Woman’s Body Left in Hearse 9 Days

Wednesday, Aug 25 2010

Associated Press

GRAHAM, N.C. (AP) — Police and the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service are investigating why a Carrboro woman’s body was left in a hearse for nine days.

Multiple media outlets reported Wednesday that police found the body of Linda Walton last week after they were asked to investigate a foul odor in Graham. Police found her body in a hearse parked under a tree.

The 37-year-old Walton died in early August in her apartment in Carrboro and her corpse was picked up by David B. Lawson Mortuary.

Police had called Lawson after failing to find Walton’s next of kin. Lawson has been a licensed funeral director for more than 30 years and is part of a rotation of funeral homes used by police. He would not talk about the case early Wednesday.

The funeral service’s disciplinary committee meets next week to discuss the complaint.

Sheriff Candidate Takes Leave of Duty: Capt. Alan Norman Prepares for November Election

From The Shelby Star

Wednesday, Aug 25 2010

David Allen

SHELBY — The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office will soon lose another captain, at least temporarily.

 Bobby Steen, in light of criminal charges he faces for worthless checks, took office leave in June. Sheriff Raymond Hamrick said Alan Norman plans to pursue politics outside the agency come Aug. 31.

 “I’m still continuing to come into work, do the job to the best of my ability, be accessible to the public and agency, and separating politics from the job,” Norman said Wednesday.

 Norman faces Republican Don Allen, a retired SBI agent, in November’s election for sheriff.

 Hamrick was unsure if Norman would use vacation or overtime to round out the paid leave.

 “(Norman) says he does have enough time to do it,” Hamrick said.

 County Manager David Dear previously said Norman, who is the Democratic nominee for sheriff, will continue to serve under Hamrick until he takes a “voluntary” leave of absence to actively campaign closer to the November election. That was June 4.

 “Back when he met with myself and David Dear, (Norman) said he was going to leave in August — originally said the 15^th,” said Hamrick. “Said he’d like to stay on till the end of the month and I let him stay on.”

 Hamrick said Norman would have to leave because of office policy which prohibits campaigning at work.

 Allen, who spoke to The Star by phone Wednesday, said his campaign is proceeding nicely and, apparently, drama-free.

 “Everywhere I go, I get a good response from people,” he said. “I enjoy meeting people and speaking with them about their concerns. Seems to be more support this time from conservative folks.” 

 A winding, dramatic road

 Hamrick, who’s battled ongoing illness and kidney failure in 2007, was elected as sheriff in 2002 and won reelection in 2006. He was defeated in the 2010 Democratic primary, receiving 2 percent of the vote.

 The race for sheriff included a candidate previously convicted of a felony drug charge who later pleaded guilty to assaulting a legislator, an incumbent sheriff who announced his candidacy on the last day of filing and after years of health problems, a public forum debacle that resulted in one watchdog agency citing potential First Amendment violations and an inter-office rivalry that led two high-ranking officers into leaves of absence.

 Reach reporter David Allen at 704-669-3329

Cleveland County Deputies Catch Suspected Gaffney, S.C., Bank Robber

Wednesday, Aug 25 2010

From The Shelby Star

Corey Friedman

KINGS MOUNTAIN — Cleveland County sheriff’s deputies caught a man accused of robbing an upstate South Carolina bank after he crossed the state line Wednesday morning.

Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office

Howard Burton Means

Sheriff’s Sgt. Rodney Fitch spotted a Jeep Grand Cherokee matching the description of the bank robber’s vehicle traveling north on Interstate 85. He stopped the sport utility vehicle near mile marker 8, and deputies say they found $2,000 of stolen cash inside.

Howard Burton Means, 23, of Charlotte, is charged with robbing the SunTrust Bank in Gaffney, S.C. He was booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center on a fugitive warrant from South Carolina.

“He was very cooperative,” Fitch said. “He did not try to flee or fight at all. He pulled over as soon as I activated my warning devices.”

The bank robbery was reported at 9:38 a.m. Wednesday. Fitch and other members of the Sheriff’s Office’s Interstate Criminal Enforcement Team had Means in handcuffs around 9:51 a.m.

“It’s just good, quick work from dispatch and everyone involved to get the information out,” Fitch said. “It’s a team effort from our entire interstate team. We can’t do what we do down there without each other.”

Means entered the SunTrust branch on West Floyd Baker Boulevard in Gaffney and handed the teller a note demanding money, Fitch said. He left the bank with loose bills that deputies later found in his Jeep.

“He did not show a weapon and we did not find a weapon on him,” Fitch said.

Means is being charged with entering a bank with intent to steal. He was jailed without bond pending extradition to South Carolina.

Reach Online Editor Corey Friedman a

Probation for Former Detention Center Officer in Sexual Misconduct Case

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

By Kimberly Dick – kdick@heraldonline.com

YORK COUNTY – 

A former York County detention officer fired amidst allegations of sexual misconduct with an inmate was sentenced to probation.

Robert Cordell Martin, 60, of Smyrna pleaded no contest to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature Tuesday in court in York County. Judge P. Brooks Goldsmith sentenced Martin to three years in prison. That sentence is suspended upon the completion of 18 months of probation.

Martin was originally charged with second-degree sexual misconduct.

Martin was fired in late 2008 after an investigation by the York County Sheriff’s Office and the State Law Enforcement Division into an inmate’s allegation of sexual misconduct. A Charlotte woman, then 41, claimed she was touched inappropriately while incarcerated Oct. 19, 2008.

An arrest warrant states Martin had “sexual contact” with the inmate. She did not allege rape. Several days after the alleged sexual misconduct, the inmate notified sheriff’s office personnel, the release states.

Martin had been employed as a detention officer since 2004. He will not be required to register as a sex offender, Goldsmith said.

The victim wasn’t in court Tuesday. She currently is serving a sentence for property crime conviction.

Bondsman Charged With Human Trafficking, Blackmail

From The Rock Hill Herald

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

By Kelly Davis

Lexington County – 

Lexington County authorities arrested a Batesburg-Leesville bondsman on the unusual charge of forced labor after he was accused of making a woman do sexual favors and work for him in exchange for bail.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Curtis Jackson Maroney, 51, of Sandpit Road, Monday afternoon on charges of blackmail and trafficking in persons for forced labor or services, the sheriff’s department said.

According to arrest warrants, Maroney posted bail of $16,122.50 for a 39-year-old Lexington woman Aug. 12 at the Lexington County Detention Center, on the condition the woman clean and cook for him, perform other manual labor and provide sexual favors. The illegal requirements continued through Aug. 17.

Maroney is a licensed as a bondsman and operates the Affordable Bond Company. The victim was in the detention center as a result of her July 31 arrest by the S.C. Highway Patrol for driving under the influence, second offense, as well as driving an uninsured vehicle, possessing a controlled substance, hit and run involving property damage and driving with a suspended license.

Warrants say Maroney remained with the woman constantly and told her he would revoke her bond and return her to police custody if she did not do his bidding.

The woman freed herself by convincing Maroney to drive her to see her two children at her father’s home. She called the sheriff’s department as Maroney waited in his vehicle.

A magistrate Tuesday ordered Maroney held without bail at the detention center until trial.

– The State

UN Envoy Says Patrols Were Not Informed About Rapes

Aug 25, 2010

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The top U.N. envoy in Congo says peacekeeping patrols were not informed by villagers that mass rapes were taking place, and the United Nations is now working to improve communications and prevent any recurrence.

Roger Meece, the new U.N. special representative, said the reported rapes of at least 154 Congolese women – which U.N. peacekeepers didn’t learn about for nearly two weeks – showed that the force’s actions to protect civilians were insufficient and need to be reviewed.

He said Wednesday by videoconference from Goma in eastern Congo that one idea being pursued is to have local villages report to the U.N.’s base at Kibua every day and to assume there is a problem and send a patrol if they don’t.

Longtime Marshville, NC Chief to Retire

By Steve Lyttle
slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

  Mike Gaddy, who has headed the Marshville police in the eastern Union County town for nearly two decades, is retiring in about a month.

 Gaddy, chief since 1992, told town officials he plans to leave the position Sept. 30. He joined the Marshville police in 1982 and served in a number of roles before being promoted to chief.

 Marshville officials say they hope to hire a replacement by early 2011.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police ID Weekend Stabbing Victim

From The Charlotte Observer

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

By Ely Portillo

Police on Wednesday identified a man killed this weekend in east Charlotte as Oscar Alvarado Chavez, 22.

 Chavez was stabbed to death Sunday afternoon in his car behind the Advenir Apartments on Central Avenue near North Sharon Amity Road. Police said a man and woman met him to buy heroin, but robbed and killed him instead.

 Jonathan Fitzgerald, 18, and Danielle Holmes, 17, were charged with the killing after they were arrested that night in Cabarrus County. They’re being held in Mecklenburg County Jail without bond.

 Court records show Chavez has been previously charged with only traffic offenses in North Carolina.

Prosecutors Won’t Appeal Death Penalty Decision

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com

Barriers to the trial of Demetrius Montgomery appear to be coming down this morning, as prosecutors announced they will not appeal the judge’s decision to remove the death penalty as possible punishment.

 Mecklenburg Judge Forrest Bridges ruled Tuesday that Montgomery should not face the death penalty because a detective’s misconduct has tainted the trial in the killings of two Charlotte police officers.

 Montgomery’s attorneys also indicated today that they would withdraw their motion to revisit whether Montgomery is competent to stand trial.

 Jury selection could start this afternoon.

 Bridges Tuesday called the case a “moving target.” He said former detective Arvin Fant’s admission that he threw away and plagiarized notes has “placed a cloud of suspicion over these proceedings.”

 But in his ruling, Bridges said: “We like to think that our cases are handled in a way that we can eventually arrive at the truth and that justice can be obtained.”

 Montgomery is charged in the 2007 killings of Officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark.

Detective in Police Shooting Case Had Prior Evidence Problems

He was the lead investigator in 2003 armed robbery case in which he couldn’t find two witnesses’ statements.

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

By Ely Portillo
elyportillo@charlotteobserver.com

A homicide detective who discarded notes in the case of Demeatrius Montgomery has been involved in a case with missing records before, court documents show.

Former CMPD Detective Arvin Fant leaves the Mecklenburg County Courthouse after testifying Tuesday. WCNC

Arvin Fant was the lead investigator in a 2003 Charlotte armed robbery case against Muhummad Jaaber, who was convicted of breaking and entering and four counts of armed robbery.

The case came up Tuesday in the trial of Montgomery, who is accused of killing two police officers. Fant has testified he threw away notes in Montgomery’s case. As a result, the judge barred the state from seeking the death penalty.

In the 2003 case, Jaaber had been accused of breaking into a house and robbing several people inside with a handgun, taking more than $1,500 in cash.

But he appealed his conviction because Fant could not produce two statements that witnesses testified they had provided to police.

The two witnesses said they had been interviewed by officers shortly after the crime. One came from a victim who could not identify Jaaber as his assailant, the other from a woman who owned the house where the robbery occurred but wasn’t home at the time.

Jaaber’s attorneys requested copies of the two statements before the trial, but Fant couldn’t find them, court records show. Fant told the N.C. Court of Appeals he searched everywhere he could, including the complete case file at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department’s records office.

Fant also questioned officers who might have taken the statements, but they found nothing, either. Officials told the court one statement had been lost and the other one probably wasn’t ever written down, even though the witness testified she had been interviewed.

The appeals court denied Jaaber’s motion for a mistrial, ruling that the missing statements were not of significant evidentiary value and that both witnesses were cross-examined by the defense. The court also found significant other evidence of Jaaber’s guilt had been offered at trial.

But the court noted, “it is of great concern that the State has apparently lost at least one, if not two, of the statements from witnesses regarding crimes with which the defendant is charged.”

Jaaber is projected to be released from prison in 2014.

CMPD officials did not respond to questions Tuesday about whether Fant had been disciplined for the lost statements. Staff Writer Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed.