DAVIDSON WON'T GO TO JAIL, BUT CAN'T BE COP

An Edenton police officer charged with evidence tampering has pleaded
no contest to a lesser charge of willfully failing to discharge his
duties. Michael Aaron Davidson, 32, won't spend any time in jail but
he will have to surrender his law enforcement certification, court
officials said Thursday. Davidson, of 437 Ryland Road, was sentenced
Tuesday to 30 days in jail, suspended on the condition he complete 18
months of unsupervised probation and pay $545 in fines and court courts.

One of the conditions of his probation is that he resign from his
police officer job with the Edenton Police Department and surrender
his law enforcement certification in North Carolina permanently.
Davidson had been an officer with the Edenton department for nearly
three years when he was put on administrative leave last summer. At
the time, he was employed as a detective.

Under his plea agreement, Davidson was convicted of a misdemeanor that
prohibits government officials from neglecting, omitting or refusing
to carry out their sworn duties.

Assistant District Attorney Linda Shields said the district attorney's
office is satisfied with the plea arrangement.

"We just thought it would accomplish our goal, which was for him to
lose his law enforcement certification," Shields said.

If Davidson's case had gone to trial, his sentence might not have
resulted in jail time, Shields said.

Of Davidson's sentence, Shields said: "I think that it shows that he's
not above the law and will not be in any type of position like that
again." Because of the allegations Davidson was facing -- that he
tampered with evidence and planted evidence on suspects -- the district
attorney's office is dealing with cases he investigated on a
case-by-case basis, she said. While she is not aware of any current
complaints from suspects Davidson arrested, it's possible some arise
in the future, she said. The State Bureau of Investigation inquiry
into Davidson's conduct began July 25 at the request of District
Attorney Frank Parrish. A magistrate's order indicated that probable
cause existed to show Davidson switched, or changed, the denomination
of $380 in cash confiscated during a drug investigation. He was later
charged with tampering with evidence in a criminal case, a felony. The
SBI investigation turned out to be the third involving Davidson. He
was also investigated by the SBI while working as a police officer in
Kinston and as a sheriff's Deputy for the Tyrrell County Sheriff's
Office. The Kinston probe began in 2000 after a crime suspect accused
Davidson of planting evidence on him. The Tyrrell probe began in 2001
after $2,800 Davidson had seized from a crime suspect turned up
missing from the sheriff's office. According to court documents,
Davidson had the only key to the box containing the funds. Both SBI
inquiries were later closed with no charges filed.