Nikolai Mather: So, Ben – let's talk about Robert Worley. He's a magistrate for Columbus County whose wife got into a car accident recently. Walk us through the details of his suspension.
Ben Rappaport: Yeah, so I think the key point in this case is that Robert Worley — who's the magistrate for Columbus County – he is critical of the Whiteville Police Department. He believes that the driver who hit his wife and totaled her car had their license suspended. And so they were driving with a suspended license. So he believes that that person should be charged. And they were not charged in the incident. So he's been pretty upset about that and taken to social media. And as a result, he's gotten himself suspended as of Wednesday.
NM: So this suspension from office is partly because he criticized Whiteville PD on Facebook. But it's also because of how he learned about the other driver's allegedly suspended license. Tell us more about that.
BR: So the way that he found out that the driver who hit his wife had — or may have had — a suspended license is because he used records from the North Carolina Administrative Office of Courts to investigate the driver who was involved in the crash. And those records are not available to the public. So he really was using his power as a magistrate to do that outside of his time being a magistrate, which is something that the courts and the judges in Columbus County have been quite critical of Worley for doing.
NM: Right. Obviously, there's concerns about how Worley got this info. But the affidavits – which come from the Whiteville Police Department – also focus on his critiques of the department. The officers stated that Worley's public criticism of the department could show bias against the police. And that part confused me, because didn't Worley used to be on the force?
BR: That's a great point. I think it's important to recognize that Worley was a police officer with the Whiteville Police Department for a long time. And that may be one of the reasons that he felt… entitled is a little bit of a harsh word, but may have felt entitled to meet with them. Just to really get his point across to the officers of that department and say, "Look, why aren't you basically following this, this idea of investigating this driver?"
And that's something that is going to be left up to the judge in this case, who will probably be the Superior Court Judge Ashley Gore. It's a little bit unclear whether or not this criticism elevates to the necessary removal of him as a magistrate or not. I think from the Whiteville Police Department's perspective and the perspective of the officers in these affidavits, he's basically creating a lack of trust between the public and the police department. And that idea is critical to his office as a magistrate, that idea of trust between the police and the public.
NM: We can expect an answer on that pretty soon, right?
BR: Yeah, so that hearing will be a removal hearing. Worley was suspended from the magistrate office indefinitely, and that's pending a decision by the Superior Court. And like you said, that hearing has to take place within the next 30 days to basically decide the future of his time as a magistrate in Columbus County.
NM: I guess only time will tell. Alright, Ben – thanks for joining us today.
BR: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me, Nikolai.
