DA Faces Defamation Lawsuit Over Sexual Assault Case

0:00Stay informed in two minutes or less with Durham news today from the Daily News Now. A district attorney in Northeastern North Carolina is spacing a defamation lawsuit from a woman who says he misrepresented details of her sexual assault case in official memos. Jeff Crudeon, the DA for several coastal counties, wrote that the woman's claims against her ex-husband only came up after their divorce and custody. Battle ended. But she filed the suit last month in Pasquotang County, arguing she reported the alleged assault much earlier. The incident happened during a family vacation in Dare County back in summer, 2020. She didn't report it until January 2021, after leaving her husband and feeling safe enough to do so. According to her complaint, Crudeon's memos also wrongly claimed her ex was interviewed early on when he wasn't contacted until just before the memos. Came out last year. She says Crudeon never reviewed her evidence or met with her before declining to prosecute. Nicholson, the plaintiff, have been dealing with years of abuse,

1:00including a protective order and criminal complaint against her ex for choking and assault. After seeing Crudeon statements, she says her PTSD, anxiety, and depression flared up again. She even handed out flyers calling him out for mishandling her case. Crudeon was served papers on February 27, but court records show no new filings yet. He's in his first term after winning election in 2022, and is filed to run again without opposition. Deformation suits against DAs like this are pretty rare in the state. Legal experts know Crudeon might claim sovereign immunity since he's acting as a public official. No hearings are scheduled so far, and neither side is commented publicly. We'll keep an eye on how this plays out. The Daily News Now is presented by our sponsor, linked in the description, your pillow, your podcast, your moment made for listening in bed, S-O-L-L-I, soleypillow.com.