New evidence in the Kandle Rogers assault case has led to the dismissal of the city school board member’s conviction.
Rogers was charged with assault on a government official after she allegedly scratched Nishawn Pridgen, a Whiteville public works employee, as he was putting out traffic cones during Hurricane Idalia’s flooding Aug. 31. District Attorney Jon David requested a special prosecutor and judge for the case since Rogers is an elected official.
Pridgen testified that Rogers attempted to drive through the floodwaters at Virgil and Madison Street en route to her family business, Ward’s Grill. She was convicted of the single charge Nov. 2, and sentenced to community service.
Special Prosecutor J. Kyle Smith filed a motion to dismiss the conviction Friday, based on the new evidence.
Video from Pawn South, near where the incident occurred, shows “a female getting out of the passenger side” of a vehicle identified as Rogers’ SUV. The dismissal form does not detail the alleged contact between Pridgen and Rogers at the traffic barricades. Rogers threatened Pridgen with being fired and arrested, and called him a “nigger” during the incident, according to Pridgen’s affidavit and testimony. The incident was witnessed by Pridgen’s supervisor and others who testified in court.
City employees eventually allowed Rogers to pass through the blocked off street, even though other traffic was prevented from using Madison at that time.
The woman who exited the vehicle was wearing a blue shirt and gray sweatpants, the dismissal form says, but her face was not clearly visible on the videos that were originally released. Rogers’ SUV left the scene – driving through foot-deep water on Madison Street – at 11:59 a.m. and arrived at Ward’s Grill a few minutes later.
Recently discovered video from Ward’s Grill and submitted by the defense shows Rogers was gray shorts and a gray shirt. Her daughter Bella was wearing the blue shirt, according to the document. That footage was timestamped Aug. 31, shortly after the incident at the roadblock.
The video from the grill was provided to the special prosecutor’s office Nov. 7, after the Nov. 2 bench trial when Rogers was found guilty. That verdict was appealed by defense attorney William C. Gore.
In his motion to dismiss, Smith notes that “the court received testimony from State’s witnesses regarding a racial epithet apparently directed” at Pridgen, but “racial epithets are not considered an essential element of the charged offense.”
The local chapter of the NAACP called for Rogers to step down from the city school board for the use of a racial slur. Rogers stepped down as chair of the board last week, but refused to leave the board entirely, and denied all wrongdoing.
Defense Attorney William C. Gore said he was pleased with the decision to drop the conviction.
“As Ms. Rogers’ attorney, I was very disappointed when the video showed very clearly that it was not Ms. Rogers involved in the alleged assault,” he said. “After we filed our appeal, we found the new video that was shot just after the alleged incident.”
Gore said he immediately sent the Ward’s Grill video to Smith, but did not hear back from the prosecutor until Gore’s office was notified of the motion to dismiss.
“We are gratified that the new evidence showed Ms. Rogers was not guilty,” he said. “She has maintained her innocence all along, and this proved it.”
The district attorney’s office has not said if the case will be reopened.
