The $8 Million Case Against Buncombe

This Source Verification Page documents an Asheville Citizen-Times article examining the civil lawsuit filed by Larry Williams Jr. against Buncombe County, the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, and numerous law enforcement officials. The article reports allegations concerning an unrecorded interrogation, coercive questioning, and the circumstances surrounding Williams's confession. The Supplemental Motion relies upon this reporting in Statement of Facts D to provide independent documentation regarding investigative practices employed in Buncombe County, North Carolina during the period surrounding Lyle C. May's prosecution arising from the July 1997 murders in Asheville.

Source Name

The $8 Million Case Against Buncombe

Author(s)

Tonya Maxwell

Publication

Asheville Citizen-Times

Publication Date

May 7, 2016

Verification Source

Asheville Citizen-Times

Source Location

Asheville Citizen-Times

Highlighted Pages

11 - 14

Referenced in the Supplemental Motion

Page 27, Paragraph 47

Source Status

✔ Article obtained and reviewed.

✔ Relevant passages highlighted.

✔ Publicly available source.

✔ Included within the Source Verification Archive.

Cited to Support

Lyle C. May alleges that Larry Williams Jr. was subjected to a coercive, unrecorded interrogation conducted by Buncombe County law enforcement officials and prosecutors during the Walter Bowman homicide investigation. The Asheville Citizen-Times article is cited to document reporting that Williams, then sixteen years old, was questioned by officials including District Attorney Ron Moore and Sheriff Bobby Medford, was threatened with life imprisonment, and ultimately provided statements implicating himself and others. May relies upon this source to support his claim that coercive interrogation practices were employed in Buncombe County criminal investigations and that such practices contributed to false or unreliable statements later used in criminal prosecutions. May further cites the article to document the involvement of APD Detective Forrest Weaver in Williams' interrogation and to support his allegation that Detective Weaver also participated in the Defendant's investigation by witnessing the Defendant's confession in the Buncombe County prosecution arising from the July 1997 murders in Asheville, North Carolina.

Supporting Documents

Original Article

Link to the original article.

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Highlighted Research Copy

Working research copy containing the highlighted passages cited in the Supplemental Motion.

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