DISTRICT COURT JUDGE APRIL SMITH
BLACK JUDGE ADMITS TO
ALLEGATIONS STATE
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS
By Cash Michaels
In a unanimous decision authored by the state Supreme Court’s newest African-American female associate justice, Anita Earls, a Cumberland County District Court judge, also a black female, has been reprimanded for “…conduct in violation of [the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct, and for conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute …”
The ruling from the state’s High Court was handed down May 10th against District Court Judge April M. Smith, and is based on a recommendation from the state Judicial Standards Commission (JSC).
Smith was elected to the Judicial District 12 Division, one of ten judges there, in November 2014 when she was 35. She has served there ever since.
Ironically, Cumberland County District Court is also where now-state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, an African-American female, served for ten years prior to being elected to the NC Court of Appeals, and then selected to serve on the NC Supreme court in 2012 by then Gov. Beverly Perdue.
According to the 16-page decision, [Judge Smith] “…has not challenged the findings of fact made by the [JSC] or opposed the Commission’s recommendation that she be publicly reprimanded by this Court,” the state Supreme Court decision further states.
It was February of 2018 a Statement of Charges was filed with the JSC against Judge Smith, alleging that she demonstrated “…a lack of respect for the judicial office and for the Chief Judge and court staff…, ” among other allegations.
In a Stipulation between Judge Smith and the JSC Counsel, based on Smith’s April 2018 answers to the February charges, it was established that Smith admitted to becoming “…frustrated with the [Chief District Court Judge] based on scheduling and communication differences” by the end of 2015.
The Chief District Court Judge of the 12th District is responsible for setting the case schedules for all ten of the judges assigned there.
Judge Smith began experiencing “serious health issues by the beginning of 2016, according to the JSC Stipulation, requiring her to attend “frequent medical appointments.” It was later determined that Judge Smith was suffering from two “chronic autoimmune diseases, requiring her to take “multiple leaves of absence” per doctor’s orders, and they were granted.
But Judge Smith soon came to believe that the Chief Judge “…was subjecting her to unfair treatment in court assignments.” She believed that she was eventually being given more work, and more cases to cover, resulting in longer hours.
She complained about her assignments, and tat she felt she was being treated unfairly, to other judges, court staff and attorneys. Smith even alleged that racial prejudice had a role in her treatment. However, records eventually showed that Judge Smith did not have a greater workload than other District judges in her division.
Further investigation determined that Smith rushed through cases in her courtroom “…to avoid working the full afternoon or the next day.” Smith maintained that her cases got full and fair hearings, but attorneys before her felt rushed.
What may have really hurt Judge Smith, as stated in the JSC Stipulation, was “…when she would announce she was adjourning court early for personal appointments, such as for hair and nail salon visits or to spend time with her child.”
“[Judge Smith]…recognizes that her conduct and statements in the courtroom between 2015 and 2017 were perceived by some attorneys and court staff as indicating a desire to avoid her judicial duties to accommodate her own scheduling preferences and personal circumstances,” the JSC Stipulation concluded.
According to the state Supreme Court ruling, Judge Smith has “expressed regret” over her conduct, which is considered a mitigating factor in the decision to publicly reprimand her. She has agreed to seek assistance to “to improve her professional reputation and repair her relationship with the Chief Judge.”
At least one black female attorney, aware of the charges against Judge April Smith, aid on Facebook that she knows her and has appeared before her. The black attorney suggests that there is more to the story, and that other judges in the Cumberland County District Court have done far worse than she has.
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CAMERON BROADWELL
WAKE SHERIFF FIRES K-9
DEPUTY WHO PLED GUILTY
IN ASSAULT ON BLACK MAN
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Wake County’s African-American sheriff, Gerald Butler, wasted no time Monday firing K-9 officer Cameron Broadwell after the deputy pleaded guilty at his trial in April 2018 law enforcement assault against Kyron Hinton, an unarmed black man who was both beaten by Broadwell and two state troopers, and then mauled by Broadwell’s K-9 dog.
Unlike the two troopers, who were fired almost immediately after the April 2018 Raleigh incident, Broadwell, a ten-year veteran of the Wake Sheriff’s Dept., was placed on administrative leave until his termination Monday.
In a plea agreement, Broadwell pled guilty to one count of willful failure to discharge his duties. He had been facing felony assault charges, which were dismissed in the deal.
Six hours after Broadwell tearfully admitted his guilt, Wake Sheriff Gerald Baker terminated the former K-9 officer, promising changes to how his K-9 unit will operate.
Police dogs will only be used to apprehend violent offenders, Wake Sheriff’s officials say.
Broadwell was sentenced to 45-days incarceration suspended, and ordered to permanently give up his law enforcement certification, meaning that he can never be an officer in North Carolina again.
The trial, prosecuted by Wake District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, was not headed in Broadwell’s favor, especially after police dashcam video, in addition to bodycam video, showed various angles of his assault on Hinton.
The young black man had just left a sweepstakes parlor and was walking in the middle of the street on Raleigh Blvd. on the night of April 3rd, 2018, when police responded to a report of a man waving a gun in the street. Hinton had no weapon, but was acting strangely. Raleigh police surrounded him.It wasn’t long before two state troopers also came on the scene and confronted Hinton. Deputy Broadwell also appeared with his dog, and under the impression that Hinton had a gun, and confronted Hinton, ordering him to get on the ground.
According to police court testimony, Raleigh officers had already determined that Hinton did not have a gun, and were trying to decide how to secure him safely to get him to a psychiatric hospital, when Broadwell arrived, and without consultation, immediately began ordering Hinton to the ground, and when he didn’t comply, had his dog attack him.
While Hinton was on the ground, defending himself from the dog, he was attacked by Broadwell and the two state troopers.
Broadwell’s defense was that he was responding to a report of a man with a gun, and got involved to protect his fellow officers, and the public.
The defense had several people there, including former Wake Sheriff Donny Harrison, to testify that Broadwell was an officer of the finest character, and he was acting out of concern. The jury never got to hear that testimony.
Meanwhile, as in this trial, Kyron Hinton will not be present to testify when the two former troopers go on trial. The troubled young man died one day after receiving an $83,000 settlement after filing suit for the severe beating that he received. Authorities say his death was drug-related.
Hinton’s mother and family were not satisfied with the plea deal, wanting Broadwell to serve time in prison.
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NCNAACP, SUPPORTERS HOPEFUL
DONTAE SHARPE WILL SEE JUSTICE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
[GREENVILLE] The NCNAACP, supporters and family are hopeful that an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Friday at the Pitt County Courthouse will ultimately lead to freeing Dontae Sharpe from prison after over 24 years, where he has been serving a life sentence for a murder he’s always maintained he did not commit.
Friday will be the first evidentiary hearing in the Sharpe case in at least ten years, and based on new evidence, supporters say, they feel it can finally be proven that Sharpe had nothing to do with the February 1994 slaying of George Radcliffe, a white man who was fatally shot in Greenville.
After two months, Sharpe, then 18, was arrested by police because a so-called “witness,” a 13-year-old drug addict named Charlene Johnson, said Radcliffe owed money for a drug deal.
Johnson initially refused to even appear at Sharpe’s trial, forcing police to get her. She later admitted that she was given $500 not only to appear, but allegedly gave false testimony against Sharpe.
In a sworn affidavit recently, Ms. Johnson said, “My lies have kept Dontae in prison, but they have also been a very heavy burden for me. I feel stuck in Greenville until I fix what I did and Dontae is free.
Another drug addicted “witness” claimed she saw the shooting during a scuffle between Radcliffe and another man, but could not identify who the shooter was.
Add to this reports of other suspects who were never pursued, supporters say, and alibi witnesses placing Sharpe elsewhere never interviewed by Greenville police.
In June 2018, attorneys for Sharpe filed a motion for appropriate relief with Pitt County Superior Court, containing new testimony from an East Carolina University forensic pathologist who stated that after reviewing crime scene photographs, “…it would be medically and scientifically impossible “ for Radcliffe to have been murdered in the manner that the witness against Sharpe originally testified to.
There was no forensic evidence ever linking Sharpe to the murder.
The NCNAACP, along with Dontae Sharpe’s mother, Sarah Blakely, has been lobbying statewide for Sharpe’s conviction to be overturned for over three years. There are national petitions to Governor Roy Cooper and state Attorney General Josh Stein by the advocacy group Color of Change, urging both Democratic officials to free Sharpe in the face of mounting evidence that he did not kill George Radcliffe.
And Pitt County now has a new District Attorney Faris Dixon, who seems more willing to consider the new evidence than his predecessor.
Sharpe’s mother, Sarah Blakely, is hopeful that Friday will be the step needed to bring her son home finally after 24 years.
"My family and I are thankful that this is happening,” she told a press conference last week in Greenville. “I'm trusting that the DA, the judge and all others will do the right thing,"
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 05-16-19
REPUBLICAN DAN BISHOP WINS 9THDISTRICT GOP PRIMARY
[BLADENSBORO] In the election do-over being watched by the entire nation, State Sen. Dan Bishop came out on top of a 10 candidate field to easily win the GOP 9thCongressional District primary Tuesday with 48% of the vote. Bishop will now face Democrat Dan McCready on Sept. 10thfor the 9thDistrict seat in Congress. The state Board of Elections determined earlier this year that the Nov. 2018 9thDistrict election, won then by Republican Mark Harris, was tainted because of the illegal mishandling of absentee ballots. As a result, Harris was never certified as the winner, and a new race was ordered by the SBOE.
RALEIGH POLICE DEPT. CHANGES BODYCAM POLICY AFTER FATAL SHOOTING
[RALEIGH] It wasn’t until after the recent fatal shooting of a knife-wielding perpetrator, where the officer involved failed to activate his bodycam, did citizens find out that there was no requirement for officers to do so.But as of this week, in a two-page memo, Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown indicated bodycams will be turned on at the beginning of each police shift, but placed in standby mode until activated by a button pressed by an officer. A week ago, angry activists disrupted a Raleigh City Council meeting demanding changes to the policy.
ELECTIONS BOARD DIRECTOR KIM STRACH REPLACED BY SBOE
[RALEIGH] The Democratic majority on the State Board of Elections made a personnel change at the top Monday, firing Elections Board Director Kim Strach, and replacing her with Karen Brinson Bell. Strach, whose husband is Republican attorney Phil Strach, known best for representing the GOP legislative leadership, was appointed in 2013 by then Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. By most accounts, she had done a good job leading the state Elections Board administration, especially during the recent investigations into the 9thCongressional District absentee ballot controversy. Starch’s last day is May 31st.
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