Posted on 07/28/2006 4:52:22 AM PDT by abb
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.
Elected officials said they're watching how the criminal case plays out.
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
"Shepard voted, climbed back into the van and smiled with satisfaction at choosing her leaders: "It feels good and I'm praying at the same time."
These are the type of people who go into churches and hold rallies with the NBBP, the Nation of Islam, etc.
They'll be praying as the send white people a message by convicting three innocent players, because they want to stand strong with their "sister", the AV.
(No white person will ever enter one of their churches and be called a "sister" or a "brother"; but the NOI and the NBBP will all be brothers and sisters.)
Pardon me, but where do I vomit?
Vomit? Try puke.
Heads up, MSNBC to do a DukeLax report soon. I no have MSNBC, so someone else will have to monitor...
Durham Cab Driver Shot During Robbery
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=4409253
I would say Seligman's cabbie better start riding with a bodyguard. It may be open season on Durham cabbies now...
We need to get back to the power sturcture in Durham.
I am convinced it is the only way those boys will walk away from this.
Back to the Committee:
"It has endured setbacks. In 1991, white conservatives swept the black liberal majority off the City Council. Three years later, two white Republicans replaced the two committee-backed black Democrats on the Board of Commissioners when a conservative tide swept the state. But the committee bounced back each time. Similar organizations, such as the Raleigh-Wake Citizens' Association, have struggled to maintain their influence in changing political times.."
I agree. The power structure is tied into the sex/drug industry in Durham county. Someone on the ground there will have to dig that up unless we can find some campaign contributions...
We KNOW that Clement is connected, at least through his brother-in-law, the brother of his late wife. He has consistently voted in favor of projects that involved his relative, in violation of ethical conduct in a blatant conflict of interest.
There could be some answers within the companys affiliated with these elected officials:
Clement - North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company
Bell - Officer of UDI Community Development Corp., a non-profit organization (Is that a newer Jag he drives?)
NCCU
finesse bought some surplus city property here...
http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/agendas/minutes/cc_minutes_05_05_05.pdf
leased some city property here.
http://ci.durham.nc.us/agendas/minutes/cc_minutes_06_01_98.pdf
she's also a realtor...
http://durhamrealtors.org/firm.htm#firm0110
http://www.newsobserver.com/content/news/crime_safety/duke_lacrosse/story_graphics/20060728nifong.pdf
Statement from District Attorney Michael Nifong (PDF, 660k)
LieStoppers responds to Nifong's press conference:
http://www.freefilehosting.org/pupload/view/11343
"A Vote for Cheek is a vote for ANYBODY BUT NIFONG"
abb, WRAL just hit Drudge regarding Nifong and his lack of a candidate to run against, and his admission that he MAY have mishandled the media in this case. Could that be the understatement of the century?
Well, I can see I should have read back along the thread -- of course, you all know it already. OOPS!
Everybody get behind ABN. This is basically the only way to get Nifong out of office now. And really I only see two ways to end this nightmare of a case. Either Nifong is voted out or Crystal backs out of the case. I don't think the legal system in NC is going to stop this case.
She is also a contract lawyer.
I don't want to drag her through the mud, but because of all of the paths that cross in Durham, she deserves a look. So I bring her up only as part of a process of elimination.
Justice in N. Carolina (from the Innocence project)
http://www.robertrivera1.com/innocents.htm
for anyone who believes that proescutors are really interested in the truth and in justice. . .
Brunswick County Sylvester Smith 1984
Smith was convicted of raping two girls, ages four and six. The conviction was based on the testimony of the girls. In 2004, the girls came forward and revealed that their grandmother had pressured them into accusing Smith in order to protect the actual perpetrator, their 9-year-old cousin. Smith was released, but in 2005, GOV. MIKE EASLEYhad the opportunity to pardon Smith, but refused to. In 1984, he was a District Attorney who prosecuted Smith, and apparently, it is hard for him to admit that he made a mistake.
Cumberland County Timothy Hennis May 9, 1985
Hennis was convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a woman and the murder of her two daughters. The authorities tested blood, semen and hair samples, but none of the tests matched Hennis. The prosecution's case rested on two eyewitnesses who came forward well after the crime, one of whom dramatically altered a description of the perpetrator over time. The prosecution also introduced nearly 100 photographs of the victims' bodies--an inflammatory tactic that led to reversal of the conviction. Upon retrial in 1989, the flaws in the witness' testimony were exposed and the jury acquitted Hennis of all charges.
Forsyth County Darryl Hunt 1984
Hunt was convicted twice of murdering Deborah Sykes, first in 1985, then again or retrial in 1990. A DNA test in 1994 excluded him as the murderer, but the prosecutor refused to take any action towards Hunt's release, claiming the test did not exclude him as having some role in the murder. In 2003, Willard E. Brown confessed to being solely responsible for the murder, and Hunt was released on bond two days later. In 2004, Hunt's conviction was vacated
Onslow County Leo Waters Mar 1981
Waters was convicted of rape. DNA tests exonerated Waters in 2003 and implicated a Massachusetts inmate. Waters was pardoned in 2005.
Richmond County Jerry Lee Hamilton Dec 1994
Hamilton was sentenced to death for the murder of Joy Jones Goebel. Soon after the murder, Hamilton's nephew, Johnnie Ray Knight, confessed to murdering Goebel and led police to the location of her body in a wooded area. Knight later fingered Hamilton and said Hamilton had killed Goebel with Knight's knife after both he and Hamilton had sex with her. Post-conviction DNA tests showed that the semen in Goebel belonged only to Knight. At trial Knight testified that he was receiving no deals for his testimony, but a letter hidden by the prosecution later surfaced in which Knight wrote to a Sheriff's Dept. captain and invited him to "come talk to me and maybe we can work out a deal." Because of the letter, Hamilton's conviction was overturned in 2003 and he faces a possible retrial.
North Carolina Keith Brown Cleared 1997
Brown was convicted of rape. Brown, who is mentally retarded, confessed under the pressure of police interrogation. DNA tests exonerated him in 1997.
North Carolina Billy Wayne Cope Dec 2001 (Rock Hill)
Cope was charged with beating, sexually assaulting, and murdering his 12-year-old daughter Amanda. Police suspected her father, as there were no signs of forced entry to their home. After four days of interrogation while suffering from the stress of finding his daughter dead, Cope confessed to the crime. Later DNA tests of the semen found inside Amanda matched another man who had a history of break-ins involving sexual assaults. The matched suspect had moved into Cope's neighborhood a few weeks before. Instead of dropping the charges against Cope, police, not wanting to waste a coerced confession, merely added a conspiracy charge, despite the fact that no connection was established between Cope and the matched DNA suspect.
DNA Do Not Address
She's part of the CourtHouse Crowd. Corrupt government power structures like that of Durham cannot exist with enablers...
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