By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – R.C. Soles Jr., the state's longest serving legislator, was indicted Thursday on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting bodily injury. A co-chair of the state's legislative ethics committee says his committee is going to hold off on taking action against Soles.
Soles is being charged for shooting a man on his property back in August.
Legislative Ethics Committee co-chair Steve Goss says the committee is holding off on taking action, allowing the courts to do their job. He says he hopes the ethics committee won't be used as a political football.
"The ethics side doesn't know the difference between Republican and Democrat I think the bottom line is, I hope no one uses this as a political issue. I think the important thing moving forward here is fairness."
Goss says the ethics committee can move forward if it feels the indictment is detrimental to the general assembly.
Soles announced last week that he will not seek re-election after spending more than 40 years in the state legislature.
Read the Indictment
To read the indictment against State Senator R.C. Soles Jr., click here
Statement from R.C. Soles Jr. Attorney Joe Cheshire:
"We are disappointed with the indictment of Senator Soles and maintain that he was acting in defense of himself and his home on August 23. We will continue to work with the Attorney General's Office to resolve this unfortunate matter, consistent with the truth. Absent any new developments, we will have no further public comment about it."
- Statement of attorneys Joe Cheshire and Brad Bannon
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