Carolina Criminal & DUI Lawyer Blog- Prosecutors may “Orally Dismiss” cases in Open Court
- District Attorneys (State Prosecutors) may also File Written Notice of Dismissal
- Clerk of Court required to “record the dismissal”
Modified Transcript of “DWI Officer Fired Over Problems with Testimony” for the Hearing Impaired
Monica: Begin with the fallout from a Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy who a judge says lied on the
stand.
Brian: That’s right. More than 100 DWI cases now are dismissed as are dozens of other traffic
related cases. WRIL’s Amanda Lamb live outside the Wake County Courthouse now with
more on the impact of today’s ruling. What a story, Amanda.
Amanda: It sure is, Brian and Monica. This is a developing story. A few minutes ago I just
interviewed the Sheriff and a few minutes before that I interviewed the District
Attorney, Lauren Freeman. The Sheriff calls this a crushing situation and the DA calls it
painful. Exact numbers we have for you now, 104 DWI cases will be dismissed, 71 other
traffic related cases, and this is all about the behavior of a veteran deputy, Robert Davis.
He has been with the Sheriff’s office for 18 years. He was assigned to the DWI team.
The judge’s order says he denied the rights of at least 3 women in DWI cases, not
allowing them to call a witness when they were given a breathalyzer. That is their right
under the law. She wrote in her order, “This pattern of false statements and false
testimony shows a reckless disregard for the truth and that he is incapable of
understanding his duty as a witness to tell the truth.” The Sheriff, again, we spoke with
him a few seconds ago, a few minutes ago. This is what he had to say.
Sheriff: This is the hardest part about my job, is terminating anybody. Especially an 18 year
veteran. It is really hard. My job is to make sure the public’s taken care of and that we
have people here that’s going to treat the public right. Are we still looking into this?
Absolutely. To me, I have no choice but to terminate him. Law enforcement is my life
and I want people to be treated correctly.
Amanda: Now, you would ask the question, “How did the judge know that he was lying?” There is
a video tape of the breathalyzer room. It shows the Deputy interacting with the woman
in the case that started this whole thing. She did ask if she could call a witness. The
phone line was not working. He didn’t allow her to use another phone, and he basically
said, “She refused the breathalyzer.” Again, this 1 case starting this whole series of
events.
I asked the District Attorney, I said, “How hard is it to throw out more than 100 DWI
cases?”, cases that they work very hard on. She said, “What’s more painful, again, is the
face that a law enforcement officer would not be credible on the stand in a County
where” she says, “We have so many fantastic law enforcement officers, it’s just very
sad.” It’s a very sad day, very sad situation for them to hear this. She said, “They had to
do the right thing. He’s not credible, can’t be used in the courtroom anymore.”
Brian: As you said, a developing story. Amanda Lamb, you’ll be on that story and we’ll have
updates beginning at 4:00 today on WRAL