SHERIFF'S SCANDAL POSES MORE POTENTIAL TROUBLE

Davidson County residents have endured the embarrassment of having three
sheriff's deputies busted for trafficking illegal drugs. Now, county
taxpayers are facing the potential of financial penalty because of the
deputies' lawlessness. A Salisbury man has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District
Court in Greensboro alleging that he was beaten by one of the three
drug-enforcement officers while another Davidson County sheriff's deputy
looked on. The lawsuit also alleges that the man's car was heavily damaged
by the deputies during a search.

Richard Hailey Jr., 22, was one of more than 30 defendants who had charges
dismissed in Davidson County in December after the three deputies - Scott
Woodall, Doug Westmoreland and Billy Rankin - were arrested on federal
drug-trafficking charges. Hailey had been charged with assaulting a
law-enforcement officer and possession of cocaine.

Hailey's lawsuit contends his 14th Amendment rights against unreasonable
search and seizure were violated. He also seeks more than $10,000 in
compensation.

The argument Hailey's lawsuit uses directly links his treatment by
sheriff's deputies and the illegal actions of the three deputies.

"At the time the officers advanced the false charges," the lawsuit claims,
"they knew the same were not true but conspired to tell falsehoods to
justify the illegal acts they were engaged in."

Hailey's allegations also fault Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege for not
adequately training and controlling his deputies.

It will be interesting to see how the federal courts handle this lawsuit.
It's the first one to be filed that makes allegations related to the
conduct of the disgraced drug-enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to
the federal charges.

Davidson County's attorneys may have a hard time defending against such
allegations. A huge problem for the defense is that the three deputies have
no credibility. If a plaintiff says, for example, that he or she was
unjustly beaten by one of the deputies, it will be hard for the county to
counter such a claim. A law-enforcement officer with credibility stands of
good chance of deflecting such an allegation simply by offering the
officer's side of the story, but an officer guilty of drug-trafficking does
not.

The question for Davidson County officials could become whether the county
should settle out of court if more of these kinds of lawsuits arise. But
the answer to that question will depend a great deal on how this initial
lawsuit is resolved.

Davidson County's taxpayers should keep their eyes on this court case. It
very well could significantly impact their pocketbooks.