North Carolina News – April 8

RONNIE LONG-COMPENSATION

Man who was wrongly imprisoned for 44 years gets $750,000

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A man who served nearly 44 years in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit has received compensation from the state of North Carolina. Ronnie Long told The Charlotte Observer that it’s not nearly enough. Long received $750,000. It is by law the state’s top compensation for victims of wrongful incarceration. Long was convicted of raping the widow of a Cannon Mills executive in 1976 by an all-white jury in Concord. Potentially exculpatory evidence was either intentionally withheld from his defense team or disappeared. And there was a tampered pool of potential jurors. A federal court overturned Long’s conviction. And he was pardoned by Gov. Roy Cooper. Long walked free six weeks after his mother’s death.

BC-SEVERE WEATHER-SOUTH

New Orleans streets flood; more storms expected across South

Torrential rains have flooded several streets in New Orleans ahead of what forecasters say could be a stormy period across the South. The National Weather Service said a flash flood warning early Thursday covered parts of Jefferson and Orleans parishes in the New Orleans area. Emergency management officials say that several roads were impassible after 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in a short time Thursday morning. The flooding comes as forecasters warn of severe storms on Friday from Texas and Oklahoma to the Carolinas. Parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama will be at the highest risk of several storms Friday.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-PRISONER VACCINES

Advocates: Prisons need better vaccine education for inmates

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Advocates for prison inmates say more needs to be done to educate prisoners about coronavirus vaccines because large numbers of them are declining the shots. Prison officials say they are providing information about the vaccines to prisoners. But advocates say outside experts and trusted community members need to be brought in. Officials at the federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, held town halls and posted information around the prison before vaccinations began in January. But more than 200 of the nearly 550 inmates who were offered the shots refused to take them. More than 5,500 state and county prisoners in Massachusetts have refused the vaccines.

AP-US-SOUTH-CAROLINA-SHOOTING-REPORT

AP source: NFL player Phillip Adams killed 5, then himself

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A source briefed on a mass killing in South Carolina says the gunman who killed five people including a prominent doctor was former NFL player Phillip Adams. The source tells AP that Adams shot himself to death early Thursday with a .45-caliber weapon. The source said he was briefed on the investigation, but was not authorized to speak publicly. The source said Adams had been treated by Dr. Robert Lesslie, and that his parents lived nearby in Rock Hill. The victims also included Lesslie’s wife Barbara, their grandchildren Adah and Noah, and a man working outside, James Lewis.

EX-DEPUTIES-LAWSUIT

Ex-N Carolina deputies sue sheriff after reporting comments

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Two former North Carolina deputies have filed a lawsuit in federal court against a sheriff, alleging he fired them in retaliation for reporting his friend’s racist and homophobic comments. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports Wake County deputies Steven Williamson and Alvis Speight say they lost their jobs one month after Sheriff Gerald Baker’s election in 2018 because they told supervisors about Lt. Teddy Patrick’s behavior during a training session one year earlier. According to the lawsuit, Patrick said he ‘didn’t believe in being gay’ and did not like ’gay people.” Baker disputed the accusation in 2019, but didn’t respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

HUSBAND FATALLY BEATEN

Bond set for father, daughter in North Carolina murder case

LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man and his daughter who were sentenced to prison in the 2015 death of an Irish businessman have been released on bond, weeks after the North Carolina Supreme court agreed that their convictions should be reversed. Prosecutors have not said whether they intend to pursue a retrial against Thomas Martens and Molly Corbett. The two were sentenced in August 2017 to 20 to 25 years in prison for the death of Corbett’s husband at a home in a golf course community in Davidson County. A 4-3 majority of the North Carolina Supreme Court last month said that the two must get a new trial after certain evidence was wrongly excluded.

AP-NC-POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS

North Carolina police chief resigns amid investigation

CHADBOURN, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina police chief placed on administrative leave after it was determined that he failed to produce evidence in multiple cases has resigned from the job. News outlets report Chadbourn Mayor Phillip Britt announced the resignation of Police Chief Anthony Spivey, which is effective immediately. Spivey was placed on paid administrative leave on March 5 after District Attorney Jon David recommended that the town suspend him due to issues with the police department’s evidence locker. Spivey had served as police chief of Chadbourn since 2018. Lt. Ken Elliott will continue serving as interim police chief.

BOY SHOT-ARREST

Police: Teen charged in shooting that struck boy, 4, in arm

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina say they’ve arrested a 17-year-old in connection with a shooting that left a 4-year-old boy wounded. The Winston-Salem Journal reported Tuesday that teenager is accused by the city’s police of firing a gun from a car toward a crowd of people. The 4-year-old is Semaj Da-von Roseborough. He was struck in his arm while he was playing on the sidewalk. He was treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Police said the 17-year-old was driving a stolen vehicle when he was arrested. He is being held in juvenile detention. Police said he is the second person charged in Semaj’s shooting.