Former N.C. state Sen. Soles found not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon

A district court judge Friday found former Brunswick County, N.C., Sen. R.C. Soles not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon.

Judge Judith Daniels announced the ruling following a two-hour trial Friday that included six witnesses.

Frankie Lee Jernigan had accused Soles of hitting him in the face with a metal cane at Soles’ house in Tabor City, N.C., in September. Jernigan, who was at Soles’ house with another man, had told a Wilmington, N.C., newspaper that he was called to the home by Soles and was offered money in return for sexual favors. Jernigan recanted that statement in court, however.

Soles’ attorney, Joe Chesire, said Soles was acting in self-defense with the cane and was doing what was necessary to protect himself. Soles was happy with the verdict, Chesire said.

“We’re pleased, but more importantly we hope that finally the public will see the truth of what’s been happening to R.C. Soles,” Chesire said.

Officers were called to Soles’s residence in March 2011 after he heard someone outside of his house banging on a door, but the man fled and escaped police.

In 2010, Soles pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in an August 2009 shooting at his home. Soles shot Kyle Blackburn in the leg after he and another man kicked in a door to Soles’s house. Soles was indicted in January 2010 by a Columbus County, N.C., grand jury for assault with a deadly weapon and was fined $1,000 following his guilty plea.

Chesire said the latest incident involving Jernigan, who was a client at Soles’ law firm, is another case of a person lying about Soles. The motive, Chesire said, is “the money they’ve simply been trying to extort out of Senator Soles.”

Soles will continue to live in Tabor City, Chesire said.