No dates set for Gardner hearings

Ex-commissioner faces drug charges

EDENTON — A former Chowan County commissioner’s probable cause hearing on a felony drug possession charge will be held in Superior Court.

District Court Judge Grafton Beaman moved Bill Gardner Jr.’s hearing on the cocaine possession charge to Superior Court during a court session in Edenton Tuesday.

No date has been set for that hearing or a hearing on several misdemeanor drug charges against Gardner. A court official said a hearing on the misdemeanor charges likely would be held in either December or January.

Gardner, 43, was arrested Oct. 8 and charged with felony possession of cocaine, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, an arrest report stated.

Gardner’s arrest came after Chowan County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Ambrose pulled over Gardner’s car on Country Club Drive shortly before 11 p.m.

Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin said Ambrose took the action because he suspected the driver of the vehicle of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Goodwin added that Ambrose found a white, powdery substance in the car, along with marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Goodwin said that the white substance found in Gardner’s vehicle had been forwarded to the SBI for analysis.

Gardner served District 2 on the Chowan County Board of Commissioners from 2004-08. Current commission board Chairman Eddy Goodwin defeated Gardner in the May 2008 Republican primary.

Gardner is being represented by attorney Hackney High of the Edenton law firm, High & Crowe LLP.