Pubdate: Tue, 23 Sep 2003
Source: Greensboro News & Record (NC)
Copyright: 2003 Greensboro News & Record, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.news-record.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/173
Author: Eric Collins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

HEGE PROBE MAY SPUR CASE DISMISSALS

LEXINGTON -- Davidson County sheriff's deputies say they were directed to 
stop drivers based solely on their race and ethnicity -- a revelation that 
could lead to some criminal cases being dismissed in court.

Deputies were instructed by Sheriff Gerald Hege to stop anyone "darker than 
snow," and "every Mexican or black guy," according to sworn affidavits from 
a half-dozen deputies.

Those affidavits were unsealed last week in court after Hege was charged 
with embezzlement and obstruction of justice. He has been suspended from 
his duties.

So far, at least one defense attorney is asking the courts to drop a 
criminal charge against her client because of allegations that the Davidson 
County sheriff's department engaged in "racial profiling."

"Every stop becomes suspect," said Mocksville-based attorney Lori 
Hamilton-DeWitt, who filed the motion to dismiss a charge against a 
Hispanic client Monday. She is reviewing all her files to see if any other 
cases could be affected.

State law says officers must have a reason for stopping a driver. Stopping 
people solely based on their race or skin color, not on their behavior or 
driving, meets the criteria of racial profiling, said Sgt. Everett 
Clendenin, a Highway Patrol spokesman.

Though not specifically outlawed by state law, racial profiling is 
prohibited under the federal Civil Rights Act. Plaintiffs are able to sue 
under the act and recover monetary damages. Federal authorities also can 
charge a law enforcement officer with a felony for violating the act, 
though no such charges have been filed.

The affidavits, which also contain other allegations that Hege's 
administration abused its power, will be considered during a hearing Oct. 
27 to determine whether Hege should be removed from office.

On Monday, Hege returned to Superior Court for his initial appearance on 
the 15 criminal charges filed against him. He made no statements in regard 
to the charges. Hege posted a $15,000 secured bond last week and was 
ordered to have no contact with potential state witnesses.

In sworn affidavits to the State Bureau of Investigation, Hege's employees 
described scenarios where Hispanics, in particular, were targeted on busy 
thoroughfares through Davidson County.

Capt. Christopher Coble recalled Hege riding with him on Interstate 85 when 
they came across a Hispanic man driving a small Honda.

"Hege instructed me to stop the car," Coble told the SBI. "I followed the 
Hispanic male and observed his driving. I told Sheriff Hege that I did not 
see the driver do anything wrong and Sheriff Hege told me to pull the car 
because he saw the car weave in its lane. I stopped the car even though I 
did not see the driver do anything wrong."

Coble later determined the man didn't have a driver's license.

Deputy Todd Nifong told the SBI that he believed that members of the 
department's TAC unit were stopping and targeting "anything transporting 
Hispanic drivers with out-of-state license plates," according to his 
affidavit. The TAC unit is responsible for stopping drug traffickers on the 
major highways. Nifong added, "Sheriff Hege has come to me in the past and 
told me to write tickets to whites, blacks and Hispanics to offset the 
profiling that he had the TAC Team doing."

Capt. Jody Shoaf, a Davidson sheriff's spokesman, said he's talked to 
members of the TAC Team and none said they engaged in racial profiling 
while making traffic stops. Though they might have been encouraged to stop 
those of specific races, "I've had no indication the officers did that," he 
said Monday.

Davidson District Attorney Garry Frank said his office is not doing a 
wholesale review of cases involving traffic stops to see if any should be 
dismissed in light of the affidavits. Instead, they will deal with claims 
and motions for dismissal as they come up.

"We'll just have to weed through them and deal with them straight up," 
Frank said.

In the case that Hamilton-DeWitt wants dropped, her client, Fermil A. 
Vargas, was the passenger in a car driven by another Hispanic man. They 
were stopped on Interstate 85 in March.

Though the driver wasn't issued a traffic citation, the officer asked to 
search the car and eventually found cocaine hidden inside, she said. But 
Hamilton-DeWitt questions why they were stopped at all. The officer, she 
said, claimed it was because the driver was unable to maintain his lane. 
She doesn't buy that reasoning after learning of the information in the 
affidavits. She instead believes the car was stopped because two Hispanic 
men were inside.

"It just appeared to be obviously made up," she said.
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