Bryson City – Following a hearing in Swain County, Superior Court Judge William Coward will rule in writing in the case of Graham County Sheriff’s Office detective Matthew Cox.
The case involves a disputed 2019 traffic stop conducted by Cox, who had a federal Giglio letter filed against him in 2014 from a previous incident in 2012.
A Giglio letter is a letter written by a prosecutor to warn of a law enforcement officer who my not be credible in court.
Both incidents involved issues with the use of K-9 officers to detect drugs and whether or not the dog, in fact signaled the presence of drugs, warranting probable cause to search the vehicles.
“This case rises and falls on the credibility of Detective Cox, “ said Assistant District Attorney Caleb Decker, who represented Cox in the hearing.
The hearing was held in Swain County on June 30 and July 1.
Stop questioned
The incident took place on the night of Oct. 16, 2019, when Cox stopped a truck belonging to Christopher Drew Hill, alleging that it had no license plate lights.
However, Hill stated under oath that the lights were working. Other law enforcement involved in the incident – which led to a high-speed chase – stated that they did not remember whether the light was out or not.
The chase started in the Robbinsville Shell parking lot and ended with Hill crashing the truck heading toward Tapoco. Hill was then cited by the N.C. Highway Patrol for eluding arrest and assault on a government official, both felonies. Cox said he also cited Hiill for the registration light being out.
However, Hill said he was not aware of the registration-light citation until after the first day of the hearing, when Cox mentioned it on the stand.
Both officers that supported Cox in the incident – Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians K-9 officer Zack Shivers and former Graham County narcotics detective Brent McMahan – stated that Cox had told him that he had received intelligence that Hill would be purchasing and carrying drugs through the county by way of a confidential informant, later revealed to be Hill’s significant other, Lindsey Hill. However, she denied under oath that she had communicated with former Graham County Sheriff Joseph Jones.
During his testimony July 1, McMahan claimed that Cox had told him that he was tracking Hill’s 2003 Chevrolet truck in real time using a GPS.
Coward said the information on the informant was new to him.
“This wasn’t in discovery anywhere,” he said.
When Cox was on the stand June 30, he appeared to downplay the operation, stating that he had heard Jones mention the informant, but now more beyond it.
“I can’t pre-plan any of Mr. Hill’s actions,” Cox said after Hill’s attorney, Holly Christy asked him directly if the case was a setup.
In her closing statements, Christy made reference to the crux of the case, Hill’s Fourth Amendment Rights .
“There is a saying that lawyers are the foot soldiers of The Constitution and my Client’s Fourth Amendment Rights have been violated,” Christy said.
She also said that the Giglio letter was not in Cox’s Graham County Sheriff’s Office file.
Additionally, she urged Coward to watch the dash camera footage of the 2012 traffic stop that led to the Giglio. She said the footage clearly showed that the K-9 Cox was handling that evening did not signal the presence of drugs at any point around the vehicle.
Coward hinted that he believed the light was out, citing a vehicle inspection report on Hill’s truck from July 21, 2020 listed the light as corrected.
“The only reasonable inference that could be made was that the license plate light was not working until it was corrected on July 21, 2020,” Coward said.
McMahan allegiations
While giving his testimony, McMahan also made allegations of illegal activities in the Graham County Sheriff’s Office involving Cox, Jones, Sheriff Jerry Crisp and Chief Deputy Dennis Crisp. He said that he had a lawsuit against the department that the district attorney was prosecuting and actively trying to cover up.
“I’m having to sue them civilly to expose them criminally,” he said.
He claimed he was fired from Graham County after agreeing to take a polygraph test with the N.C. Bureau of investigation. However, he said that despite him being dismissed for agreeing to the test, the test was never administered.
At one point in the testimony, he grabbed a Bible and placed his hand on it, swearing that he was telling the truth and that he would be able to have evidence of the sheriff’s office’s wrongdoing in the courtroom within two hours.
“I have evidence of the corruption,” McMahan said.