A member of the so-called “Orange County Five,” a group of elected officials arrested during Moral Monday protests last year, told WCHL on Friday that the Wake County D.A. will drop his case, along with those of his co-defendants.

Carrboro Alderperson Damon Seils was arrested on June 3, 2013 inside the state legislative building during “Mega Moral Monday” protests. Four other elected officials from Orange County were arrested along with him.

They include: Former Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton; Carrboro Alderpersons Michelle Johnson and Sammy Slade; and Chapel Hill Council member Donna Bell.

Seils said he received news on Friday from his lawyer Mark Dorosin, a UNC civil rights attorney and Orange County commissioner, that all of the trespassing-related charges would be dropped.

“According to our attorney, the D.A. is planning to dismiss those charges, in both District and Superior Court,” said Seils.

Seils said Dorosin informed him that the defendants should receive formal copies of the dismissal “sometime within the next two weeks.”

Interim Wake County District Attorney Ned Mangum announced earlier in the day that he would dismiss hundreds of Moral Monday cases, citing Wake County Superior Court Judge Don Stephens’ recent dismissal of trespassing charges against Moral Monday protester Leonard Beeghley, a Durham pastor.

Stephens’ ruling was triggered by a U.S. Supreme Court decision from June that struck down protest-free “buffer zones” around abortion clinics in Massachusetts. The Supreme Court found that law unconstitutional.

Seils said that because of Stephens’ ruling, the D.A felt that he couldn’t successfully prosecute most of the Moral Monday cases.

“It’s an ironic kind of connection with a case relating to abortion,” said Seils. “But in this case, it confirms something that I’ve said since the day we were arrested, which is that I believe that we were arrested unlawfully.”

Seils said he had not had a chance to speak with his co-defendants yet, as of early Friday afternoon.

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