DATE: Saturday, March 22, 1997              TAG: 9703220653

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   75 lines

PETITIONS CALL FOR JUDGE'S DISMISSAL

It's been more than a month since comments by a Goldsboro judge praising two defendants enraged some Dare County residents and prompted a call for his ouster.

Superior Court Judge Paul M. Wright contended the remarks were taken out of context, but critics say they won't rest until he is removed from the bench.

Wright came under fire last month after published reports that after the sentencing of two men for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, he expressed admiration for the men because they had ``made it in the world without a father.''

Beth Storie of Manteo said organizers have collected almost 400 signatures from citizens countywide, asking for the judge's ouster.

The petitions have been forwarded to the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission, a panel of lawyers, business and lay people that oversees the judiciary.

``I sent petitions to Stumpy Point, Duck, Southern Shores and all up and down the beach,'' Storie said. ``We've received petitions back, some of them full, with three pages attached.''

Wright said the remarks in question did not reflect his view of the defendants' actions with the girl, but his explanation doesn't wash with a group of Dare County residents.

In addition to circulating petitions asking for his removal, they also plan to picket the Dare County Courthouse during Wright's next stint in the county. In North Carolina, Superior Court judges serve statewide on a rotating basis.

Paul Charron of Manteo said he has heard from other sources that Wright is one of the state's toughest judges in rape cases. However, he said, that does not excuse Wright's remarks.

``If he's our best judge in dealing with these types of cases, then we need to look long and hard at our judges,'' Charron said. ``Should he be removed from the bench? I don't know. But the fact that he said what he said to those men, and then didn't give an adequate explanation for why he said it, is something to think about. He has to be accountable for what he said.''

Storie agreed.

``The reaction I'm getting from people is outrage,'' she said. ``I think judges should be held to a higher standard. And if a judge makes this kind of a remark concerning men who raped a 12-year-old girl, then he has to pay the piper.''

The Judicial Standards Commission has scheduled a closed-door meeting today where the incident was expected to be discussed. The commission meets in secret, and does not release its findings until after an investigation is completed and action is taken.

In 1985, Wright was censured by the commission for making what it found were improper campaign contributions to the 1984 U.S. Senate campaign of James B. Hunt Jr. and former Attorney General Rufus Edmisten.

Wright could not be reached for comment Friday. However, in an interview last month, Wright defended his actions.

``I was not commending them for the crime they committed,'' Wright said. ``Absolutely not! I was just trying to encourage them and their mothers.''

A 12-year veteran of the Superior Court, Wright makes $93,528 annually.

The two men, Joseph William Millen, 27, of Clinton and Shannon Michael Woods, 19, of Nags Head, originally were charged with first-degree rape in connection with an incident that occurred Feb. 4, 1996.

Woods and Millen were alleged to have performed sexual acts simultaneously with the girl.

Because the girl was unwilling to testify, prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain. Millen and Woods pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual assault. Both men received suspended sentences and no jail time under the state's structured sentencing law. ILLUSTRATION: PUBLIC REACTION

The problem: Dare County residents, outraged by Wright's comments

during a rape trial, are petitioning for his dismissal.

What's next: Judicial Standards Commission meets privately today,

will release findings when investigation is complete.

JUDGE PAUL M. WRIGHT KEYWORDS: JUDICIAL INQUIRY PETITION

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