Press release from Buncombe County District Attorney:
ASHEVILLE — Today the Buncombe County District Attorney dismissed 27 cases involving 17 defendants that were initiated by former Asheville Police Department Officer Christopher Hickman.
“Consistent with the criminal charges that my Office has filed against Mr. Hickman, we do not consider him to be a credible State’s witness in these cases. We have therefore dismissed them,” District Attorney Todd Williams said.
Further, the DA’s Office will analyze all of the former officer’s cases to find convictions obtained by the State between the dates of August 24, 2017 and March 8, 2018 where he was the charging officer. The DA’s Office will move to set aside convictions in all appropriate cases. The DA’s Office will provide notice to defendants and their lawyers of this policy.
Hickman was arrested on charges of felony assault by strangulation, misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury, and misdemeanor communicating threats last Thursday night, March 8th.
A “charge” is merely an accusation and each and every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.