Investigation into North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has been closed, prosecutor announces
Avi Bajpai, The News & Observer - Thursday February 9, 2023
RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman announced Thursday her office has closed its investigation into North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, over an allegedly false campaign ad for which her office was preparing to indict the high-profile Democratic official last year
Freeman’s announcement came a day after a federal appeals court issued a ruling in favor of Stein’s campaign, which has argued since July that the 1931 state law his campaign supposedly violated runs afoul of the First Amendment’s protections for political speech, and should be found unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous ruling Wednesday that the obscure statute was likely unconstitutional. The ruling keeps in place a temporary injunction granted by the appellate court in August, and means that for the time being, prosecutors are still blocked from charging Stein with violating the law.
On Thursday evening, Freeman’s office said it was dropping the investigation because the court’s decision prevented prosecutors “from moving forward” with the case within the “prescribed statutory statute of limitations” of two years.
“Understanding that the case was one of intense public interest, it has been the assigned prosecutor’s intent to exercise due diligence and to evaluate the evidence and apply the law without partiality from the beginning of this matter,” Freeman, also a Democrat, said in a statement. “As prosecutors, we respect the role of the court in determining the constitutionality of a duly enacted state law.”
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/investigation-into-north-carolina-attorney-general-josh-stein-has-been-closed-prosecutor-announces/ar-AA17ja9j
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