Raleigh Defense Attorney Blog

No jail for man in fatal 2001 street race

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:25:00 GMT

RALEIGH -- A Raleigh man who eight years ago today challenged a car of teenagers to a fatal race on Interstate 540 dodged another jail term Friday when he got probation for leaving the scene of a September accident.

Christopher Petersen, 25, a bartender at an Applebee's, had what could have been a 45 to 90-day jail sentence waived in favor of a year's probation after a brief trial at the Wake County Courthouse. He still faces a drunken driving charge he picked up in May.

Robber gets plea deal, advice

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:37:00 GMT

Claudis Caldwell Jr. had a chance to say a few words Friday to his son's best friend -- the guy who robbed an apartment with his son, crashed the getaway car and then left Claudis F. Caldwell to die in the back seat.

"You caused me great grief that you really know of, because you really did know Claudis," the father said, standing in the front row of a Wake County courtroom with wet eyes. "I hope this is a chance for you to do something with your life."

That opportunity was a plea deal that Tamerco Cunningham accepted Friday.

Man in fatal street race appeals revocation

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:38:00 GMT

Chris Petersen, the Raleigh man who eight years ago challenged a car of teenagers to a fatal race on Interstate 540, continues to fight for his right to drive.

Petersen, 25, pleaded guilty last week to a drunken driving charge from May. A judge put him on probation for 18 months; violating it would result in six months in jail. The judge also revoked his license, said Nick Yates, a Wake County assistant prosecutor.

3 Await Fate for Crime Spree

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:39:00 GMT

S.T. Vaughn III and Douglas "Kenny" Cross Jr. -- two former collegiate scholarship swimmers from Raleigh -- will walk into a federal courthouse in Gainesville, Fla., today and find out whether they will spend their lives in prison.

Vaughn and Cross, both 21, graduated in 2003 from Southeast Raleigh and Millbrook high schools, respectively, with promising futures as competitive swimmers at Florida A&M University.

By early 2005, they had met Gerald "J.R." Raymond, 27, a former convict and graduate of Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham. Several months later, the trio went on a crime spree, robbing as many as 50 hotels, check-cashing stores and other businesses mainly along interstates in Florida and Georgia.

Former N.C. State Student Pleads Guilty in Gazebo Shooting

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:41:00 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. — A former North Carolina State University student who prosecutors say pulled the trigger in a gang-related shooting at a university apartment complex last summer pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to his role in the crime.

Ryan Alexander Barnes, 21, who was arrested on an attempted first-degree murder charge, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of assault with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and assault with intent to inflict serious injury.