GASTON COUNTY, N.C.,None — A civil complaint against a Gaston County magistrate was dismissed by a judge on Tuesday following an attorney's motion.
Superior Court Judge Beverly Beal granted attorney David Phillips' motion to dismiss the complaint against Jay "Kevin" Brown after hearing evidence, Phillips said.
The complaint was filed by Timothy Scott Sutton, 51, of Gastonia. The accusations made by Sutton involve wall postings on Brown's Facebook profile, him not allowing Sutton to phone an attorney and accusing Sutton of lying in magistrates' court.
Sutton came into contact with Brown after his arrest on May 6 for cyber-stalking a South Carolina woman and placing a harassing phone call.
Calls to Sutton's home were not answered on Tuesday afternoon.
Sutton represented himself and they were in court a couple of hours on Tuesday morning, Phillips said. Gaston County Magistrate Robert Stacy and Gastonia Police Department Detective Jeff Wooten both testified, he said.
"(Sutton's) affidavit implied that Bobby Stacy was on his side and an ally of his but Bobby Stacy didn't remember talking with him," Phillips said. "It killed (Sutton's) credibility, therefore it was thrown out. We didn't even have to present evidence."
The dismissal comes after nearly a month wait for Brown, who was notified on paper of the hearing by Superior Court Judge Ralph Gingles Jr. In the notice, Gingles explained Brown would lose his job if the court found grounds existed for his removal.
"He just needed to get this over with. He had done nothing wrong and had to face his accuser for something he didn't do," Phillips said.
On June 8 regarding the accusations against him, Brown said that there's "no truth to it." Phillips said then that he planned to "aggressively deny any of the allegations" because "he's an excellent magistrate and those allegations are absolutely bogus."
WSOC
