The relationship that Former Pitt County Sheriffs Department lieutenant Michelle Pollard has with this blog is not her current obstruction case - in which she was found guilty today. It is her having two completely different stories to explain the death of her husband Stacey Pollard. The website for her husband - a voice for him, is here: justice4stacey.com. Michelle Pollard was found guilty this afternoon on a felony charge of obstructing justice and a misdemeanor count of willful failure to discharge duties... The former Pitt County Sheriff's lieutenant cried after the judge denied her appeal for bond in Pitt County Superior Court. "I didn't intend to impede any investigation," Pollard said before she was sentenced by Judge William R. Pittman of Raleigh. "I had no idea there was an investigation and I never read the actual report"...
Gina Wooten referring to Pollard:
“She told me the truth gets you nowhere...”
“She told me the truth gets you nowhere...”
Previous posts:
- [NC] Will there ever be charges in the death of then-deputy's husband, Stacey Pollard? - ...Michelle Pollard’s husband [Stacey Pollard] drowned in their pool in 2005 and last year his mother, Barbara Pollard, filed a wrongful death lawsuit with the state courts against Michelle Pollard...
- [NC] Deceased Stacey Pollard's wife - "resigned" Pitt County Sheriff's Lieutenat Michelle Pollard - gets her obstruction case delayed - ...A former Pitt Co Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant [Michelle Pollard] was in court Wednesday on charges of obstruction of justice and willful fail to discharge duties of her office...
WNCT
By Arthur Mondale
January 27, 2010 [Excerpts] Late today a jury convicted a former Pitt County Sheriffs Department lieutenant of obstruction of justice by interfering in a drug investigation. It didn’t take the jury long to convict Michelle Pollard in a case that also a former Pitt County Detention Center officer. Less than 20 minutes after the judge took the bench—with no jurors present—Pollard’s attorney Maynard Harrell rested the defense, refusing to present any evidence to jurors. In closing arguments, Harrell argued against the credibility of Gina Wooten’s testimony and the evidence presented which included cell phone logs between Michelle Pollard and Gina Wooten... But in the end, former sheriff’s deputy Michelle Pollard would be shackled in handcuffs found guilty of felonious obstruction of justice and guilty of willfully failing to execute duties. The judge sentenced Pollard to 6 to 8 months behind bars. Pollard’s attorney Maynard Harrell says they will appeal but more than likely she will have served her time before it’s heard. http://www2.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/michelle_pollard_due_in_court/100268/
UPDATE: PROSECUTION RESTS IN POLLARD CASE
The Daily Reflector
By Ginger Livingston
Monday, January 25, 2010
[Excerpts] A jury heard from seven witnesses today who corroborated testimony that a former deputy tipped off a suspected drug dealer about an impending bust. After one day of state’s evidence, Pitt County District Attorney Clark Everett rested his case. Suspected dealer Gina Wooten told the jury that then Lt. Michelle Pollard of the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office alerted her to an ongoing drug investigation involving Wooten. Wooten took the stand in the first day of testimony against Pollard, 39, a former gang investigator indicted in July on one count each of obstructing justice and willful failure to discharge duties. Testimony from Wooten’s ex-boyfriend, a Pitt County deputy and the the father of her child, from narcotics officers and other witnesses supported Wooten’s account of events... While instructing the jurors to avoid newspaper and television coverage about the trial, Superior Court Judge William R. Pittman said they shouldn’t do Internet searches for information about Pollard. Harrell also asked jurors if they knew or had heard of Greenville attorney David Sutton, who is representing Stacey Pollard’s family in a civil lawsuit against the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office and Michelle Pollard. The suit claims the sheriff’s office mishandled the investigation. It was tossed out of federal court but was re-filed in state court and is pending. In the spring, the N.C. Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission found probable cause to revoke Pollard’s law enforcement certification after investigating charges that she exposed her breasts on at least two occasions and smoked marijuana on three occasions, once with a suspected drug dealer. Pollard denied the charges and filed an appeal. That hearing is scheduled for March 15. Sheriff Mac Manning was in the courtroom Monday... Pitt County Attorney Janis Gallagher and assistant attorney Lisa Overton also were in court. Gallagher said whenever county employees are subpoenaed to appear in court, and several Pitt County deputies are expected to testify this week, she or Overton attends the session to ensure personnel confidentiality isn’t violated... [Full article here]
FORMER DEPUTY FOUND GUILTY, TAKEN TO JAIL
The Daily Reflector
By Michael Abramowitz
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
[Excerpts] Michelle Pollard was found guilty this afternoon on a felony charge of obstructing justice and a misdemeanor count of willful failure to discharge duties. A jury returned the verdict at 3:45. She was sentenced to 6-8 months in jail and led out of court in handcuffs. The sentence was the maximum for those charges and a first-time offender. The former Pitt County Sheriff's lieutenant cried after the judge denied her appeal for bond in Pitt County Superior Court. "I didn't intend to impede any investigation," Pollard said before she was sentenced by Judge William R. Pittman of Raleigh. "I had no idea there was an investigation and I never read the actual report"... Suspected dealer Gina Wooten told the jury that Pollard alerted her to an ongoing drug investigation and warned her not to cooperate with any investigations. At the time, Pollard was a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office. “She told me the truth gets you nowhere, just to lawyer up and don’t talk with investigators,” Wooten told the jury... Pollard accessed restricted records about the investigation and told [Deputy Shannon] Stewart [who has a child with Wooten] that he had to warn Wooten, according to Stewart’s testimony... Pollard called Wooten the next day to warn her, according to testimony... [Full article here]
[police officer involved domestic violence law enforcement fatality fatalities murder accused north carolina unsolved unresolved repeat hx]
Michelle Pollard should've said the truth. Just like the saying says, the truth comes out soon or later, and if she committed the crime so it's demonstrated that she did it I guess.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Pollard is about to get a FAT check from Pitt County after supposedly injuring herself in some training, when actually she was injured in a 4wheeling accident with the guy who helped her hill her husband over a weekend of play.
ReplyDeleteShe’s been getting about $800/week for the last few years. Now we hear that the county is going to settle with her for $400k to $500 and is having to re-do the county budget to find money for this.
I just can’t believe it. Where is this going to end?