Legal allegations made by the former Wilmington crime lab director against District Attorney Ben David have been dismissed in Superior Court by Judge Allen Cobb.
The former director, Bethany Pridgen MacGillivray (who goes by Pridgen), filed the suit last summer. Many of her legal claims stem from the fallout from the firing of William Peltzer, a crime lab employee, by the Wilmington Police Department, for ‘untruthfulness.’
Related:Lawsuit claims authorities downplayed Wilmington crime lab issues, kept quiet about missing drugs
Following Peltzer’s firing, Pridgen testified that there were concerns Peltzer was responsible for mishandled and even missing drugs; this testimony, which included information that hadn’t been released to the public when Peltzer’s firing was announced, came while she appeared as an expert witness for the state and was cross-examined by a defense attorney.
Pridgen claimed that, following this testimony, she was denied a job at the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office when the lab was transferred there from the Wilmington Police Department in the wake of Pelzter’s firing — despite having founded and then run the lab for a decade. Pridgen also claimed that David, who had long been a supporter, turned against her during this period of time.
David said he was glad to hear the civil filings against him had been dismissed.
“I was pleased to see that Ms. MacGilvray’s [sic] lawsuit against me and the District Attorney’s Office was summarily dismissed by the Honorable Allen Cobb. From the beginning, I believed that her claims were wholly without merit and would be dismissed once they reached a courtroom,” David told WHQR.
Judge Cobb has been largely retired since 2016, but returned to the bench in early February for this ruling.
Other parts of the lawsuit, including claims against Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams and Sheriff Ed McMahon, are still active. The courts recently ruled that the City of Wilmington and the Sheriff’s Office are not protected by sovereign immunity, which will allow the case to move forward.
Currently, both parties are engaged in the discovery period, collecting evidence for a potential trial.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated for clarity.
