COOPER GRANTS NINE PARDONS,
SIX COMMUTATIONS ON WAY OUT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
As his eight eventful years in office drew to a close this week, outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper decided to close out his office tenure by granting six commutations to people in prison, and nine pardons of forgiveness for those he felt deserved a second chance after being convicted a crime during their youth.
All of the cases involved were thoroughly reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency, and the Governor’s Office.
“Ensuring careful review of cases while taking executive clemency action is a responsibility I take seriously,” said Governor Cooper. “We carefully consider recommendations made by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to commute sentences for crimes committed by minors. All of these individuals are deserving of clemency and we will continue to work to protect our communities and improve the fairness of our criminal justice system.”
Some of those commutations include:
- Jonathan Burdette, 38, who has served nearly 20 years for armed robbery of a restaurant in Rockingham County when he was 17. He has completed his GED, taken vocational classes, finished an apprenticeship as an electrician and worked in a meat packing plant. He will be released in January. He will now become eligible for parole and whether parole is granted will be decided by the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.
- Toney King, 62, has served 30 years for armed robberies of hotels in Rowan, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg County. His sentences were set to run concurrently. Mr. King has done extensive educational programming, including completing a bachelor’s degree and working in the Field Ministry Program. He has also had a good disciplinary record. Mr. King will now become eligible for parole and whether parole is granted will be decided by the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.
One of the persons receiving a pardon of forgiveness is:
- Seth Cole, 35, was convicted of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon in 2006 in Guilford County. Since that time, he has graduated summa cum laude with a degree in computer and information systems and worked as a substance abuse counselor and a systems engineer.
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RALEIGH POLICE OFFICER SUSPENDED, THEN
RETIRED AFTER POSTING THAT
JUNETEENTH IN “MADE UP HOLIDAY”
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
According to published reports, a veteran Raleigh police officer was at first suspended, then retired after a post on his Instagram page showed that he referred to Juneteenth as a “made-up holiday.”
Juneteenth is a federal holiday, designated on June 19th across the United States to indicate the official end of slavery in 1965. Celebrations date back to 1866 in Texas, and across the South.
The News and Observer newspaper reports that Raleigh Police Senior Officer Daniel Twiddy, who has served with the RPD since 2009, was suspended on Sept.4th, and then retired on December 1st. It was last June when a screenshot from Twiddy’s Instagram account showed a picture of the officer drinking a beverage at a Hilton Head Island resort, with the caption, “Juneteenth is a made-up holiday. Toady is my birthday and it’s been that way for 38 years. You’re welcome for the day off!”
That screenshot was shared across social media by several outraged people, particularly some who have been tracking Twiddy’s Instagram account ever since an incident in 2016 when Twiddy shit and killed 24-year-old Ariel Denkins in predominately-Black Southeast Raleigh.
Twiddy maintained that he shot Denkins four times after h reached foe his weapon. Denkins was wanted for failure to appear in court on a felomy drug charge.
Denkins’ family claimed that he was shot in the back by Twiddy, but Wake County District Attorney Lori Freeman concluded that Twiddy was justified in his actions, based on the physical evidence and the officer’s version of events.
After Twiddy’s controversial Instagram post was made public, Raleigh Police confirmed that they were investigating the matter in July. Police Chief Estella Patterson issued a statement thanking the people who exposed the screenshot, saying, “ We expect our employees to hold themselves to the higher standard of excellence that reflects favorably upon the organization, both on and off duty.”
The N&O further reported that Twiddy was named in a 2022 lawsuit involving a no-knock raid on the wrong address. He was later dropped from the suit, before it was settled for $350,000.
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