By CECIL BOTHWELL

Along-accepted legal maxim, dating back at least to the Magna Carta, declares that justice must be timely. 

The accused must have their day in court; a decision must be rendered as soon as facts have been considered; the terms stipulated in a contract should commence upon signature of the document. No action of the law should be permitted to hang in limbo.

The timeliness of justice is as important as other elements of law enforcement, all subject to the strictures of the U.S. Constitution and subsequent legislation. We all need to know that the law is applied fairly, that we will be protected from both criminal actions and from prosecutorial inaction. The cops, the prosecutors and the judiciary must be absolutely trustworthy.

That’s why I’ve endorsed Todd Williams in his bid to become Buncombe County’s next district attorney. As a former investigative reporter I have had every reason to distrust Ron Moore, our current D.A., since my first close examination of his actions in 2002.

Williams has been practicing law for 15 years (longer than Moore had plied the trade when he first ran for office 24 years ago). As a public defender, Williams has tried many capital cases over those years, and has a deep appreciation for both the need to fairly enforce the law, and for the plight of the wrongly accused. He’s the kind of even-handed human being you’d want prosecuting you if you were accused of a crime.

My personal experience with Moore dates back to Oct. 8, 2002, when I was managing editor of the Mountain Xpress and received an anonymous tip concerning a young woman named Nisha Sherlin. Sherlin alleged she had been tied to a bed and beaten for days. The man she accused of battery was then-Sheriff Bobby Lee Medford’s son.

Within days, I located Sherlin, who had been spirited away to the Broughton State Hospital in Morganton. I saw for myself that she was battered and bruised, though at the time she ran away screaming, clearly refusing to talk. “He’s from the newspaper! Get him out of here!”

When I phoned the sheriff the next morning, and simply identified myself, the first words Medford uttered were, “Now don’t go after my boy.”

“Oh,” I thought, “So you thought I was calling about your son?” I didn’t have a chance to ask that question because the sheriff hung up. There were no charges and no arrest. The incident report filed by a deputy who supposedly investigated the scene of the alleged crime stated “no sign of violence in the trailer.”

The men who cleaned up the trailer told me “there was nothing breakable that was not broken ... the bed frame was broken to the floor ... there was blood on clothing ...” 

Sherlin later released her medical report to me which affirmed that she exhibited “multiple-age bruises.” You can only get multiple age bruises by being bruised day after day after day.

But when I called Ron Moore to discuss the matter he assured me that he had Sherlin’s medical report and there was nothing in it to substantiate her allegations.

Why didn’t Ms. Sherlin make more of a public stink about her mistreatment? She told me that both the sheriff and his son had threatened to kill her if she spoke to the press.

I’m not attempting to be judge and jury here. Perhaps a full and fair trial would have cleared the young man of his accuser’s charges. Every accused deserves that day in court. But so does a victim. Sherlin was absolutely denied justice, as were all of Buncombe County’s citizens, then and for years after. 

Here was a clearly demonstrable case of the sheriff refusing to investigate a family member. My investigation and reporting of this incident brought other witnesses forward, including deputies, and I gradually unspooled Medford’s criminal enterprises. I took my file to the U.S. attorney in Charlotte in July 2006, and in December federal agents arrested Medford.

Ron Moore had all the evidence he needed to intervene with our crooked lawman in 2002. He didn’t want to bother.

If you’re registered Democratic or independent, I hope you’ll join me in voting for Todd Williams in the May 6 primary. Buncombe deserves better.

•

Cecil Bothwell is author of nine books including Pure Bunkum: Reporting on the Life and Crimes of Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Lee Medford, (Brave Ulysses Books, 2008) and a member of Asheville’s City Council.