Deborah Faye Brogden, 41, was sentenced to a maximum of two years for shooting at Assistant Superintendent Dr. Danny Thomas at his home.

But the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Judge W. Erwin Spainhour “erred by amending the jury verdict to enhance the defendant’s conviction to the felony of assault with a deadly weapon upon a government official.”

Originally, the jury found Brogden guilty of assault on a government official and assault with a deadly weapon.

Once the Rowan County jury’s verdict was returned, Assistant District Attorney Darrin Jordan asked to amend the verdict to add “on a government official” to the assault with a deadly weapon charge, making it a felony.

Judge Spainhour “asked the jury to clarify its verdict— were they finding Ms. Brogden guilty of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official? The jury responded yes,” according to the appeals decision.

Spainhour then sentenced Brogden on the new charge — felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official.

Now, in May, Brogden will return to Rowan County court to be sentenced on the original charge of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon.

“These are A1 misdemeanors, even if the judge imposes an active sentence, it could not exceed 120 days, 60 per offense, so she has already served her time and then some,” attorney Thomas M. King said.

Brogden represented herself in the criminal trial but King represented her in the appeal.

King contributed the error by Judge Spainhour to the elements of the trial.

“It was a very trying case for everybody and it was very difficult on everyone’s behalf,” King said regarding Brogden defending herself.

“That is one of the positives of having lawyers on both sides. Things certainly go smoother and this is a classic example. It was rather cumbersome,” King said.

He said Judge Spainhour and Assistant District Attorney Jordan did a “fine job” handling the case. “I think there were a lot of factors that went into this case that brought it to this juncture at the end.”

King added that Brogden could have represented herself in the appeals trial but “deferred to my judgment on issues of the appeal.”

“I have never had anything but positive dealings with her and her mom,” King said.

Judge Spainhour said he could not comment on any case and suggested reading the appeals’ decision. “It speaks for itself,” he said.

In the appeals decision, the court ruled “it is in plain error for a judge to amend a verdict to create a greater offense when the jury returned a verdict of a lessor offense.”

“But we disagree with the defendant’s contention that because of this error all charges against her must be dismissed,” the ruling went on to say. “The jury properly found the defendant guilty of two charges — assault with a deadly weapon and assault on a government official.”

Brogden is being held at the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women in Raleigh. Her projected release date for the original sentence would have been Oct. 9, 2000.