From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Buncombe County District Attorney-elect Martin Moore “is accused of failing to follow court procedures in a number of appellate cases,” the Asheville Citizen Times reported on March 25, citing North Carolina Court of Appeals filings

Specifically, while campaigning for district attorney in December, “Moore moved to withdraw from at least five appellate cases, citing ‘unforeseen health issues’ and the closure of his appellate practice, resulting in his missing of critical court deadlines,” the ACT noted.

In at least five appellate cases, Moore reportedly failed to file necessary documents or provide proposed records to the state, with some cases being “out-of-time” by up to a year.

Moore’s alleged procedural failures allegedly put the appeals of incarcerated individuals at risk of dismissal, leaving some defendants waiting in prison without a functioning case file in the Court of Appeals. Some have already waited a year in prison for a decision, while the court has not received their documents.

Moore, a member of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, filed motions Dec. 12 to withdraw from representing five low-income defendants in their appellate cases, citing “unforeseen health issues” and the closure of his appellate practice, the ACT reported.

After these motions were approved in the N.C. Court of Appeals, the cases were reassigned to assistant appellate defenders within the N.C. Office of the Appellate Defender, court records show.

“In each case, the newly assigned attorneys asked the court for more time to collect documents and evidence from the trial court proceedings,” the ACT noted. “These motions claim Moore, 38, failed to file necessary documents by deadline or provide the state with a proposed record, even in year-old cases.”

According to the filings, “With missed deadlines, some cases were a month ‘out-of-time,’ Others were a year ‘out-of-time.’”