Domestic abuse allegations surround SC Senate candidate. Here’s what court records show
As John Gallman prepares for next week’s runoff in an attempt to unseat a longtime state senator, court records have surfaced on social media displaying accusations of domestic violence and a propensity towards intimidating those who oppose him.
Those court records, reviewed by The Sun News through public records requests, include allegations that the S.C. state Senate District 33 candidate dragged his ex-wife by her hair, broke her finger and harassed court witnesses testifying during their divorce and child custody cases.
Gallman, in a lengthy interview with The Sun News, denied the accusations and stated that his dealings with the “corrupt” court system are a major reason he decided to run for office. Gallman’s ex-wife declined to comment for the article when reached by The Sun News.
The first documented case of alleged domestic violence happened in July 2014 at the couple’s lake house in Hodges, S.C., when Gallman called police for a reported domestic dispute and told them he and his wife got into a verbal argument, and she became angry and left, according to a Greenwood County Sheriff’s Department incident report.
Shortly after Gallman called the police, his wife called 911, according to the dispatcher call log, which notes that she said her husband was being abusive and that he had pushed her and pulled her hair out. She told the dispatcher that she did not want to make a report because her husband had convinced people that she is crazy.
“She is afraid to report him because she says it will be worse for her,” the dispatcher wrote. “She says he has money and he gets out of everything.”
Police made contact with the wife the next day, and she told the officer that they had gotten into a verbal argument, and when she ran outside, he chased her, eventually grabbed her by the hair, dragged her into the garage and threw her into the door, according to the report.
“(She) advised John said to her ‘if you listen to me I will not hurt you,’” the police report states, though she added that she did not have any injuries and did not want to pursue charges.
Gallman told The Sun News he was in the bedroom trying to get away from his wife during the dispute, which is not in the police report, and noted that he gave her the keys to leave, which his ex-wife told police did happen, but only after she promised not to call 911.
He also said her pointing out that he gets away with everything because he has money doesn’t make sense because her father, the former CEO of Grand Strand Health Regional Medical Center, has a lot more money and power than he does.
The second alleged incident occurred in June 2015 at their Myrtle Beach area home, when Gallman again was the one who called the police to report a domestic dispute, according to an Horry County Police Department incident report.
He told police that he and his wife got into an argument over notes she found on his cellphone, and she eventually grabbed his phone and ran out of the house. When she returned, he said he grabbed the phone, but she grabbed his shirt sleeve as he walked away, leading to bruising on his arm. He stated he did not want to press charges but wanted the incident documented.
An HCPD officer talked with Gallman’s wife the next day, and she stated that he had grabbed her hand to take the phone and twisted her hand, breaking one of her fingers.
“When asked if she thought (he) intentionally broke her finger, (she) stated, ‘I can only assume he did it intentionally,’” the report states.
She also stated she did not want to pursue charges, and only called because she thought Gallman was trying to have her arrested. The officer informed her that the case would be presented for warrants due to the nature of her accusation.
Gallman was not charged in either incident and has a clean arrest record, according to a S.C. State Law Enforcement Division background check.
Exonerating evidence?
Gallman showed The Sun News video from the night of the second incident, where you can hear the couple arguing and then the phone is suddenly taken and the person holding it appears to be running toward the door, though no visuals of either party are clear from the footage.
He also showed reporters pictures of bruises on his arm that he said his ex-wife caused from that night and subsequent nights, and argued that if he were an abusive, violent person, he would’ve done more harm than breaking someone’s finger.
A medical report from Strand Orthopaedic Consultants, submitted to Horry County Family Court as part of the divorce proceedings, states that the X-ray of Gallman’s ex-wife’s finger showed a fracture consistent with her recollection of the incident and not Gallman’s, who alleged to The Sun News that her injury was due to “jersey finger,” a common football injury that occurs when a player grabs another by the jersey with the tips of their finger as they’re running away.
Gallman also showed The Sun News: an audio recording of his wife in February 2015 admitting to giving him a wet willie —when one licks their finger and puts it into another’s ear — and a wedgie; a video from March 2015 that he claimed showed her breaking their bedroom door to get to him, though again that video did not clearly show either party; and a Valentine’s Day card she gave him in 2016 that praises him for not giving up on her and being a great husband.
He said those records clearly exonerated him from the claims of domestic abuse because those examples occurred after the alleged abuse in 2014, and an abused woman would never confront her abuser like that or show them that type of affection.
University of Maryland Carey School of Law Professor Leigh Goodmark, who researches gendered violence, speaking generally and not about this specific case, said victims of domestic abuse do not have a universal response to abuse.
Victims may try to repair their relationship, display comfort around their abuser, attempt to fight or simply stand up to their abusers, she said.
Gallman also emphasized that he’s the one who called police, but Goodmark said it isn’t abnormal for abusers to call police first in an attempt to avoid arrests. This tactic is particularly common if the abuser has more power in the relationship, she added.
She cited a 2017 academic study published in Violence Against Women that investigated the causes of 208 women arrested after police were called to investigate a domestic violence case. Of those 208 women, 32 of the arrests were a result of false abuse accusations by the partner, and four involved the partner faking injuries.
Intimidating witnesses
The couple officially divorced in June 2017, but arguments between the two played out in the courts both before and after their agreement was finalized, and Gallman was portrayed as confrontational and chided by the judge for attempting to interfere with witnesses.
A guardian ad litem, a neutral attorney appointed to investigate a case and act in the best interest of the children, wrote in her report just before the divorce was finalized that she had difficulty getting witnesses to cooperate, including four who asked whether Gallman would find out what they said because they feared retribution.
In November 2018, Gallman filed a lawsuit against Jenna Cunningham, who was one of the witnesses, for defamation based partly on what she told the guardian ad litem. The suit names Cunningham, her husband, Brian, and Brian’s employer, Wells Fargo, according to public court records.
Gallman alleged that Jenna Cunningham, who worked as a nurse at the school his children attended, made false and defamatory statements to the guardian ad litem, including that he was emotionally unstable, extraordinarily unpredictable and can quickly become unhinged — all statements that are attributed to her in the guardian ad litem’s report.
Gallman, who works as a financial adviser for Edward Jones, argues that Jenna Cunningham didn’t disclose a potential conflict of interest since her husband works for a competitor, and alleges they both repeated defamatory statements to others, causing a former client of Gallman’s to file a complaint against him and potentially lose or miss out on other clients.
In her court response, Jenna Cunningham admitted to expressing concerns about Gallman’s emotional well-being and unpredictability but argued that any statements she made were true, thus negating the defamation claims.
The suit has been stayed while Gallman and Brian Cunningham arbitrate the claims with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, while Wells Fargo was dismissed as a defendant.
The guardian ad litem report also referenced an interview with the principal of the school where the children attended in which she states that Gallman came to the school on multiple occasions demanding to be able to speak with teachers and staff about what they told the guardian ad litem.
“When I asked (the principal) if she was afraid of (Gallman), she paused for a long time,” the report states. The principal then told her she would not meet with Gallman without a priest or lawyer present, according to the report.
Gallman alleges what the report states the principal said, and what the principal actually said, are two different things.
That principal, Debbie Wilfong, asked The Sun News to contact a spokesperson from the Diocese of Charleston, who replied, “Principal Wilfong stands by the comments attributed to her in the guardian ad litem report.”
Accusations of intimidation by Gallman continued in court arguments after the divorce was finalized.
In February 2018, a judge found Gallman in contempt of the couple’s marital settlement agreement and ordered him to pay a $750 fine for violations including harassing his ex-wife using “Our Family Wizard,” a mobile app designed to help parents manage custody schedules, according to court records.
That same judge wrote in a September 2019 temporary order that she’s noticed witnesses appearing to be in support of Gallman’s ex-wife “have been harassed, intimidated or ridiculed by (Gallman) or others on his behalf as being untruthful or biased toward the (ex-wife).”
“This court will not be intimidated,” the judge wrote in her order.
Need for judicial reform?
In his interview with The Sun News, Gallman denied trying to intimidate witnesses and claimed bias on the part of the guardian ad litem and misconduct on the part of the judge.
He said the guardian ad litem report was wrong, and the attorney serving in that position was biased against him from the onset, though he later asked for that accusation to be stricken from the record.
That attorney, Deborah Dantzler, did not return a voicemail seeking comment.
During the interview with reporters, Gallman also accused Judge Jan Bromell-Holmes of breaking the law when she revealed during a court hearing that he had filed a complaint to the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation about his children’s counselor because, according to Gallman, those complaints should be anonymous.
He pointed to a section of the S.C. Judicial Code that states all communication made on behalf of a complainant to the board is privileged and cannot be used against them in a civil or criminal case “except upon proof that the communication was made with malice.”
Gallman also pointed out that Bromell-Holmes, who did not return a request for comment, had complaints against her revealed during her most recent confirmation hearing in 2018.
The transcript shows that the S.C. Judicial Review Commission received 321 ballot box reviews, which are submitted by attorneys who have appeared in her courtroom, and 15 additional comments, and the large majority of reviews and comments were positive, though five of the comments expressed concerns about her temperament.
Gallman also pointed out that, despite the accusations against him, the settlement agreement still gave him 50-50 custody of their children, which, for a man in South Carolina, is as unusual as “finding a leprechaun sliding down a rainbow catching skittles doing backwards flips.”
Horry County Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, when asked whether it was common for men to get 50-50 custody, responded: “It’s common. Probably most common.”
The latest court order temporarily gives Gallman’s ex-wife full custody.
Gallman said all of these issues he’s faced underscore the need for judicial reform, which is one of his primary campaign platforms.
Gallman pointed to S.C. House Bill 3295, which would “create a rebuttable presumption that joint custody and equally shared parenting time are in the best interest of the child,” which he said needs to be passed.
He claimed his divorce case would’ve been settled within a week if that bill had already passed, while he’s currently had to pay a total $600,000 in his ongoing fight for custody rights.
Dirty politics?
Before and during the election, Gallman’s past has spilled over onto social media.
Multiple people who spoke with The Sun News provided screenshots of Gallman sending them long messages questioning the integrity of those criticizing him or threatening to sue them.
When The Sun News first called Gallman about the social media allegations, he referenced attorneys working on the case.
“Y’all can write whatever you want to write, I really don’t care,” Gallman said. “I’ll tell you there are four attorneys already involved. Write whatever you want to write, but you better get it right … Judges are going to lose their judgeship over this. This is a big, big, big deal.”
Gallman says all the accusations against him are false and it’s a direct result of dirty campaign tactics used by his opponents, posting a video the Friday before primary election day addressing the allegations.
“Recently my opponents have attacked me but not on the issues, but rather by defaming and besmirching my character,” Gallman said in the video.
Gallman will face incumbent Luke Rankin, who has been in office since 1993, in a run-off election on June 23. His other opponent Carter Smith lost the initial race, but plans to contest the results due to incorrect ballots being given to voters.
Rankin denied having anything to do with family court documents being posted to social media. Smith admitted his wife has some connection to a North Carolina man posting videos to Facebook about Gallman’s court records, but said he has no personal connection to the man and denied any role in the allegations becoming public.
No one interviewed in the reporting of this story said either political opponent had contacted them about Gallman.
Documents were first submitted to The Sun News the weekend before the primary election, but there wasn’t enough time to verify the information before the primary.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we did this story
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How did you access these records?
While some court documents were initially submitted to The Sun News, all records were ultimately verified at the Horry County Clerk of Courts office. Police and 911 dispatch reports were separately obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests to Horry County Police Department, Greenwood County and Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office.
What about Luke Rankin's divorce records?
Gallman’s primary opponent, Sen. Luke Rankin, was also divorced in 2004, and The Sun News also sought those records at the Clerk of Courts Office, but a reporter was told that file is sealed. Rankin told reporters he’d consider unsealing the records, but needed to consult with his ex-wife first.
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 10:08 AM.
