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Recall Nifong - Vote Cheek (DukeLax Developments)
RecallNifong.com ^ | August 10, 2006 | Staff

Posted on 08/11/2006 1:18:59 PM PDT by abb

Thursday, August 10, 2006 Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The Committee to Recall Nifong - Vote Cheek was formed on August 9, 2006 as a political action committee to campaign for Lewis Cheek in the upcoming election for District Attorney. While Mr. Cheek has declined to campaign for this office, and has stated that he will not accept the position if elected, we believe that this election, and the referendum on Mr. Nifong that it has become, is not about politics but rather about Durham and what Durham stands for.

The Committee to Recall Nifong - Vote Cheek (RNVC) is not comprised of politicians in any way, shape or form. The people who have organized and will direct this campaign over the next few months have no personal political ambitions and no affiliation with any of the parties involved in the drama that has shed such a bad light on the community of Durham. RNVC is not a movement born of political ambition, nor is it only about the Duke drama. RNVC does not campaign on its own behalf, nor on behalf of any person with ambitions to be the District Attorney of Durham County. RNVC will campaign on behalf of the entire Durham community, save one.

Our movement was born in Durham homes by Durham citizens and for the Durham community. This Durham community, to which the participants in RNVC proudly belong, has become the target of nationwide ridicule and scorn. Durham County has been manipulated, deceived and divided by inflammatory, ambition-serving words uttered by the man entrusted to protect it. RNVC believes that the role of the District Attorney should be that of a protector, and not that of a divider. RNVC believes that the community deserves a District Attorney that inspires trust and not fear. It is the fear of Mr. Nifong and distrust of his words, motives and competency for office that has inspired this movement.

If one of our daughters were the victim of a violent crime, we do not want the person pursuing justice on her behalf to be one who compromises the pursuit of justice either by serving his own self interests, or by his own failure and unwillingness to follow procedure. If one of our sons were to be accused falsely, we do not want a District Attorney who would see those false accusations as an opportunity to defeat a bitter rival in a primary election. We believe that our justice system must not be compromised by misdeed or willful mistakes.

We believe that our district attorney must be one who allows a thorough investigation to precede his public proclamation of guilt or innocence. We believe that indictments should be brought based on evidence at hand, and not evidence hoped for. We believe our District Attorney must value procedure, due process, the rulings of our state’s Supreme Court and the constitution this nation was built on. We believe that our District Attorney must not be allowed to interject himself into a Police investigation in such away that he instructs them to disregard the recommendations of the North Carolina Actual Innocence Commission, as approved by the NC Supreme Court. We believe that our District Attorney must not be a man who manipulates our law enforcement investigators into violating the Department’s own written policies simply to secure indictment before election.

We have heard Mr. Nifong ask Durham to consider the entirety of his career in the District Attorney’s office. We fail to see the relevancy of his performance in lesser roles within the office as an indicator of how he will perform when holding the power of the Office of District Attorney. We ask all of Durham to instead inspect his actions, his words and his motives while he has briefly served as District Attorney. We believe it is far more relevant to this referendum to inspect his conduct, questionable ethics and lack of performance in the short time that he has held the extensive powers and responsibilities of District Attorney.

Of all that we believe in, and of all that we ask of our community, with regard to this referendum on Mr. Nifong, what we hold most dearly is the notion that we all must speak. We believe this election is what the Durham that we love is about and, as such, requires a true and full measure of consideration by each of its citizens. We ask that Durham show, not only to Mr. Nifong, but also to Governor Easley and to the nation that watches, that Durham cares, that Durham has pride and, most importantly, that Durham has a voice.

We ask that you add your voice to ours.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: civilrights; conspiracy; duke; dukelax; lacrosse; nifong; rightsviolations
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To: Jezebelle

You have to click under his picture where it says View my Pics.


61 posted on 08/12/2006 10:25:40 AM PDT by Repub4bush (Congratulations Tony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: I want to know

You have FReep mail.


62 posted on 08/12/2006 11:43:39 AM PDT by Dukie07
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To: xoxoxox
APRIL 6, 2005

Race clouds Durham debt deal

BY BOB BURTMAN

Leave it to Durham to let racial politics cloud what would ordinarily be a wonkish debate on municipal finance. After eight months of study, the City Council voted Monday to proceed with a proposal by the New York-based firm Rice Financial Products to swap $106 million in municipal debt, a deal that will potentially yield about $8 million in savings over 15 years but could cost millions if market conditions change adversely.

The meeting proved anticlimactic, as the council had already approved the swap in December by a 4-3 margin that broke along racial lines, with the four black council members favoring the deal.

[snip]

Supporters of the deal charged that Brown and Catotti were motivated by racial bias in opposing the swap (Rice Financial founder and CEO Donald Rice is black), and supporters in turn claimed that support had more to do with awarding a fat contract to a minority firm than good financial management practices. The fundamental policy questions were all but lost in the shuffle.

Accusations came to a head in a March 24 council work session when a citizen called Catotti a racist, prompting her to walk out of the room. Catotti believes that Rice has appealed to black community leaders as a way to obfuscate the financial issues and twist the debate. "The fact that they would come to Durham from New York and play racial politics is really offensive to me," Catotti says.

Catotti also says she was approached at a funeral by Lavonia Allison, chairwoman of the influential Durham Committee for the Affairs of Black People, who suggested that her opposition to the swap was prompted by her resistance to minority enterprises who want access to city contracts.

Rice Financial spokeswoman Cristal Baron acknowledges that Donald Rice and local deal proponents may have had informal discussions with black community leaders, but she denies that the intent was anything other than to explain the proposal to interested citizens. "The notion was that we had gone to the Durham Committee and the NAACP to make this a racial issue, and that was certainly not the case," Baron says.

That may not have been the intent, but after Rice attended an NAACP meeting and answered questions about the swap, supporters launched a campaign to pressure a yes vote that alternately argued for the deal on its merits and questioned the integrity of its detractors.

In a widely distributed e-mail, Southern Anti-Racism Network director Theresa El-Amin wrote that she wasn't buying Catotti's claims of fiscal responsibility. "I see her as putting some strange microscope on the Rice proposal that the city seldom uses for many of its other projects that actually generate a whole lot of red ink," El-Amin wrote. "Diane says it's not about race. I said to Diane, it is about fairness and equity. And often fairness and equity is about racial justice and economic opportunities."

But in a city whose sensitivities to race have a hair trigger, any perceived deviation from a norm is likely to raise suspicions of intent.

[snip]

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A24030

63 posted on 08/12/2006 12:01:42 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: Locomotive Breath
LB wrote: Dennis Rogers is otherwise known as the "Redneck in Residence".

This guy began his description of the case with a lie:

Rogers wrote: The lacrosse players say, nope, they don't remember a thing.

which is a falsehood. He wrote this falsehood so he could crack wise about college parties.

He would have been better off continuing to ignor this issue if all he can do is use a falsehood to set up his wise cracks. Railroading people is not a subject for wise cracks. Rape is not a subject for wise cracks. This is a most serious matter and he is off base using it for comic relief.
64 posted on 08/12/2006 12:22:55 PM PDT by JLS
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To: JLS

Hi,

Congratulations Governor Easley on Scottsboro II.

I would have thought that one Scottsboro trial was enough for any state; but North Carolina seems eager to set the record, with two, and not even a century separating them.
(The defendants in the second case are white, not black; but I'm assured now that North Carolina is an equal opportunity state.)

It's a pleasure to learn that so much injustice can still exist, because watching the antics of a bunch of corrupt judges and proseuctors suddenly caught attempting to hide their manipulations of the laws provides me with a good amount of entertainment.

Of course, I'm not one of the accused; but I can't be expected to sympathize with persons whom the media and the
pols have already informed me I am obligated (for reasons relating somehow to slavery and plantation life of 100 years ago) to regard as guilty (the trial being nothing more than a little formality before the lynching). It's good to know that when we live in an era of such rapid change, things remain pretty much the same as they always were in good old NC.

But keep up the good work. Perhaps next year Raleigh can schedule a heretic burning. I'm sure it will be televised, and if you plan it for mid-season, the ratings of Geraldo will go up as well.

Sincerely,


65 posted on 08/12/2006 1:03:53 PM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: All

"Paging Susan Lucci" update
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/060812


66 posted on 08/12/2006 1:27:31 PM PDT by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
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To: abb

This just in...

http://johnsville.blogspot.com/
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/


67 posted on 08/12/2006 1:42:44 PM PDT by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
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To: All

Missed this one earlier today...

Students, city try to mend fences
http://www.newsobserver.com/978/story/470071.html


68 posted on 08/12/2006 2:11:38 PM PDT by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
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To: CondorFlight

I could not tell from your letter if you were suggesting that the Scottsboro boys were an NC case. Scottsboro is a town in very far Northeast part of AL near the GA and TN borders. The Scottsboro defendants were arrested in AL and tried multiple times in AL. Here is a link to Scottsboro trials

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm

The Famous Trials site is very interesting on this and a number of famous trials in history.


69 posted on 08/12/2006 2:17:25 PM PDT by JLS
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To: abb

Great to see KC Johnson's new blog up and running-- http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/


70 posted on 08/12/2006 2:54:13 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: Ken H

(from a posting at the Talk left site : )

As far as I can tell, the DA in this case is in violation of just about all of these.

TITUS! Have you had time to finish reading rule 3.8 yet?

RULE 3.8 SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PROSECUTOR
The prosecutor in a criminal case shall:

(a) refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause;

(b) make reasonable efforts to assure that the accused has been advised of the right to, and the procedure for obtaining, counsel and has been given reasonable opportunity to obtain counsel;

(c) not seek to obtain from an unrepresented accused a waiver of important pretrial rights, such as the right to a preliminary hearing;

(d) make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense, and, in connection with sentencing, disclose to the defense and to the tribunal all unprivileged mitigating information known to the prosecutor, except when the prosecutor is relieved of this responsibility by a protective order of the tribunal;

(e) exercise reasonable care to prevent investigators, law enforcement personnel, employees or other persons assisting or associated with the prosecutor in a criminal case from making an extrajudicial statement that the prosecutor would be prohibited from making under Rule 3.6;

(snip)

(g) except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor's action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused.

Comment
[1] A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate; the prosecutor's duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.

[2] The prosecutor represents the sovereign and therefore should use restraint in the discretionary exercise of government powers, such as in the selection of cases to prosecute. During trial the prosecutor is not only an advocate, but he or she also may make decisions normally made by an individual client, and those affecting the public interest should be fair to all. In our system of criminal justice, the accused is to be given the benefit of all reasonable doubt. With respect to evidence and witnesses, the prosecutor has responsibilities different from those of a lawyer in private practice; the prosecutor should make timely disclosure to the defense of available evidence known to him or her that tends to negate the guilt of the accused, mitigate the degree of the offense, or reduce the punishment. Further, a prosecutor should not intentionally avoid pursuit of evidence merely because he or she believes it will damage the prosecutor's case or aid the accused.


71 posted on 08/12/2006 4:22:36 PM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: CondorFlight

Are there grounds for recalling Nifong in the above?


72 posted on 08/12/2006 4:28:39 PM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: CondorFlight

"Further, a prosecutor should not intentionally avoid pursuit of evidence merely because he or she believes it will damage the prosecutor's case or aid the accused."

While this is only part of a comment and not a specific rule of conduct, I think that a prosecutor that intentionally violates this principle moves from the realm of prosecutor to persecutor.


73 posted on 08/12/2006 4:36:31 PM PDT by Hogeye13
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To: CondorFlight
From the N&O, August 12, 2006:

Inquiry into Durham officers' actions still awaiting a resolution (No, it's not about the BALD cop!)

http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/470201.html

74 posted on 08/12/2006 5:06:50 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: Ken H

Re: Re: Cash, Grand Dupe! Author: roper53668 reply

Cash... last time I checked in, 99.9% of the "piling on" was directed
at Durham DA Mike Nifong and the Durham PD, not the AV.

As a black person, I find it disgusting that Nifong has used this woman
to further his political agenda. And he has used you, too, and other members
of the AA community.

The word in the neighborhood is the woman never expected Nifong
to be so crazy as to take this case to the media. Now, everyone is trapped.**

For Nifong, you are nothing more than a Grand Dupe! Congratulations!
Posted: 8/12/06 9:09 PM

http://forums.go.com/abclocal/WTVD/thread?threadID=126619

**Wonder how many are now trapped at the downtown Hilton (jail).


75 posted on 08/12/2006 6:42:03 PM PDT by xoxoxox
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To: xoxoxox
Here's something else for Cash. Does he agree that the DNA test should have exonerated this man? If so, why wouldn't the DNA test in the Duke case exonerate Evans, Selligman, and Finnerty?

Man Exonerated After 22 Years in Prison Adjusting to New-Found Freedom

Date:

Thursday, July 13, 2006

By: Leonard Greene, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

It's been one stop after another for freed inmate Alan Newton, who was released from prison last week after 22 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.

After a week of parties, picnics and public appearances, Newton, a former bank teller from the Bronx, is adjusting to life on the outside after DNA testing cleared him in the vicious rape and beating of a Bronx woman whose shaky identification sent him away for nearly half his life.

DNA from Newton that was compared to a sperm sample recovered as evidence after the rape showed conclusively that Newton had nothing to do with the brutal attack.

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/newton713

76 posted on 08/12/2006 6:56:16 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: xoxoxox

I have no idea who Cash Michaels is, but, I can not believe that someone who writes for, 3 is it, papers, has a weekly gig on TV, and who gets praise on elevators for being the reason lots of kids now are have great jobs in business and government, etc (I hope he hasn't hurt himself patting himself on the back), would talk the way he does on that forum. He is rude, calls people names, takes comments out of context, comes unglued that someone would follow up on him saying he was taking his kid to the dentist with "Poor Cash's kid" as it being a personal attack on his children.

Is this guy for real? Is the guy posting really Cash Michaels? Are any of his numerous employers bothered by what he writes? He comes across as a arrogant, racist jerk.


77 posted on 08/12/2006 8:04:48 PM PDT by old and cranky (You! Out Of The Gene Pool - Now!)
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To: old and cranky; Ken H

"would talk the way he does on that forum"----

Makes one appreciate the discourse on alternate forums.

Channel 11 WTVD is the Durham based ABC affiliate and
caters to a larger minority demographic in its signal area
(historically, before cable etc.), while WRAL 5 addresses
the Raleigh market and eastern part of NC. Important to
understand for those who have large TV commercial advertising
budgets. Mr. Michaels does regularly appear on 3rd in market
NBC 17 public service show, whose ratings barely register
(everyones in church).

The WTVD forum as you have seen can get quite heated and
nasty, but does reflect an element of local thinking which is
useful to understanding "what the heck is going on in this town"?

"Lying through their collective teeth" and "dupe" is what interests here.


78 posted on 08/12/2006 8:37:00 PM PDT by xoxoxox
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To: xoxoxox

Where to file a complaint about the conduct of a N. Carolina judge :

Deborah R. Carrington, Executive Secretary
Judicial Standards Commission
P.O. Box 1122
Raleigh, NC 27602
(919) 733-2690
FAX (919) 715-4703


79 posted on 08/12/2006 9:12:12 PM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: old and cranky

"comes across as a arrogant, racist jerk."

If you told me you met a columnist from NC who struck you that way, I would immediately ask you if it was Cash. Sounds like him to me, and from long before this case.


80 posted on 08/12/2006 11:09:34 PM PDT by ltc8k6
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