Deputies ask appeals court to dismiss lawsuit

Guy Lucas, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read
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Jun. 9—RANDOLPH COUNTY — The attorney for three Randolph County Sheriff's Office deputies has filed an appeal of a federal magistrate judge's ruling allowing a Moore County woman to continue her civil lawsuit accusing them of using excessive force when arresting her for a misdemeanor.

Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld's ruling in April threw out much of the lawsuit filed by Ka'lah Nicole Martin, which said that six Randolph County Sheriff's Department deputies roughed her up when she was pulled over for not having a license plate on her car. The judge wrote that Martin showed no official wrongdoing by Sheriff Greg Seabolt and failed to show that the arrest was unlawful.

But Auld left standing a portion accusing Deputies Travis Short, Kyle Gabby and Jeremiah Harrelson of using excessive force.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals filed a notice June 1 that the appeal has been added to its docket.

Martin was driving north on Interstate 73 in a construction zone south of Asheboro about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2019, when a deputy pulled behind her and turned on his flashing lights because her car did not have a license plate. Because it was a construction zone, she did not pull over until she was out of the zone.

When she did pull over, multiple deputies already had arrived and approached with guns drawn.

Martin tried to tell the deputies that her car's front doors and windows did not work, but they smashed her driver's side window, pulled her out and threw her on the asphalt, the lawsuit says. She was arrested and charged with fleeing to elude arrest, operating a vehicle with no insurance and driving without a license plate. The charges later were dismissed.