D.A.’s office recognized citizens for bettering the community

Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney Marina Fulton said if the goal was to have her in tears before accepting The Bryan Crocker Award on Wednesday at the D.A.’s office, District Attorney Andrew Murray almost succeeded.

Fulton accepted the award with her 5-year-old Cairn terrier, Mandamus or “Manny” – whose sandy white fur and perky ears are reminiscent of Toto in The Wizard of Oz – for a commitment to community service. Manny is pet-therapy certified, and the pair have spent approximately 100 hours at an assisted living facility helping to improve patients’ mental and physical health.

She was one of five recipients at the D.A.’s inaugural ceremony to “recognize individuals who have provided outstanding service to promote the mission of the District Attorney’s Office and to improve the community as a whole.”

Murray named the award after Bryan Crocker, an assistant district attorney on the habitual felon team who died last month from cancer. He also mentioned Fulton’s father, a former Marine who benefited from pet therapy before losing his own battle with cancer in 2012.

“It’s a good thing to remember him by,” Fulton said.

Murray gave The Above and Beyond Citizen Award to Quaysan Patterson, 20, and Chasity Reese, 17, for showing courage and testifying against their mother’s boyfriend in a domestic violence dispute that happened when Reese was 12 years old.

Patterson took two bullets trying to shield his mother and two younger siblings during the incident while Reese called 911 and flagged down police.

“In 15 years as a prosecutor, they are the bravest witnesses I’ve ever had testify in a case,” Assistant District Attorney Madelaine Colbert, who nominated them, said in a news release.

Reese said reliving the experience in her testimony was difficult.

“It was scary, but I had to put my fears behind me,” she said.

Landon Bush, a paramedic, was given the same award for rescuing an impaired driver who had passed out in his vehicle, blocking three lanes of traffic on Interstate 85 at 4 a.m. Bush, who was off-duty, also provided testimony against the driver.

The Above and Beyond Law Enforcement Award was given to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Sgt. Troy Armstrong, whose wife Michelle and children, Brooke and Fischer, sat in the front row during the ceremony.

Armstrong worked for months to track down three women who were sexually assaulted over a nearly 20-year span by the same man and whose testimonies were critical in convicting him. The testimonies became essential after the he sexually assaulted, hit and choked a fourth woman in 2012, and prosecutors feared challenges in court would prevent a successful trial.

“You can imagine how difficult it is to find somebody from 15 to 20 years prior,” Murray said. “Cases are gone, trails disappear, it is not easy.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 6:23 PM with the headline "D.A.’s office recognized citizens for bettering the community."