Briefly
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on October 6, 2004 2:01 PM
Man in pajamas
gets day in jail
An airman from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base on Tuesday told a District Court judge that he wore a Hooters T-shirt and pajamas to court because he wanted to be comfortable.
Judge Les Turner of Pink Hill was not amused. He said he had seen thousands of people in court as a judge, assistant district attorney and lawyer, but this was a first.
When Turner asked Daniel W. Stametz of East Mulberry Street if he had gone to church, the defendant said he had once. Turner then asked what Stametz had worn. Stametz said jeans.
Turner responded that "the line of disrespect to the court system has been crossed." He sentenced Stametz to 24 hours in the Wayne County Jail for contempt of court.
Before he left, Stametz asked the court to find him a quiet room with a comfortable bed and a soft pillow.
Stametz had come to court to answer a charge of not having a driver's license. Before he left, he showed the assistant district attorney a valid license, and the charge was dismissed.
"I can't believe anyone in the military -- or anyone in the public, for that matter -- would come to court in pajamas," a courtroom bailiff said.
Preservation auction
Preservation North Carolina will hold its third annual virtual auction from Nov. 15 through Dec. 1. Proceeds will support the endangered properties work of Preservation North Carolina.
Preservation North Carolina is a nonprofit organization that protects historic properties by identifying, purchasing and reselling them through its revolving fund. It has worked on several houses in Goldsboro.
This year's auction will feature a variety of items, including a week-long stay at a mountain cabin in Blowing Rock; dinner for eight at historic Oakley Hall in Warren County; and an evening at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill.
The auction is at www.PreservationNC.org. For more information or to make a donation, call Shannon Phillips at 919-832-3652 or e-mail sphillips@presnc.org.
Bloodmobile
The Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross will have a Bloodmobile on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Southern Wayne High School. Donors will receive a coupon for a free car wash.
Clerk gets new address
Clerk of Court Marshall Minchew and his office now have a new mailing address. Mail should be addressed:
J. Marshall Minchew, Clerk of Superior Court, Wayne County Courthouse, 224 E. Walnut St., Goldsboro, N.C. 27530.
Minchew said the clerk's office is no longer sharing a post office box with the Register of Deeds Office.