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
I fully expect to keep reading (on many other sites) where people expect Nifong to drop the case, that' he's looking for a way out.
How many hurdles does he have to jump before it becomes apparent that's not happening?
How many times does he have to state his undying support for this case?
It's not going away voluntarily - it's simple
Some people just ain't figured it out yet, Mike. This is a political lynching. Has been from day one. The law has nothing to do with it at all...
I agree with you 100%. Nifong will never drop this case. He's locked in and there's no place for him to go but forward.
Frankly, I think only two things can stop this case from going to trial. First, Nifong loses to Anyone But Nifong in November. Second, Crystal withdraws. Short of one of those two things happening, I think it's going to trial.
I don't think the suppression motions are going to work. A judge may grant some of it but no judge is going to make a ruling that causes the case to be dismissed. Judges are elected in NC and no judge is going to want to make that decision.
Ruth admits Jakee/Jack mistake...
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/ruth/index.php?title=weirder_and_weirder&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#comments
There will be a trial. Nifong owes the Committee a trial, especially if he wins in November.
I remain convinced that there was a sense of panic in his statement buried deep within the other self serving crap.
Maybe he is realizing this is not what he signed on for. Maybe he is realizng he sold his soul to the devil. Or maybe his power brokers have spoken to him-reign it in Nifong-You DO want to win in November, don't you?
Let Durham take care of Durham means the outsiders "us" might be making things complicated.
I don't know.
But I do know there will be a trial.
From the link above:
Friday, July 28, 2006
Weirder and weirder
So, Durham County Commissioner (and would-be district attorney candidate) Lewis Cheek has announced that, even though his name will appear on the ballot, he will not campaign and will not serve if elected over sitting D.A. Mike Nifong.
Nifong today talked to reporters for the first time in months, saying that Cheek's candidacy was an attempt by a few people to buy the D.A.'s office. (Could he be that delusional?)
And oh, about that cross dresser? That might just be true. In fact, he/she might be one of the more "normal" people involved in this thing.
Posted at 05:38 pm by Ruth Sheehan in General
Comment from: Yikes [Visitor]
07/28/06 at 18:34
Delusional is perhaps the proper adjective for a candidate who gives a campaign kickoff speech the day after his only opponent drops out of the race. While watching Mr Nifong shadow box with this invisible opponent, Anybody But Nifong, the word paranoid came to mind. All in all, I suspect it's nothing that some extra medication and a warm glass of milf couldn't cure.
............
Warm glass of milf. LOL. Who wrote this on Ruth's blog?
I'm off to bed. See y'all tomorrow morning, bright and early...
Isn't it 7:30 in LA?
Damn--it's 8:30 here and we are just starting to talk about supper, LOL! I have trained my family well. Mom does not think about a meal until 30 minutes prior to mealtime, so do not ask "What's for dinner?".
And I'm a good cook--just hate to do it.
Ruth is delusional.
Think about it ... if Jakki is "normal" where does that place the other characters. I do believe she's grading on a curve. :)
"There will be a trial. Nifong owes the Committee a trial, especially if he wins in November. "
OTOH, the Durham crowd has never had this much national attention before. They could do as they please and pretty much get away with it.
With the media starting to turn, and heavy spotlights on every word the judges say, and the FBI being asked to look into things, it may be that the Durham crowd might just want this whole thing to go away, so they can slip back into the dark corners again.
Nifong may have brought them too much publicity.
Yeah, someone may have to tell Ruth to speak for herself! LOL!
But I do know there will be a trial.
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I agree there is no doubt about the trial.
However, I am convinced that people thinking that Nifong must be conflicted inside (can't sleep at night, etc.), or that he may be reconsidering or guilty - I'm convinced those people are projecting value system onto him. They are thinking how they would feel if they had sent innocent people to jail.
We heard how the fact that Bill Clinton was caught with Monica and they repeatedly lied about it - WAS PUNISHMENT ENOUGH, in an of itself. People like Bill Clinton that have done that for 30 years or more don't have guilt about those things - he may regret being caught.
In my opinion, Nifong is convinced he will hit a huge home run (with convictions) and then he aquire National adorance - in the Pop culture. Wasn't this what Geragos did with Scott Peterson? Geragos had been on shows criticizing Peterson and everyone was saying how they don't envy the lawyer that will have to represent Peterson. Geragos took the case because of the potential of the extreme reward - if he pulled it off, how many people will credit him with doing the impossible and being a master. His reputation and fortune would grow and a legend is made.
I really think Nifong is counting on racial/emotional manipulation in court - and he believes he will parlay this into a highly coveted local or National position.
The media won't delve into his motivations, because they have accepted that this liberal democrat deeply cares and believes in his "victim". They have, in effect, romantized
the persecution of innocent people. The abuse of power to gain personal acclaim and fortune.
LOL
This kind of case may represent a minority of cases, but it is not rare. what makes it unusual is that the defendants have the money to defend themselves. Every city has ludicrous cases brought before juries and has them slammed down. It may be five percent or even one percent, but it happens all the time.
As I said before, politicians don't like to admit mistakes. And what is it with governors jacking around people like this. You would have thought this type of treatment would have ended years ago with the Gary Dotson case.
This ABN campaign could get very interesting. I look forward to full page ads in newspapers, radio and TV spots, campaign flyers with mug shots, mailers, etc.
I read in one of the links (maybe the Herald-Sun) that Nifong had just under $2,000 left in his campaign chest.
I wish it was my evil twin, but it wasn't.
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