Ex-Sheriff Accuses Prosecutors of ‘Vicious Conspiracy’ Against Litigious Inmate
A former sheriff claims prosecutors and deputies in a county near Charlotte, N.C., engaged in a “vicious conspiracy” to falsely convict a litigious inmate of multiple felonies.
Tony Frick, who served as sheriff of Stanly County before voters ousted him, says county officials conspired against Theodore Williams for filing five lawsuits after his arrest on a charge of stealing money from vending machines, the Charlotte Observer reports. One of the suits named Frick as a defendant.
Frick made his allegations about the Williams case in an affidavit and interviews with the newspaper. After his arrest, Williams was charged with assaulting prison guards and trying to smuggle marijuana into the jail. Williams claims that rather than assaulting prison guards, the guards beat him and deliberately broke his arm after he was driven to a jail in neighboring Union County.
Frick says evidence supporting Williams on both charges mysteriously disappeared.
One piece of evidence was a poster allegedly displayed in the office of Stanly prosecutor Nicholas Vlahos, one of the defendants sued by Williams. The poster reportedly showed Williams’ booking photo with a caption reading “Before He Sued the DA’s office.” The other photo reportedly showed Williams, beaten and bruised, with the caption, “After He Sued the DA’s office.” Videotapes that also might have helped William’s marijuana defense also were missing, Frick says.
Williams has avoided conviction in all four felony cases stemming from his original arrest, the newspaper says. He also was acquitted of the theft charges that prompted his arrest. Williams acted as his own lawyer in all the cases.
The current prosecutor, Michael Parker, says Frick’s charges aren’t true and he has no plans to look into them. “If I know it’s a lie, why would I investigate?” he asked the newspaper. Williams has submitted Frick’s affidavit to the North Carolina State Bar.
Frick’s charges are the latest allegations to surface about prosecutorial misconduct in the 20th judicial district, which includes Stanly County and two others, the newspaper says. In one recent case a judge dismissed murder charges against a mentally disabled man held 14 years without a trial. His lawyer, Mike Klinkosum, said the murder weapon and other evidence was lost in the case. “This district has a history of not playing by the rules,” he said.
