The second former Union County prosecutor charged with lying and hiding evidence in a death- penalty murder trial has asked that the complaint be dismissed.

The N.C. State Bar filed charges against former Union County-based District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and former assistant prosecutor Scott Brewer on Aug. 30.

The bar alleges the attorneys failed to disclose deals to secure reward money and reduce prison time for a star witness in the 1996 case. Defendant Jonathan Hoffman spent seven years on death row before winning a new trial last year.

Honeycutt, a former president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys and creator of anti- domestic violence programs used statewide, filed his response to the charges Friday. He retired one year ago.

Honeycutt's motion denies that he hid any deals and says a Superior Court judge has already found that he did nothing wrong in the case.

In April 2004, Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour's order giving Hoffman a new trial repeatedly emphasized that Honeycutt did not know about the witness' immunity deals.

Hoffman's defense attorneys had wanted to keep such statements out of the order, saying they thought it spared Honeycutt responsibility. The bar's complaint echoes the concerns of Hoffman's attorneys that Honeycutt hid evidence.

Brewer, now a district judge in Rockingham, filed his response to the bar last week. He also denies any hidden deals.
Honeycutt's motion also says the bar filed its complaints too late. T he bar requires grievances be filed within six years of the alleged offense, or within one year of the "discovery" of the offense. Brewer's motion brought up the same issue.

The bar State Bar rarely charges prosecutors. T he complaint says Honeycutt and Brewer "engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, (and) deceit" to win a case the bar says they likely wouldn't have won otherwise.
A three-member panel of the bar's disciplinary hearing commission will hear the complaints. T he hearings are set for Nov. 10 and 11 in Raleigh. If the panel decides the men lied, punishments could range from a reprimand to suspension or revocation of a law license.

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A former Union County prosecutor accused by the N.C. Bar Association of lying and hiding evidence in a death penalty murder trial has asked that the complaint be dismissed.

T he bar association filed charges against former Union County-based District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and former assistant prosecutor Scott Brewer on Aug. 30. T he bar alleges the attorneys failed to disclose deals to secure reward money and reduce prison time for a star witness who testified in the 1996 case.

Defendant Jonathan Hoffman spent seven years on death row before winning a new trial last year. Brewer's motion denies that any deals were hidden.

An attorney for Brewer, who is now a district judge in Rockingham, said in a motion filed Monday that the bar's charges against Brewer include factual inaccuracies.

"Unfortunately, and despite the damage that has been done to Judge Brewer and his family, these allegations are untrue," the motion says. It says that if the state bar had "taken the time" to read court transcripts of the case, it would have known the allegations were false.

The state bar rarely charges prosecutors. The complaint says Honeycutt, who retired last year and is now in private practice, and Brewer "engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, (and) deceit" to win a case the bar says they likely wouldn't have won otherwise.

The complaints against the attorneys will be heard by a three-member panel of the bar's disciplinary hearing commission. The hearings are scheduled for Nov. 10 and 11 in the bar's chambers in Raleigh. Honeycutt hasn't yet filed his response to the charges; it is due Monday.

Brewer's motion also says the bar filed its complaints too late. T he bar requires grievances be filed within six years of the alleged offense, or within one year of the "discovery" of the offense.

The Process
Grievances filed with the state bar's disciplinary committee are private. But if the committee decides to press charges against an attorney, the bar issues its own complaint and the process becomes public. Accused attorneys can have their own attorneys at the hearings. Punishments range from a reprimand to suspension or revocation of a law license.

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Former Union County prosecutors Ken Honeycutt and Scott Brewer, accused of lying and hiding evidence in a death penalty case, aren't discussing the allegations against them in public.

But a fellow attorney said he is "fed up" with the misconduct allegations and wants the public to know they didn't do anything wrong.

Lawyer Koy Dawkins shares a law office with Honeycutt in Monroe. He said he is friends with both men and has known Honeycutt since before Honeycutt attended law school. Dawkins, a civil attorney who also is the Union County Board of Education's counsel, does not have a legal role in the case but said he has discussed it with Honeycutt.

"They are good public servants who did their job well. And they're being made out to be felons," said Dawkins, "I'm convinced in my mind that Ken and Scott are victims," he said. Dawkins said existing court documents already show the men didn't do what they are accused of.

Honeycutt and Brewer are being scrutinized, Dawkins said, because of the heightened interest in death penalty moratoriums and possible wrongful convictions.

Allegations against Honeycutt, who retired as the county's chief district attorney in 2004 and Brewer, a district court judge, have received statewide attention. In August, the N.C. State Bar charged Honeycutt and Brewer with hiding deals a star witness received in a murder case that put defendant Jonathan Hoffman on death row for seven years. Hoffman received a new trial in 2004, and the case is set for this fall.

The state bar's disciplinary committee twice dismissed the case against the prosecutors because of a deadline rule and a record-keeping rule.

But the bar said it will appeal the committee's rulings and said the men's actions constituted felonies. It doesn't have the power to file criminal charges, so it asked Union's current DA to investigate.

Dawkins said the men's names should be cleared for these reasons:
They did not know of deals the star witness received because a federal prosecutor who made the deals didn't tell them. The witness, Johnell Porter, testified that Hoffman confessed the crime to him; Porter later received a reduced sentence in a bank robbery conviction and federal immunity in other cases. Honeycutt and Brewer used the same defense in filings to the bar.

Honeycutt requested a new trial for Hoffman in 2004 on the grounds that the witness deals weren't disclosed to the court. Honeycutt blamed the federal prosecutor, and said "justice demands" a new trial. Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour awarded a new trial.

Spainhour's order for the new trial says Honeycutt and Brewer did not know about the witness deals.
In their filings with the state bar, Honeycutt and Brewer argued Spainhour's order meant they shouldn't be disciplined about the deals.

In an interview Tuesday, Spainhour said he couldn't comment on how he made his decision.

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A professional group of N.C. attorneys is urging a local prosecutor to recuse himself from a possible felony case against his former boss and a judge.

T he N.C. Academy of T rial Lawyers sent a letter to Union County District Attorney Michael Parker on T hursday asking Parker to turn over the investigation to a special prosecutor or "other person with whom there would be no appearance of a potential conflict of interest."

Parker announced last week he would be spending at least a month examining the N.C. State Bar's allegations against former Union County District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and District Judge Scott Brewer, who sits in the same district.

The bar accused Honeycutt and Brewer of lying and hiding evidence during a death penalty case that put defendant Jonathan Hoffman on death row for seven years. T he bar turned its case against the men over to Parker because Parker has jurisdiction.

The bar said the 2,000 pages contain evidence of felony obstruction of justice and subornation of perjury by the men, who have denied the accusations.

Honeycutt recommended that Parker, then his chief deputy, replace him when he retired and went into private practice in 2004. Brewer is now a judge in Parker's district.

Parker's office is also preparing to retry the case at the center of the accusations - Hoffman won a new trial in 2004, and is headed back to court this fall. T hose are reasons the academy is asking for Parker to recuse himself.
The academy says it doesn't doubt Parker's "integrity or ability," but it has "a deep concern about maintaining public confidence in our profession."

Nearly 4,000 N.C. attorneys belong to the academy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan association that advocates for legal education and equal legal protection.

Parker has declined comment about the possible conflict of interest.

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The N.C. State Bar's disciplinary committee will hold a hearing on a recently dismissed case against two former Union County prosecutors Friday.

The bar did not elaborate on the reason for the hearing, calling it a "status conference." But the bar has challenged the committee's dismissal of the case.

In August the bar charged former Union D.A. Ken Honeycutt and former assistant Scott Brewer, now a district court judge, with lying to win a death penalty murder case. The men denied the accusations and said the bar was too late in filing the charges, related to a 1996 case. The case put defendant Jonathan Hoffman on death row for seven years until he won a new trial in 2004.

Earlier this month, the bar's own disciplinary committee said it would dismiss the charges, agreeing the deadline for filing a complaint against the attorneys had passed. But the bar shot back with a memo saying the former prosecutors committed felonies, and no deadline applies.

The bar typically requires grievances be filed within six years of the alleged offense, or within one year of the "discovery" of the alleged offense. T he committee called the rule "ambiguous."

T he disciplinary committee hasn't yet filed its decision, meaning it could back off its decision Friday and continue with the charges. T he hearing will be held in bar offices in Raleigh.

The bar, a regulatory group that licenses attorneys and investigates grievances, doesn't have the ability to press criminal charges. At most, it can strip attorneys of their law licenses.

The bar might turn evidence of criminal activity over to the agency with jurisdiction - the Union County District Attorney's Office. Union D.A. Michael Parker said he had not received a case from the bar.

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A former top district attorney and current judge will go before the N.C. State Bar in November on charges of lying and hiding evidence in a death penalty case.

The State Bar will rule on charges that former Union County-based District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and Judge Scott Brewer, a former assistant prosecutor in the same district, "engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit" to win a case that the bar says they likely wouldn't have won otherwise.

The complaints against Honeycutt and Brewer, filed Aug. 30, will be heard together by a three- member panel of the bar's disciplinary hearing commission. The men are allowed attorneys and are expected to file responses to the charges in the next two weeks. The hearings are scheduled for Nov. 10 and 11 in the bar's chambers in Raleigh.
The bar rarely charges prosecutors, though it said it did not have statistics. Punishments range from a reprimand to the suspension or revocation of a law license.

The attorneys are accused of failing to disclose deals to secure reward money and reduce prison time for the star witness in a 1996 murder case. Defendant Jonathan Hoffman spent seven years on death row before winning a new trial last year.

It isn't known whether other cases of Honeycutt's and Brewer's are being investigated, as the bar won't acknowledge any investigation unless it results in charges.

Honeycutt retired from office last year and has been working in a private practice in Monroe. Brewer is a judge in Rockingham.

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A judge's order for a new trial filed Friday in a death penalty case says Union County's top prosecutor did not hide an immunity deal for a star witness, as defense attorneys had alleged.

As District Attorney Ken Honeycutt had argued, Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour's order lays blame on a federal prosecutor, not Honeycutt, for not disclosing the deal.

Attorneys for Jonathan Gregory Hoffman, on death row in the 1995 robbery and murder of Marshville jewelry store owner Danny Cook, are happy their client has a new trial.

But they are disappointed that the judge's order cleared Honeycutt of responsibility.

Hoffman's attorneys had requested the new trial because they said the defense and jury were never told that a star witness, Johnell Porter, received immunity for several federal crimes in exchange for his testimony against Hoffman. Honeycutt said the federal prosecutor who cut the deal with Porter's attorney never told him about it either.

In a hearing Monday, Honeycutt said the defense's discovery of an immunity deal left him little choice but to ask for a new trial for Hoffman, something that "justice demands."

Spainhour's order says he granted Hoffman a new trial because Hoffman and his attorneys were not made aware of Porter's immunity deal, a point the defense agrees with. But the order repeatedly emphasizes that Honeycutt did not know about the deal, statements the defense attorneys had wanted to keep out of the order.
"It's just not possible that he couldn't have known," said Hoffman attorney Rob Hale of Honeycutt after the Monday hearing.

Court documents say that while Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Whisler did not tell Honeycutt about the deals, Honeycutt didn't ask, either.

Hoffman's attorneys said it was Honeycutt's duty to ask federal prosecutors about immunity deals.
Hoffman attorney Michael Howell said it would be "foolish" to challenge Spainhour's order, however much the defense might object to its wording.

"It is our first duty to take care of Mr. Hoffman's best interest. To make sure a public official acts with integrity is not our first concern," Howell said.

"I don't give a hoot what those attorneys say," Honeycutt told the Observer on Friday. "If I'd known about it, I would have done something about it. I did what was right; the judge did what was right."

Hoffman's case is being watched closely by death penalty opponents across the state who think it might help persuade lawmakers to vote for a moratorium on executions statewide.

Since 1997, the year Hoffman was sentenced to death, only a half-dozen N.C. death-row inmates have received new trials, among them another Honeycutt case. Jerry Lee Hamilton, convicted of a 1994 stabbing in Richmond County, was awarded a new trial last year. A judge decided evidence related to a witness was withheld from the defense.

Hoffman learned of his new trial Tuesday morning in a newspaper, Howell said, just hours before his attorneys could tell their client the good news.

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N.C. State Bar officials say two prominent former prosecutors committed felonies during a death- penalty case that put a man on death row for seven years.

In a challenge to its own disciplinary committee this week, the bar filed a memorandum detailing the allegations against former Union County-based prosecutors Ken Honeycutt and Scott Brewer.

The memo said the men committed felony obstruction of justice and subornation of perjury (pushing another person to lie under oath) in the 1996 murder case.

The bar, a regulatory group that licenses attorneys and investigates grievances, had already filed its own charges against the men. But the disciplinary committee dismissed the complaint last week, ruling the case had missed a filing deadline.

The bar disputes that, saying the deadline doesn't apply to felonious misconduct.

The bar cannot file criminal charges; at most, it could revoke Honeycutt's and Brewer's law licenses. A criminal investigation would have to start in Honeycutt's former Union County District Attorney's Office, which has jurisdiction.

The attorney general's office said Parker could request a State Bureau of Investigation probe. DA Michael Parker, Honeycutt's hand-picked replacement, said Friday he hadn't received the case from the bar.

The bar's case began in August, when it charged Honeycutt and Brewer with lying to win a case it says they likely wouldn't have won otherwise.

They are accused of deliberately hiding deals to secure reward money and reduce prison time for the star witness, Johnell Porter, in the death-penalty murder case. T hey also are accused of putting Porter on the stand to give false testimony about the concessions.

Defendant Jonathan Hoffman spent seven years on death row before winning a new trial in 2004, which is pending.
T \he case has drawn the attention of death-penalty opponents concerned about wrongful convictions resulting from prosecutorial misconduct. Some states have placed moratoriums on their death penalties, citing the same concerns.

"The conduct they did is a felony," said Mike Howell, one of Hoffman's former lawyers. "I'm just thankful Jonathan Hoffman is alive. He would have been put to death unjustly."

In written responses to the bar filed in October, Honeycutt, now in private practice, and Brewer, a district judge in Rockingham, both denied lying or hiding anything.

Honeycutt on Friday said he could not comment until appeals were complete. Brewer could not be reached, but his attorney has previously declined comment on his behalf.

The men also have argued that the bar filed its complaints too late. The bar requires grievances be filed within six years of the alleged offense, or within one year of the "discovery" of the alleged offense.

Attorneys who handled Hoffman's appeal said they didn't discover the prosecutors hid evidence from the court, including the judge, until mid-2003.

The bar's disciplinary committee dismissed the charges because of that deadline rule, but it also called the rule "ambiguous" and asked the bar to weigh in on the deadline debate.

In the bar's Wednesday memo, bar counsel Carolin Bakewell conceded the rule "is not a model of clarity." And she wrote that the bar urges "an expansive rather than strict" interpretation of the rule.

"The rule should be strictly construed not to deprive the State Bar of the power necessary to carry out (its) mission," she wrote.

Friday, disciplinary committee member Lane Williamson, a Charlotte attorney, said it wasn't appropriate to comment on the case.

The disciplinary committee hasn't filed its dismissal yet, and it could change its decision based on the bar's challenge. Once the committee files its decision, either side can appeal it.

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Death penalty experts say it's likely a first: on Monday, Union County District Attorney Ken Honeycutt asked a judge to award a new trial to a man Honeycutt sent to death row.

Honeycutt's request in Union County Superior Court virtually guarantees a new trial for Jonathan Gregory Hoffman, convicted of the 1995 robbery and murder of Marshville jewelry store owner Danny Cook.

"In my opinion, justice demands - and in all fairness - Mr. Hoffman be awarded a new trial," Honeycutt said.

Honeycutt said errors by others in the case - not by him - left him little choice. And defense attorneys remained critical of Honeycutt, but glad at the prospect of a new trial.

Hoffman's attorneys had requested the new trial because they said the defense and jury were never told that a star witness, Johnell Porter, received immunity for several federal crimes in exchange for his testimony against Hoffman.

In the Monday hearing, Honeycutt said he did not know about the deals either, but defense attorneys questioned that.

The case is being watched closely by death penalty opponents across the state who think it may help persuade lawmakers to vote for a moratorium on executions statewide.

"It's the first time I've heard of someone being convicted, sitting on death row, and the state agreeing to a new trial," said Gretchen Engel, a staff attorney for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Raleigh, which helps in the defense of death-row inmates.

"The norm is fight tooth and nail, even when there is compelling evidence," Engel said.

Since 1997, the year Hoffman was sentenced to death, only a half-dozen N.C. death-row inmates have received new trials, among them another Honeycutt case.

In the Hoffman case, Honeycutt said a federal prosecutor who did not tell him about the immunity deal was to blame.

A letter detailing the immunity deals was sent from federal prosecutors to Porter's attorney, Honeycutt said, but not to him.

Hoffman's attorneys, however, have said in court documents that Honeycutt deliberately hid the deals so they would not erode Porter's credibility.

The defense and the jury knew only that Honeycutt promised to put in a good word for Porter to federal authorities concerning a bank robbery.

And Honeycutt said, "That is the only agreement the State of North Carolina made with Mr. Porter."

Honeycutt fended off other allegations of prosecutorial misconduct that Hoffman's attorneys tried to put forth in the hearing.

"I strongly protest their other spurious allegations," Honeycutt interjected when they tried to raise them at the hearing.

Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour said no further reasons for a new trial - such as the claims against Honeycutt - needed to be heard. He said Honeycutt's statement that he did not know about the deals was enough.

"Our versions of (who received) the letter are different," said Hoffman attorney Michael Howell, a state appointee who handles death penalty convictions. "We're glad Mr. Hoffman's alive to get a new trial."

Spainhour said he will file an official order by Friday.

"This is a long-suffering case for everybody," Spainhour said.

Death-penalty opponents hope if Hoffman is awarded a new trial, his case will add momentum generated by recent high-profile exonerations. Darryl Hunt was released from prison last fall after being sentenced to life for the 1984 rape and murder of a Winston-Salem woman. Another man confessed after DNA evidence linked him to the crime.
That case and others could be part of the debate next month, when the N.C. House decides whether to consider a two-year moratorium on executions. T he Senate has already approved the moratorium.

The Hoffman case in Union County has also drawn attention because another death-row inmate in Honeycutt's prosecutorial district was granted a new trial.

Jerry Lee Hamilton, convicted of a 1994 stabbing in Richmond County, was awarded a new trial last year. A judge decided evidence related to a witness was withheld from the defense.

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The professional futures of a veteran former prosecutor in Union County and a district judge are at stake after the N.C. State Bar charged them with lying and hiding evidence in a case that put a man on death row for seven years.

T he State Bar will rule on charges that former District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and Judge Scott Brewer, a former assistant prosecutor, lied to win a case that the bar says they likely wouldn't have won otherwise. T hey are accused of failing to disclose deals to secure reward money and reduce prison time for the star witness in the 1996 murder case.

"I don't feel I've done anything wrong," Honeycutt said Wednesday, referring inquiries to his attorney, who declined comment. Brewer, based in Rockingham, could not be reached.

Honeycutt, who retired last fall after nearly a decade as chief district attorney in the sprawling 20th District, was well-known and sometimes controversial as a forceful and outspoken prosecutor. A former president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, he initiated domestic violence programs used statewide. Honeycutt lobbied against an N.C. ban on executing the mentally retarded, and gave noose lapel pins to assistants who won death penalty cases, a practice he called a "morale booster."

His high-profile cases have included that of Josh Griffin, a then-police officer convicted of murdering a 26-year-old woman during a traffic stop in 1997.

It's highly unusual for the bar to charge prosecutors, though the bar said it did not have exact statistics. Punishments range from a reprimand to the suspension or revocation of a law license.

The bar charges that Honeycutt and Brewer "engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit" by deliberately hiding the witness' deals for testifying.

Defendant Jonathan Hoffman spent seven years on death row before winning a new trial last year. A judge ruled that information about the deals should have been disclosed, but did not blame Honeycutt and Brewer.

And Honeycutt, who surprised observers by joining the defense in asking for a new trial, told the judge it was a federal prosecutor who made the "catastrophic" mistake not to inform the court of the deals.

The attorneys working on Hoffman's appeal felt Honeycutt should have been accountable ,but said their primary goal was to get a new trial and they were taking what they got. But the defense had made the very allegations now in the State Bar complaint: Honeycutt and Brewer deliberately withheld information about witness Johnell Porter.

Porter was facing a minimum of 15 years on federal bank robbery charges when he struck a deal, the State Bar said.
After testifying in the Hoffman trial, he received a lighter sentence in his bank robbery case, immunity in other pending cases and money from a reward fund, all of which the prosecutors helped secure, the bar said. Deals for a witness aren't uncommon, but they must be disclosed.

T he State Bar charges that Honeycutt and Brewer either lied when the judge asked about the deals for Porter or didn't volunteer them when they were supposed to on several occasions. Instead, the bar says, they:

Falsely told the judge they had given the defense all information for witness deals.

Submitted their notes about the case, purposely omitting sections about the deal. (Honeycutt told the Observer last year that the omission was likely the result of a typing error on his part).

Did not tell the jury about Porter's deals as a witness.

Without Porter's testimony, the state "likely could not have convicted Hoffman of murder and he surely would not have received the death penalty," bar officials wrote in their complaint.

Attorneys for Brewer and Honeycutt have 20 days to file a response to the bar's charges. Honeycutt has been working as an attorney in Monroe since retiring last year weeks after his loss in the Democratic primary for the N.C. House District 69 seat.

The men will later appear before the three-member panel of the bar's disciplinary hearing commission. A hearing date has not been set.

It wasn't known whether other cases of Honeycutt's and Brewer's are being investigated. The bar's office of counsel and its grievance committee will not acknowledge any investigation unless it results in charges.

Since 1997, the year Hoffman was sentenced to death, only a half-dozen N.C. death-row inmates have received new trials, among them another Honeycutt case. Jerry Lee Hamilton, convicted of a 1994 stabbing in Richmond County, was awarded a new trial last year. A judge decided evidence related to a witness was withheld from the defense.
*
Ken Honeycutt
Age: 58.
Current job: Private law practice in Monroe

 Professional history: Former president, N.C. Conference of District Attorneys. District judge or district attorney for combined 31 years; became judge only a few years out of law school. Honeycutt's domestic violence program, which trains law enforcement to find and preserve evidence, is used as a model for other communities.

Legal education: Wake Forest University School of Law.

Notable: Defeated in 2004 Democratic primary for N.C. House District 69 seat; retired from district attorney's office a few weeks later.

In the courtroom: Honeycutt won the high-profile case against Josh Griffin, a former Monroe police officer convicted of murdering 26-year-old waitress Kim Medlin.

Scott Brewer
Age:47.
Current job: Judge in the 20th District (covering Union, Anson, Richmond and Stanly counties).

Professional history: Appointed in April 2002 when another judge retired; won the seat in November 2002 election. Worked 15 years as assistant district attorney; two years of private practice.
Legal education: Campbell University School of Law (1984).

Notable: Honeycutt once described Brewer as "one of the most successful trial attorneys in my office."
On the bench: A 2004 Observer report on DWI convictions found Brewer had the highest conviction rate of any judge in his district.

Timeline
According to the N.C. State Bar, here is how a 1995 murder led to charges a decade later of lying by prosecutors.
Nov. 27, 1995: Danny Cook is shot to death in his Marshville jewelry store in Union County. Jonathan Hoffman is later charged with first-degree murder.

November 1996: Hoffman's cousin, Johnell Porter, tells prosecutors Ken Honeycutt and Scott Brewer he has information about Hoffman's role and wants to make a deal.

Nov. 13, 1996: Jury finds Hoffman guilty of first-degree murder; he is sentenced to death the next day. Soon after, Porter's prison term on a bank robbery charge is reduced from a minimum 15 years to seven; he receives undisclosed amount from a reward fund.

April 30, 2004: Hoffman's attorneys argue for a new trial, saying prosecutors hid promises they made to Porter from the judge and jury, and altered a document that mentioned the deals.

Honeycutt himself asks the judge to grant the new trial, saying errors by others in the case warranted a new hearing. A judge grants the trial and agrees with Honeycutt that a federal prosecutor should have disclosed the deal.

Aug. 30, 2005: The N.C. State Bar charges Honeycutt and Brewer with misconduct, saying they lied to the court and knowingly withheld important evidence.

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N.C. State Bar officials on Tuesday sent documents they say contain evidence of felonies by two former prosecutors to Union County's district attorney for possible criminal charges.

State bar attorney Carolin Bakewell also said Tuesday that top bar leaders have ordered her to appeal the dismissal of its own misconduct charges against the attorneys to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The appeals court could order the case be reheard by the bar's disciplinary committee.

It will be up to Union DA Michael Parker to decide whether he or another law enforcement agency should consider criminal charges against district judge Scott Brewer and former Union DA Ken Honeycutt. Honeycutt recommended that Parker, then his chief deputy, replace him when he retired into private practice in 2004.

The state bar, a regulatory group that licenses attorneys and investigates grievances, said Honeycutt and Brewer lied and hid evidence during a death-penalty case that put a man on death row for seven years. Defendant Jonathan Hoffman won a new trial in 2004. T he men have denied the charges.

The bar charged the men with misconduct in August, but its disciplinary committee for a second time dismissed the case Friday on a procedural rule.

The bar doesn't have the ability to press criminal charges; at most, it can strip attorneys of their law licenses. Charges against prosecutors are rare.

Friday's dismissal on a record-keeping rule - and the previous dismissal two weeks earlier on a deadline rule - haven't been well-received by the legal community.

The Honeycutt and Brewer case spurred leaders of the N.C. Academy of T rial Lawyers Friday to create a task force to intervene in cases with allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. The Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham, which has been tracking Hoffman's case for years, said the bar's decision suggested the organization lacked the "stomachs" to go after prosecutors.

Mike Howell, one of Hoffman's appeals attorneys, said the handling of the case against Honeycutt and Brewer hurts public confidence in the legal system.

"Because of the misconduct of some lawyers, the whole profession gets a black mark," Howell said.

Branny Vickory, Wake County's DA and president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, said the allegations against the men are so serious that "it's absolutely amazing" a procedural issue led to the dismissal.

Even the disciplinary committee's chair, Charlotte attorney Lane Williamson, said he didn't like the decision and knows it may make the bar look bad. He said the committee was "stuck," and had to dismiss the case to comply with the rules.

The bar says it has evidence Honeycutt and Brewer committed felony obstruction of justice and subornation of perjury (pushing another person to lie under oath) in the 1996 murder case. That's why it is handing the case to Parker, who has jurisdiction because the murder and trial were in Union.

Parker can ask the State Bureau of Investigation to investigate, according to the N.C. Attorney General's Office. Parker has said he cannot comment on the case because he doesn't have it yet.

Bakewell said the bar's appeal of its disciplinary committee's decision will be filed in the next month.

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Union County District Attorney Michael Parker said he will withhold any decisions on allegations of felonies by his former boss until he reviews the case.

The N.C. State Bar sent a file to Parker Tuesday containing evidence it says shows former Union County District Attorney Ken Honeycutt and former prosecutor Scott Brewer committed felony obstruction of justice in a 1996 murder case. The bar also says the men committed subornation of perjury (pushing another person to lie under oath) in the same case.

The state bar, a regulatory group that licenses attorneys and investigates grievances, said Honeycutt and Brewer lied and hid evidence during a death-penalty case that put a man on death row for seven years. Defendant Jonathan Hoffman won a new trial in 2004.

Parker, who is up for election this November, will have a few options. He may decide to press charges against the men, or may decide there's no case. If he determines he has a conflict of interest or another problem, Parker can request the State Bureau of Investigation or another law enforcement agency decide whether charges are necessary.

Parker said he could not comment on what he may do.

Honeycutt recommended that Parker, then his chief deputy, replace him when he retired into private practice in 2004. Brewer is now a judge in Parker's district.

Criminal charges against prosecutors related to the handling of a case may be unprecedented in the state. Legal experts said they don't know if prosecutors in North Carolina have ever been criminally charged for misconduct.

Both men have denied the allegations.

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