What is the Clerk of Court hiding? | Eastern NC Now

    What is the Clerk of Court hiding?

    If you've been in court in Beaufort County in the last few years, as a defendant, witness or as a juror you know one simple fact: The people who get the short end of the stick of "Justice" are those who are poor (can't afford fancy, high-priced lawyers) and not as "connected" as those who get busted but never go to trial. In drug cases they call it a 90-96. Most well connected defendants never have to stand trial. They cut a deal after months of delays.

    One of the Courthouse gang's favorite games is when the cops bust a low level grunt. They take him to the magistrate who sets a high bond and the poor stiff goes to jail. He sits there for weeks on end. Hood Richardson has proven this month after month. Eventually it becomes obvious that the best thing to do is cut a deal...plead guilty and take what the District Attorney offers and the judge agrees to. Often as not it is "time served." That is, the poor guy served a sentence without ever being tried to determine whether the "state" (a.k.a Da Man) had enough evidence to convict in front of a jury. Very often he never even hears the evidence they had, or did not have, against him.

    But what's important about this is that you hardly ever—as in never—see a well-connected defendant (read white, well groomed and represented by a high priced attorney) being subjected to this rig-a-more-roll. Like the woman who stole thousands of dollars from the Hospital Foundation got off with a lighter sentence than a guy who recently broke into a drink machine. How many sons or daughters of local politicians who have been busted have avoided trial before a jury? Bet you have no idea. I'll also bet you have no clue how many people who blew .08 or higher never lost their license?

    We don't have a Clerk of Court who tells us what is going on in our court system. He has not, in eight years issued a report with the numbers that would allow us to determine the patterns and trends present in our court system in Beaufort County.

    How many people were charged, and with what kinds of crimes? How many cut a deal and what were the deals? How many sat in jail for how long before they were tried? How many dismissals were there and what were the patterns in the dismissals? Which judges dismissed the most cases? Which lawyers got their clients off without having to convince a jury? Which lawyers lost the most cases? Do local attorneys have a better or worse record of getting their clients off than do out of town attorneys? How many people who were sentenced to pay a fine actually ended up not paying what the judge ordered? How many people who were ordered to do community service actually did what they were ordered to do? What have been the trends in domestic violence cases, and how many petitioners were denied protective orders and which judges denied them most?

    These are just some of the questions that solid data and information would reveal. Why doesn't the public know this information? Why can't you go on line and find it with a few mouse clicks?

    How many law suits have been brought over how an estate was handled?

    Why has the Clerk no provided the leadership to develop a Court Watch program in Beaufort County?

    Here's another scam. The cops bust a young man for a relatively minor offense. He cops a plea and is put on probation. Before long he's back in the magistrate's office. Same ole same ole. His probation officer takes him to his office and lays it out for him. You've violated probation. (But note that he has not been convicted of anything). But the Probation Officer puts it to him like this: "If you go to trial the judge is going to throw the book at you. If you plead guilty I'll recommend a sentence of half what you'll get if you get convicted by a jury. Which do you want to do?" Now don't miss the point here. Hundreds of young, poor and mostly black defendants go to jail without ever being convicted by a jury. But how many never get a jury trial? Why don't we know this?

    If we had a Clerk of Court who collected data and information to show the patterns and trends in our courts the public would have a much better idea of what is really going on.

    But that's the point. "They" don't want the public to know what's going on in the courthouse. I suspect if this Clerk does know, he is not about to disclose any of this. So the key person in that cover-up is the Clerk of Court. It is the Clerk who has the information that would blow the top off the Courthouse. But if the Clerk covers it up, the poor stiffs just get railroaded, the lawyers pull down the big bucks for less work, the jail stays more crowded, and the Commissioners just build bigger jails.

    What is wrong with this picture? Why does the Clerk—the one with the data and information—not show us what is really going on?

    Now let me emphasize that I fully recognize that everything could be kosher in the Courthouse. But if it is true, why don't we know the answers to these questions? Ask yourself that question. Better yet, ask the current Clerk "why is the public kept in the dark?" But even better still, maybe it would be better to elect a Clerk who is promising transparency.