N.C. judge dismisses charge in SBI case

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A criminal contempt charge against a former North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agent was dismissed Wednesday after he acknowledged his testimony before the state innocence commission was confusing.

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III dismissed the charge against Duane Deaver following a mediation process between the former agent and the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.

Smith ordered the mediation process last month after the commission requested a hearing where Deaver would have to show a judge why he shouldn’t be held in criminal contempt for testimony he gave to the agency.

Last year, the innocence commission accused Deaver of intentionally misleading the panel during testimony in September 2009 in a landmark case that ended with the exoneration of Greg Taylor, who had served almost 17 years for the murder of a prostitute in Raleigh. The commission recommended that Taylor’s case go to a three-judge panel, which declared Taylor innocent in February 2009.

“Deaver acknowledges the confusing nature of his testimony, and he understands how the commission could have been misled,” read the brief report by former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Frye, who served as mediator in the case.

In light of that acknowledgement, the commission didn’t oppose a motion by Deaver’s lawyer to dismiss the contempt charge.

Deaver’s attorney, Philip Isley of Raleigh, declined comment on the settlement. The Associated Press also left a message with Kendra Montgomery-Blinn, executive director of the innocence commission, Wednesday.

Deaver’s testimony triggered fresh questions about the SBI lab’s policies and procedures, leading to an independent review that concluded SBI analysts had frequently misstated or falsely reported blood evidence during a 16-year period ending in 2003.

Some egregious violations found during the review were linked to Deaver. In two of the cases, including one that ended in an execution, Deaver’s final report on blood analyses said his tests “revealed the presence of blood” when his notes indicated negative results from follow-up tests. His notes indicate that he got a negative result because he didn’t have enough sample left for the confirmatory test.

Deaver is fighting his dismissal from the SBI, which fired him in January. The criminal contempt charge was one of three reasons the SBI gave for his firing.