5 Things to Know: Cooper, Stein Sue to Block Portion of SB382

Cooper, Stein Sue to Block Portion of SB382

North Carolina Governor-elect Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit Thursday to block a new Republican-led law that shifts executive power in government.

Stein, who currently serves as attorney general, and Cooper argue that the portion of the law making the NC Highway Patrol its own department, with a commander appointed by the GOP-controlled legislature, is unconstitutional.

“Senate Bill 382 threatens the safety of North Carolinians by eliminating the Governor’s powers of supervision and removal over the commander,” attorneys for Stein and Cooper write in the lawsuit.

Currently, the NC Highway Patrol falls under the purview of the Department of Public Safety. The head of DPS is appointed by the governor, who also oversees the patrol. Under the new law, the governor would be unable to remove the commander, Stein and Cooper argue — “even if he were to commit serious criminal misconduct.”

“The legislatively appointed commander may feel empowered to delay, modify or flatly reject the direction that he receives from the governor, since he is legislatively mandated to serve until at least July 1, 2030,” the lawsuit continues.

Republicans in the General Assembly overrode Cooper’s veto of SB382 earlier this week, cementing into law a litany of changes to executive power. Many of them redirect existing authority from offices soon to be held by Democrats, including Stein, to those that will be held by Republicans.

SB382’s changes “undermine the results of the election” and “violate the separation of powers,” Cooper and Stein argued in a news release. Their lawsuit requests that the Highway Patrol language specifically be blocked from going into effect. Additional challenges to other provisions in the wide-ranging law could also be filed.

This reporting by Galen Bacharier originally appeared at NC Newsline, which is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.. Find the full story here. 

Five People Killed in Traffic-Related Incidents This Week

Five people were killed in vehicle-related incidents during a deadly week on Charlotte streets, including two pedestrians, one of whom was just 11 years old. It started early Sunday morning, when 21-year-old Yeferson Velasquez struck a tree after losing control of his vehicle on North Sharon Amity Road in east Charlotte.

Later that day, 19-year-old motorcyclist Parker Kvasnicka was killed when he struck another vehicle that was turning onto Tyvola Road as he was driving on the road. Speed is believed to be a factor for both Velasquez and Kvasnicka in those incidents.

In the above map of deaths due to traffic-related incidents in Charlotte in 2024, red markers signify a person killed in their car, black markers signify pedestrian deaths, purple markers signify motorcycle deaths, yellow markers signify pedestrians killed by trains, and green markers signify deaths involving micro-mobility vehicles such as bicycles, scooters, skateboards and wheelchairs.

Early Monday morning, 53-year-old Wanda Sheppard was struck and killed by a driver while trying to cross North Caldwell Street near East 13th Street in north Charlotte’s Optimist Park neighborhood. The driver fled the scene and has not been found at the time of this writing. On Tuesday, 87-year-old Carl Gardner succumbed to injuries suffered in a wreck on Providence Road in Myers Park the previous week.

Most recently, at 7:26 a.m. on Dec. 13, first responders were called to the scene of an incident in which a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle on Gum Branch Road near northwest Charlotte’s Sonoma Village, where they located 11-yer-old Hendrix Truesdale lying unresponsive on the side of the road. A 2016 Nissan Frontier was stopped a short distance from where the victim was located.

MEDIC transported Truesdale to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. A preliminary investigation indicated that Truesdale was crossing Gum Branch Road outside of a marked crosswalk when the driver of the Nissan Frontier struck him. Neither impairment nor speed appear to be contributing factors in the incident, according to a CMPD release, and no charges were filed as of the time of this writing.

CMPD Launches New Civilian Crash Investigation Unit

CMPD on Wednesday announced the launch of its new Civilian Crash Investigation Unit (CCI), which will respond to minor motor vehicle crashes that do not involve injuries. The unit is composed of civilians trained by sworn officers and awarded with certification through the North Carolina Justice Academy.

Driving white Ford F-150 Lightning and Hybrid pickup trucks with amber lights and marked with the unit’s name, CCI members will respond to and complete reports for crashes without injuries while also assist with disabled vehicles and traffic control.

Outfitted with body-worn cameras and subject to all rules for operation and maintenance as sworn officers, CCI will be expected to call for backup in suspected cases of DWI, illegal contraband, hit-and-runs, lack of insurance, suspended licenses, injury crashes and other suspected violations.

The unit is meant to free up time for sworn officers, as CMPD Chief Jonny Jennings on Wednesday stated that 71% of all crash reports his officers completed over the past three years have been minor crashes.

Two Murders on Same Street This Week

The city saw two homicides occur this week, and both happened on Archdale Drive just a matter of yards from one another, though there’s no reason to believe they are connected at the time of this writing. The first occurred shortly before 6 a.m. on Dec. 9, when police responded to a shooting call on Archdale Drive near Archdale Park in southwest Charlotte and located 25-year-old Christopher Saneth Rosa Castellanos dead from a gunshot wound.

During the investigation, police located and arrested two suspects, a juvenile and an 18-year-old man. The juvenile was charged with murder, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, and two counts of larceny of a motor vehicle. The 18-year-old suspect was charged with murder and breaking and entering a motor vehicle.

In the above map, black markers signify deaths by gun violence, green markers signify killings that may be deemed justified, red markers signify stabbings, yellow markers signify murder by vehicle, purple markers signify deaths by trauma or unknown cause, and blue markers signify police killings.

Then, shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday, police responded to a shooting call, also on Archdale Drive closer to the I-77 interchange, where they located 42-year-old Lashunda Shmicka McLendon dead from a gunshot wound. No arrests have been made at the time of this writing, though WSOC’s Hunter Saenz reported from the scene on Friday morning that witnesses said the suspect is also a woman.

McClendon’s the 119’s homicide tracked by Queen City Nerve this year. It should be noted that our numbers are often different from CMPD’s official homicide tally, as the department does not include killings that were deemed to be justified.

Allison Riggs Passes More Hurdles in Race to Keep Seat on Bench

A second recount in last month’s NC Supreme Court race between sitting Democratic Justice Allison Riggs and her Republican challenger, Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin, finished on Tuesday and there will not be a third. The partial hand recount did not justify a full hand recount after it turned up more votes for Riggs, who was already in the lead. She currently leads by 734 votes.

Then on Wednesday, the state Board of Elections (NC BOE) rejected Griffin’s request to toss out more than 60,000 ballots cast in last month’s election. Griffin and the Republican legislative candidates can appeal the board’s decision, though it’s unclear at the time of this writing whether they will.

“We will review the board’s decision and reserve the right to any future actions to protect the integrity of our elections,” wrote NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons in a statement responding to the NC BOE’s decision.