Orange DA won't object to unsealing Carson search warrants

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — Orange County's district attorney said Thursday he wouldn't ask a judge to keep search warrants sealed in theinvestigation of UNC-Chapel Hill senior Eve Carson's March 5 murder.

In April, Jim Woodall asked Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour to keep six warrants under seal for 60 days while detectives wrapped up parts of their investigation.

Baddour agreed and ordered another hearing for 10 a.m. Friday. If the judge decides they should be released, Woodall said he won't object.

The Durham Herald-Sun filed a motion earlier this year for the search warrants to be released, but Woodall said doing so at that point could jeopardize the investigation and identify confidential informants.

The district attorney also said Thursday he would not object if defense attorneys for the two suspects charged in Carson's death ask that the warrants stay sealed.

Earlier this month, Woodall said he would not object to Carson's autopsy report being released after June 30. It is expected to be released Monday.

Police found Carson, UNC's student body president, dead on a residential street about a half-mile from campus while responding to reports of gunshots. Authorities have never disclosed how the 22-year-old died.

Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17, and Demario James Atwater, 21, are each charged with first-degree murder in her death.