People who would like to see how the justice system works can stop by Cumberland County’s Historic Courthouse on Wednesday for a session of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals normally hears cases at its courthouse in Raleigh. But on Wednesday, three of its 15 judges will be in Fayetteville to listen to arguments in two cases. The visit is part of the Cumberland County Bar Association’s annual Law Day activities.
The three-judge panel, headed by Judge John Tyson of Fayetteville, will begin hearing oral arguments at 2:15 p.m. in Cumberland County’s Historic Courthouse at 130 Gillespie St. The other two judges are Judge April Wood and Judge Fred Gore.
Constitutional rights in drug trafficking case
Neither of the two cases the judges will hear is from Cumberland County. The first case is State v. Monk from Carteret County. Hubert Monk Jr. was convicted in July 2023 of drug trafficking charges and is appealing his conviction and minimum of 15 years behind bars.
Monk’s lawyer says in a legal brief that Monk’s Constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure was violated when he was pulled over and arrested, and that his right to remain silent was violated.
The legal brief also says that Monk’s right during the trial to have his lawyer question the key witness against him was unconstitutionally limited by the trial judge. The judge didn’t let the trial lawyer ask the witness about pending charges she faced, the brief says, and the jury should have been allowed to consider the woman’s pending charges when deciding whether Monk is guilty.
Failed development deal, slander of title
The second case is a lawsuit, Palmetto RTC, LLC v. Fielden, from Union County.
Development company Palmetto RTC had contracts for several years with the Fieldens family to purchase 61 acres for a housing development, its legal brief says. Palmetto said it invested money and work for the project, but in the end the sale never closed and the Fieldens terminated the deal.
Palmetto sued for breach of contract, and the Fieldens countersued, alleging slander of title. The AllLaw website says slander of title happens when a party does something that casts doubt on whether another party owns a piece of real estate, and the slanderous action causes financial harm to the owner.
At a trial in August 2023, a jury sided with the Fieldens and said Palmetto owed the Fieldens $152,001 for slander of title.
Palmetto appealed, leading to the case being heard by the Court of Appeals in Fayetteville on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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