2 Durham officers charged with assault (Another DukeLax Coverup)

DURHAM -- Raleigh police have charged two Durham Police Department officers in connection with an incident that occurred July 20 outside a Glenwood Avenue sports bar.

The officers, Gary Powell Lee, 38, of 3588 Copper Creek Lane, Franklinton, and Scott Christian Tanner, 33, of 2516 Hiking Trail, Raleigh, both face counts of simple assault. Conviction on the misdemeanor carries with it, for someone with no prior offenses on their record, the possibility of a maximum 30-day jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.

Lee and Tanner are accused of assaulting Rene Dennis Thomas, a cook who works at Blinco's Sports Restaurant and Bar, 6711 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh. The charges stem from a parking-lot altercation that occurred late on July 20 as five current and two former Durham Police Department officers were leaving a going-away party for a departing officer.

A criminal summons issued Thursday alleged that Lee, a member of the department's Special Operations Division, tried to strike Thomas and tackled him, causing the cook to fall to the ground. A second summons alleged that Tanner, a motorcycle officer who works in the department's Traffic Services Unit, kicked Thomas in the head.

Thomas has told television reporters that as many as six men participated in the assault, which began with an exchange of racial slurs. But Raleigh Police Department spokesman Jim Sughrue said detectives in that city don't intend to charge anyone else in connection with the incident, or add later to the charges they've already filed.

"It's been extensively investigated, and we're confident that the responsible individuals have been charged," Sughrue said.

But Lee and Tanner -- and three of their colleagues -- could still face sanctions from the Durham Police Department. An internal investigation is continuing and should conclude in two to three weeks, Police Chief Steve Chalmers said at a news conference Thursday.

The Durham probe is focusing on a wider range of issues that include the alleged use of racial slurs. "The alleged conduct is something that is certainly deplorable to us, and something we don't want to be consistent in the way we operate and conduct ourselves," Chalmers said. "The entire allegation is disturbing."

Lee and Tanner had previously been restricted to administrative duties, and remain so. The other three officers in the case -- Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, Officer Richard Clayton and Officer James Griffin -- had also been restricted but on Thursday were allowed to resume their normal duties.

The decision doesn't mean the three have been cleared, but does indicate that based on "the facts we've already uncovered ... there's no reason we can't put these officers back on full duty," Chalmers said.

Asked later if that meant the three had played only a minor role in the incident, Chalmers said, "At least we can say it wasn't a major role."

All of the officers have the right to a lawyer's help, and two, Gottlieb and Lee, have retained the Durham firm of Clayton Myrick McClanahan & Coulter to represent them as the internal investigation and criminal case unfold.

A lawyer there, Allen Mason, confirmed Thursday that senior partner Jerry Clayton had spoken to Gottlieb and that another of his colleagues, former Assistant District Attorney Freda Black, had spoken to Lee.

One of the two former Durham officers involved in the case, James Kennedy, has also retained Clayton's firm and has talked with Mason. Kennedy is a former motorcycle officer who left the department late last year. The other former Durham officer who was present remains unidentified.

Asked if the lawyers and their clients would speak up to offer their version of what happened, Mason said there's "not a chance in the world" of that happening outside formal channels.

"We're not Duke lacrosse lawyers," Mason said alluding to the year's most highly publicized Durham Police Department case, one that Gottlieb and Richard Clayton, who's no relation to lawyer Jerry Clayton, have both worked on. "We don't practice that way. We don't comment about pending cases, we don't do interviews, we don't make statements."

The Raleigh charges were notable for the fact that they didn't address what Thomas has said was the first act of the confrontation, a move by one of the men involved to poke him in the shoulder with a finger. The charge against Lee addressed an act Thomas alleged was committed immediately afterward by a second man, and the charge against Tanner addressed something that happened after Thomas fell to the ground.

The shoulder poke was likely a criminal act under North Carolina law, given court decisions that have held "the merest unauthorized touching of another [person] is an assault," said Barry Winston, a criminal-defense lawyer in Chapel Hill.

A judge "who strictly interprets the law would, I suspect, hold that North Carolina law requires him to convict someone who walks up to someone and in an antagonistic fashion pokes that person with his finger," although that's "not what the average person thinks of as assault," Winston said.

Raleigh detectives filed Thursday's charges after consulting prosecutors in Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby's office, a move Sughrue said is standard in officer-involved cases. The spokesman declined to say why there wasn't a charge addressing the alleged shoulder-poke.

"Based on the investigation of the case, and facts present, it was determined that these two charges were the appropriate charges to bring," Sughrue said.

Thomas was surprised Thursday to hear that the charges involved the officers they did. "Lee and Tanner? Huh. OK. Check that again and call me back," he said before cutting off a brief interview. "I don't think you have the right guys."

The cook did not elaborate, and did not return a call placed to his cell phone late Thursday afternoon.

The Raleigh department's decision to issue a criminal summons for each of the officers, rather than an arrest warrant, saved Lee and Tanner an appearance before a magistrate and possibly the need to post bail to avoid detention. Sughrue said the officers didn't receive any special treatment.

"That is very typically the way a simple assault case is handled," he said. "That's very consistent with the way we'd handle the same case if the suspects had not been law enforcement officers."

Also routine was the Raleigh department's decision to assign detectives from its own internal-affairs unit to work the case. No matter what agency they work for, when police are "suspect in a case in Raleigh, the case is investigated by internal affairs," Sughrue said.

Mayor Bill Bell said the allegations, if true, are unfortunate. "If in fact it did happen, I'd hope they'd be prosecuted to the fullest extent," he said.

City Councilman Eugene Brown agreed. "It's always problematic when you have those hired and paid for enforcing the law breaking the law," he said. "I want to withhold judgment, but so far, this is just embarrassing."

Lee has worked for the department since 1999. Tanner joined the force in 1997, and was recently the beneficiary of a department-organized fundraiser intended to help him and another officer pay for cancer treatments. He suffers from Hodgkin's

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/16539.html

By Michael J. Gaynor
How Dare Judge Titus Try to Silence The Duke Men's Lacrosse Team!
July 30, 2006 06:17 PM EST

EXCERPT

Legal ethics is not Mr. McKissick's strong suit. See "Floyd McKissick Jr. disciplined by N.C. Bar, an Indy, the Independent Weekly, an article by Jennifer Strom dated March 17, 2004:

"Durham attorney and former city council member Floyd McKissick Jr. has been disciplined by the N.C. State Bar for professional misconduct involving a conflict of interest.

"McKissick received a formal reprimand from bar's grievance committee late last year, which the bar recently released to the public. The reprimand is essentially a slap on the wrist from the organization that regulates North Carolina attorneys; his law license is not endangered.

"The bar found that McKissick, a civil litigator who served on the council from 1993 to 2001, improperly represented both sides in a 2000 dispute involving the estate decisions of an elderly Durham man, Thomas Griswell. The conflict between the man and his younger caretaker spawned a civil case, as well as criminal charges of elder abuse against the caretaker."

The article further stated:

"'Floyd McKissick was a danger to elderly people who trusted him, who relied on him to protect their interests,' says Beverly Hill, who lives in Raleigh. Hill believes that 'a huge conflict of interest' led McKissick to help her uncle's caretaker get control of his assets, taking advantage of his advanced age, poor health and grief over his wife's death. 'My uncle was very exposed.'

"Court records show that Griswell signed over the deed to his East Alton Street house and all legal power over his personal finances and other affairs to caretaker Lily Richardson, whom Griswell and his wife had considered one of four unrelated 'foster children' they had supported for many years. The legal transactions took place in then-councilman McKissick's office in 1999, the day after Griswell's wife of 63 years had died. At the time, McKissick legally represented Griswell.

"A couple of months later, when Griswell realized he'd lost his house and given away power over his personal affairs, he hired another attorney to help him rescind the agreement McKissick had arranged for him with Richardson. McKissick later represented Richardson in her attempts to keep the agreement in place, according to court records.

"Questioned about the conflict of interest, McKissick is quick to assert that the bar's ruling 'is not newsworthy.'"

Chairman McKissick is staunchly behind Mr. Nifong, as the following excerpt from a July 4, 2006 article in The News & Observer illustrates:

"Durham County Democratic Party Chairman Floyd McKissick Jr. said the party will not challenge Cheek's petition drive. Instead, party officials said they will wait for Ashe to finish verifying Cheek's signatures, then decide how best to support Nifong should Cheek enter the race.

"'It's premature until we really know whether we've got an issue to deal with,' McKissick said. 'Durham is one of those communities where, politically, it's a little bit unconventional in the way things operate sometimes.'"

It's frightening the way things operate in Durham!

This conflict of interest with the abuse of the elderly's assets not limited to Durham. In the nearby town of Wake Forest, an elderly lady entrusted a local lawyer with handling her property. Upon her death, her family was surprised that she had willed her land to her local church. Seems the attorney that handled it was also on the buiding committee of that church. He had changed her will, saying she did it under full mental capacity. It went to court, and the attorney got away with it.

An ethical attorney would have turned the case over to another attorney, at the very least.

I hate to say this, but the entire legal community in North Carolina has a rotten smell to it, from the local attorneys all the way up to the Attorney General.

LOL!

He appears to be part of the powers that be.

http://www.owdna.org/OWD_in_news2.htm

Council praises Duke effort
(May 16, 1997. N&O)

... "I would like to commend the university in this regard," council member Floyd McKissick Jr. said after Duke officials made the first public presentation of their ambitious plan at the council's work session. "Duke has a reputation of being a very exclusive enclave," McKissick added. "People there have little interaction with the city of Durham." Over the past year, Duke has undertaken an effort to make its resources more accessible to the community. To spearhead the plan, the university hired former City Council member Sandy Ogburn to lead a community relations team.

Although council members said they are pleased with Duke's decision to work with the 12 neighborhoods, they said the initiative could have the opposite effect if Duke doesn't follow through on its promises. "Duke needs to build up trust and improve credibility," council member Howard Clement said...

This brings up an issue that I'm very interested in. Who lit the fuse?

I didn't get interested and active on the DukeLax threads until about the time the DNA results came back negative, which was early in April.

Researching the earlier threads, it seems Howlin was just about the first person to call bullshit and say this was all a hoax. But that was after all the potbangers cranked up, on or about March 24.

Now from March 14 until the thing blew up on the national stage, someone or something precipitated the uproar and gave Nifong an election issue.

Now John in Carolina gives credit to a NandO news story on or about March 23, IIRC. He says they are to blame for pouring the gasoline. But who prompted them? Who convinced them to put up the vigilante poster? Was it the AA/CourtHouse Crowd/Lawyer axis that smelled money?

What say y'all?

To spearhead the plan, the university hired former City Council member Sandy Ogburn to lead a community relations team.

I have no idea if this means anything, but FYI from Melanie's blog July 26, 2006--

We have a new features editor who's also a familiar face. Thad Ogburn, previously our deputy metro editor, stepped into the job a couple of weeks ago. He'll oversee all features content for online and print, including the daily Life, etc. sections and the weekly features sections: What'sUp, Home&Garden, Sunday Journal, A&E and Travel.

Ogburn has held several leadership roles here: He joined the paper as a copy editor and rose to the position of news editor, the person who oversees our news sections copy desk.

In 1999, Ogburn became the first editor and general manager of the North Raleigh News and led the community section for several years. More recently, he helped launch The Durham News, our weekly N&O/community paper, in 2005. A native of Winston-Salem, Ogburn brings both experience and creative fire to the job. You can contact him at togburn@newsobserver.com or 829-8987

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/editor/index.php?m=20060726

This just uncovered. More on CondorFlight's discovery yesterday about the relationship between the NandO and DPD.

http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/041115_prince/

Arrested for Attempting Interview
November 15, 2004
Raleigh Reporter Accused of Harassment

"A News & Observer reporter was arrested Sunday morning after a woman he was trying to interview for a story charged him with making harassing phone calls," Jessica Rocha reports today in the Raleigh News & Observer.

"Ruth A. Brown, a property room technician with the Durham Police Department, filed the complaint against reporter Demorris Lee, 36, of Raleigh.

"Brown's testimony three years ago convicted a teenager of robbing her. It led to a jail sentence of at least 10 years for the teen, Erick Daniels.

"But the case has been reopened by Durham police, and a Durham advocacy group also is reviewing it.

"Since 2001, Lee has written about Brown's case and Daniels, who claims he is innocent of the robbery.

"Lee said he remembers leaving two voice messages on Brown's home answering machine last month when he was working on a story about Daniels' attempts to clear his name. Lee said the messages were respectful and were a routine part of the reporting process. If Brown didn't want to comment, he said, she could have simply told him so.

"I think it was only fair I call and ask her to respond," Lee said in the story. "I would have been derelict of my duties if I didn't give her the opportunity to respond to Erick Daniels' contention that he was not the one who robbed her."

"Lee was released without bail Sunday morning by a Wake County magistrate on a written promise to attend a Nov. 24 court date in Durham," the story continued.

"Arresting a reporter for making harassing phone calls is extremely rare, said Orlando Hudson Jr., Durham County senior resident Superior Court judge.

". . . Melanie Sill, The N&O's executive editor, said that during her tenure at the paper, a reporter has never been charged with harassing a source. Reporters routinely call people who are part of news stories to give them an opportunity to comment, she said.

"'Leaving a telephone message doesn't constitute harassment,' Sill said. 'This doesn't do justice to serious cases of harassment. This is a waste of the justice system's time.'"

She told Journal-isms today that "we're completely behind Demorris, all of us here all the way up to corporate headquarters." The paper is owned by the McClatchy Co. Sill said the company was consulting lawyers. She said she had looked up the statute and that it clearly said it was against the law to threaten or harass, which is not what Morris was doing.

It's another lesson that "people can abuse the justice system," she said.

Ernie Suggs of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the regional representative on the board of the National Association of Black Journalists, told NABJ members today that, "The NABJ Board is aware of Demorris' situation and working on a plan."

The Triangle Association of Black Journalists issued a statement, which is at the end of today's posting.

http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/041124_prince/

Charges Dropped Against N&O Reporter
November 24, 2004 Returning Monday
Prosecutor Urges More Protection for Journalists

District Attorney Jim Hardin Jr. of Durham, N.C., announced Tuesday that he would not prosecute Raleigh reporter Demorris Lee, who had been charged with making harassing phone calls in the course of pursuing a story. His arrest drew condemnation from leading journalism organizations as a threat to press freedom.

"Hardin said in a written statement that he would file to have the charges against News & Observer reporter Demorris Lee dismissed, because, 'The State of North Carolina cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt all the essential elements of this alleged crime'," as Michael Petrocelli wrote in the Durham Herald-Sun.

"In his statement, Hardin also said a policy is needed that would require law enforcement officials to investigate any allegations made against a journalist in the course of gathering news before issuing an arrest warrant. Durham has a similar policy for complaints against law enforcement officers, emergency services personnel and school system employees, Hardin wrote," Petrocelli's story continued.

"I support such a policy and believe that it would provide the appropriate protection of a victim and alleged perpetrator, while still affording us all our rights granted by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding free speech and a free press," Hardin was quoted as saying.

"Lee was arrested Nov. 14 after Ruth A. Brown, a police property room technician, took out a warrant against him. The reporter was scheduled to appear in court today," the story continued.

"Lee has said the incident occurred after he left two phone messages for Brown about an article concerning Erick Daniels, who was convicted of robbing Brown three years ago. Daniels, who was 14 when the crime occurred, received at least 10 years in prison, and Brown testified against him."

Among the groups protesting Lee's arrest were the National Association of Black Journalists and its local chapter, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

In a note to the NABJ's listserve today, Lee thanked members for their support and concluded, "But now, let's get back to what got this thing started: a then 15-year-old may have been wrongly convicted of [a] crime and just turned 18 in prison. I'm still on that story and look for something real soon."

More...

http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/041124_prince/

Charges Dropped Against N&O Reporter
November 24, 2004 Returning Monday
Prosecutor Urges More Protection for Journalists

District Attorney Jim Hardin Jr. of Durham, N.C., announced Tuesday that he would not prosecute Raleigh reporter Demorris Lee, who had been charged with making harassing phone calls in the course of pursuing a story. His arrest drew condemnation from leading journalism organizations as a threat to press freedom.

"Hardin said in a written statement that he would file to have the charges against News & Observer reporter Demorris Lee dismissed, because, 'The State of North Carolina cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt all the essential elements of this alleged crime'," as Michael Petrocelli wrote in the Durham Herald-Sun.

"In his statement, Hardin also said a policy is needed that would require law enforcement officials to investigate any allegations made against a journalist in the course of gathering news before issuing an arrest warrant. Durham has a similar policy for complaints against law enforcement officers, emergency services personnel and school system employees, Hardin wrote," Petrocelli's story continued.

"I support such a policy and believe that it would provide the appropriate protection of a victim and alleged perpetrator, while still affording us all our rights granted by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding free speech and a free press," Hardin was quoted as saying.

"Lee was arrested Nov. 14 after Ruth A. Brown, a police property room technician, took out a warrant against him. The reporter was scheduled to appear in court today," the story continued.

"Lee has said the incident occurred after he left two phone messages for Brown about an article concerning Erick Daniels, who was convicted of robbing Brown three years ago. Daniels, who was 14 when the crime occurred, received at least 10 years in prison, and Brown testified against him."

Among the groups protesting Lee's arrest were the National Association of Black Journalists and its local chapter, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

In a note to the NABJ's listserve today, Lee thanked members for their support and concluded, "But now, let's get back to what got this thing started: a then 15-year-old may have been wrongly convicted of [a] crime and just turned 18 in prison. I'm still on that story and look for something real soon."

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