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Magistrate charged
Published Friday, May 15, 2009
AHOSKIE – A veteran Hertford County Magistrate faces criminal charges in a case that dates back to January.
Yesterday (Friday), a criminal summons for simple assault, a misdemeanor charge, was filed against Leonard Mobley, the county’s Senior Magistrate.
The man against whom Mobley allegedly assaulted on Jan. 14, Jerome Cross of Ahoskie, was also charged in the four-month-old case. A criminal summons was drawn-up against Cross on the charge of disorderly conduct by using abusive language.
As of News-Herald press time at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, neither man had yet to be served the paperwork. Both have 9 a.m. court dates on June 11 in Winton.
In regards to the length of time between the January incident and Friday’s criminal action, Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh said this was a unique case.
“For starters, the law allows us a two-year statute of limitations to work an investigation on a misdemeanor case,” Fitzhugh said. “This particular case is less than six-months old.”
In regards to the uniqueness of the case, Fitzhugh said, “This is not a normal thing we see every day – a magistrate involved in a confrontation with an arrestee. That fact alone takes an added effort on our part to see how to handle such an incident. This was a first for us.”
The incident that led to the charges against the two men began in the early morning hours of Jan. 14.
According to information supplied by Fitzhugh, APD Patrol Officer Chad Wheeler arrested Cross for trespassing at a West Church Street residence around 4:30 a.m. on that date. Cross was transported to the Ahoskie Police Department for processing prior to being taken to the Hertford County Detention Center in Winton.
Mobley was the Magistrate working that night. At some point during the time Cross was being processed, the arrestee allegedly launched his verbal attack on Mobley. In turn, Mobley allegedly struck Cross twice in the face. Officer Wheeler confirmed both of those allegations yesterday when he was called to the APD office to offer information before a Chowan County Magistrate. Fitzhugh said an out-of-district Magistrate was used per the request of local Chief District Court Judge Al Kwasikpui who supervises all magistrates working in Judicial District 6B (Bertie, Hertford and Northampton counties).
When asked if Cross ever initiated criminal proceedings, through the Ahoskie Police Department, against Mobley, Fitzhugh said he did not.
“After the Jan. 14 incident allegedly took place, Mr. Cross called my office once in regards to what action he should take,” Fitzhugh said. “He left a message to the effect of when I was going to arrest Mr. Mobley. I returned Mr. Cross’ call and informed him that for us to begin an investigation, he would have to meet with us in our office. He agreed to that meeting, but never showed-up on the day it was scheduled.”
In another part of this case, Fitzhugh confirmed that an administrative hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 21 in Hertford County Superior Court. That hearing, apparently arranged by Judge Kwasikpui, only deals with Mobley’s status as a Magistrate.
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Comments
Posted by coastie (anonymous) on May 16, 2009 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Keep your head up "DUKE". Your still awesome in our book. I can only imagine what that "voting citizen" said to you.
Posted by Freida (anonymous) on May 16, 2009 at 4:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No surprise to me that they want to punish a good, hard working tax paying citizen. If that dude had been in his own home early that morning instead of creeping in somebody else's where he didn't belong, all of this would not have happened. Just shows the lack of "Cross'" respect for all in the community!
Posted by theirlifeline (anonymous) on May 18, 2009 at 11:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We are behind you!! I agree with Frieda!
Posted by 27910 (anonymous) on May 19, 2009 at 12:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Poor example for a Justice of the Peace. He showed no self control and therefore he should be removed from his office. I have all respect for him and the other officials, but when you violate the law as any other tax paying citizen, you must be handled.
Posted by 5401 (anonymous) on May 20, 2009 at 9:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's sad this had to happen but his rights were violated--by the officer for not taking Cross to the hospital as he asked. What if this had really gotten out of hand and he (Cross) needed medical attention right away and died the following day in jail. The magistrate shouldn't lose his job but some action--like a suspension without pay and fine should take place. Regardless of what was said to the magistrate, he lost his composure and the police officer didn't do his duty to protect Cross while in his custody. An apology is in order from each of them to one another.
Posted by Freida (anonymous) on May 21, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To 5401...you obviously don't know the whole story. Listen to the audio on line to see what really happened. I also doubt there was any real danger of him dying in jail. People get hurt every day on the street worse than that and survive.. You are just wanting to criticize the police dept. for doing a job that most people can't or won't do! As far as an apology goes, you owe the officer one for judging him and his actions before knowing all the facts! If you are basing your comments on what you "know" by the news media, then you didn't get the WHOLE story. You only heard what they wanted you to hear. Like I said, go on line and hear the audio if you want the truth!!!!!
Posted by bev (anonymous) on May 21, 2009 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
An apology??? LOL!! 5401... you owe that police officer an apology. WHY DONT YOU LISTEN TO THE AUDIO, you would hear that officer call his supervisor in reference to taking him to get medical attention. Come on now.. do you really think he needed medical attention? Cross carried that audio devise with an agenda, to try to get someone else in trouble. I guess you could say that he got what he wanted.. to get struck. Keep in mind, he stated that he was "satisfied" after getting struck. I do not agree with Mobley losing his composure, I guess he had heard all he was going to hear after listening to the remarks for 15 or more minutes. .. again.. listen to the audio. 5401.. you have to agree that law enforcement are always the first ones criticized when something like this happens, but yet when someone has a problem they dont hesitate to call on them. It's a shame they have to "protect criminal's rights".
I feel like while anyone is under arrest, they should have NO rights. This just goes to show you what law enforcement has to deal with, it's SAD. Again, I dont agree with Mobleys behavior, but at the same time, if Cross had not violated the law, he wouldnt have been sitting in front of a magistrate anyway, now would he? I guess when you have a problem 5401, you should try handeling it yourself instead of calling on law enforcement.....they obviously may be too busy to come to your "rescue" because they are out there "protecting criminal's rights". It's a real shame that our tax paid dollars are wasted by all of these hard working law enforcement officials being tied up in court over a "fine citizen" such as Cross.
Posted by 5401 (anonymous) on May 21, 2009 at 9:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I did listen to the audio and yes the magistrate was provoked if you want to call it that. We can't have a "police state" where criminals have NO rights. What then constitutes a crime in the "state" you want to live in? Who is the criminal; is it the shop-lifter, the traffic light runner, the driver that throws a cigarette butt out the window of the car? The largest group of litterers in the world! If he was provoked by what Cross said then we may be missing the "rest" of the story. There must be some history between the two if he decided to bring a tape recorder. What happened to the pat-down by the officer to check for weapons and such? The recorder would have been found. I didn't say he needed medical attention; re-read the post. I wholeheartedly RESPECT our men in blue and know what they must go through. Bev, I hope you never get provoked to the point of aggravated assault and go to jail. You won't have any rights either. Some mistakes are worst than others. Frieda you're right the officer was doing what he was told but does that make it right? No broken jaw this time. Protect and serve no matter if it is a good citizen or criminal. When criminals stop having rights you will see blood shed like never before. Get real now. Frieda, what if we haven't heard all of the audio like that Birmingham police car video tape in the news now? Eleven seconds of tape was missing when it was originally introduced. The details depend on who you know.
Mobley didn't have to listen to Cross, just process him.
Posted by peopletalk (anonymous) on June 1, 2009 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
According to Mr. Cross he was provoke into asking why the Magistrate would have him arrested for trespassing at his own home. Cross said the magistrate had spoken to Pressley at lease 2 times before and the magistrate knew he lived there and paid rent. So, why was he arrested for trespassing, Cross said the magistrate had no right or reason to tell him not to return home. Cross said if the magistrate had just done his job and taken Cross's complaint none of this would have happen
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