In February 2005, Atwater was convicted of breaking into a home in nearby Raleigh and received three years' probation. He was supposed to check in regularly with a probation officer, but officials have not said how often that occurred.
In June 2006, a police officer investigating a burglary in Granville County, N.C., confiscated a handgun from Atwater. Last June, Atwater pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm while on probation. But again he was sentenced to probation.
Probation officers should have immediately brought Atwater before a judge for a parole status hearing, Acree said. A judge could have revoked parole and jailed Atwater, he said.
"We should have reported . . . to the Wake County courts" in Raleigh in June, Acree said.
Probation officers finally began trying to catch up with Atwater in November, Acree said. On Feb. 20, an arrest warrant was served, and Atwater was jailed. But he posted a $10,000 bond and was freed pending the court hearing March 3.
Atwater and a probation officer showed up for court that day. But the hearing was postponed to March 31 because the case had been assigned to the wrong courtroom.
Two days later, on March 5, Eve Carson left home in Chapel Hill early in the morning, police said, apparently to make photocopies for school. Before she reached campus, she was shot and died on the street.
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david.zucchino@latimes.com
