Officer could be found in contempt
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on April 30, 2017 12:20 AM
Wayne County Sheriff's Office Capt. Steve Mozingo could be found in criminal contempt of court after speaking to a juror in the first-degree murder trial of Kenneth Morgan Stancil III Thursday evening.
Superior Court Judge Jay Hockenbury, who is presiding over Stancil's trial, issued a show cause order for Mozingo on Friday stating the court had reason to believe he should be held in contempt of court.
Mozingo's hearing for whether he will be charged with criminal contempt of court is set for May 8 at 2 p.m. in Wayne County Superior Court.
Hockenbury issued the show cause order after District Attorney Matt Delbridge informed the court Friday morning prior to Stancil's trial resuming that Mozingo called him about the incident Thursday night in which Mozingo spoke to a juror.
"He called to self-report that he'd had contact with a juror that he had initiated," Delbridge told Hockenbury before the trial began today. "He had asked this juror, 'Do you think people understood my testimony?'"
The court called the juror into the courtroom prior to the trial getting started this morning so he could give his side of the story without other jurors present.
The juror teaches class at Wayne Community College Monday and Thursday nights, the juror said, and his classroom door is directly across the hallway from Mozingo's office.
The juror said Mozingo called his name and then asked the juror if he'd understood the testimony he gave during the trial Thursday.
The juror told the court he told Mozingo he'd understood the testimony, and then said he would have to talk to him about the case after it was finished.
Hockenbury then excused the juror from serving on the jury for Stancil's trial after hearing his side of the story.
Delbridge will be a witness in the hearing since he received the call notifying him of the contact between Mozingo and the juror, and therefore another district attorney from a different jurisdiction will have to prosecute the case.
Mozingo was brought into the courtroom to be informed of the order against him alongside Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce and Wayne County Attorney Borden Parker.
After the order was read to him, he apologized to the court and left the courtroom.
The show cause order written by Hockenbury and issued for Mozingo said, "the contemptor is a Captain in the Wayne County Sheriff's (Office) and should know full well that this contact is a grossly negligent failure to comply with court practice, resulting in substantial interference with the business of the court."
Pierce said the sheriff's office is investigating the situation and is handling it as a personnel matter. He said Mozingo has not been disciplined at this time.