http://www.wect.com/story/15023108/goolsby
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - New video released Tuesday from the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office shows a woman from Raleigh in a heated discussion with a state trooper. It’s more evidence that’s helping to paint a picture of what happened the night of a disputed DWI arrest involving a woman from Raleigh.
The woman is Gina Tessener. She and her husband, Hoyt Tessener, claim Trooper Edward Wyrick, Jr. harassed Mrs. Tessener during a traffic stop last month. Trooper Andrew Smith is also on administrative duty during the investigation, because he pulled over Mr. Tessener while he was on his way to the magistrate’s office to support his wife.
Hoyt Tessener sent a letter to Governor Bev Perdue and numerous other elected representatives and media agencies last week asking for an investigation.
Read the account from the Tesseners and watch the surveillance video
Surveillance video taken inside the Wrightsville Beach Police Department, which was released last week, shows Gina Tessener taking a breathalyzer test, where she blew a zero.
Tuesday, more surveillance video surfaced from inside the magistrate’s office at the New Hanover County Detention Center. On the tape, you can see a conversation between Mrs. Tessener and Trooper Wyrick, who seem to be arguing over the location of Tessener’s phone.
New Hanover County State Senator Thom Goolsby says he’s frustrated over what he perceives as “false allegations” against two state troopers, who have been put on administrative duty during an investigation of a recent DWI arrest.
Neither Wyrick nor Smith have any record of disciplinary action or suspensions during their time with the Highway Patrol, according to First Sgt. Jeff Gordon.
Goolsby pointed out the decision to put the troopers on administrative duty left New Hanover County short of troopers to patrol during the 4th of July weekend.
The entire text of Senator Goolsby’s letter follows:
Like most of the public, I was shocked at the allegations recently made against two local North Carolina State Troopers regarding the DWI arrest of Gina Tessener. I was sent a copy of the letter to the Governor written by Tessener’s lawyer-husband. In the letter, the husband made numerous allegations of abuse and illegal conduct against our troopers.
I read the letter with interest and concern. As an attorney who practices in our local courts, I have known these troopers for the entire time they have enforced the law in southeastern North Carolina. I have never received any complaints about them. My personal experience was that they were professional, honest and forthright.
When I learned that there was a video tape from the Detention Center, I watched it with interest. I was shocked and angered when it was apparent that the video did not represent several of the allegations made in the letter.
I have personally spoken with the Governor, Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety and the Commander of the Highway Patrol expressing my frustration over what I perceive to be false allegations. Further, because both of these troopers were immediately placed on administrative leave, our county will be short of law enforcement officers to protect the public from drunk drivers during 4th of July weekend.
It is time that someone spoke up and defended our troopers. I am doing so now.
Thom Goolsby,
NC Senator, District 9
Posting the same long text item 5 or 6 times to various people is poor practice at best.
In the future, you will likely want to send items meant for multiple recipients in one post. If you will observe the “To” field when you post, you are explicitly told that using semi colons will allow you to send that post to multiple recipients.
The state senator is "shocked and angered" that video from the middle of the encounter "apparent[ly]... did not represent several of the allegations made in the letter."
This is a blatant attempt by the troopers to gain support.
Let's examine again what is "apparent" here.
1. This state senator is not commenting on the initial stop around the headlight, nor that the trooper wrote that she said she hadn't had a drink since 6:30PM (over three hours earlier). He is commenting on the video from the magistrate's office, a brief snapshot at the very end of the dispute.
2. By the time the woman was taken to the magistrate, she had already been stopped and (in my words) harrassed by the trooper, cuffed and transported to the police station, tested and retested by the trooper, and then told that she would have to be taken yet again to another undisclosed address. Any reasonable person would assume that a later retelling of these events might get a fact or two wrong about the encounter, especially as the encounter continued to elongate, and continued after midnight, and also considering that these people were not locals to the area.
3. The fact or two wrong, as I alleged in #2, was about what? The location of the woman's cell phone, as the state senator says? Is that a relevant discrepancy after midnight when the woman was pulled over at 10:45PM, cuffed, taken to the police station, breathalized twice, and then moved again?
Of course, the kicker was this:
Further, because both of these troopers were immediately placed on administrative leave, our county will be short of law enforcement officers to protect the public from drunk drivers during 4th of July weekend.So, the state senator's final recourse is the "for the children" emotional appeal. He'd have been better off saying that the state invested tens of thousands of dollars in their training, or some other more tangible argument.
We all see through this facade. Why can't you?
-PJ
Haven’t you figured out how to place multiple people in the TO: box?