Welch
Hayesville – A former western North Carolina law enforcement officer and Macon County sheriff candidate is suing the region’s top prosecutor and one of her assistants.
Documents filed in Clay County on Aug. 27 show that Eric Giles, who has worked as a law enforcement officer in Cherokee and other western North Carolina counties, is suing District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch and assistant district attorney John Hindsman over a Giglio letter issued against him by Welch. Two Giglio letters were sent on Aug. 28, 2018, including one to Giles himself and another to Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer.
A Giglio letter curtails the right of a law enforcement officer to testify in court, effectively barring them from making prosecutable arrests.
Giles, who is being represented by Murphy attorney Zeyland McKinney, declined to comment on the case. McKinney filed a notice on Sept. 27 to move the lawsuit to federal court from Clay County Superior Court.
The Giglio was issued in response to allegations that Giles was having extramarital affairs and lied about being a victim advocate in Clay County. Documents show Giles said he served on a drug task force in Cherokee County during a Macon County sheriff’s candidate forum held by the Macon County News.
He actually served on such a task force in Graham County, but later said that he had misspoke. A letter in the lawsuit packet from Rocky Sampson had spoken to Giles’ service as a victim advocate in Clay County.
He returned to patrol duty with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office in 2019, after the agency conducted its own investigation into the allegations. However, he was removed from patrol duty once again following a Feb. 2, 2019 traffic stop.
During the stop, Giles noticed that the driver of the vehicle smelled like alcohol, and called Murphy police Officer Brandon Morgan for assistance. Morgan then arrested the individual. Following the arrest, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Magistrate Cliff Owl refused to issue a warrant because of Giles’ involvement in the stop.
Giles was soon after given the choice to either resign from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office or serve as a detention officer. After transferring, Giles resigned from the jail.
Welch said the office denied the allegations. She is being represented in the matter by the N.C. Attorney General’s office.
Giles is seeking punitive damages in excess of $25,000, claiming that the Giglio has made it impossible for him to find employment as a law enforcement officer. He said it has cost him “loss of income and emotional distress,” and Giles will be “irreparably harmed” if the court doesn’t issue an injunction lifting the letter.