was preceded in death by his father and mother, Clarence E. Reeves, Sr. and May Philyaw Reeves; sister, Ruby Clearman, who died at 101 years of age; and son, Clarence Eugene Reeves, III. He is survived by his devoted wife of 37 years, Brenda Wages Reeves; daughter, Gina Reeves Farmer of Auburn, Georgia; granddaughter, Tiffany Phillips of Atlanta, GA; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.

Judge Reeves was a veteran in the United States Air Force serving during the Korean War. He was stationed in Albany, Georgia, Fort Slocum in New York, and Kimpo Air Field, Seoul, Korea. He attended law school at night at John Marshall Law School and passed the bar in 1964. He practiced for 7 years with Attorney Richard Craig before entering into a sole practice for 23 years. He had a distinguished career and was primarily a trial lawyer handling many Civil and Criminal Capitol Felony cases over the State of Georgia. He was twice President of the Gwinnett Bar Association. He drew up the first contract between the Airport Authority and Gwinnett County when it built its first air field. He was a private pilot with over 325 hours in single and twin engine aircrafts. He was Gwinnett County’s first ever law enforcement officer to be trained by the FBI in Quantico, Virginia while employed as an Investigator with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department. He was a member of the Lawrenceville Masonic Lodge #131 F. & A.M., member of Order of Eastern Star and member of Lawrenceville First Baptist Church where he taught Sunday School Class for 14 years in the Walter Alford Class. He was appointed a Magistrate Judge in 1994 and gave Judicial assistance in all courts of Gwinnett County. Judge Reeves retired in 2011 to pursue his hobby of woodworking, computer pursuits, and guitar.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Appalachee Baptist Church, at P.O. Box 370, Dacula, GA 30019-0370 or Longleaf Hospice, 2712 Lawrenceville Hwy., Suite 200, Decatur, GA 30033 in memory of Judge Gene Reeves, Jr.

Photo: Judge Gene Reeves; Tom Wages Funeral Home