DA: STATE LAB BACKLOG HOLDING UP CASES

A backlog at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab is
affecting a significant number of cases in Cleveland County, according to
District Attorney Bill Young.

Young says most are drug cases in which police have performed a field
test. He says each assistant district attorney keeps up with cases
awaiting lab test results. Young described the situation as a "real
problem" because the county cannot get lab reports in a "timely manner."

"It's usually a test on, say crack cocaine," Young said. "We send the
sample to the SBI lab and it can take nine months to a year to get the
lab results."

That delays the court case, he said, because most defendants will not
enter a plea without the definitive lab results. To a lesser degree,
the backlog at the SBI lab is affecting other cases in Cleveland County.

One of those awaiting the results of a blood test is Chancey Ryan
Moss, 23, of Shelby. On the night of Jan. 20, Moss was involved in a
car wreck on N.C. 18 North. He was charged with driving while impaired
and reckless driving. However, he has not had his day in court. The
case was scheduled for June 7 but has been postponed because the
results of Moss' blood test have not been completed by the SBI lab.

According to the state, Moss's blood sample was received at the lab in
Raleigh on Jan. 30, nine days after the wreck. On April 16, it was
given to SBI Special Agent and chemist Richard Waggoner. When The Star
spoke with Waggoner on June 22, he had not gotten to the Moss DWI
sample to test. Although Waggoner said he could not give specific
information about the tests requested, he talked about the process
involved when a district attorney's office or police department
requests a DWI blood test. He says the length of time it takes to
complete the testing can "vary widely."

"It depends on what's in the case and what's being asked. If you are
looking for alcohol, that's one thing, but there are many drugs and
more complex testing is involved," Waggoner said.

Waggoner could not say when he would have the Moss tests completed. He
will send the results to the district attorney's office or the
investigating police officer. The case has been rescheduled for Aug.
30, in Cleveland District Criminal Court.

A spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County Chapter of Mothers Against
Drunk Driving says the backlog and delays in getting cases to court
creates the potential for drunken drivers to be on the highway. Cheryl
Jones says, under the law, a person charged with DWI loses his license
for 10 days. It's called a "hard revocation."

"After that, their driving privilege is reinstated as a limited
privilege, if they can prove they have insurance. After a full 30
days, the person can get their license back until they go to court,"
Ms. Jones said.

Meanwhile, Moss, his family and the family of the man critically
injured in the wreck are all waiting for the case to get to court.
Without talking about his guilt or innocence, Moss said the wreck has
changed his life.

"I thought I was indestructible. I know now that I affect other
people. It has changed my life and my wife's," Moss said.

According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, William Kelly Edwards of Shelby
was driving a 1986 Chevy pickup and was hit by a 2000 Mitsubishi
Eclipse, driven by Moss. According to the records in the Cleveland
County Clerk of Court's office, Moss had one earlier speeding
conviction in November 1998.

A letter from Carolinas Medical Center placed in the case file at the
clerk of court's office described Edwards' injuries as follows:

" ... multiple injuries, including: lower extremity and pelvic
fractures, lumbar process fractures, rib fractures."

According to his wife, Hope, Edwards also had pneumonia and multiple
surgeries. He was airlifted to Carolinas Medical, where he is still
undergoing treatments.

After years of working for other companies and living through multiple
layoffs, Edwards had turned a hobby into a full-time business, Edwards
Appliance Workshop. He had opened his own successful repair shop just
three minutes from their home on N.C. 18. The night of the wreck,
Edwards was headed home from the shop.

Moss had stopped by his mother's house to get her advice on filling
out the forms for his health insurance.

"I had started a job three months earlier as a forklift operator and
could just sign up for insurance," Moss said.

Moss, too, was taken to the hospital the night of the wreck. The
impact crushed his left ankle and left him with head trauma, a
lacerated spleen, and gashes and bruises from the seatbelt. He still
walks with a cane and wears a "boot" on his left foot. He says the
ankle is held together by pins and metal plates.

This was his first, full-time job since finishing a tour of duty with
the Navy in March 2003. Moss had been a corpsman, attached to the
Marines at Camp Lejeune. While in the military, Moss had married his
Cleveland County sweetheart, Amanda. The two had begun to build a life
together back in their home community, surrounded by family and friends.

"It took us a while to get settled," Moss said. "Jobs were not
available. There were layoffs left and right."

While he was still recovering, Moss said the minister of Mount Sinai
Baptist Church in Shelby visited him and Amanda three times. Those
visits impressed the young couple so much they've been re-baptized and
joined the church. The couple says they feel called to the ministry.
They often testify to youth groups.

"We say that you can't use God to make you look good," Mrs. Moss said.
"You have to have the will to know what's right and wrong and care
about other people."

"I used God as a background," Moss said. "I was a young, wild
teen-ager. I went to the military to straighten up and make something
of myself. I know now that you can't live without God."

Meanwhile, the Edwards family continues to struggle. Hope Edwards had
to close the family's appliance repair shop.

"I had to close the shop. We have no insurance, except Medicaid for
the kids," Mrs. Edwards said. "My family and Kelly's take care of the
children and come here to relieve me. We are truly blessed for that."