Greg Newman, the elected DA for Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties in North Carolina, has been removed from office.
…Newman engaged in “willful misconduct in office” and “conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the office into disrepute,” under N.C. General Statute 7A-66.
The decision was made nearly two weeks after a three-day removal hearing April 12-14 in Henderson County Superior Court.
…
The term “willful misconduct in office” has been defined as “the improper or wrongful use of the power of his office by a judge acting intentionally, or with gross unconcern for his conduct, and generally in bad faith,” Ervin wrote in his 30-page order.
“Conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice,” is defined as “conduct which a judge undertakes in good faith but which nevertheless would appear to an objective observer to be not only unjudicial conduct but conduct prejudicial to public esteem for the judicial office,” Ervin wrote in his order, citing multiple instances presented in the hearing with which he agreed.
The process was started by a group of victims who felt ex-DA Newman wasn’t taking child rape and murder cases seriously:
Peggy McDowell filed the G.S. 7A-66 affidavit without a lawyer, but she was supported by more than a dozen families who said they were seeking justice on their own because Newman had been acting out of self-interest rather than in the best interest of the public.
One was her daughter, Joanne McDowell, a former UNC law student, who now lives in Canada. Joanne McDowell claimed she had to flee the country to protect her child from sexual abuse by his father and four years later was charged by Newman with felony child abduction, which she calls a “vindictive charge.”
“Newman’s expulsion proves that endemic corruption plagues North Carolina’s legal system,” McDowell said. “For years, Newman’s victims begged for relief from the N.C. Attorney General, N.C. State Bar, and N.C. Court of Appeals, but these institutions repeatedly protected the wrong people. Now that ongoing harm has been established, N.C. must assist Newman’s victims and investigate systemic corruption.”
Valerie Owenby, now 22 and living out of state, also supported the removal petition and was a witness at the hearing. She claims she had been raped from ages 5-12 by a Hendersonville neighbor, James Sapp, but Newman pleaded down the felony to a misdemeanor in 2015 without notifying her or her parents and without letting her face the accused in court.
Newman is the third DA to be removed from office in North Carolina. (The other two were Jerry Spivey in 1995, and Tracy Cline in 2012. Mike Nifong was disbarred in 2007, and then resigned, so he technically doesn’t count here.)
(Hattip to President Dawg.)
I live in NC. Corruption runs deep in America, getting deeper every year.
“Corruption runs deep in America”
It does, everywhere. What surprised me about this case was that he was the third DA removed from office.
I can’t think of one in Texas that’s been removed at the moment. Though I’m sure as soon as I say that, someone will come back with an example.
(The WillCo DA who went to jail was, if I remember correctly, already out of office when he was sentenced: I think he lost his re-election bid. And the other WillCo DA who they were trying to throw out, as I recall, also lost her re-election bid rather than being forced out.)