RALEIGH — A dispute between Moore County Clerk of Court Todd Maness and Moore County District Court Judge Beth Tanner that resulted in Maness’ attorney filing a civil conspiracy complaint has apparently been resolved.
“Mr. Maness and Mr. Webb have resolved their matters and Mr. Maness is satisfied with the resolution,” according to Michael Porter, the attorney representing Maness. The portion of the lawsuit involving Webb has been dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning the charges cannot be brought again in the future.
Porter said Maness is hoping all parties can “move forward,” and “handle the people’s business of Moore County.”
The dispute began in early December 2023, when Tanner issued a “show-cause order” against Maness, compelling him to appear in court and address her concerns related to administrative proceedings in the Carthage courthouse.
Tanner’s order accused Maness of contempt based on failure to obey court orders and outlined six issues including allegations of Maness revoking access to the floor where juvenile files are kept, not accommodating the scheduling of special hearing dates, keeping an unclear filing system and an instance of not serving notice properly in a civil matter.
One of the last items in Tanner’s order is an outline of a rescheduling issue during a family court session on Dec. 5, 2023, that ostensibly highlights tension between Tanner and Maness.
Tanner claimed she tried following the court’s procedure and attempted to contact the head civil division clerk to schedule the court. Despite multiple calls, the clerk couldn’t be located, leading to a brief recess. After the recess, it was reported that the head civil division clerk was in the building but couldn’t report due to undisclosed reasons.
An initial hearing for Tanner’s show-cause order occurred on Dec. 19, 2023. Maness denied any wrongdoing and said he believed the charges will be dismissed.
The claims in the civil conspiracy lawsuit began by tying recently retired judge James Webb to an effort to remove Maness from office by referencing an alleged “illicit” sexual relationship between Webb and Maness’ predecessor, Susan Hicks.
Hicks did not to run for reelection in 2022. The lawsuit claims Hicks wanted “her long-time employee, Chris Morgan, to be her successor.”
Additionally, comments Webb made about Maness’ job performance in an interview with a local Moore County news outlet were included in the suit as defamation claims.
Webb retired last fall but had drawn criticism earlier in 2023 for his practice of waiving probation fees if parolees provide “voluntary proof” of full COVID-19 vaccination to probation officers.
In 2015, one of Webb’s sentencing decisions was vacated by the N.C. Court of Appeals. A new sentencing hearing was ordered requiring the use of guidelines for mandatory minimum sentencing of Zachary David Thomsen, convicted of raping a six-year-old child. Webb had turned down a plea agreement and lowered Thomsen’s initial 25-year minimum sentence to 12 years, which Webb justified by comparing Thomsen’s potential sentence with the typically lighter sentences given to individuals convicted of second-degree murder.
Prior to the civil conspiracy case being dismissed against Webb and potentially dismissed against Tanner, Daniel Gibson, an attorney with Davis, Hartman, and Wright Legal representing Tanner, told North State Journal. “We’re fairly confident in our position in that litigation.”
“What she’s [Tanner] doing here is acting as a judge; trying to do what’s best for the courthouse was best for the people interacting with the courthouse,” said Gibson while also noting the motions filed for dismissal and special judge to be appointed.
The civil conspiracy complaint said Tanner’s actions had a “complete absence of all jurisdiction as a District Court Judge” and that she’s therefore “not entitled to judicial immunity for her conduct.”
But Gibson indicated Tanner may have judicial immunity.
“As a legal matter, we think that these claims are not really legally valid claims,” said Gibson. “Which is to say, you know, when you sue a judge for doing her job as a judge, there’s a doctrine called judicial immunity that is pretty broad. And we think Judge Tanner’s actions here are covered.”
“Even if they’re not covered by judicial immunity, we still don’t think these claims are legally sufficient,” added Gibson.
“We have interviewed many local attorneys, former employees of the clerk’s office, current members of court staff – including bailiffs who are present in the courtroom on a daily basis,” said Webb’s attorney, Tom Van Camp of the Pinehurst law firm of Van Camp, Beacham, and Newman in an interview with North State Journal prior to Webb’s portion of the case being dismissed. “And every single one of them that we’ve spoken with has as confirmed that Judge Webb’s comments regarding issues with the clerk’s office are 100% accurate; truthful.
“I will also say this for the record, it is not, and has never been, Judge Webb’s intent or desire to remove Todd Maness from office, to put him in jail, or to take away his medical benefits,” he added.
