Attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown, Jr., the North Carolina man fatally shot by deputies, have called for a local district attorney to recuse himself from the case.
According to CNN, the team cited “well-defined” conflicts between the prosecutor and the sheriff’s office.
Brown was fatally shot by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies on April 21. The sheriff’s office says authorities were attempting to serve him with an arrest warrant.
Andrew Womble is the district attorney for Pasquotank and nearby counties. He’s claimed that Brown’s car made contact with officers twice before the deputies opened fire. However, Brown’s family attorneys dispute that claim.
“There is no doubt all seven officers involved, including the three shooters, have worked directly with you and your office for years in prosecuting various cases,” the family attorneys wrote in a letter to Womble on Wednesday.
The seven involved have been placed on administrative leave, even those that didn’t discharge their firearm. Two officers have resigned, and one deputy retired following the tragedy.
Family attorney Bakari Sellers sent a letter asking that “in the interest of fairness, transparency, and pursuit of the ends of justice,” Womble move the case to another jurisdiction and “immediately recuse yourself.”
“You and your office not only work with Sheriff Wooten and his deputies daily, your office physically resides in the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s department,” the attorneys wrote. “The conflict is well-defined.”
