Court Documents tell of pressure for abortion
Royce Mitchell was pressuring 15-year-old Tiffany Wright to end her pregnancy - and took her to an abortion clinic - according to new court documents that may shed light on why police say Mitchell should be prosecuted for statutory rape.
The documents, released Tuesday, say Mitchell took Tiffany - his adopted sister - to a Charlotte abortion clinic in mid-July but was turned away because, at 21 weeks of pregnancy, she was too far along.
Within days, Mitchell planned a trip to an Atlanta clinic where Tiffany's pregnancy could be terminated, the documents say. Tiffany refused to go.
On Sept. 14, Tiffany, a Hawthorne High junior, was fatally shot as she waited for her school bus on Mallard Creek Road. Doctors delivered her baby girl, but the infant died.
The new information comes in affidavits from the day of the killing, when police sought search warrants for Mitchell's south Charlotte home and an apartment police say he visited that day.
Police call Mitchell, 36, a "person of interest" in the killing, but they haven't charged him. On the day of Tiffany's death, Mitchell was jailed on charges of statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with Tiffany.
But those charges were dropped last week by prosecutors after a DNA test showed Mitchell was not the father of her baby. Without Tiffany alive to testify about her relationship with Mitchell, prosecutors said the case lacked enough evidence.
The move angered Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, who criticized the prosecutors' decision. Police said they believe there's "probable cause" based on "evidence gathered" to prosecute Mitchell on the sex charges - even without DNA evidence.
The affidavits released Tuesday say Tiffany's foster parents reported that Mitchell picked her up on July 20 at about 10:30 p.m. "to take her to visit a dying relative." Tiffany later reported she was really being held against her will by Mitchell and an unidentified female "as they attempted to convince Tiffany to engage in an abortion by non-medical personnel," the affidavits say.
The documents also say that Mitchell scheduled an abortion in Atlanta for the next day and wanted to pick up Tiffany at 5 a.m. from the foster home. But Tiffany refused.
The affidavit also says that Mitchell moved away from his wife and kids in July, at the request of the Department of Social Services, because of allegations he'd committed statutory rape with Tiffany. But Mitchell's wife told detectives that he showed up at the house at 6:45 a.m. on Sept. 14, less than an hour after Tiffany was shot. He took a shower and changed his clothes, the affidavit says.
Police seized a T-shirt, shorts, a tank top and a letter during their search of the home.
Police declined to discuss how Mitchell's actions alleged in the affidavits might have aided the prosecution. Deputy Chief David Graham said he can't comment, but said, in general: "No one piece of evidence standing alone means much, but when tied together helps establish direction for an investigation and possible motive."
Mecklenburg District Attorney Peter Gilchrist stood by his decision to drop the sex charges, saying his office knew about the information in the affidavits.
That evidence, he said, can't be used in court because it's hearsay evidence, and Tiffany can't testify to corroborate it. "What a person who is dead may have told someone else is not admissible," Gilchrist said.
He said defendants must be able to cross-examine those who testify against them.
Mitchell remains in the Mecklenburg jail. He's accused of violating the conditions of his release from federal prison in 2007 because sex charges were brought against him.
Mitchell served five years for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy in Buffalo, N.Y., and remains under federal supervision. The conditions of his release require that Mitchell have a job, meet regularly with a federal officer and stay out of trouble.
Mitchell lost his job on a street crew for the city of Charlotte after he was charged with statutory rape. A city news release said he was fired for "falsifying his employment application, which is in violation of city policy."
Mitchell has a hearing set for Thursday in federal court. A judge must decide whether there's probable cause that Mitchell violated the conditions of his release and whether he should remain jailed without bond while the federal case proceeds.
If a judge later finds that Mitchell violated the terms, he could be sent back to prison.
To prove a violation, prosecutors have a lower burden than they would at trial. They must prove only that the preponderance of the evidence shows that Mitchell committed sex acts with Tiffany, but need not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
"When state prosecutors dismissed the charges, they didn't say he didn't do it," said Greg Forest, chief of the federal probation office in Charlotte. "They said they didn't feel like they had the evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt....We don't have to have proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Charmeckda.com, Google Maps
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