Brad Hoxit
Robbinsville – District Attorney Ashley Welch has filed a second amendment to her petition to have suspended Graham County Sheriff Brad Hoxit removed from office, which includes an allegation that Hoxit violated an order handed down at Feb. 20's pre-trial motion hearing.
Hoxit asked Special Superior Court Judge William T. Stetzer during the hearing if he could retrieve some personal belongings that were at the Graham County Sheriff's Office, listing items such as Christmas decorations and tax returns among the materials he wanted to pick up. Stetzer ordered then-Chief Deputy Travis Brooks – who had assumed the duties and responsibilities of sheriff, until Russell Moody's appointment by the Graham County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 23 – to have a deputy gather the items and meet Hoxit off-site with the items. Brooks agreed to the arrangement.
On Feb. 24, Welch's latest filing alleges that Hoxit instead phoned the sheriff's office and asked a representative if commissioner Jacob Nelms' ex-wife could pick up the items instead. Hoxit had married Nelms' former spouse one week prior to meeting with Welch in August, but did not disclose the relationship to the district attorney; the meeting was to seek advice on how to pursue charges on Nelms regarding alleged falsification of time sheets and building permits, as the commissioner also works as the Graham County Building Inspector.
Welch's filing alleges that Nelms' ex-wife was later videoed entering the Graham County Sheriff's Office and retrieving the items, while adding that his former spouse "is seen walking out of camera frame entering the area where the defendant's (Hoxit) office is located."
The filing says the ex-wife stays in the office for "several minutes," before Welch states that she is unsure what the former spouse "was allowed to take out of the office."
Three-ring binder
On the same day Hoxit's items were being retrieved, his attorney contacted Welch with an update regarding a key piece of evidence.
Welch's latest filing reveals the believed existence of a three-ring binder that is said to include printed copies of GPS tracking information obtained during the Graham County Sheriff's Office's investigation into Nelms. The latest search warrant to obtain the tracking devices – signed by Buncombe County Judge Alan Thornburg – was unsealed at Feb. 20's hearing.
Welch said the "last known sighting" of the binder was during a January meeting that included Hoxit and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation in Jackson County. Attorney Stephen Lindsay of Asheville-based Lindsay Law, LLC – which is representing Hoxit in the civil case – informed Welch Feb. 24 that he "may" have the binder and agreed to take it to Welch's office.
County attorney
The filing also included a new sworn affidavit from Graham County Attorney Jay Coward, regarding a January meeting with Hoxit.
Coward's testimony says that one week prior to the filing of Hoxit's immediate suspension and petition for removal, Hoxit asked for the attorney for a meeting at the Graham County Sheriff's Office – which was a first, according to Coward. Graham County Manager Brady Cody accompanied Coward on the visit; Brooks was also in the room, Coward said.
Shortly after arriving, Hoxit asked if he could speak with Coward alone. Cody left the room, but Coward said Brooks stayed. Coward said Hoxit then began asking if Coward was aware of an investigation regarding Nelms, to which Coward stated that he knew of an inquiry from the N.C. Department of Insurance.
"It was my understanding that the Department of Insurance closed the criminal investigation because there was nothing there," Coward's affidavit says.
Hoxit's alleged response was that "there was a lot" Coward "didn't know and that Nelms had committed a crime."
The conversation then went into Hoxit asking if everything the two were discussing fell under attorney-client privilege, with Coward informing Hoxit that he worked for the county and that he had an obligation to inform the county board and manager Cody about the conversation.
Hoxit allegedly asked Coward to be his attorney, which Coward says he interpreted to mean the attorney for the sheriff's office. Coward responded that he could not be the county attorney and the sheriff's office attorney. Hoxit then said he needed an attorney.
Coward's affidavit concludes with the note, "Hoxit never raised his voice during this meeting, but the meeting was very tense."
Petition
Welch's initial filing Jan. 29 was for Hoxit's immediate suspension from office and petition him for removal from his elected duty as sheriff. Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers signed the suspension order one hour after the filing, with the Graham County Board of Commissioners suspending Hoxit's pay during an emergency meeting one day later.
The petition for removal alleges that Hoxit committed willful misconduct, intimidation and extortion while in office – all in an attempt to have charges pressed against Nelms.
A hearing regarding Hoxit's removal will begin inside the Graham County Courthouse at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 24.