November/December 2022 Newsletter

The Durham County District Attorney’s Office newsletter highlights the work staff do in and out of the courthouse.

In the Community

DA Deberry Presents to Rotary Club

Durham DA Satana Deberry presented to the Durham Rotary Club on December 5. She gave an overview of the court process and the role of the district attorney. In addition she discussed how the office works to prioritize serious offenses, expand the use of restorative justice, and utilize diversion programs to help people with substance use or mental illness avoid new offenses.

If you’d like someone from the Durham DA’s Office to present to your organization, please email Durham.DA.Community@nccourts.org.

New In Session Episode Focuses on Homicide Cases

The Durham DA’s Office released a new episode of In Session — this time focusing on homicide cases. DA Deberry spoke to Lt. Quincey Tait with the Durham Police Department about the process of investigating homicides, what it’s like investigating these difficult cases, and how the DA’s Office and DPD work together on homicide cases.

On each episode of In Session, DA Deberry is joined by a local leader or expert to dig deeper into issues of justice, safety and equity facing our community. Watch the latest episode here:

In the Office

DA’s Office Thanks Judge Hudson, Clerk of Court Smith for Service

The Durham County Courthouse saw two notable retirements — Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson and Clerk of Superior Court Archie Smith. Smith led the Clerk’s Office for 20 years, while Hudson served as a public defender and assistant district attorney before becoming a judge in 1984 and Senior Resident Judge in 1995. The Durham DA’s Office thanks them both for their leadership and extensive service to Durham County.

Communication Specialist Takes Part in New DA Training

Communication Specialist Sarah Willets presented as part of the orientation training for newly elected or appointed district attorneys. Hosted by the Conference of District Attorneys, the training was attended by district attorneys from across the state. Willets presented about the Durham DA’s Office’s efforts to build understanding about the work of prosecutors through media, web content and social media.

In the Courts

Recently closed cases include:

• Assistant District Attorneys Kendra Montgomery-Blinn and Blake Norman obtained a first-degree murder conviction during a three-week trial. The jury found the defendant guilty on November 22 of fatally shooting his girlfriend’s brother in their apartment on March 19, 2019. The State argued the defendant had become abusive toward his girlfriend and her brother had tried to intervene. Evidence presented at trial included text messages between the two men prior to the shooting and a recording of a 911 call during which shots were fired.
• Assistant District Attorneys Alex Herskowitz and Daniel Spiegel obtained convictions at trial in a significant drug case. On November 22, a jury found the defendant guilty of two felonies: possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine and maintaining a house for the keeping or selling of controlled substances. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on two more serious charges for drug trafficking. The charges related to a December 8, 2018, arrest, when law enforcement officers surveilling the defendant pulled him over leaving a house on Stillview Drive. A search of the home yielded approximately 2.3 kilos of cocaine as well as gloves, plastic and cutting agents to dilute the drugs. Evidence introduced at trial included phone calls recorded via a federal wire tap in which the defendant discussed drug shipments and accessing the Stillview Drive house, as well as video captured by a law enforcement surveillance plane showing the defendant driving from his residence to the stash house.
• Assistant District Attorney Mary Jude Darrow secured a conviction in a 2021 shooting that killed one man and injured another outside of a store on Holloway Street. One of three co-defendants pleaded guilty on November 29 to voluntary manslaughter, a Class D felony. ADA Darrow stated in court that the defendant did not initiate the shooting and did not fire a weapon until after seeing her younger brother shot multiple times. In light of this fact, the court found extraordinary mitigation was appropriate at sentencing.
• ADA Blake Norman closed a 2020 domestic violence homicide with a guilty plea. The defendant pleaded guilty on December 14 to second-degree murder for the fatal abuse of his girlfriend. Police found her deceased in their apartment on March 15, 2020, having suffered from blunt force trauma and kidney failure. In addition, the defendant pleaded guilty to felony child abuse; minor children witnessed the abuse and were made to take part by the defendant. He received an aggravated prison sentence.
• ADA Michael Wallace secured a conviction in the 2020 murder of a North Carolina Central University student. Wallace stated in court the victim had met the defendant at an apartment complex on March 2, 2020, to purchase marijuana. Surveillance cameras captured the victim getting out of a car, getting into a car with the defendant and then returning to his car. The defendant is then seen walking up to the victim’s car, raising his arm and firing a gun. The defendant previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced on December 12.
• ADA Brooks Stone closed a case involving a family medicine doctor who groped two patients and one employee. The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of sexual battery and two counts of assault on a female. Among other sanctions, the defendant is barred from contacting the victims and providing in-person medical care going forward.
• ADA Stone also secured convictions against a man who raped a relative’s girlfriend’s child in 2020. The defendant entered an Alford plea on November 8 to first-degree kidnapping (a Class C felony) first-degree statutory sex offense, and first degree-statutory rape (both Class B1 felonies). In addition to a prison sentence, the defendant must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
• Assistant District Attorney Erika Johnson secured convictions against a man who stabbed his then-wife in the stomach in February 2020. ADA Johnson stated in court that the defendant stabbed the victim and prevented her from leaving their home, and when she tried to call 911, he threw her phone, breaking it. The defendant pleaded guilty on December 14 to assault on a female, interfering with emergency communications, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill (a Class E felony).
• ADA Montgomery-Blinn closed a case using a restorative justice process. The defendant was charged with larceny of a dog after stealing a puppy from the Animal Protection Society of Durham. The defendant, who was 19 at the time, returned the puppy and turned himself in days later. In light of the defendant’s age and remorse, ADA Montgomery-Blinn referred the case to Post-Arrest Diversion. Through the program, the defendant completed a restorative justice process with the APS, cognitive behavioral therapy, and a donation drive to benefit the APS. Upon successful completion of those requirements, the larceny charge was dismissed.