U.S. judge says no 'racial bias' in Great Smokies arrest, conviction of Black man
The highest-ranking federal judge in Western North Carolina says that Marvin Minor's four-month jail sentence was justified, and scolded a lawyer's claims that a National Park Service ranger and prosecutors subjected Minor to "racial bias" when he was arrested two years ago in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
"Based on the evidence presented, there was more than sufficient evidence to sustain the Defendant’s interference with agency functions conviction ... and his disorderly conduct conviction," Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger wrote in an Aug. 16 opinion affirming a past judgment.
Reidinger noted that Minor did not appear to contest an open container conviction in an appeal filed June 6 in U.S. District Court.
Throughout the 17-page opinion, Reidinger mostly restated arguments made by prosecutors and Magistrate Judge W. Carleton Metcalf, who sentenced Minor to four months in jail at a March 29 trial.
The opinion — a binding law document — likely makes Minor's conviction final for court records, though Minor could still ask the court of appeals to review the case. He has already served his sentence, though, and was released from the Laurel County Correctional Center in Kentucky July 26.
Past reporting: Attorney: Black passenger illegally frisked in Great Smokies, jailed
Read this: DOJ responds to Great Smokies visitor's appeal of traffic conviction and jail sentence
Minor could not be reached for comment Aug. 18.
As the Citizen Times first reported, National Park Service Ranger James Westin Mullins, who is white, tackled Minor, who is Black, and placed him under arrest in July 2020 after a traffic stop went awry. Minor was on vacation with his then-girlfriend and riding as a passenger through the Smokies.
The two were pulled over for driving "erratically," though no citations were filed for that alleged offense. When Mullins noticed beer at Minor's feet, he asked if there was more alcohol in the vehicle. Minor reached into the back to grab a can, and Mullins ordered him out of the car for a frisk, apparently believing Minor might be reaching for a weapon.
The frisk quickly took a turn, with Minor seemingly not understanding Mullins' orders to put his hands behind his back. Mullins, reportedly for his own safety, tackled Minor to the ground, and the two slid some distance down a hill. Minor got up and returned to the car, putting his hands back on the roof, as they were before.
More on the Smokies:
► With Great Smokies parking fee comes plans for roadside parking bans, law enforcement boost
► Great Smoky Mountains orders mask mandate with COVID rise. Is Blue Ridge Parkway next?
► Death of child in Great Smoky Mountains campground was 11th tree fall fatality in park
Mullins had to leave work for 30 days due to "micro tears" in his elbow. Minor allegedly fought Mullins, though the only example prosecutors and Judge Metcalf pointed toward in convicting him was Minor moving his elbow. Minor's elbow never hit the ranger, Mullins testified at the March 29 trial.
The "altercation" was "an issue of defendant's making" that the court was forced to deal with, Metcalf said March 29.
In a scathing appellate brief filed June 6, Minor's latest attorney likened the 2020 arrest and 2022 conviction to 1950s Mississippi.
“No person in 2022 believes that white motorists suspected of crossing the center line and drinking a beer in the passenger seat would have been treated similarly to Ms. Hughes and Mr. Minor,” Asheville attorney Rick Foster wrote in one part of the brief.
“Indeed, just two summers ago, every American city of some size had numerous people marching to protest the type of police conduct shown here," he wrote, referring to George Floyd, a Black man, who was murdered by a white police officer.
Foster declined to comment for this story.
"Having reviewed the testimony of Ranger Mullins, as well as all of the video evidence taken of the scene, the Court concludes that there is nothing in the record to suggest that Ranger Mullins was motivated by any racial animus in his interaction with the Defendant or that the Government’s prosecution of this matter is motivated by racial bias," Reidinger wrote in a footnote.
Courts: WNC man's J6 Capitol attack sentence would be among harshest; site of 'most violent fight'
Not guilty: Not guilty: Buncombe County jury acquits Asheville woman in Pisgah View murder trial
Reidinger further "cautioned" that "such over-the-top hyperbole has no place in proper briefing, particularly when it is belied by the video record. Counsel’s obligation of candor demands better."
Video of the arrest, seen by the Citizen Times, showed a terse Mullins argue with Minor and the driver almost immediately after approaching their car and scream at Minor before tackling him.
Ryan Oehrli is the breaking news and social justice reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Send tips to coehrli@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: WNC judge scolds claim of 'racial bias' in conviction of Black man
