Pubdate: Wed, 18 Sep 2002
Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2002 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.journalnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504
Author: Paul Garber, Journal Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

TRIAL ORDER MEANS JAILED MAN WILL LIKELY GO FREE

Conviction Was Based On Deputies Now Jailed For Trafficking Offenses

LEXINGTON -- A man who was jailed based on testimony from Davidson County 
sheriff's deputies, who were later convicted of drug charges, could be free 
soon.

The N.C. Court of Appeals has granted a new trial to George Lee Branham 
Jr., who is serving a 16-year sentence for drug trafficking.

The case hinged on the testimony of former Lt. David Scott Woodall, Lt. 
Douglas Westmoreland and Sgt. William Rankin of the Davidson County 
Sheriff's Office.

Because the deputies are all now in prison on drug convictions of their 
own, getting a second conviction against Branham would be difficult, said 
District Attorney Garry Frank.

"For all practical purposes, I can't see any way we can try him again," 
Frank said.

It's the first time that the appeals court has ruled on a case involving 
the deputies.

Frank dropped charges pending against more than 30 people whom the deputies 
had helped arrest.

In addition to the drug convictions, the deputies were also charged with 
federal civil-rights violations for falsifying search warrants and evidence.

The decision by the appeals court was not based on the charges against the 
deputies. Instead, the court ruled, Branham deserved a new trial because 
investigators did not allow him to have a parent present during 
questioning. Branham was 16 when he was arrested for selling LSD in 
February 2000.

According to court documents, Branham's mother was in the building when he 
was being questioned. Branham asked that she be present, a right that the 
state grants to juveniles.

Branham's mother told the deputies that she did not want to be present 
because she believed that he would be "snitching" on someone else. After 
Rankin told Braham of his mother's decision, Branham gave a statement about 
the LSD that was introduced at his trial.

In the ruling released yesterday, the court determined that the questioning 
should have stopped once Branham asked for his mother to be present because 
she could not waive his right to have a parent present.

At his trial last year, Branham's attorneys tried to have the statement 
kept out of his trial, but that request was denied.

"I thought the case was very clear," said Bobby McCroskey, one of Branham's 
attorneys.

"If you ask for your parents, they have to be there," McCroskey said.

Woodall, Rankin and Westmoreland pleaded guilty earlier this year to being 
involved in a drug-distribution ring that operated in Davidson County for 
more than two years.

Frank pointed out that Branham admitted involvement with LSD during his 
trial, although not in the quantity he was eventually charged with dealing 
until he was pressed to make a bigger deal by a police informant.

"In effect, the court's ruling will mean I'll have to dismiss the charges 
against a professed drug dealer," Frank said.
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