Transparency Tests in Durham, Greensboro, and the State Bar

Durham County’s abuse, neglect, and dependency court effectively prohibited anyone involved in child welfare cases—including parents—from discussing their cases with the media, under a new rule issued in late February. 

The rule change, approved by Chief District Court Judge Clayton Jones Jr., appears to be a response to our three-part investigation with WBTV, “Best Interest of the Child,” which told the stories of parents who temporarily or permanently lost custody of their children under questionable circumstances. The series revealed a system that often fails to achieve the state’s goal of “preventing [the] breakup of the family” where “desirable and possible.”

Jeffery Billman has more on the rule change. 

Apparent Concern

Durham County’s abuse, neglect, and dependency court has effectively prohibited anyone involved in child welfare cases from talking to the media.

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Bar Tabs

A committee that spent the past two months looking at the process the State Bar uses to discipline lawyers and inform the public about misconduct has issued its recommendations to lawmakers.

The seven members of the State Bar Review Committee issued a report on March 13 that suggests tweaking the law and bar grievance process to give attorneys accused of misdeeds and ethics violations more access to evidence gathered in their cases.

The committee also proposed an expungement process that would, in certain cases, give the public less access to records of a lawyer’s misdeeds or disciplinary actions taken against them.

“The committee finds that the impact of professional discipline against an attorney has changed with the advent of the internet and social media,” the 61-page report states.

The committee–which is made up of six Republicans, one Democrat, and no people of color–caused some ripples in the legal community after its first meeting on the matter in January.

Woody White, a lawyer, UNC Board of Governors member, former state senator, and former New Hanover county commissioner, opened that discussion by saying he hoped the committee would discuss the development of a process that would not allow “the public to weaponize things improperly” by filing frivolous complaints “to cancel and to otherwise curb and influence” an attorney’s free speech rights.

Fifteen lawyers in the House Democratic Caucus responded after that meeting with a statement that the State Bar’s disciplinary process is meant “to protect the citizens of North Carolina, not to protect lawyers.” “Attorneys accused of misconduct are entitled to due process but the ultimate results of the process must be transparent to the public,”‘ the House members added.

At a March 4 meeting, Colon Willoughby, a former Wake County district attorney and the sole Democrat on the committee, pushed for erring on the side of more transparency.

The grievance process has multiple steps, and some complaints against a lawyer are quickly dismissed. In 2023, there were 1,504 grievances filed against North Carolina lawyers, according to information provided by Carmen Bannon, counsel for the State Bar. Of those, 1,032 were closed that year. Thirty-eight complaints were resolved with discipline in writing–18 privately, while 20 resulted in a public discipline statement. The cases of 28 lawyers were referred to the Disciplinary Hearing Commission.

“I really think that we need to address confidentiality,” Willoughby said. “I probably would be on the extreme of whenever complaints get filed, they are work for a government agency to do and the public should be aware what work is before that agency and what they do on it should be public.”

Willoughby stated further that he thought there should be public notification if it had been determined that the State Bar needed to take action against the attorney so people could make informed decisions when deciding which attorney they might select to represent them.

The committee also suggests that lawmakers create a procedure through which someone who chronically files “meritless or frivolous complaints” is penalized.

The recommendations, which provide procedures used by other states, will go to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations.

–Anne Blythe

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Privacy v. Transparency in Greensboro

At the end of December, Greensboro police officers responded to a domestic dispute involving then-City Manager Taiwo Jaiyeoba and his two adult daughters. What started at home has since escalated into a legal fight over where to draw the line between Jaiyeoba’s privacy rights and the need for transparency in an incident involving a city official. 

The case has gone through a rollercoaster ride of twists over the last few weeks, after Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour granted the News & Record’s request for body-camera footage and then city officials announced on the day that footage was supposed to be released that they intended to appeal. (The city council requested and viewed the footage and said Greensboro police followed the proper protocols.)

Then, on March 5 the city announced that Jaiyeoba was resigning with a severance package that included his salary–which is $322,052 a year–through June. Mayor Nancy Vaughan and Council Member Tammi Thurm told news outlets that the city manager’s resignation had nothing to do with the domestic incident but was due to an internal policy violation that would have gotten any city employee fired. 

Michael Hewlett has more on the case and the transparency concerns it’s raised.

A Question of Transparency

A Greensboro case tests the limits of the public’s right to know when city officials are involved in police activity.

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Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

A decorated former member of the Army’s elite and ultra-secretive Delta Force, based at Fort Liberty, has been charged with stealing grenades and other military equipment for a second time.

The first case against Parker Allen Gibson was dismissed in 2022 after a federal judge found that prosecutors failed to establish probable cause. The case tanked over unresolved questions about who had access to a storage locker containing at least 20 drones, two live grenades, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, and assorted Delta Force memorabilia. 

The storage unit had been rented by Gibson’s wife, who tipped off authorities to the contents when the couple’s marriage was on the rocks. (Her own position with Joint Special Operations Command also required her to immediately report stolen government property.) Investigators found more military ammunition and drones in a later search of the couple’s house in rural Harnett County.

Now a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina has reviewed the evidence against Gibson, and indicted him on five counts in late February. 

The charges include receiving, concealing, and retaining more than $1,000 worth of military property “with intent to convert to his own use” between 2016 and 2022; stealing, transporting, and concealing grenades that were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record; and possessing documents that included classified information.

Gibson was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart during his military career, which ended with a medical retirement in October 2021, according to a court transcript of the 2022 court hearing. His injuries included a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. He was a drone specialist with high-level training in artillery tactics, explosives, and survival skills. 

Information related to Delta Force is regarded as so sensitive that witnesses in Gibson’s 2022 hearing were instructed to refer to it using only the general terms “special forces group” or “special operations.”

A redacted version of the indictment was unsealed last Wednesday, but it does not give an indication of possible motivation. Records from the earlier case reveal that Gibson had established a drone photography business, Aerial Business Solutions, which has since been dissolved. 

Another soldier based at Fort Liberty was convicted last year of stealing more than $2 million worth of military equipment and reselling it.  The Associated Press also published an investigation last year that featured two brothers stationed there who were caught trying to sell firearms and explosives near the U.S.-Mexico border. And historian Kathleen Belew recounted a long history of weapons flowing from the installation to white power activists in her book Bring the War Home.

Neither Gibson nor his attorney in the earlier case responded to interview requests. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to answer questions.

–Carli Brosseau

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