Domestic assault charge against a Charlotte City Council member has been dropped

Michael Gordon
·2 min read

A domestic assault charge has been dropped against Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston, according to a special prosecutor’s office that handled the case.

Winston and his ex-wife, Sheena Hopkins-Winston, were each cited following a Jan. 5 altercation in which both were accused of assaulting the other, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. Winston was served with a criminal summons and ordered to appear in court on a charge of assault on a female.

In dismissing the case against Winston, special prosecutor Amber Lueken Barwick said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police had determined that Hopkins-Winston had been “the predominant aggressor and had assaulted (Winston),” according to a copy of the dismissal order obtained by the Observer.

Domestic assault charges against Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston have been dropped, according to the Mecklenburg clerk’s office. The complaint was filed by Winston’s ex-wife, who was also charged in connection with a Jan. 5 altercation between the two. Winston’s charges were expunged June 7. Sheena Hopkins-Winston has a December court date on simple assault.

Given Winston’s elected position, the two cases were handled by the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys after Mecklenburg prosecutors stepped aside to avoid any appearance of bias.

Kimberly Spahos, the conference’s director, told the Observer on Friday, “There was no evidence to suggest that Mr. Winston committed this criminal offense.”

“After thoroughly reviewing the evidence obtained from an on-scene investigation conducted by (Charlotte-Mecklenburg police), a special prosecutor from the Conference of District Attorneys has dismissed the charge of assault on a female,” Spahos said.

WSOC, the Observer’s news partner, first reported about the dismissed charges.

The simple assault charge in Mecklenburg County against Hopkins-Winston still stands, according to court records. She was accused of punching Winston in the jaw multiple times and was also the subject of a restraining order. Court records show she has a Dec. 30 court date.

The day after her arrest, she accused Winston or punching and pushing her. According to the clerk’s office, the assault charge against Winston was expunged on June 7.

The couple married in 2006 and have three children. Hopkins-Winston filed for divorce in 2019.

Re-elected to City Council

Winston is serving his second term on the City Council. Last month, he was the top vote-getter in the Democratic primary race to retain his at-large seat.

The Davidson College graduate was first elected in 2017 following a meteoric rise in local politics, which began with Winston’s highly visible role in the public outcry following the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police shooting in 2016 of Keith Lamont Scott.

In a statement released by his attorney in January, Winston described domestic violence as a “trauma that affects too many families in our community. My family is not exempt,” according to WFAE.

“It is important to remember, regardless of status, all genders can be victims.”