What is it with some county sheriffs in this country? From Joe Arpaio to Richard Mack, some of these people seem to think that they’re all-powerful and untouchable. Here’s another example, a sheriff in North Carolina who keeps arresting people trying to serve him with a subpoena to testify in a police brutality case.
A judge granted a temporary restraining order against Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter preventing the three-term Republican and his deputies from interfering with attempts to serve subpoenas in the lawsuit filed five years ago.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle found in his order that Carter and other members of the sheriff’s department were “obstructing or otherwise interfering” with attempts to call witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled to start June 2.
Robert Wade was hired to serve a subpoena to Carter at his home, but the 71-year-old man said the sheriff yelled at him and blocked him from leaving until deputies arrived to arrest him.
Wade was charged with trespassing and carrying a concealed weapon…
His attorney said there was no way to ensure that Carter and other key witnesses would testify unless they were served with subpoenas.
“In the environment we live in now where police are under scrutiny for acting out and misbehaving you would think that a sheriff in North Carolina would comply with the law and accept simple service of a piece of paper,” said attorney Kieran Shanahan.
That’s a sheriff who should be out of a job for abusing his power.
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