Another US~Observer Victory Against False Felony Charges

By Tedd Peck
Investigative Reporter

Franklin, North Carolina – On June 5, Sheriff Deputy Chris Hoover of Franklin, NC, was charged with “Taking Liberties with A Minor.” The US~Observer was hired in early September to vindicate Hoover of the false felony charges leveled against him by corrupt law enforcement.

In early September, the false charges were dismissed following an intensive investigation by the US~Observer and a subsequent article that exposed the truth behind the felony charges leveled against the innocent deputy sheriff.

After the US~Observer’s articles were published, the prosecutor moved the court for a change of venue because our investigative article was distributed in Macon County. Normally, this is the ploy of a defense attorney when negative publicity is polluting the jury pool. The motion was denied, and the prosecution was faced with an uphill battle.

In time, justice will prevail with adequate help, but the cost to a human’s life is incalculable when unprofessional, predetermined, knee-jerk police investigations are allowed to go unchecked.

This reporter journeyed to the Smoky Mountains of southwest North Carolina over a year ago to investigate a felony indictment involving a young Macon County Sheriff’s Deputy, Chris Hoover. Chris was accused of taking liberties with a minor, the minor being his three-year-old stepdaughter.

The reason Hoover was suspected of committing this offense was twofold. The infant’s claims of having a sore bottom were coupled with the fact that Hoover was a male. There was absolutely no hard evidence to substantiate a criminal complaint. There were no bruises, vaginal wounds, bleeding, or history of deviant behavior by Hoover. To the local North Carolina authorities, this type of witch-hunt evidence is substantial as long as someone has a gut feeling there was a crime committed or they want to further their career through the serious criminal charges they file – regardless of whether or not an actual crime has been committed.

In early September, the District Attorney’s office dropped the three felony charges. “The state cannot proceed to trial at this time, unable to present necessary evidence at this time,” was the official pronouncement given by authorities. After fifteen months of waiting for a trial to clear his name, Chris Hoover was told that the government could not successfully prosecute him because there was insufficient evidence to proceed. This is, in part, exactly what the US~Observer proved to all law enforcement and public officials involved over a full year ago.

Upon my arrival in Franklin last year, I was informed that Sheriff Robbie Holland had formed a blue line, barring me from conducting a thorough investigation – his attempt at “Obstruction of Justice” was unsuccessful. Fortunately for Hoover, my investigation was, by far, more comprehensive than the vigilante rush-to-judgment type investigation conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation and Macon County, North Carolina Sheriff Robbie Holland. Holland stated that the evidence presented to a grand jury was sufficient to indict Hoover, and he terminated Hoover two days before the actual indictment, without even a meeting with his young deputy.

The day baby Emma complained of a sore bottom, she was taken to a pediatrician for an exam. Due to the baby’s uncooperative behavior, she was then taken to the “Kid’s Place” to be interviewed by a social worker from the Department of Social Services and another deputy sheriff, Judy Bradford-Lau. The baby was interviewed for over an hour without incriminating Hoover. The taped interview revealed Lau repeatedly asked the baby leading questions to substantiate Hoover’s culpability. Following the interview, Lau told Hoover he was cleared.

Now enters the State Bureau of Investigation, intent on another false, manufactured conviction. Two agents arrive at Hoover’s home late that evening and interview both Hoover and his wife Brandi. Hoover was previously instructed by Holland to cooperate with investigators, and he followed the orders to the letter. Agent Shannon Ashe asked Hoover if he would go to Skyland, NC, for a polygraph test. Hoover assented, and he departed with Ashe at approximately 9:45 p.m. Hoover was interrogated by Agent Chris Smith, and a polygraph test was administered in the early hours of the next morning. Following the test, Smith became adamant that Hoover had failed. In fact, this was a lie on two counts. Hoover took a similar test a few days later and passed with honors, and Hoover’s attorney, Charlie Swift, determined that Hoover did not fail the test administered by Smith.

Armed with his blatant lie, Smith browbeat this young deputy in the early morning hours to secure a confession. The confession, obtained after Smith’s heavy-handed interrogation and after Smith told Hoover his admission would close the issue, was simply Hoover stating that he might have touched the child inappropriately. This is how not to ensure that justice is meted out, but it does wonders for conviction rates.

Poor Leadership

Despite his rush to judgment, Holland terminated Hoover at approximately 3:30 a.m. following the tests. Since polygraphs are unreliable, why didn’t Holland interview his deputy after reviewing the test results? Supposedly, it wasn’t necessary. After SBI agent Smith extracts a coerced and tainted confession from the accused, based on the misleading statement that he failed the test, the fact that he was interrogated well into the early morning hours, and that Hoover was being threatened with serious police-state actions if he didn’t say what they were forcing him to say. Holland never investigated this case, even after Deputy Lau told Hoover that he had been cleared following her interview with the alleged victim.

Sheriff Holland made an “intended” rush to judgment, while failing to investigate. In fact, a former Macon County deputy told me that Holland ran for sheriff based on his campaign slogan to protect children. Could this case be a campaign mantra for his re-election campaign? Holland’s career could have been greatly enhanced if Hoover was indeed found guilty.

Selling out a deputy was bad enough, but now Holland claims that “this case could be re-opened at some time down the road.” Holland recently made this statement to save face. What else could Holland say after being humiliated by the facts that the US~Observer took into the public arena? There wasn’t any evidence a year ago, and there won’t be any tomorrow, next year, or in a score of years.

Scorned Wife

During my investigation, Hoover’s spouse told me she believed that Chris Hoover could not have done what the indictment stated. She signed an affidavit under oath that the SBI was pressuring her to cooperate with them in order to convict Hoover, or else they would take the baby to Chapel Hill for an extensive psychological exam. This was a blatant attempt to coerce a witness, but she refused to attack her husband at that time. Now that the charges have been dropped against Hoover, Brandi has the audacity to say that she knew that her husband committed the crimes all the time. Brandi Black Hoover left Hoover shortly after she signed the affidavit and is awaiting a divorce decree. This is after she reportedly maxed out Hoover’s credit cards and allegedly bragged to others that she took him for everything she could get her hands on. Was she lying when she swore to the affidavit, or is she lying now? In any event, she is a despicable, opportunistic person, with a fatherless child. This poor child was a pawn, used by unprofessional law enforcement personnel in an attempt to convict an innocent man.

Feminine Terrorists

Although the US~Observer has not conducted another investigation in North Carolina since Hoover’s case, the paper has learned through third parties about other unfortunate men who have been entrapped in similar circumstances. The latest unofficial count of false prosecutions stands at about 14 in Macon and Cherokee counties.

One such case is regarding a forty-year-old man accused by his thirteen-year-old daughter of rape. Stephen “Ricky” Martin was taken to Asheville by Agent Shannon Ashe to undergo a polygraph test to be administered by Agent Chris Smith. The test was reportedly never given to Martin, yet Smith and Ashe claim he failed it miserably. It appears Martin was in a family feud with his sister over custody of the girl. The trial was held in July, and Martin was convicted and sentenced to six to ninety-two years in prison. A reliable, though unrelated, witness who visits Martin in prison weekly reported to me that Martin’s attorney failed to present a defense for his client. No witnesses were interviewed; the false claim of a polygraph test was never questioned, and now, Martin’s only hope for saving his future is for him to attain the services of the US~Observer, file a Post Conviction Relief case, and obtain a new trial in order to right the wrongs of his reportedly incompetent attorney and two overly aggressive and corrupt state investigators.

The “criminal behavior” of agents Ashe and Smith needs to be addressed and severely punished. Speaking to Murphy, NC attorney Jerry Townsend, he stated that “white males are easy targets for militant groups of feminist organizations who disregard the rules of procedure and basic fair play. The end game is to convict, convict, and convict white males of sexual crimes.” He is appalled and perplexed by the trail of indictments, all based on the same circumstantial evidence brought to grand juries by agents Ashe and Smith and a few other crime fighters, or would crime framers be more apt? Even the current statutes protect women as they make false accusations against alleged assailants.

Editor’s Note: Anyone with information regarding false felony charges should contact the US~Observer at 541-474-7885.