RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — About 180 cases involving two North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers have been dismissed or are under review in Wake County after questions about the credibility of the troopers arose.
According to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, the state has decided to not move forward in approximately 180 cases involving Trooper Garrett Lee Macario and are reviewing about a dozen cases involving his supervisor, Sergeant Matthew Lindly Morrison, after some of their actions came into question.
Freeman said her office was made aware of the credibility issues as a deadly Raleigh accident where Macario had been on scene was being investigated.
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“We received information the last week in December that there had been an accident, a one-car fatality on Capital Boulevard in October, in which the interaction of the trooper on scene had come into question,” Freeman said. “So the [State Bureau of Investigation] reached out to me with this information, and based on what they were able to tell me, I requested to review the body cam and dash cam from that day involving Trooper Macario.”
During that review, Freeman said she “concluded that there were statements that were made by that trooper that appear to be false and misleading,” prompting her to open an investigation by the SBI. The state also decided not to move forward in pending cases involving Macario, leading to the dismissal of about 180 cases that Freeman said were predominantly related to driving while impaired charges…