STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — A woman accused Stanly County Commissioner Trent Hatley of interfering with her civil case, and it could lead to an ethics investigation.
During Monday night’s county commissioner meeting, Erin Beth Pinkston accused Hatley of calling a judge at home to discuss a civil case against her ex-husband.
She said, “The [judge] was trying to get him to rule with, I guess my ex-husband in this matter … and the [judge] felt like he was being coerced to favor him and he recused himself.”
Pinkston went on to say, “Commissioners make decisions for our county, but should not influence the outcome of private legal proceedings.”
Pinkston told commissioners that the judge emailed all the lawyers involved about this interaction and then recused himself from the case.
Channel 9 searched court records and found a judge did recuse himself from a case involving Pinkston. It was dated July 21.
Commissioners attempted to add a motion to the agenda on Monday to censure Hatley. That motion failed because the vote was not unanimous. The county manager said the vote must be unanimous to be added to the agenda.
The county manager said commissioners could consider the censorship at their next meeting on Sept. 8. It has been added to the draft agenda. Commissioners have also instructed staff to present financial proposals for an outside ethics investigation into Hatley.
The SBI told Channel 9 it has not been requested at this time. Channel 9 has also reached out to Pinkston’s attorney, Stanly Court Courts, Hatley, and the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office for a statement. We have not heard back.