TRIAL ORDER MEANS JAILED MAN WILL LIKELY GO FREE

Conviction Was Based On Deputies Now Jailed For Trafficking Offenses

LEXINGTON -- A man who was jailed based on testimony from Davidson County
sheriff's deputies, who were later convicted of drug charges, could be free
soon.

The N.C. Court of Appeals has granted a new trial to George Lee Branham
Jr., who is serving a 16-year sentence for drug trafficking.

The case hinged on the testimony of former Lt. David Scott Woodall, Lt.
Douglas Westmoreland and Sgt. William Rankin of the Davidson County
Sheriff's Office.

Because the deputies are all now in prison on drug convictions of their
own, getting a second conviction against Branham would be difficult, said
District Attorney Garry Frank.

"For all practical purposes, I can't see any way we can try him again,"
Frank said.

It's the first time that the appeals court has ruled on a case involving
the deputies.

Frank dropped charges pending against more than 30 people whom the deputies
had helped arrest.

In addition to the drug convictions, the deputies were also charged with
federal civil-rights violations for falsifying search warrants and evidence.

The decision by the appeals court was not based on the charges against the
deputies. Instead, the court ruled, Branham deserved a new trial because
investigators did not allow him to have a parent present during
questioning. Branham was 16 when he was arrested for selling LSD in
February 2000.

According to court documents, Branham's mother was in the building when he
was being questioned. Branham asked that she be present, a right that the
state grants to juveniles.

Branham's mother told the deputies that she did not want to be present
because she believed that he would be "snitching" on someone else. After
Rankin told Braham of his mother's decision, Branham gave a statement about
the LSD that was introduced at his trial.

In the ruling released yesterday, the court determined that the questioning
should have stopped once Branham asked for his mother to be present because
she could not waive his right to have a parent present.

At his trial last year, Branham's attorneys tried to have the statement
kept out of his trial, but that request was denied.

"I thought the case was very clear," said Bobby McCroskey, one of Branham's
attorneys.

"If you ask for your parents, they have to be there," McCroskey said.

Woodall, Rankin and Westmoreland pleaded guilty earlier this year to being
involved in a drug-distribution ring that operated in Davidson County for
more than two years.

Frank pointed out that Branham admitted involvement with LSD during his
trial, although not in the quantity he was eventually charged with dealing
until he was pressed to make a bigger deal by a police informant.

"In effect, the court's ruling will mean I'll have to dismiss the charges
against a professed drug dealer," Frank said.