Tony Soprano Channeling Sam Spade (Re Sgt. Gottlieb - NY Times Star Witness, Duke Rape Hoax)

I don't mind a reasonable amount of trouble. If I did, would you find me in those dark hours, eyeing some broad at Blinco's, about to find myself in the middle of the biggest story to hit town in years?

I'm Tony Soprano of the Court TV discussion board fame. No, not the guy on that TV show. I just took his moniker cause it gave me cover like a cheap toupee when a fella's follicles are few. I'm not afraid of cops like Gottlieb. I was there the night the caper with the fry cook went down.

Gottlieb and I rub each other the wrong way, like a cheap wool suit you've had one year too long. Things were tense that night, my friends. I shot off my mouth a few times.

As Gottlieb passed my barstool, he leaned in close. I could see the oily sweat on his shiny bald head. "Keep riding on me and they're gonna be picking iron out of your liver." He straightened up and, with his posse following him, sauntered out the door into the alley. What happened next, well, that's the most baffling mystery story in years.

A friend of mine, a newsie, was in Blinco's a few nights later. "Tony, Have the barkeep pour me some of that booze you're drinking, and I'll tell you a story you might want to hear." "Good booze makes any tale you're going to tell one I want to hear." I motioned for him to pull out the barstool beside me. We waited till the dame serving us gave me a wink and sauntered back to the bar.

"Did you see Gottlieb's picture on the front page of the local rag. Did you read the piece saying his boss Nifong should be worried he's going down for the Blinco's gig?'

"Yeah, me and half the town saw that. What's your beef? Gottlieb's days as a Big Shot Bully are as numbered as a Currier and Ives calendar. The cook ratted him out, said the "Bald guy" was the instigator. Of the coppers here that night, Gottlieb fit that description like a Hong Kong suit you had made to order. He's as finished as a Dame from an East Coast Boarding school. He's going down.

The newsie smiled, took another sip of his drink. "Not so fast, Tony, Gottlieb may have hired a lawyer, but he ain't gonna take the fall. Our big story tomorrow is two young cops will take the rap for him. No way bossman Nifong will let his boy Gottlieb go down till the Dukies are duked out." I took a drag on my cigarette and watched the smoke curl across the table. The newsie leaned in and pushed copy of the morning's paper my way.

But they have hair! Their heads look like lucky sheep who ran from a careless shearer. No way they fit the Cook's description. And Gottlieb lawyered up faster than a railroad car on an icy stretch of track!"

"Exactly. Nifong's the boss. He ain't gonna let no stinking fry cook ruin the best campaign strategy since Washington rowed across a frosty river in Delaware. Gottlieb's the chief investigator. Three months later, he turned in ...pages of notes. His recollection of events added details to Nifong's case like a New York seamstress adds sequins to a songbird's gown. Gottlieb's in solid with the boss."

I sat in stunned silence, not even a come hither look from the comely barmaid could stop my thoughts. The newsie took another sip of the bourbon I bought him.

"It ain't the first time either. One morning. around 6AM, Gottlieb ran a red light and rammed his car into another guy's ride right here in Raleigh. When the smoke cleared, Mr.Nobody's car had $7000 worth of damage. Our man Gottlieb didn't even get a ticket. Tony, if that was you or me, think the Raleigh cops would let it slide like a fried egg on a greasy stove?"

I leaned back. The newsie smiled a knowing smile. "Ain't gonna happen, Tony. Watch and see. The guy with the smashed car, the poor fry cook here that got knocked around? They are NOBODYS, Tony. And NOBODY cares." My beat can be ugly, my friends. The night can be cold. But this story chilled me like a eager bridegroom's champagne waiting to be uncorked. But it's not over yet. Tony Soprano doesn't go down easy.

******Footnote: Unlike some OTHER fiction writers LieStoppers feels the need to distinguish fiction from fact. Should the NYT wish to carry this story, LieStoppers will insist they disclose the difference. Tony Soprano was NOT in Blinco's the night of the Fry Cook beating, but we link to the basic facts of the story that ARE true.

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764669.html
Chief: More officers training

By Ray Gronberg, The Herald-Sun
August 27, 2006 10:31 pm

DURHAM -- A new batch of trainees that starts classes today will bring the Durham Police Department back up to its authorized strength and a little beyond.

The 30-person class will fill 23 existing vacancies. And it includes seven more "overhires" added to the payroll in anticipation that some veteran officers will retire or quit before the rookies complete their training, Police Chief Steve Chalmers says.

The department usually loses three veterans a month, he says.

Chalmers told the City Council recently that officials are conducting a new "personnel allocation study" for the department that should be finished by Dec. 31. The last such study is about three years old.

The council has authorized the department to employ 500 sworn officers. But even when it has that many, it's still understaffed by the standards of the previous allocation study.

Chalmers said he'd need another 23 officers -- beyond those now authorized, never mind those in the training pipeline -- to get up to the previous study's recommended levels.

Officials aren't sure what the new study will reveal. Its recommendation "may be more, or it may be less" than the previous one, Chalmers said during a council work session Thursday.

Chalmers added that despite those numbers, the department does have enough officers to take care of its basic crime-fighting duties and maintain a high profile.

He acknowledged, however, that there are community activists who think the department "can do a better job of presence," meaning they question whether officers are visible enough, often enough, to deter crime.

The chief's comments Thursday came after council members asked whether the recent well-publicized operations by the Durham County Sheriff's Office in East Durham suggest the city police are too short-staffed to do the job citizens expect.

One councilman, Eugene Brown, singled out a paragraph in an Aug. 24 story in The Herald-Sun about the sheriff's operations that said the Police Department "is struggling to make ends meet" because of its shortages in authorized and actual strength.

Brown said he wanted an explanation because Chalmers, City Manager Patrick Baker and the council have all claimed with some pride that the department is fully staffed.

Chalmers -- summoned to the meeting by Baker in response to Brown's query -- made it clear he didn't agree that department is struggling. But he also didn't quarrel with any of the factual claims in the Aug. 24 article.

"One thing I need to make clear is that there would not be, I feel, based on way we recruit, train and hire, any time we'd actually have 500 individuals on the street at the same time serving as a police officer," the chief said.

The problem he outlined is common to area police departments, and isn't just a Durham issue.

Police rosters are in constant flux because officers can retire much earlier than people in many other public- and private-sector jobs, and because differing pay levels among various city, state and federal agencies encourage a certain amount of job-hopping.

Meanwhile, the process of hiring and training new police officers is so drawn-out that it takes about a year to put a new officer on the street, counting from the time the department advertises for applicants to the time the officer is fully qualified.

Chalmers said the training process alone consumes up to nine months. Rookies go through a four-month "basic law enforcement" classroom course, then spend time riding along with veteran officers.

In the last phase of their training, they work the streets like any other cop, except that they do it under the supervision of a training officer.

Council members accepted the chief's assurances, but also made it clear he didn't ease all their concerns.

They welcomed the news that sheriff's deputies are lending a hand in the city, and encouraged Chalmers to feel free to call on the Sheriff's Office because taxes from city residents underwrite its work.

But members prodded the chief again about Durham's massive backlog of unserved arrest warrants, estimated in the spring to include about 35,000 papers.

In response, the chief said he's used the city's gang unit to run a 30-day study of the backlog, by having the officers in the unit try to serve warrants in areas with known gang problems. In addition to generating arrests, the effort is supposed to help the unit generate new leads.

What police have found, however, is that many of the warrants require a good bit of legwork to clear up because suspects have moved on and aren't living where the original complaint said they were.

"Most of the warrants in the system are not serviceable" by conventional means, Chalmers said.

Council members hinted that if the chief thinks a one-time allocation of money would help clear the backlog, he should ask for it. They also said they'd like to see a report on the results of the gang unit's warrant effort.

Afterward, Brown said he saw a contradiction in the chief's statements.

Chalmers "can't say he's got enough personnel and then say we can't deliver the warrants we have," Brown said.

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764669.html

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764670.html
Citizens' group to support Nifong

By John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun
August 27, 2006 10:32 pm

DURHAM -- Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, who faces a write-in rival on the November ballot as well as an effort to recall him from office, now has a group on his side.

A "Citizens for Mike Nifong Committee" has formed, aimed largely at counterbalancing a torrent of criticism Nifong has weathered over his handling of the controversial Duke University lacrosse case.

The new group was organized by Kim Brummell, a corporate security officer and writer, and community activist Victoria Peterson. Their goal is to keep Nifong in office when the November general election rolls around.

The chief prosecutor faces competition from Steve Monks, chairman of the local Republican Party who is running as an unaffiliated write-in candidate.

In addition, a group of voters calling itself the "Committee to Recall Nifong -- Vote Cheek" recently was formed to oust the district attorney.

That organization is urging people to vote for Lewis Cheek, a county commissioner who has said he would not serve even if elected.

Still, his name will be on the November ballot because about 10,000 voters petitioned the Board of Elections to have it placed there.

If Cheek won the district attorney election, the governor would have to appoint someone to serve in his place.

Nifong has worked in the Durham District Attorney's Office for roughly 28 years. He received a gubernatorial appointment to head the agency last year after his predecessor, Jim Hardin Jr., became a judge.

In an interview last week, Nifong said he was pleased about the "Citizens for Mike Nifong Committee." But he said he had nothing to do with forming it.

"They came to me and told me what they had done," Nifong said of Brummell and Peterson. "I was very pleased. It made me feel good."

Nifong conceded he has received an avalanche of criticism over the lacrosse case, in which Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans are accused of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.

But Nifong insisted that the negative attention was not the full story.

"The great majority of the feedback I receive is very positive," Nifong said. "All of the sentiment in Durham is not to remove me from office. There are people who feel very strongly that I should remain. That's encouraging. It's a very positive response, and I'm grateful for it."

Brummell said 51 people as of last week had expressed possible interest in joining the effort to keep Nifong in office. The group will hold an organizational meeting Thursday.

Brummell said she was aware that many people have called for dismissal of the lacrosse case, citing an apparent lack of incriminating DNA evidence and various purported inconsistencies and contradictions in the accuser's version of events.

But Brummell said such questions should be left to a jury.

"We feel Mike Nifong is the best person to handle the lacrosse case and other cases as well," she said. "If Mike Nifong was to lose the election, there would be a slimmer chance of this [lacrosse] case going to trial. Mr. Nifong has proved his loyalty to the case. We feel the case should go to trial. It should be decided by a jury and not by the court of public opinion."

Peterson agreed.

"I do not want this case thrown out or dismissed," she said. "I believe Mr. Nifong will take it all the way to the end."

Peterson said she believed Nifong also was best qualified to handle all of Durham's other criminal cases, too.

"Mr. Nifong has almost 30 years of experience here in Durham County," Peterson added. "You have a man who knows what he is doing. ? Steve Monks is too new. He doesn't have the history. He's only been in Durham a few years. You have to know the land to be district attorney."

A native of Houston, Monks has lived in Durham since October 2002.

Still, he said last week he had the "temperament and background experience" to qualify him as a district attorney candidate.

He also said his grass-roots campaign was quickly garnering some much-needed name recognition.

"People are now telling me, 'Oh, you're that guy,' ' said Monks. "I hope it will soon translate into, 'Oh, you're my guy.' It's important for the voters to have a person they can identify with."

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764670.html

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764661.html
Students at NCCU, Duke going to ballgame

BY WILLIAM F. WEST AND BRIANNE DOPART, The Herald-Sun
August 27, 2006 9:34 pm

DURHAM -- Brian Shackleford says he likes the idea of students from NCCU and Duke getting together for a harmony event in the aftermath of the Duke Lacrosse scandal.

However, he says he thinks there's a feel-good, public relations motive.

"There hasn't been a resolution in the case," said Shackleford, a Durham resident and a student at N.C. Central University.

Student leaders at the two educational institutions have signed off on what's being billed as NCCU-Duke NITE, set for Wednesday evening at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, where the Bulls will take on the Columbus Clippers.

The occasion highlights a growing number of partnerships between the universities.

In October, the student governments from Duke and NCCU will hold a Unity Day in conjunction with the N.C. Human Relations Commission.

Shackleford said he thought there instead needed to be a frank discussion about race relations in Durham.

He said a black exotic dancer's claim this spring that she was raped by white members of the Duke lacrosse team brought back historically longstanding, underlying tensions between blacks and whites in the Bull City.

Still, Shackleford said he did favor a student get-together because he thought it would ease tensions that also developed between the campuses after the lacrosse incident.

Duke Students Government President Elliott Wolf and NCCU SGA President Mukhtar Raqib have been meeting all summer to discuss gatherings to improve relations.

Raqib said a better connection between NCCU and Duke made sense, considering the proximity of the campuses and that students from each university use the other's resources.

"The more people you know, the better," he said. "The benefits to having friends are limitless."

Wolf did acknowledge that the plans grew out of criminal accusations, but said he and fellow student leaders were trying to make the best of the situation.

"Before the lacrosse incident, Central wasn't really on our radar and it's something that should have been," Wolf said.

Meanwhile, Nikki Canada is skeptical about such a gathering.

Canada, originally from New York and studying nursing at NCCU, said she thought the occasion was needed for healing.

"I don't knock it at all because anything that is positive will result in positives, so I'm all for it," she said.

But Canada, like Shackleford, thinks there needs to be candid talk. The difference, she said, is the discussion should focus more on green -- money green -- which she points out Duke has long had more of than NCCU, in addition to a more attractive campus.

She argued that when students went to expensive universities such as Duke, "they feel like they are superior, and if you feel like you're superior, you feel that you can do anything to other people."

The strain between the two institutions has long been apparent, said Duke student Kyle Danielson, and preceded the lacrosse story.

"It's sad because they're so close," Danielson said.

Danielson and another Duke student, Mike Schneider, agreed that whatever the plans were to form a better bond between the universities, the events should be large and offer something for everyone.

Plans for food and music, such as those Raqib said would be incorporated into the unity gathering in October, are a great idea, while a trip to a Bulls baseball game might be awkward, Danielson and Schneider said.

"Everybody is just going to segregate themselves," Schneider said.

---

What: NCCU-Duke NITE

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Durham Bulls Athletic Park

Cost: $5-8

Additional information: NCCU's band will play the national anthem. Duke President Richard Brodhead and NCCU Chancellor James Ammons will throw out first pitches as the Bulls take on the Columbus Clippers. A Unity Day is being planned for October.

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764661.html

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-764673.html
Crime Log: Prostitution charges filed

The Herald-Sun
August 27, 2006 10:42 pm

DURHAM -- Durham police made a series of prostitution-related arrests Saturday, according to arrest warrants.

Milvia Lisset Mendez, 23, and Veronica Mar Hernandez, 35, of 217 N. Hoover Road face charges of prostitution and maintaining a place for prostitution. A third person who lives at the address, Carlos Javier Meija, 41, also faces a count of maintaining a place for prostitution. Warrants allege that the place in question was 217 N. Hoover Road.

Mendez and Hernandez were held pending $3,000 secured bonds. Meija was held pending a $2,500 secured bond.

A second series of arrests ended with the filing of maintaining a place for prostitution charges against Leopoldo Ayala Meija, 25, of 116 Junction Road and Maria Aracelis Pimentel, 45, of the same address. Both were held pending $2,500 secured bonds. Warrants stated that the charges were in connection with activity at 116 Junction Road.

In a third incident, Armando Sanchez Reyes, 23 of 1949 Cheek Road was charged with maintaining a place for prostitution. He was held pending a $2,500 secured bond. Warrants alleged that the charge was in connection with activity at 1949 Cheek Road.

The houses on North Hoover Road and Junction Road are about a block away from each other. The house on Cheek Road is also in East Durham, but is about a mile from the other two.

Police also filed warrants against a Charlotte woman, Inocenia Vidal Ramon, 24, of 1012 Wendover Road, Charlotte, that accused her of prostitution. Warrants alleged that Ramon engaged in sex acts for $30. She was ordered held pending a $500 secured bond.

http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/
Citizens for Nifong

We ask that voters take into careful consideration when choosing the best-qualified person to handle the top position in the district attorney's office. Please do not focus your attention on just the Duke lacrosse case. It is not in the best interest of the district attorney to share every single element of this case. That process happens once trial takes place.

Remember, from the beginning, hundreds of people rallied together in the streets and held candlelight vigils at N.C. Central and Duke universities. That wasn't about politics, but hope that justice will take place. There are other serious crimes taking place here in Durham as well.

Keep in mind that District Attorney Mike Nifong has successfully tried criminal cases for almost 30 years -- long before the Duke lacrosse case came into existence. If forced to choose Durham's next DA., there is no guarantee that Gov. Mike Easley will appoint Mike Nifong again.

Lewis Cheek petitioned successfully to have his name on the ballot. He has already made public that if he wins, he would not accept the job, even if you vote for him. Steve Monks is supposedly running as a write-in candidate. If Lewis Cheek were willing to accept the job as district attorney, Monks would be less interested in running for DA, if at all.

Put yourself in the shoes of a victim of a horrible crime. What type of person would you want to represent you? Wouldn't it be someone who is serious enough and has the leadership to really want the job? The writer is treasurer of Citizens for Mike Nifong Committee. Victoria Peterson, co-chairman of the committee, also signed the letter.

KIM BRUMMELL
Durham
August 28, 2006

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