Does anyone remember the 'shootout' on Little Creek Church Road a few months ago? There was a guy found in the ditch with (allegedly) a bag of drugs in one hand and a gun in the other...the other guy drove to Johnston Memorial with three kids in his car and his back window shot out...let me know if this rings a bell... Anyway, you wanna know what a shootout and endangering the lives of three kids under five gets you charged with? Simple Affray and Disorderly Conduct for the guy in the ditch. Oh and the guy with the kids in his car was charged with speeding. No gun charges, no charges involving the safety of the children. Not even a drug charge for the guy who was reported by witnesses as having drugs in his hand while he lay dying in a Johnston County ditch with a gun in his other hand. Do these charges bother anyone other than me? I feel a little less safe after reading those charges. See for yourself by going here: http://www1.aoc.state.nc.us/www/calendars/CitationQueryByName.html and enter these names: Pennyfeather,Q and Hinton,G (choose the Johnston County case for Hinton).
They do not generally charge a deceased suspect as it is a waste of time. If both are charged with something, then both are still alive The site did not list either name in the search for some reason. http://www1.aoc.state.nc.us/www/dat...FIELD_PEOPLES_COURT_.06.16.09.AM.000P.CAL.txt
That was my first thought as well, but apparently they both survived. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4743572/ http://www.newsobserver.com/news/johnston/story/1445836.html I'm not sure they ever found the other person involved, or the other vehicle. It looks to me like both of these guys were in one car, and got into a shootout with somebody in another car. In any event there should be some serious child abuse and neglect charges here, and I don't see any sign of that.
Do you follow up on all the old cases in JoCo or just this one? I'm just asking because this is a lot of research with names, court links etc. If you think things are being done crooked you should just call the media. With the track record the JoCo justice system has had of late maybe they'll investigate to see if something shady happened. As for your original question, no I don't feel any less safe because of this. I already didn't feel too safe knowing that JoCo was letting the drunks off easy. No surprise it would happen with the druggies and gun slingers.
Thank you all for your replies - I appreciate it. Volleygirl - I only follow up on the ones that are too close to home and on roads that I travel 3-4 times a day with my son and wife in the car. And, it's really not a lot of research. 5 minutes on the web - maybe- was all it took. The info is there - you just have to know how to reach out and grab it.
A few things about the AOC web site (the site linked in the original post): - It only shows cases which have a future court date. So, once the case is disposed (guilty plea, etc), you won't see it on that web site. If the case is on hold while lawyers do lawyer things, and a court date hasn't been set, then you won't see it on that web site. - The site doesn't tell you WHEN they were charged. The charges you're looking at likely didn't have anything to do with the shooting situation. So, it may be even worse than you thought. These two may not have been charged with ANYTHING. The only way to really tell is to either use a computer at a courthouse that lets you look up criminal charges (for free), or to pay gobs of money to something like 123nc.com.
Thanks for your response jtm - I hadn't thought of it in those terms, and I appreciate your input. I doubt the case has been disposed in the short amount of time that's passed since the incident, so I'm hoping charges are forthcoming - but I'd truly like to know for sure. They might have needed the initial (and minor) charges just to make the initial arrest. I might have to slip down to the courthouse to find out. Maybe I'll make a field trip out of it. Either way, thugs and gunslingers have no place on the backroads (or any roads for that matter) of Johnston County. While everyone has the right to presumed innocence, I think there's a subtle reality that lets us weigh in on incidents like this. Thanks.
