Cabarrus DA recuses herself from ruling on allegations against county leader

Joe Marusak
·2 min read

Cabarrus County District Attorney Ashlie Shanley has recused herself from ruling on the results of an SBI investigation into allegations against county commissioners’ Chairman Steve Morris.

In a news release Thursday, Shanley said the district attorney’s office for neighboring Davie and Davidson counties will handle the case.

No legal conflict bars her office from proceeding in the case, Shanley said.

She sought outside assistance from the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, however, “due to the District Attorney’s extensive work with all Cabarrus County Commissioners and in the interests of fairness,” she said.

The state office, in turn, appointed the Prosecutorial District office in Davie and Davidson counties to handle the case, Shanley said.

In a May 8 news release, Richard Wise, the Midland town council member who prompted the SBI investigation, called on Shanley to pull from the case.

As Cabarrus County’s chief information officer, Shanley’s husband works for Morris, Wise said.

Shanley on Thursday said she contacted the Administrative Office of the Courts after speaking with the SBI about Wise’s allegations against Morris. Per its policy, her office also did a conflict of interest analysis to determine if a legal conflict would bar the office from proceeding in the case, she said.

“Accordingly,” she said, she reviewed preliminary SBI reports and learned that county commissioners “are on both sides of this matter.”

The SBI is investigating “allegations of potential collusion and fraud” involving Morris, agency spokeswoman Anjanette Gruber said in a statement last week.

The SBI and Wise have declined to detail the allegations. Wise said revealing specifics could jeopardize the investigation.

Morris has called the allegations false and a “malicious vendetta.”

In a media statement Thursday, Wise thanked Shanley for recusing herself but said he thinks lawyers from the N.C. Department of Justice Special Prosecutions office should handle the case.