Mike Easley's lawyer for the election hearing is apparently Thomas Hicks, a longtime associate who had been an assistant district attorney under Easley when he was a prosecutor in the southeastern part of the state.
Hicks, who is in private practice in Wilmington handling criminal, traffic, divorce and other cases, was also on Easley's staff when he was attorney general.
Hicks did not return a call. But his assistant returned a call and referred all questions to an Easley spokesman in California.
J. Andrew Curliss covered state and local politics and government for The News & Observer for more than a decade before joining the investigative team in December 2008.
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