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Affidavit filed in lawsuit seeking disclosure of Asheville Police Department...
Carolina Public Press press release: ASHEVILLE — As Carolina Public Press and four other local-media outlets prepare for a court hearing Sept. 4, seeking the release of the Asheville Police Department...
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Buncombe DA, auditing manager file statements in APD evidence-room audit case
DA: Audit’s release would ‘jeopardize ongoing or future criminal investigations’ Pictures shared by Blueline Systems & Services Manager Mike Wright at the July Asheville City Council meeting showed...
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Judge hears arguments in public-records lawsuit for Asheville police audit
Letts considering case, will issue ruling Buncombe County Superior Court Judge Bradley Letts presided over a hearing Tuesday about the release of the Asheville Police Department’s evidence-room audit....
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Judge dismisses claims in Asheville police audit lawsuit
Buncombe County Superior Court Judge Bradley Letts. Matt Rose/Carolina Public Press According to attorneys for a coalition of Asheville-area media outlets, Buncombe County Superior Court Judge Bradley...
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Judge dismisses claims for release of Asheville police audit
A Buncombe County Superior Court judge issued his final order dismissing a media coalition’s claim seeking the release of an Asheville Police Department evidence-room audit. Angie Newsome/Carolina...
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For NC evidence association, Asheville’s problems are a cautionary tale
Evidence managers convene to address challenges and fixes; state crime lab director pushes for expanded work in WNC Angie Shuff, the forensics manager for the Durham Police Department, is president of...
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Asheville City Council’s secret talks on evidence audit lawsuit now public
Pictures shared by Blueline Systems & Services Manager Mike Wright at the July Asheville City Council meeting showed some of the storage and filing conditions of evidence in the Asheville Police...
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Recent Asheville evidence audits show minor discrepancies, major space crunch
Recent internal audits of the Asheville Police Department’s new evidence room, which was opened in 2011 after the old evidence room was sealed by investigators, found only minor discrepancies but...
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Asheville police hire new evidence-room manager
Chief: Evidence-room audit recommendations still under wraps APD Chief William Anderson announces the hiring of a new evidence-room manager. Anderson says he now knows who was responsible for the APD’s...
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Buncombe DA ‘hopeful’ evidence-room investigation will end soon
Moore: ‘As I’ve said all along, I will release the report’ Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore, pictured last year with a portion of an unreleased audit of the Asheville Police Department’s...
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Former Asheville evidence-room manager pleads guilty to drug embezzlement
Smith faces maximum of 10 years in prison, $250,000 fine Press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, shared March 28: William Ledessie Smith, III, of Spartanburg, S.C. pleaded guilty today to a...
View ArticlePlea documents shed light on Asheville police evidence case
According to a series of documents filed in U.S. District Court, the Asheville Police Department’s longtime and former evidence manager, William Ledessie Smith III, has confessed to stealing...
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New Asheville police evidence manager sizes up ‘huge undertaking’ ahead
If Tim Scapin, the Asheville Police Department’s new evidence and property manager, needed reminders of how sensitive his position is, he didn’t have to wait long for them. Three months into his job as...
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Asheville police evidence audits show old problems, new approaches
From under a lingering cloud of controversy, the Asheville Police Department has released its latest evidence room audits. The audits, obtained by Carolina Public Press through a public records...
View ArticleSurvey, policies show WNC’s sheriffs have vastly different resources, methods...
Our investigation continues into which WNC sheriffs will share key documents describing how they handle evidence. Two weeks since our first report, more sheriff's offices have released their policies,...
View ArticleMore evidence-room documents released by sheriffs
The second installment of our ongoing investigation yields additional records, while others remain unavailable. Newly released documents from Haywood County indicate concern over "missing items."
View ArticleSunshine Week spotlight: Documents that drove our last year of investigative...
This is Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of open government and citizens’ rights to public information. Public records are often the lifeblood of Carolina Public Press' investigative reporting, so...
View ArticleDebate over Asheville police evidence audit returns in Buncombe DA race
The still-secret report, completed more than two years ago, has loomed large in the primary contest between incumbent Ron Moore and challenger Todd Williams. Both candidates addressed the matter at an...
View ArticleVIDEO: Buncombe County district attorney candidates debate
Two candidates vying to become Buncombe County's next district attorney recently discussed issues ranging from funding to the Asheville Police Department evidence room audit to 'restoring integrity' in...
View ArticleAfter Buncombe DA upset, fate of Asheville police evidence audit still uncertain
Though transparency was a key issue in Todd Williams’ campaign to unseat District Attorney Ron Moore, it remains unclear when the audit, conducted in 2012, will be released to the public.
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