Ruling Upheld In Trooper's Racial Profiling Case

RALEIGH, N.C. — A state court said a Highway Patrol officer engaged in racial profiling when he arrested a Hispanic motorist for drunken driving. The ruling upholds a previous ruling by a Durham judge.

In September 2002, Judge Orlando Hudson dismissed a DWI conviction against Juan Villeda.

Trooper Clinton Carroll said he stopped Villeda's car because he was not wearing a seat belt.

However, Hudson threw out the conviction after Carroll admitted he had trouble seeing into the car.