Court investigating computer error that dismissed 16K traffic cases in Mecklenburg County

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – A computer error led to 16,000 traffic cases being dismissed in Mecklenburg County.

Now, some of those cases have been reopened.

Related: Computer error leads to 16,000 incorrectly dismissed charges, Meck. County DA’s Office says

The accidental dismissals stem from the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office working with the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts to dismiss low-level misdemeanors and some traffic charges to curb the backlog the Mecklenburg County Courts are facing.

A several hundred-page document with specific criteria for what cases could be dismissed was sent from Mecklenburg County to the AOC in Raleigh.

But somehow, the AOC’s computer program showed that 16,000 cases that did not meet the dismissal criteria were dropped.

On Tuesday, defense attorney Mark Jetton went before a judge to ask what was the criteria that were sent to the AOC’s office allowing for dismissals, and whether his client’s charges actually met that criteria.

Currently, that several hundred-page document has not been made public.

“That has been my position for a while and I think other defense attorneys’ position – ‘OK, we need to see this document. What does this document have on it?’” Jetton said. “I understand it’s a long, long document. From today (Tuesday) we learned that it was actually a hard copy. Six things of paper that were actually transported up there by vehicle. And I think that’s what the judge wanted to see too, saying the devil is in the details on this situation. We need to see exactly what is on that document and what did it authorize to the court.”

The judge said in court he plans to take a look at what’s on that document and set a new hearing on this matter for Nov. 10.

WBTV is also working to get a copy of that document.

Download the free WBTV News app for the latest updates as we keep digging for answers in a mix-up that could impact thousands of area drivers.

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