What it takes to eject a district attorney from office got a little clearer when the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the removal of former Durham County DA Tracey Cline on Oct. 1. It’s the second time the state’s law on removing a DA has ever been successfully applied.

Tagged with: district attorneys

Outgoing Mecklenburg County District Attorney Peter S. Gilchrist III was sued Dec. 15 by former Assistant District Attorney Sean P. Smith in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Smith was elected district court judge in November. Gilchrist terminated Smith in July after Smith gave an interview to Charlotte's FOX affiliate about a driving school program Gilchrist developed with the Safety and Health Council of North Carolina in the 1990s.

Tagged with: district attorneys Driving School Free Speech Mecklenburg County Sect. 1983 Wrongful-Discharge Claim

As a criminal defense lawyer in Mecklenburg County, I share Judge Smith’s and Alan Brotherton’s concerns about the “driving school” as it is currently administered in this jurisdiction. [See story in the Aug. 23, 2010, issue of North Carolina Lawyers ...

Tagged with: district attorneys Driving School Mecklenburg County Traffic Law

Officials in Mecklenburg County are exploring the legality and appropriateness of the relationship among the district attorney's office, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the local courts and the Safety and Health Council of North Carolina, a nonprofit organization that offers defensive-driving courses to ticketed motorists. Mecklenburg County Chief District Court Judge Lisa Bell (pictured) said she began an inquiry into the matter in July after former Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney Sean P. Smith first raised the issue publically in an interview with Charlotte's FOX News affiliate.

Tagged with: district attorneys District Court Driving School Mecklenburg County Traffic Law

A district court judge has written to the state attorney general and N.C. State Bar counsel about his concerns over the relationship among the district attorney's office, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the local courts and the Safety and Health Council of North Carolina - a nonprofit organization that offers defensive-driving courses to ticketed motorists. Former Mecklenburg County assistant district attorney Sean P. Smith (pictured), who was terminated after he gave an interview to Charlotte's FOX affiliate on July 9, first raised the issue publically.

Tagged with: Charlotte district attorneys Driving School Ethics Judges Mecklenburg County Traffic Law Unauthorized Practice of Law

A Mecklenburg County assistant district attorney says he was terminated because he gave an interview to Charlotte's FOX affiliate. The attorney, Sean P. Smith, is a candidate for the district court seat held since 2009 by Gov. Bev Perdue appointee Tyyawdi M. Hands. Smith said that in the Mecklenburg district attorney's office, "You don't talk about certain things." He gave the interview on July 9 as part of his judicial campaign.

Tagged with: district attorneys Driving School Mecklenburg County traffic infraction