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© 2005 The Charlotte Observer Vol. 136, No. 135

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CRAVEN, CARTERET AND PAMLICO COUNTIES

STATEWIDE

Highest Acquittal Rate

SOURCE: Observer analysis of state courts data

Only trials in which judges issued a verdict are counted.

JASON WHITLEY – STAFF

The trial acquittal rate in Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties is the highest in North Carolina. The percentage of DWI trials* that ended in acquittals from 2000 to mid-2004:

87% 39%

EW BERN — Over the lunchbuffet at Shoney’s, some ofthe most successful triallawyers in coastal Carteret,

Craven and Pamlico counties decidedit was time to get rid of a local judge.

Chief District Court Judge LeeLumpkin was known for treatingdrunken drivers firmly and showingno favoritism to attorneys.

But in the fall of 1995, a group oflawyers known as the Hope Founda-tion embarked on a plan to defeatLumpkin. Those who opposedLumpkin included Marc Chesnutt,Roger Crowe and John Nobles, threeof the most successful DWI defenselawyers in North Carolina.

The Hope Foundation lawyers re-cruited Paul Quinn, a small-townmayor five years out of law school, torun against Lumpkin, a veteran judgeof 13 years. Local attorneys contribut-ed more than $14,000 to Quinn’s cam-paign.

Quinn and other lawyers began toattack Lumpkin’s work ethic in localnewspapers, contending he too oftenworked short hours.

“We went to work to kill (Lump-kin),” recalls attorney Claud WheatlyJr., a Quinn supporter who is the se-nior partner of Carteret County’slargest law firm.

That November, Quinn won aclose race – 25,478 votes to 24,517.

Defense lawyers keep Quinn busythese days. From 2000 to mid-2004,he acquitted more DWI suspects thanany other judge in the three-countyjudicial district, and more than all buta few judges statewide.

Carteret, Craven and Pamlicocounties have the highest DWI trialacquittal rate of any judicial district inNorth Carolina.

In this region of fishing villages,Victorian homes and pirate history,prominent lawyers have worked foryears to shape the judicial bench.They’ve handpicked candidates andbacked them with campaign checksand letters to the governor.

They say they expect no favorsfrom the judges they support.

Four District Court judges de-clined to be interviewed. The fifth,Judge Peter Mack, said he treats thelawyers who supported his judicialappointment the same as those whodidn’t.

“We make decisions based on thefacts and circumstances in each case,regardless of who the lawyer is,”Mack said.

But an Observer investigation intojudges’ rulings on DWI cases in thedistrict raises questions about a legalsystem where lawyers often worksuccessfully to help judges get andkeep their jobs.

JUDGES UNDERTHE INFLUENCE?

PROMINENT DEFENSE LAWYERS in Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties help judges

get appointed and elected. When those lawyers take DWI cases to trial, they rarely lose.

Two judges have said they felt warned by attorneys: Play ball, or risk losing your job.

JEFF SINER – STAFF PHOTOS

BY AMES ALEXANDER | STAFF WRITER

The LawyersThree lawyers handle more than half

the DWI trials in the district. One, John

Nobles, won 203 straight DWI trials

decided by judges from 2000 to

mid-2004. His son, Hamilton, was

charged three times with DWI, tested

over the alcohol limit in each case, and

got off every time (see story, Page 9A).

Last month, John Nobles was ap-

pointed a Superior Court judge.

The JudgesFour judges refused to be interviewed

by the Observer. The fifth, Peter Mack,

says he treats all cases fairly. In 97

DWI trials in which he rendered a ver-

dict, he acquitted 93 defendants. Mack

was appointed a District Court judge in

2003 by Gov. Mike Easley. At least two

prominent local attorneys contacted

Easley’s office to support Mack.

The PoliceWrenn Johnson, Morehead City’s po-

lice chief, says she doesn’t think the lo-

cal courts take DWI seriously enough.

“North Carolina claims to be so tough

on drinking and driving, and in Carteret

County, we are not. I think the judges

are not abiding by the law. … We know

there’s a problem. What are we going

to do about it?”

SEE DWI|8A

N

ON WWW.CHARLOTTE.COM/NEWSRead previous Observer DWI investigations,including “DWI: Sobering Acquittals.”

2A| Earlier DWI series led reportersto take closer look at 3 coastal counties

NEXT WORKPLACE BATTLE: Big FMLA changes would affect workers, businesses 1DRICHMOND RACE

Kasey Kahnegets first

Cup victoryIn Sports

Special coveragein Arts &

Entertainment

By Dianne Whitacre

Staff Writer

With construction under wayon Charlotte’s first light-rail line,officials are already bracing forcontroversies expected next yearover which line gets built next –and which communities will getbusways instead of train lines.

Consultants are now at workcalculating what those new lineswould cost and how many peo-ple will ride. But it is alreadyclear Charlotte Area Transit Sys-tem will not have enough moneyto provide trains to all five routes.

The decision on what gets

built first and who gets trains andwho gets busways could pit sec-tions of the city against eachother and suburban townsagainst the city. And making thedecision will be a transit com-mission controlled by the Meck-lenburg County towns that sur-round Charlotte.

Supporters say rapid transit,along with building roads, is amust as the Charlotte regionstruggles with sprawling growth.Critics say that the moneyshould be used to widen existingroads instead of building transitthat few will ride.

The major decisions that willshape Charlotte’s transit futurewill be made in the next 18

CHARLOTTE-AREA TRANSPORTATION

Transit’s bigdebate: Whogets what?

–––––––

Some who want trainswill get buses; next lineto be built is undecided

–––––––

SEE TRANSPORTATION|4A

THE ROUTES4A| Details and maps of thepotential new routes.

By Celeste Smith

Staff Writer

The story of the growing sub-urbs seems predictable – cowsgive way to cars, farms fall forsubdivisions.

But look closer.On your next drive out of the

city fringes, slow down and ob-serve your surroundings. Youmay find “a place out of place.”

It’s the gas station that sellsSlim Jims and tomato plants. Orthe corner store that still uses anold-fashioned register. And thestore that takes pride in havinglong-standing patrons.

“We’ve got customers whohave traded with us for a longtime, who have children, andchildren’s children, who come

in,” said Bynum Poe, president ofthe Farmer’s Exchange in RockHill. The business, started in 1939by Poe’s grandfather, still makesanimal feed – even though mostof its shoppers now are newhomeowners seeking gardensupplies.

The experts contend thatchanging communities still needlinks to the past for “cultural con-tinuity.”

“If we want to understand thata place has an ongoing story, andwe are just on one page of a bigbook, we’ve got to know thepages that preceded us,” said lo-cal historian Dan Morrill, con-sulting director for the Char-lotte-Mecklenburg HistoricLandmarks Commission.

DIEDRA LAIRD – STAFF PHOTO

Geese from the Phillips farm cross busy Beatties Ford Road,interrupting traffic, to be fed scratch by employees at The Old Storeon Brown Mill Road near Huntersville.

THE PAST AMIDTHE PRESENT

Pockets of history, local color nestle in thefolds of Charlotte region’s growing suburbs

A LOOK AT 5 “PLACES OUT OF PLACE,” PAGES 6-7A