Attorney Aviance Brown Breaks Her Silence on Gwendolyn White Case

AVIANCE BROWN BREAKS HER SILENCE

Attorney Aviance Brown publicly addressed the case in a video statement discussing her representation of Gwendolyn White. Brown attempted to narrow the focus of the case strictly to body camera footage litigation, repeatedly emphasizing that the legal dispute centered on whether Rolesville Police Department properly produced police recordings connected to a March 3, 2021 confrontation at White’s home.

Out of Brown’s own mouth, she said the bodycam footage had allegedly been deleted under the department’s retention policy, but later, technology vendors were able to recover some of it. She also confirmed that after White complained the flash drive handed over in court was empty, video clips were eventually sent through a file-sharing platform instead.

But noticeably, Brown never directly answered some of the biggest questions in White’s court filings — including whether Chief David Simmons personally ordered the footage deleted, whether all of the footage was ever actually recovered, and whether attorney Mary Harris improperly communicated with Judge Bedford before the January 2026 hearing.

Brown also said she spent significant time reviewing records, evidence, and the underlying allegations while representing White. Yet in her public statement, Brown appeared to distance herself from White’s broader claims involving alleged harassment, poisoning, stalking, acid attacks, and the death of White’s 90-year-old mother, Ellen Abram White.

Brown also stated she withdrew from representation due to what she described as “imprudent actions contrary to a lawyer’s advice,” though she never publicly explained exactly what actions she meant.

The North Carolina Beat and other independent media outlets who have poured over the documents – shows that White’s case was never simply about a deleted police video. 

THE MARCH 3, 2021 INCIDENT

According to Rolesville Police Department filings, officers responded to White’s home on Strathwood Way on March 3, 2021 after what police described as a verbal altercation between White and her neighbors, Craig and Michelle Larscheid.

That disagreement became the foundation for what would evolve into a years-long courtroom battle.

THE DELETED FOOTAGE MYSTERY

According to the police department, the bodycam footage from March 3, 2021 was purged under departmental policy around April 2021 because it was not classified as evidence.

But this is where White’s filings start poking holes in the their narrative. White repeatedly asks the same question throughout her filings:

If all the footage was deleted, how were clips later recovered years afterward?

And the question is difficult to ignore because buried inside the department’s own exhibits are emails showing IT vendors were still searching for missing footage long after the department claimed the material had already been purged. According to White’s response filing, the recovery efforts and internal emails stretched across multiple dates in February 2022, including February 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, and 28 — nearly a year after the original March 3, 2021 incident.

One particularly explosive internal email stated:

“The video you all found is related to the March incident, but it is not the video we need. We still need Officer Apodaca’s footage.”

The department’s own records appear to show that missing footage still existed, searches were still ongoing, and not all recordings had actually been recovered.

That directly supports one of White’s biggest arguments – that the department never fully complied with Judge Vince Rozier’s original contempt order.

THE EMPTY FLASH DRIVE

One of the most craziest parts of this case involves what White says happened inside a Wake County courtroom in January. According to White, during a contempt hearing, attorney Mary Harris handed over a flash drive that was supposed to contain recovered police footage.

But White says the drive was empty. White claims she later had the drive checked by Best Buy Geek Squad, where she says technicians confirmed there was nothing on it. Then, just days later, White says Harris instead sent three video clips through a file-sharing platform called Kiteworks.

Aviance Brown publicly acknowledged White claimed the flash drive was empty and that footage was later transmitted electronically. The police department’s own filings also confirm that footage was later shared through a file-sharing platform.

That means White’s timeline on this issue has remained remarkably consistent across filings, hearings, and public statements.

WHITE ACCUSES CHIEF DAVID SIMMONS OF PERSONALLY ORDERING DELETION

One of White’s allegations is her repeated claim that attorney Mary Harris stated during court proceedings that Chief David Simmons personally ordered deletion of footage tied to White’s address.

White claims Harris referenced this multiple times during the January hearing. She also alleges the deletion occurred almost immediately after the March 2021 incident — not after the standard 30-day retention window repeatedly cited by the department.

And even in the police department’s filings – it repeatedly say footage was purged “consistent with policy.” But nowhere in the filings reviewed does the department directly rebut White’s repeated allegation that Simmons personally requested deletion.

That omission is serious.

THE “EX PARTE” ACCUSATIONS AGAINST JUDGE BEDFORD

In a court response filed March 23, 2026, White accused Wake County Superior Court Judge Bedford and attorney Mary Harris of engaging in improper “ex parte communication” before the January 12 hearing.

White bases that accusation largely on language written by Harris herself.

In the filing, Harris wrote:

“Although the undersigned confirmed the footage was available prior to the Court’s hearing…”

White argues that statement proves Harris privately communicated with Judge Bedford, discussed evidence beforehand, and potentially influenced the outcome before the hearing even started. She repeatedly claims evidence was reviewed outside her presence, due process was violated, and constitutional protections were ignored.

In her appeal, she asked the court reverse the dismissal, recuse Judge Bedford, sanctions, and a new hearing before Judge Vince Rozier, the original judge connected to the contempt order.

THE LISA TUCKER EMAIL

Another twist involves an email from Wake County Trial Court Administrator Lisa Tucker.

In the email, Tucker wrote:

“It has always been our policy that another judge will not over rule another judge’s order.”

White now argues this proves the matter should have gone back before Judge Rozier instead of Judge Bedford. While the email itself does not accuse anyone of wrongdoing, White is using it as evidence that procedural irregularities may have occurred behind the scenes.

WHITE SAYS THIS WAS NEVER JUST ABOUT FOOTAGE

Throughout her filings, White repeatedly insists this case is connected to years of alleged harassment against both herself and her mother. Her allegations are shocking.

White claims, repeated break-ins, acid attacks, poisoning, stalking, destruction of property, harassment by neighbors, and failures by multiple law enforcement agencies to intervene.

She also repeatedly claims her mother, Ellen Abram White, suffered for years before eventually dying in May 2025.

However, White has consistently repeated the same core allegations across multiple years of filings.

On Friday morning, May 22, 2026, the years-long legal war surrounding Gwendolyn White turned into a shooting outside the old Wake County Courthouse in downtown Raleigh.

According to Raleigh police, two attorneys — Harris and Jeffrey R. Whitley — were shot near the courthouse on Fayetteville Street shortly after leaving court proceedings.

Authorities later identified 57-year-old Gwendolyn White as the alleged shooter.