WakeMed won’t release footage in shooting of hospital cop. What they’re saying.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- WakeMed said it would not provide materials without a court order in Benji Martin’s case.
- Martin is accused of fatally shooting WakeMed Officer Roger Smith on Nov. 8 in Garner.
- Both sides have filed a motion requesting a judge order WakeMed to comply.
Less than a month after one of its own police officers was fatally shot in an emergency room, WakeMed declined to comply with a subpoena issued in the murder case against the alleged shooter, according to a court motion filed Wednesday.
Benji Martin, 29, is charged with murder in the Nov. 8 death of WakeMed Police Officer Roger Smith, 59, The News & Observer previously reported. Smith died and Martin was seriously injured after shots rang out in the waiting room of WakeMed’s Garner Healthplex, where Martin’s friends have said they took him for treatment after finding him in a pool of his own vomit that morning.
The shooting happened during a struggle, the details of which remain murky almost six months later. Smith has been called a hero by WakeMed and the Garner Police Department, which investigated the incident, while Martin’s loved ones have contended he was only defending himself during a mental health crisis that turned into psychosis after consuming potent THC gummies.
An autopsy report released earlier this month showed that Smith was shot in the chest and thigh with his service weapon. Martin sustained injuries to the abdomen that left him with a colostomy, which he has struggled to manage properly amid a shortage of medical supplies in the Wake County jail, according to court documents.
Now, Martin’s defense attorney, Emilia Beskind, and the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, David Coleman, have entered a joint motion asking for a judge to compel WakeMed to release possible evidence in the case.
In a motion filed Wednesday, Beskind wrote that WakeMed objected to a Nov. 24 subpoena she issued seeking all surveillance video from the shooting, Smith and Martin’s medical records and any written reports stemming from the incident. WakeMed allegedly conducted an internal investigation into the shooting and is thought to have taken statements from employees who witnessed the incident, according to the motion.
What WakeMed is saying
In a Dec. 3 letter, Robert E. Desmond, associate general counsel for WakeMed, reportedly wrote that the hospital system would not comply with the subpoena, according to Beskind’s motion. Desmond’s letter cited a portion of North Carolina law that allows people to challenge subpoenas within 10 days of service if the subpoena:
- Doesn’t allow reasonable time for compliance.
- Requires privileged or otherwise protected information be disclosed, and there is no exception or waiver to that privilege or protection.
- Would pose an “undue burden or expense” to the person fulfilling the subpoena.
- Is “otherwise unreasonable or oppressive.”
- Is “procedurally defective.”
“Defense counsel conferred with Mr. Desmond, and he relayed that WakeMed would not provide these materials without an order from the court,” Beskind wrote.
It’s not clear if this is standard procedure for the healthcare system; WakeMed did not reply to an inquiry from The N&O on Wednesday.
Should WakeMed be ordered to comply with the subpoena, Beskind and Coleman are seeking security footage from 6 to 11 a.m. on the day of the shooting, according to the motion.
Martin remained in the Wake County jail without bail Thursday.
This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 9:22 AM.
