Modified Mon, Nov 16, 2009 11:24 PM
Lawyer: Wright charge was phony
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close xFormer state Rep. Thomas Wright's 2008 conviction came on a made-up charge, his lawyer argued before an N.C. Appeals Court panel Monday.
Wright, a Democrat from Wilmington, is appealing his Wake County conviction of obstruction of justice related to campaign finance irregularities. Investigators said he failed to report $150,000 in campaign donations, pocketing most of the money for himself.
Douglas Harris, Wright's lawyer, told the three Appeals Court judges that an obstruction of justice charge must be connected to the judicial branch of government, while the violations that Wright was accused of were related to the executive branch.
Harris argued that there was no evidence that Wright sought to obstruct justice by filing false campaign reports and that Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby "made up a law to suit him." Wright was convicted in an August 2008 jury trial.
Alexander Peters, special deputy attorney general, countered that Wright's actions fit within the "broad definition" of common-law obstruction of justice.
The campaign finance laws are intended to disclose politicians' financial backers to the public, Peters said.
"There was deceit and intent to defraud the people," in Wright's case, Peters said.
Wright was sentenced to six to eight months, a sentence he was to serve concurrently with a sentence of up to eight years for an earlier fraud conviction.
In April 2008, Wright was convicted of fraudulently taking out a $150,000 loan and of keeping for himself $7,400 in charitable contributions destined for a Wilmington health care foundation that he led. Earlier this month, the appeals court upheld Wright's conviction on three felony counts of obtaining property under false pretenses.
He is serving his sentence at Pamlico Correctional Institute.
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