After two days of witness testimonies, Pender County clerk of court awaits removal decision

After two days of hearing from witnesses in her removal hearing, Pender County Clerk of Superior Court Elizabeth Craver awaits a decision on whether she will be removed from her position.

Craver was suspended on Feb. 26 after being indicted on three counts of felony obtaining property by false pretenses and one count of failure to discharge her duties.

She has been serving as the clerk of court since 2017, but Camille Harrell is currently serving as interim clerk while Craver is on suspension. On Friday, Judge Kent Harrell is expected to decide whether Craver will be able to continue her duties as clerk.

During the hearing at the courtroom of the Frances Dawson Basden Judicial Annex in Burgaw, witnesses were questioned by petitioner Boyd Sturges of Davis & Sturges, PLLC and defense attorney Ed West. West will also be representing Craver in her criminal case.

These accounts came from Craver herself, Harrell, multiple employees of the Pender County Clerk’s Office, a former clerk’s office employee, Pender County employees, a local Walmart employee, agents with the State Bureau of Investigation, the clerk of court in Iredell County and Craver's former attorney.

Witnesses were questioned on several topics including Craver’s alleged use of government property for personal use. These alleged instances include the purchase and reimbursement of a MacBook laptop computer, a portable air conditioning unit and Craver’s removal of courthouse chairs and taking them to her home for use.

About the investigation

The investigation started in 2023 when Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler was notified about potential criminal violations involving an individual who allegedly forged a deed and attempted to file it with Craver.

During that investigation, according to court records, employees within the clerk’s office notified the sheriff that Craver may have committed various crimes during her time as the elected clerk.

Then on Oct. 12, District Attorney Ben David and Cutler requested that the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation investigate the allegations. Attorney Jordan Ford with the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys was assigned to advise the SBI in the search of Craver’s work locations.

The allegations against Craver include multiple items that Craver allegedly received county reimbursement for with the understanding that they would be used for work, but allegedly they were for her personal use.

Of the 11 reimbursement transactions with 82 purchased items, according to the warrant applications, the SBI did not find 30 of the items in initial searches of Craver’s work locations.

On Nov. 28, Craver handed over an Apple MacBook laptop to the SBI so that they could investigate the contents.

The indictment jury also found probable cause that Craver was falsifying timecards for her employees, one of which she was allegedly out shopping with during work hours. Other instances include falsifying timecards for employees who were working on Craver’s campaign during work hours.

More: New details reveal what prompted charges against Pender County clerk of court

Testimony about the laptop

During her testimony, Craver maintained that she thought she could use the MacBook laptop for personal use and work. Her reasoning for the laptop being at her house at the time it was seized was because she needed it for a trip to Raleigh for the State Consumer and Family Advisory Committee.

Special Agent Courtney Dail for the SBI said that after examination of Craver’s MacBook laptop, she found that most of what she found on the laptop was inconsistent with what would be used for work. Dail said if she had to attach a percentage to the number of work-related results, it would be in the single digits.

Craver said the MacBook laptop was refurbished before she bought it and it was around $300 when she bought it, which would be below the amount for the county to track.

Pender County Finance Director Margaret Blue, who also testified, said that any items upward of $1,000 are items that the county tracks and any items above $5,000, the county commissioners have to give permission to buy.

More: Pender County clerk of court case: What we know from the SBI's searches of her work locations

Testimony about the portable air conditioner

Craver said she purchased the air conditioning unit with the intent of using it in the courthouse but, when it didn’t work properly, she tried to return the item to Walmart for a refund.

As part of Special Agent Anthony Sampogna’s testimony, he brought in the portable air conditioning unit and tested it to see how it operated. At Sturges’ request, Sampogna ran the unit for approximately eight minutes and at each minute mark he said that the air was cool, and the fan seemed to be running properly.

Craver and West also looked at the unit and Craver said that when Sampogna turned it off, she heard a particular sound that she heard when he first received the unit and that it would make that sound when it wasn’t working properly.

Testimony about the chairs

Craver said she removed chairs from the courthouse because she wanted to salvage the chairs that were about to be disposed of by the courthouse.

She said that she had fixed many other courthouse chairs, judges chairs and benches because she said she was brought up to fix what could still be used.

Pender County Facilities and Fleet Services Director Jeremy Drummond said he was under the impression that anyone would have to get permission from the county before they took items from the courthouse or any other facility, because otherwise it would be stealing.

Craver said that when hurricane Florence and COVID-19 came through Pender County, a lot of courthouse items were moved to a different location. She said that she and other employees were notified that before the building was to be bulldozed, they could go in and get whatever items they wanted.

Courthouse Security with the Pender County Sheriff's Office Allen Dezso said that he had also taken items home from the courthouse that would have been otherwise thrown out. He said that the previous maintenance manager for the county allowed employees to take home items that were to be trashed.

Questions about failure to carry out duties

The clerk’s office employees were also questioned on Craver’s alleged failure to carry out duties by not entering an owelty as a judgment, which resulted in a citizen not paying interest when they should have.

Craver and other witnesses with the clerk's office said that they had never dealt with an owelty before and that instance was their first time handling one.

Craver said she consulted with her mother Brenda Tucker, a former clerk of court in New Hanover County, on what to do about what she said was a clerical error on the court's behalf. Craver also said that she notified the parties involved in the owelty to apologize for the clerical error.

Craver’s campaigns

Multiple clerk’s office employees said they worked on Craver’s 2022 reelection campaign, and said that she did not make them participate, but that they volunteered to help.

Former clerk's office employee and ex friend of Craver, Kristal Moore said that Craver told her when and where she needed to be when it came to working poll locations for her election. Moore said that Craver didn't care whether Moore took personal time and Moore said she did not volunteer to work at the polls.

Even though some volunteered, most of the clerk’s office employees said that it was during their work hours.

Craver said she did not regularly check her employees' timesheets and that her assistant clerks would keep up with time submittals of deputy clerks.

Clerk of Superior Court for Iredell County Jim Mixson said that it was not unusual for clerk’s office employees to work on clerk campaigns, but that it should be done on volunteered time, not time in the office. He also said it was not unusual for a clerk to have assistant clerks that handle administrative duties as he has them himself.

“We have to keep politics and the work we do for the state separate,” Mixson said.

Two clerk’s office employees said they felt intimidated by Craver when the SBI first started investigating Craver, and they said she told them that she did not want them speaking to the SBI without her there.

Craver said this was because she felt as if it was her responsibility to be there as the boss of those in the clerk’s office and that she never told her employees they could not speak to the SBI.

One clerk's office employee, Ashley Medina, who is also Craver's cousin, said she felt intimidated by SBI agent Sampogna when the SBI came to interview her. Other clerk's office employees said they also noticed Medina visibly upset after the SBI left her interview.

What's next?

Both West and Sturges will make their closing statements Friday morning and then Judge Kent Harrell is expected to make a decision on whether Craver will continue her role as Pender County Clerk of Superior Court. This decision will not prove Craver to be guilty on any criminal charges.

Craver’s criminal case is set for June in Pender County, according to Kimberly Spahos, executive director of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Pender County Clerk of Court removal hearing continues