Clerk of court charged with altering case

RALEIGH -- A Wake County deputy clerk of court has been charged with altering a court case in order to have a criminal charge dropped against a defendant, court records show.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation charged Jermaine Brown, 32, of 2504 Tryon Grove Drive, Apt. 202, with felony obstruction of justice, according to an arrest warrant filed Thursday at the Wake County Magistrate's Office.

Brown is a deputy clerk of Wake County Superior Court.

Brown, who has been with the clerk's office for over seven years, described the charge as a "misunderstanding."

"I was trying to help somebody," he said.

He is one of 116 deputy clerks under Wake Clerk of Court Janet Pueschel.

Brown has been with the clerk's office since Feb. 8, 1999, with an annual salary of $32,203, Pueschel said this afternoon.

"He was suspended without pay Thursday pending the outcome of the investigation," she said. "He was notified by writing."

The SBI has accused Brown of providing false and misleading information to the Wake County District Attorney's Office in order to have a criminal charge against an unnamed defendant dropped. Investigators say the offense occurred Oct. 2.

Brown said he tried to assist a woman who was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Brown said the woman told him the charge would cause her to lose her job.

"I was basically trying to help someone and it turned bad," Brown said Friday afternoon. "I swear it's not what it appears."

Brown was released from custody Thursday at the Wake County jail on an unsecured bond, court records show.