North Carolina

Former Securities Lawyer Gets 23 Years in Scheme to Sell Millions in Fraudulent Investments

A former securities lawyer was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison by a federal judge in North Carolina for his role in what prosecutors said was a multimillion-dollar investment fraud. The government had sought a 90-year term for Gregory Bartko, the Associated Press reports. His lawyer had argued for…

Apr 5, 2012 10:26 PM CDT

Disbarment of Lawyer Who Blew Off ‘Bogus Order to Compel’ Is Reversed on Due Process Grounds

A lawyer who refused to respond to a discovery request in a North Carolina attorney disciplinary matter has had her subsequent disbarment reversed based on a due process violation. Because the evidence presented against attorney Sybil H. Barrett at the trial of the legal ethics case differed from the charges…

Mar 20, 2012 9:35 PM CDT

Lawyer Says 2L Tossed Victim Out of Bar, But Not in Front of Car; Sees Death as ‘Tragic Accident’

A lawyer for a North Carolina law student accused of killing a man by shoving him in front of a car says the death was “a tragic incident” rather than murder. Charlotte School of Law student Kenan Wells Gay is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Robert Kingston…

Mar 15, 2012 2:10 PM CDT

NC Judge Suspended Without Pay for 75 Days in Ticket-Fixing Case

A North Carolina judge who handled at least 82 traffic tickets outside the normal legal process—and probably many more, the state supreme court said—has been suspended without pay for 75 days. Forsyth District Judge Denise Hartsfield has declined to comment but told a weekly newspaper in Winston-Salem that the punishment…

Mar 9, 2012 9:14 PM CST

Lawyer Says 2L Accused of Shoving Murder Was Defending His Girlfriend

A lawyer for a North Carolina law student accused of murdering a man by shoving him in front of a car says his client was defending his girlfriend. Charlotte School of Law student Kenan Wells Gay was charged in connection with an altercation that began with a dispute in a…

Mar 6, 2012 2:56 PM CST

NC Judge Orders DA Cline Removed from Office for Bringing County Justice System ‘Into Disrepute’

A North Carolina judge today ordered the Durham County district attorney removed from office due at least in large part to her inflammatory criticism of a top criminal judge. The dismissal of Tracey Cline from her $119,305-a-year job is only the second time in state history that a DA was…

Mar 2, 2012 7:11 PM CST

Judge Probed re DA’s Claim of Possible ‘Unauthorized and Illegal Judgments’ in DWI Cases

A North Carolina judge has been removed from hearing criminal cases and is being investigated concerning a claim by the Wake County District Attorney of a “disturbing pattern of what may be unauthorized and illegal judgments” in driving-while-intoxicated cases. A letter from DA Colon Willoughby to Chief Resident Superior Court…

Feb 28, 2012 10:15 PM CST

Embattled DA Tells Judge in Ouster Hearing She Did Nothing Wrong

A suspended North Carolina prosecutor accused of withholding exculpatory evidence from defendants and misrepresenting facts in pleadings and during court arguments took the stand in her own defense Friday at a special inquiry ouster hearing. In her testimony, Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline, under questioning from her lawyer, reargued cases…

Feb 27, 2012 5:35 PM CST

Federal Judge OKs Suit by Ex-Associate and Counterclaim by Mayer Brown

A federal judge has given a green light both to a race discrimination suit filed against Mayer Brown by a fired former associate and a counterclaim in which the law firm accuses her of improperly accessing documents while her termination was pending. Finding that it is a question of fact…

Jan 31, 2012 9:38 PM CST

Judge Benches Embattled DA, Finds Probable Cause She Should Be Permanently Removed From Office

A judge brought in to hear a lawyer’s petition for removal of a North Carolina district attorney has suspended her from office, finding probable cause that she should be permanently removed from her elected office. A hearing on whether Durham DA Tracey Cline should be permanently removed will be held…

Jan 28, 2012 12:30 AM CST

Death Row Inmate Taunts Community in Letter to Hometown Newspaper

A death row inmate in North Carolina has written a taunting letter to his hometown newspaper in which he gloats about his life in prison and dares the state to carry out his scheduled execution. “Kill me if you can, suckers, Ha! Ha! Ha!” Danny Robbie Hembree Jr., wrote in…

Jan 26, 2012 7:40 PM CST

2 Lawyers Seek Removal From Office of DA Who Sought Top Judge’s Recusal in Multiple Cases

Turning the tables on a North Carolina district attorney who has repeatedly sought in recent months to disqualify a top Durham County judge from multiple cases, two local attorneys are asking that same judge to remove Durham County DA Tracey Cline from office for cause. Under state law, a lawyer’s…

Jan 18, 2012 10:00 PM CST

NC Bar to Revisit Suspension Order for Former AG and Governor Mike Easley

A lawyer convicted of a felony often loses his or her law license. But a former governor and attorney general of North Carolina had his suspended for two years after a federal campaign-finance reporting violation. That will make Mike Easley eligible to practice again at the end of this year,…

Jan 10, 2012 12:07 AM CST

Former NC Gov Mike Easley Faces State Bar Complaint After Taking Plea in Campaign Finance Case

Last year, former North Carolina governor Mike Easley disappeared from the attorney roster of McGuireWoods and took an Alford plea after being accused of violating campaign-finance reporting law. His law license was temporarily suspended in December 2010 after his criminal conviction on a single felony count, and now the state…

Dec 7, 2011 7:01 PM CST

Skeptical Judge Hears DA’s Motions to Disqualify Top Jurist, Cites ‘Magic 8 Ball’

Updated: A controversial North Carolina district attorney was seeking the removal of the top judge in Durham County from multiple cases she is prosecuting, contending that Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson is directing a conspiracy against her because she refused to dismiss a murder case. However, the substitute…

Dec 5, 2011 7:15 PM CST