NC felon wrongly freed after paperwork mix-up, officials say

HIGH POINT, N.C. (WFMY) — The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and the Clerk of Superior Court for Guilford County say a clerical error led to the release of a man who should have remained in custody.

Lisa Y. Johnson-Tonkins, Clerk of Superior Court, says 37-year-old Dathan Abney appeared in High Point District Court on Wednesday. He faced four misdemeanor charges, including violating a domestic violence protective order, and one felony charge. Johnson-Tonkins says the misdemeanor charges against Abney were dropped, but he plead guilty to the felony, possession of a firearm by a felon, and received a 15 to 27 month sentence. But the clerk who was in court that day did not send the correct paperwork back to the High Point Detention Center with Abney. The paperwork received by the jail was connected to all of Abney’s misdemeanor charges which were dropped. Abney was released from the jail on Wednesday.

It wasn’t until Thursday that Col. Randy Powers with the Sheriff’s Office says the jail received paperwork regarding Abney’s sentence connected to the felony charge. When they realized Abney had been released, they began looking for him. Powers called it a “clerical error.”

“We take that seriously because when a person’s not met his sentence or his bond requirements then there’s some liability there for all of us and there’s safety issues for the persons involved, victims, family members of victims, so we take that very seriously and we want to make sure we rectify that as quickly as possible,” said Major Chuck Williamson, Bureau Commander of Court Services with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office.

Official documents show Abney has faced dozens of charges over the years, including: assault on a female, misdemeanor larceny, felony possession of cocaine, resisting a public officer and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

WFMY contacted Cyrus Brown, Assistant District Attorney with the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office who was working this case. He declined to comment.

Johnson-Tonkins says the clerk in High Point District Court on Wednesday was fairly new and this was her first week in court in High Point. Johnson-Tonkins called it a “mistake” and said that clerk would be highly supervised for the next several court sessions.