A district court judge charged last week with driving while impaired maintains he was not, and said an independent analysis confirmed that and will absolve him in the case.
The first official statement from Judge Tim Smith, made on behalf of the Committee to Elect Tim Smith, was released to media outlets Tuesday, four days after the judge was arrested on a DWI charge as he drove in Jones County.
On Friday, Smith was presiding over a term of criminal District Court in Jones County. A practicing attorney in Duplin for more than three decades, Smith was appointed by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in April 2019 to sit on the bench for the Fourth Judicial District, which encompasses Sampson, Duplin, Jones and Onslow counties.
“The court’s proceedings began timely and the State prosecuted the matters on the calendar in an ordinary fashion. At no time were the court’s proceedings interrupted by any prosecutor, law enforcement officer, or other court official due to concerns about Judge Smith,” the statement from the Committee to Elect Tim Smith reads.
After court recessed for the day, Smith left the Jones County Courthouse and began driving toward his home in Duplin County. “Within minutes of leaving the courthouse,” according to the statement, Smith was stopped by an officer with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office and subsequently charged with driving while impaired.
The stop happened around 2 p.m. Friday as Smith traveled west on N.C. 41, just outside of Trenton. The stop was said to have been made for alleged erratic driving and going left of center. The N.C. Highway Patrol was called in to assist in the investigation.
Smith was allegedly impaired by a substance other than alcohol, authorities told multiple media outlets. However the cause of the alleged impairment was pending the result of bloodwork, according to reports. Smith’s statement did not mention any other substances, nor address allegations of erratic driving.
In Smith’s statement, it notes he was taken from the site of the traffic stop to the Jones County Courthouse for processing. There, he consented to a chemical analysis of his blood.
“Immediately thereafter, Judge Smith voluntarily submitted to an independent analysis by a drug recognition expert who concluded he was not impaired,” the statement reads. “The independent analysis corroborates statements from multiple witnesses who spent their morning in court with Judge Smith who state he was not impaired.”
Smith was appointed to the bench after Henry L. Stevens IV was elected as Superior Court Judge in November 2018.
He has served as the chairman for the Duplin County Board of Commissioners and the East Carolina Counsel. His community involvement also includes serving as county attorney and for the city of Beulaville. He is a senior member of the North Carolina Bar Association and North Carolina Advocates for Justice.Smith has filed to retain his seat for the 2020 election and is not considering withdrawing from the race.
Born and raised on a farm in Duplin, Smith was previously a partner at Smith & Blizzard, P.A. since 2000. He began practicing law in the 1980s, before starting his own practice in 1995. Next, he became partners with Melissa B. Stevens, their firm specializing in criminal defense and personal injury.
Stevens signed the statement released Tuesday, as the acting treasurer for the Committee to Elect Tim Smith.
“Judge Smith welcomes the opportunity to defend himself at the trial of this case and is confident the evidence will show he was not driving while impaired,” the statement concluded.
Smith was released on a written promise to appear in court. His next court date is April 3.