Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog

Military Officials Release Name of Soldier Accused of Massacring Civilians in Afghanistan

Published on: March 27, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

After weeks of no comment from the Pentagon, military officials finally released the name of the man who is accused of slaughtering innocent civilians in Afghanistan. The soldier’s name is Sgt. Robert Bales. He is currently in custody at a federal military prison in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas; however, he has yet to be brought up on any criminal charges.

Bales is accused of abandoning his base in the Kandahar province in Afghanistan and going into a nearby village where he opened fire on the residents, killing 16 civilians, most of whom were women and children. Post #1 criminal image 4.8.12.png After the incident, the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan suffered even more. Many of the Afghani officials wanted Bales to be tried in Afghanistan, but since Bales allegedly surrendered immediately after the incident, the United States quickly transported him off of the battlefield and his wife and two children were moved onto the local military base closest to their home for their protection.

Bales’s attorney, John Henry Browne, is already hard at work laying the groundwork for his client’s defense once criminal charges are brought against him. Browne says that Bales had no desire to go to Afghanistan in December when he was deployed there. He had already severed three separate tours in Iraq and as a result of injuries and what he had experienced there, Bales suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, on the day that he allegedly embarked on his killing spree, Bales witnessed a fellow soldier have his leg blown off during an explosion. In addition to this, there are reports that suggest alcohol may have been a contributing factor.

Charlotte Hotel a Hotbed for Crime

Published on: March 22, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to a recent report by Fox Charlotte, a local hotel has given many residents of the area pause. The Charlotte Inn, which is located on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte, has been the scene of many violent and drug-related incidents. The police have been called to the Charlotte Inn several times recently. Post #2 criminal image 3.21.12.jpg Residents are beginning to consider moving to different areas of the city to avoid the potential dangers.

One East Charlotte resident, Jason Van Buren, said that he liked the neighborhood and thought it was a good place to raise his family, but the Charlotte Inn, which is only steps away from his front door, has brought in some trouble to the neighborhood. According to Fox Charlotte, in the past year, the police have been involved in 40 incidents at the Charlotte Inn, and in June 2011, a man was brutally murdered at the Inn.

Van Buren and others in the neighborhood believe that the City of Charlotte could be putting in more of an effort to curb the problems at the Charlotte Inn. The Chair of the Eastside Political Action Committee, Ed Garber, believes that the police have not done enough about the crime at the Charlotte Inn. He believes that the police are overwhelmed with other things and if the city will not make the area more viable, then the police have no reason to care.

Charlotte Cold Case Squad Hard At Work Solving Old Crimes

Published on: March 20, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to a recent report by WCNC, the CMPD’s cold case squad is thriving. Created six years ago, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s sexual assault cold case unit, has had tremendous success solving sexual assault cases that no one ever thought would be solved. It was one of the first sexual assault cold case teams in the nation. Initially, only one detective was assigned to solve the cold cases, but since then, the department has received grants from the Justice Department to thoroughly staff the squad.

Post #1 criminal image 3.14.12.jpg In addition to the detectives, the squad also has its own prosecutor dedicated to ensuring that the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice. Barry Cook, once a member of the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office, came out of retirement to assist the cold case squad in prosecuting the offenders that they are successful in apprehending. Cook said, “There’s a lot of satisfaction in playing a part in solving these cold case sex crimes and putting whoever’s responsible for these crimes in prison.”

The cold case squad spends the majority of its time meticulously going over old case files. They try to find new avenues of investigation and look for new evidence to test for biological evidence, the presence of which will make the prosecution relatively easy, according to Cook. The team has the luxury of the advances in technology that the original detectives involved in these cold cases did not have. New technology allows technicians to extract DNA from the most miniscule of biological samples. Samples that were once thought of as too degraded for analysis are now proving to be useful pieces of evidence.

Challenges, however, are present even with the advances in technology. The presence of DNA does not necessarily lead to a conviction. The detectives still have to conduct a thorough investigation to contextualize the DNA evidence should it even be present. Detective Troy Armstrong, a member of the team, said, “DNA is why we can solve these cold case rapes. . . . But DNA is not the magic bullet. It’s only a part of the puzzle. We have to put the entire puzzle together. It’s not a slam-dunk case just because we have DNA.”

NASCAR Driver Faces Charges

Published on: March 1, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

WBTV recently reported that former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield has been indicated on three counts of possession of stolen goods and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses. Post #2 criminal image 3.1.12.png After turning himself in to the sheriff, he was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond. Mayfield and his attorney vehemently deny all the charges against him. According to his attorney, Robert Freeman, Mayfield would be entering a plea of “not guilty.”

The charges stem from incidents that happened between November 1 and November 16, 2011. Red Bull Racing, Fitz Holdings, and DEA Ventures claim that Mayfield stole thousands of dollars’ worth of property. The indictment also alleges that Mayfield stole a metal plate worth about $1,200. A search of Mayfield’s home back in November revealed several items that had been stolen. The Sheriff’s Office said that during the search they found firearms, methamphetamine, and several stolen items from Lee Boy, Inc. and Larry Grant, Inc. The Mooresville police also found audio and video equipment that was stolen from Red Bull Racing.

In May 2009, Mayfield was suspended from NASCAR indefinitely after he failed one of the association’s random drug tests. He told reporters that the test registered a false positive after he took allergy medicine and Adderall. As a result of these tests, there have been several lawsuits filed between both parties.

Gastonia Man Suffers because of Courthouse Document Mishap

Published on: February 28, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

A recent article in the Gaston Gazette tells the story of a Gastonia, NC man who could not get a job because the courts mixed up his name with the name of a another man charged with stealing a dog. Post #1 criminal image 3.8.12.jpg John Ashley Wilson was trying hard to get a job as a certified nursing assistant, but he was consistently told that his criminal record was preventing him from being hired. Wilson knew that he has some minor criminal charges in the past, but they had been dismissed. Then he received a letter for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. It informed him that his federal income tax return for that year was being used to pay his public defender. Wilson knew that he had not recently been in court. Wilson then took a trip to the Gaston County courthouse, which is where he finally got to the bottom of the mystery.

After a visit to the Gastonia Police Department, Wilson learned that he had been charged with felony larceny of a dog. The arresting officer was there and told his supervisors that Wilson was not the man he had arrested for stealing the dog. The man he had arrested was a black man and Wilson was white. The name on the warrant application was John Allen Wilson III, a black man, whose date of birth was May 28, 1981. But, after the order for arrest came from the magistrate, John Ashley Wilson, born January 21, 1981, became the suspect.

How did this happen? The courthouse staff failed to properly organize the documentation. John Allen Wilson’s request for a public defender was inside of a folder along with Judge Sumner’s order for the theft of the dog based on John Ashley Wilson’s description. Sumner had the wrong file in front of him when he was entering the order. Wilson blames that sloppy organization of the courthouse staff for this mix up.

Castle Doctrine Could Keep Salisbury Man from Criminal Charges

Published on: February 23, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

Recently, Arnold & Smith, PLLC attorney, J. Bradley Smith, was asked to speak to Charlotte News Channel 14 regarding an unusual criminal case in Salisbury. Police in Salisbury, North Carolina are investigating a fatal shooting, with a twist. Police responded to a shooting at Jack Jarvis’s home. An intruder came into the house with a weapon and clearly intended to rob Jarvis. Post #2 criminal image 2.23.12.jpg The intruder, 23-year-old Marlon Barber, barged into Jarvis’s home and pointed the gun at him. Barber wanted money and started brutally beating Jarvis over the head with the butt of the gun.

Jarvis, however, was not going down without a fight. He got the upper hand and the two struggled. During the fight, Barber dropped the gun. Jarvis later said, “He dropped the gun. We both looked at each other, looked back at the gun and it was a race to the gun.” Thankfully, Jarvis won that race. He picked up the weapon and shot Barber once in the chest, fatally wounding him.

While police are still investigating the shooting and have not made a determination of whether the shooting was in self-defense, Salisbury Chief of Police Rory Collins said, “On the surface, it certainly does look like a matter of self-defense. This individual came into a man’s home, uninvited, to rob him, producing a handgun.” Criminal defense attorney J. Bradley Smith said, “It would be very difficult in North Carolina, or frankly anywhere, to get a conviction on somebody for killing another person when they’re doing it in defense of their own home. That’s where you get the idea of the Castle Doctrine.”

North Carolina’s Castle Doctrine allows a person defending his or her home to use deadly force without being required to retreat prior to employing deadly force. In December 2011, however, the law was expanded to include not just the home, but also a person’s vehicle or place of employment. It is assumed that when a person attacks the victim at home, in the car or at work that person intends to kill or inflict serious bodily harm.

Charges Dropped, New Charges Filed Against North Carolina Man

Published on: February 21, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to a recent report by WCNC.com, police have brought new charges against a man who recently had several similar charges dropped. Police say that Lavatae Evans was recently arrested for rape, kidnapping and other sexual offenses, just two weeks after several other sexual offense charges were dismissed. According to the victim, she met Evans at the Charlotte Transit Center. Post #1 criminal image 2.21.12.jpg She knew him because they used to live together. She agreed to go with him to smoke pot, but when she tried to leave, Evans refused to let her go back to the Transit Center. Evan then pulled out a gun and took her back to his home on Brewton Drive in Charlotte. That is when the victim said that Evans raped her.

Just two weeks before his arrest, the district attorney dropped charges against Evans involving similar circumstances. Back in December, Evans and police had a standoff at his home in Brewton Drive. Police believed that Evans kidnapped two women and held them at gunpoint in his home. While the police were searching for him to arrest him for those charges, they claim that Evans sexually assaulted another woman. The district attorney dropped all of the charges related to these two offenses because the victims gave inconsistent statements. Also, the police were not able to collect valuable evidence against Evans because the victims left the hospital before a sexual assault kit were performed. The police also tested the gun used in the previous kidnapping for the presence of DNA. The testing revealed that there were three different people’s DNA present on the gun, making it difficult for prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Evans was the perpetrator of the crimes.

Convicted and Released North Carolina Man Could Face New Murder Charge

Published on: February 16, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

After having been arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced, confined and then released, a North Carolina man might go back to jail for additional murder charges stemming from the same incident, according to a recent report by WBTV. Nearly 15 years ago, Maurice Lacato Phifer shot John Lewis Southerland. At that time, Southerland did not die from his injuries, but was left paralyzed from the neck down. Last month, Southerland died from complications associated with his injuries. Post #2 criminal image. 2.16.12.jpg The medical examiner has ruled Southerland’s death a homicide and now prosecutors are considering whether to charge Phifer with Southerland’s murder.

In 1999, two years after the shooting, Phifer was convicted of Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury. In 2007, Phifer was released from prison. Prosecutors now have to decide whether they have enough evidence to try Phifer for murder. After the appeal, much of the important evidence in the case was destroyed, which will make it extremely difficult to convince a jury of Phifer’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To demonstrate that Phifer is guilty of Southerland’s murder, the prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Southerland’s death was directly related to the shooting, even though Southerland died nearly 14 years after being shot.

The prosecutors would also have to consider whether charging Phifer with murder would violate his right to not be tried for the same crime twice. The principles of double jeopardy are some of the most difficult in criminal procedure. The United States Supreme Court has struggled to define “same offense” and “jeopardy.” The current law is the Blockburger test, which asks whether each offense requires proof of an element that is not contained in the other one. Thus, if each offense has an element that is unique to it, the offenses are not the same and a defendant can be charged with both. If however, one of the offenses contains all of the elements of the other offense, the prosecution of the second offense is banned by the double jeopardy clause.

Dilworth man arrested for public exposure

Published on: February 14, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to a recent article at WCNC.com, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have arrested a man they said exposed himself to various women in the Dilworth area of the city while riding a bike.

Post #1 criminal image 2.14.12.jpg Michael Adams was arrested at his home earlier this week where he was then charged with exposing himself to a woman near Dilworth Elementary School. He was also charged with a separate incident of exposure involving a different woman that took place on East Park Avenue. Police have said that they are also investigating whether Adams is connected to other recent reports of flashing across the Charlotte area. One such incident was reported on a public jogging path near Dilworth.

One of Adams’ neighbors, Prince Pegeuese, witnessed police arresting Adams. “I saw his bicycle in the back of a police cruiser and I thought he had stolen a bike or something,” said Pegeuese. Since the arrest neighbors have said that Adams did not own a car and would often ride his bicycle into the Dilworth area.

Adams is not listed on the N.C. sex offender registry, but he does have a criminal background that includes arrests for breaking and entering and assault.

Charlotte Police Still Looking for Suspect in North Carolina Drive-By Mall Shooting

Published on: February 9, 2012 | On behalf of Arnold & Smith, PLLC

According to a recent report by WBTV.com, a man who was wounded during a drive-by shooting at the Northlake Mall has been recently released from the hospital. The victim was 23-year-old Gregory Tillery. He was wounded while he was trying to get into his car parked outside of Dick’s Sporting Goods Store. On Monday, February 6, 2012, the police were called to the Northlake Mall after the caller reported a shooting in the parking lot. The officers who arrived on the scene found that the victim had been injured by a gunshot wound to the leg. He was expected to make a speedy recovery, despite earlier reports which said that the victim had suffered life-threatening injuries.

Post #2 criminal image.2.9.jpg Witnesses reported no less than five shots fired during the shooting. They indicated that as Tillery, the victim, was getting into his car, another vehicle pulled up and fired directly at him. Tillery was accompanied by another man. Police say the suspect also fired at him, but the bullet went through the legs of his pants and he was luckily not injured. The police are continuing with their investigation. They are looking at security footage to see if an image of the shooter was caught on videotape. Also, police are interviewing those who were with the victim and are interested in finding out why someone might want to shoot him.

Police were able to get a description of the suspect. Witnesses described him as a black male with dreadlocks. The witnesses also say that he was driving a white Ford SUV, either an Excursion or an Expedition, with some kind of trim at the bottom of the vehicle, either gold or tan. Police are asking that anyone who knows any information contact Crimestoppers.

Several other cars were hit by stray bullets. Fortunately, the cars were empty at the time and no other people were injured. The investigating officer, Lt. Brian Foley, said that if the circumstances had been different, this incident could have turned into a tragedy. One witness said, “They could have hit anybody else. [I]t could[‘ve] been somebody’s kid. [I]’s scary… What if it was your family[?] [W]hat if it was your kid or someone you knew[?]”