Nearly 200 cases dismissed after North Carolina trooper allegedly made ‘misleading’ statements

RALEIGH, N.C. (WBTV) – Nearly 200 cases have been dismissed after a state trooper in North Carolina made statements that appeared to have been “false and misleading,” officials said.

CBS affiliate WNCN said the trooper initially called into question was Garrett Lee Macario. The station reported that Lorrin Freeman, the Wake County District Attorney, began reviewing Macario’s credibility after he investigated a fatal crash in October.

“We received information the last week in December that there had been an accident, a one-car fatality on Capital Boulevard in October, in which the interaction of the trooper on scene had come into question,” Freeman said via WNCN.

Freeman said she then requested bodycam footage from the day of the crash. During a review, she said “there were statements that were made by that trooper that appear to be false and misleading.” From there, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) launched an investigation.

WNCN said the state chose not to pursue pending cases that involved Macario, which led to the dismissal of about 180 cases. Freeman said the majority of those cases were related to DWI charges.

Freeman said one reason the cases were dismissed was because DWI investigations are “pretty much one-witness cases.”

During the review of Macario’s conduct, WNCN reported that the credibility of his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison, was also questioned.

“Without getting into the details of this investigation, there was information in the body cam and dash cam video that I reviewed that also gave rise to concerns about his credibility,” Freeman said of Morrison.

About a dozen cases that involved Morrison — but are separate from Macario’s — were being reviewed.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol confirmed to WNCN that both Macario and Morrison were placed on administrative duty, effective Jan. 10. Macario has been with the agency since February 2019, and Morrison since July 2012.

WNCN reported that neither trooper had been charged as of Jan. 24. In addition to the SBI investigation, the station said an administrative investigation by Highway Patrol was also likely.

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