Former Assistant District Attorney Bill Huggins will face trial Sept. 8 on solicitation to commit murder, embezzlement of state property, attempting to obstruct justice and receiving bribes.
Out-of-county judge Richard Doughton will preside.
Detective Greg Beard of the Moore County Sheriff’s office claimed that Huggins’ former mistress, Melissa Davis, told him Huggins had asked her to kill his wife.
He said she told him that Huggins had given her a gun to use.
Subsequent investigation carried out by Beard and agents of the SBI recovered a Ruger .22-caliber pistol that was later identified by the state crime lab as evidence once entered in a Lee County murder trial.
That gun had been kept in Bill Huggins’ desk drawer, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing. Huggins’ alleged theft of the gun led to the embezzlement charge. Other charges were added later.
One alleges that Huggins attempted obstruction of justice by offering to help Lisa Graves, a criminal defendant, with her legal problems in exchange for sex.
Another, for receiving bribes, alleges that he took money from Debbie Stone Johnson for helping William H. Kottcamp in his DWI case.
SBI agents taped Huggins on Aug. 19, 2002, in a face-to-face meeting with Davis. Those conversations corroborated Huggins’ affair with Davis, that he had given the Ruger pistol to her, and that they had discussed killing Kathy Huggins.
His alleged theft of that gun led to the embezzlement charges. Other charges were added later. One alleges Huggins attempted obstruction of justice by offering to help Lisa Graves, a criminal defendant with her legal problems in exchange for sex. Another, for receiving bribes, alleges he took money from Debbie Stone Johnson for helping William H. Kottcamp in his DWI case.
A spokesperson for the Lee County Clerk of Court’s office confirmed Tuesday that Special Superior Court Judge Richard Doughton will try the case.
Special Deputy Prosecutors James Coman and Patrick Murphy will prosecute. Coman is a former State Bureau of Investigation director and is now senior deputy attorney general of North Carolina. Murphy works in the special prosecutions branch of the attorney general’s office.
Huggins is represented by Sanford attorneys Jon Silverman and Chip Post.
None of the attorneys could be reached for comment.
Huggins subsequently signed a statement confirming a sexual relationship with Davis, and corroborating her tale of meetings with Davis in his office in the Lee County Courthouse and in his residence, where they exchanged gifts and mementos. He also confirmed purchasing two vehicles, a Ford and a Dodge Durango, which he gave to Davis for her personal use.
Court records show that the SBI seized numerous items pursuant to a search warrant. Items included a Moore County citation of Davis, a 1986 Wake Forest Law Review containing a torn-out page of sex advertisements, a VHS tape, 13 ounces of petroleum jelly, a note from Davis and a heart-shaped clock.
Huggins worked at the district attorney’s office for 15 years, but District Attorney Tom Locke fired him after his arrest.
His wife, Kathy Huggins, has stood by him.
At a hearing in January, where Huggins entered pleas of “Not Guilty” to all charges, she told Judge Craig Ellis that she was not afraid of her husband and wanted him home.
Ellis later modified the terms of release, which had required the defendant to live out of county, to permit Huggins to return to his residence pending trial. Huggins remains under $50,000 secured bond.
Ellis did not set a trial date at that hearing, after defense attorneys stated that their calendars included other serious trials already set. Instead, the judge agreed to having a trial date arranged by consultation between the parties.
It apparently took some time to find a calendar date acceptable to both defense and state’s attorneys and to fimd an available judge from another county, the spokesperson from the Lee County Clerk of Court’s office said.
The case has been tentatively listed for trial at every session since January, she said.
“Bill’s case has just been rolled over,” she said. “It’s never actually been on a calendar We had just rolled it over, rolled it over, and rolled it over.”
The office had thought a late summer trial possible.
“We had it on for Aug. 4,” she said.
That date was changed to Sept. 8, because a special judge is coming in.
