The appointment by former Gov. Mike Easley on his last day in office of two Raleigh lawyers to the Superior Court bench resulted in some unusual last-minute wrangling to get the incoming judges sworn in late Friday night.

Shannon Joseph and Bill R. Pittman took their oaths at 11 p.m. Friday night in a Wake County courtroom, in front of a crowd of more than 50 that gathered last-minute to watch the proceedings, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Joseph and Pittman’s appointments to special superior court bench will be good for the next five years. They’ll both have offices in the Wake County courthouse, but will preside over cases all over the state, depending on where they are needed.

Joseph, an administrative law judge for the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, had been tied up in High Point that afternoon in a hearing and couldn’t make it back to Raleigh until after the end of the business day.

Wake Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens, who administered the oaths, was on his way to the ball held that evening for Beverly Perdue, who took office the next morning, when he was asked to administer judicial oaths to Pittman and Joseph before Perdue became governor the next day.

The 11 p.m. slot Friday night seemed to be the time everyone could make, Stephens said. It was open to the public, he said, but acknowledged that it'd be hard for the public to know about the ceremony.

More after the jump.

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Gov. Mike Easley made two last-minute appointments Friday.

Before leaving office, the former governor appointed Shannon Joseph and Bill Pittman, both of Raleigh, as Special Superior Court judges.

Joseph has been an administrative law judge with the state Office of Administrative Hearings since 2007. Previously, she was a partner at the Smith Moore law firm in Raleigh.

She is married to Superior Court Judge Ripley Rand, the son of Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a longtime Easley ally.

Pittman has been in private practice since 2001, focusing on government relations, utility law and commercial litigation. Previously, he served as associate general counsel to Gov. Jim Hunt and as a member of the state Utilities Commission.

"These new judges bring dignity and wisdom to the bench," Easley said in a statement. "Their vast experience and knowledge of the law will be an asset to our court system."

An administrative law judge has determined that an N.C. Highway Patrol captain never intended to make a racial remark that came out inadvertently and therefore should not have been suspended for five days.

Capt. Norman Goering was disciplined after a photo shoot of troopers in July 2007 in which he had said "black in back." He immediately apologized for the remark, saying that he had intended to say "tall in back" but tripped over his words, Dan Kane reports.

A lieutenant heard the remark and reported it, leading to an internal investigation. The investigation initially led to Goering's demotion to lieutenant, but then he was reinstated with the five-day suspension.

Administrative Law Judge Shannon Joseph determined after a hearing that no one had found Goering's remark to be intentional, and that the captain had an "exemplary" 26-year-history with the patrol. She said he should receive pay or benefits that were lost as a result of the suspension, and reasonable legal fees.

The State Personnel Commission will decide whether to accept the judge's findings.