BREAKING NEWS: 12th St. Siege case dismissed because of a bungle by sheriff's deputies before the defense could present its case. | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    It was not a good day for the Beaufort County Sheriff's Department. The case against Carter Leary in the June 15, 2011, 12th street siege case was thrown out of court before the defense even put on its case.

    We'll have a full report later, so check back for the full story. But the breaking news is that Judge Regina Parker dismissed the state's case because the Sheriff's Department witnesses did not comply with an order of the court issued at the beginning of the trial. Leary's attorney, Les Robinson, after devastating the testimony of sheriff deputies upon cross examination, moved that the case be dismissed because the witnesses did not comply with the order to remain out of the courtroom while the trial was going on. We were told by DA Seth Edwards that: "We learned that one of the bailiffs mistakenly advised the other deputies (who had not testified) that the case was over and the lawyers were doing the final arguments, so that is why they came in the courtroom. The bailiff admitted that to the judge. However, that did not change the result-you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube."

    Robinson had made a motion at the start of the trial, which was granted by the judge, to sequester the witnesses (similar to sequestering a jury) so that they would not have the benefit of what questions were asked and what the other witnesses before them had testified to. A reliable source tells us some of the witnesses used cell phones during the trial and that this could have prejudiced their testimony. But the obvious violation came when deputies who had not yet testified came into the courtroom while the trial was still going on.

    The action to dismiss the case followed a long sidebar conference between the judge, Robinson, Ray Cameron the Assistant District Attorney and Seth Edwards, the District Attorney and Cameron's boss, who sat in as an observer in most of the case.

    Robinson argued that the witnesses prejudiced Leary's right to a fair trial by tainting their testimonies by hearing part of the trial. Robinson successfully argued that the fault could not be remedied by a new trial because the damage had already been done.

    You can read the earlier stories about the cases in our series of To Protect and Serve.

    The other case, a more serious felony case against Leary's nephew Gary Gautier has been sent to the Grand Jury. We'll let you know what happens in that case as it develops.

    Check back later for corrections and updates to this story.