Chris Mumma testifies in NC Bar hearing
RALEIGH -- An attorney who's worked to free those wrongly convicted in North Carolina has testified in her defense against misconduct allegations.
Multiple media outlets reported that Chris Mumma spoke Tuesday in a hearing at the North Carolina State Bar.
The allegations involve Joseph Sledge, who was wrongly convicted of two counts of murder.
In 2013, Mumma and an employee of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence went to the home of the sister of two brothers who had been suspects.
Mumma failed to convince the woman to provide a DNA sample that could be tested to include or exclude her brothers as suspects, Mumma picked up her note pad and other items and grabbed a water bottle.
She realized the bottle was not hers but decided to keep it and have it tested for DNA.
"I thought about the potential the bottle might have for Joseph," Mumma testified Tuesday.
The bottle did not have DNA that was connected with the crime scene. Sledge was freed based on other evidence.
Mumma reported her action to the Bar after being told the local prosecutor and the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission would file a complaint.
Bar prosecutors began their cross-examination of Mumma late Tuesday and planned to continue Wednesday.
