Detective got tough with Duke students (Herr Gottlieb's Record)

DURHAM - If three Duke University lacrosse players face a jury this spring, defense attorneys likely will take aim at Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, the Durham police officer who supervised the investigation into the March 13 party at which an escort service dancer says she was raped.

The 43-year-old detective could be the prosecution's most important witness aside from the dancer herself.

In recent weeks, an attorney for one of the lacrosse players questioned the plausibility of Gottlieb's case notes, provided to the defense as evidence. Attorneys also have criticized Gottlieb for not following the Durham Police Department's guidelines in a photo lineup that he showed the accuser.

Members of the defense team are now closely examining the arrests Gottlieb made before the rape case. Records show that the sergeant arrested a disproportionate number of Duke students, all on misdemeanor violations such as carrying an open beer on a public sidewalk or violating the city's noise ordinance.

Such charges usually earn an offender a pink ticket such as those issued for speeding. But court records show Gottlieb often arrested Duke students on such charges, taking them to jail in handcuffs.

Reached by telephone, Gottlieb declined to be interviewed for this story. A department spokesman said this week the sergeant is on leave, though what kind was not disclosed.

Some residents of neighborhoods where Gottlieb worked and victims' advocates say that the sergeant is a dedicated and fair officer.

A native of Ohio, Gottlieb is married and the father of young twins. The couple is expecting another child soon. Over the past 18 years, Gottlieb has worked as a paramedic in Wake and Durham counties, as well as a Durham police officer.

A barrel-chested man, Gottlieb tends to walk with his shoulders back and chin up. Among his colleagues, he is known as outspoken and sometimes headstrong. In a 2005 court affidavit that noted his qualifications, Gottlieb listed several community colleges he has attended and professional certifications. The affidavit did not mention an academic degree beyond high school.

Gottlieb got the lacrosse case weeks after serving 10 months as a patrol shift supervisor in police District 2, which includes about a quarter of the city. The district has neighborhoods as disparate as the crime-ridden Oxford Manor public housing complex and Trinity Park -- the blocks of historic homes across from a low stone wall rimming Duke's East Campus.

From May 2005 to February 2006, the period during which Gottlieb was a patrol supervisor in the district, court and police records examined by The News & Observer show that Gottlieb arrested 28 people. Twenty were Duke students, including a quarterback of the football team and the sister of a men's lacrosse player. At least 15 of the Duke students were taken to jail.

In comparison, the three other squad supervisors working in District 2 during the same 10 months -- Sgts. Dale Gunter, John Shelton and Paul Daye -- tallied a combined 64 arrests. Two were Duke students. Both were taken to jail.

Gottlieb often treated Duke students and nonstudents differently. For example, Gottlieb in 2004 wrote a young man a citation for illegally carrying a concealed .45-caliber handgun and possessing less than a half-ounce of marijuana, but records indicate he wasn't taken to jail. He was not a Duke student.

Trinity Park residents have long complained to university and city officials about the boisterous parties thrown by the students who live there. That spurred Duke in February to buy a dozen rental properties in the neighborhood, including the house where the lacrosse team threw its spring break bash two weeks later.

The Durham police officers who responded to 911 calls about the parties were sometimes on the receiving end of defiance and disrespectful taunts. Trinity Park resident Ellen Dagenhart praised Gottlieb's get-tough tactics as a direct response to community concerns about disruptive, drunken behavior.

"There were a lot of homeowners and taxpayers who were calling the cops saying, 'Please come and make yourself seen,' " said Dagenhart, who has known Gottlieb for years. "Anyone who's seen kids passed out in a puddle of vomit is certainly happy to see the police show up. You can't blame Mark Gottlieb for that."

Durham City Manager Patrick Baker said that cracking down on Trinity Park partying was a priority for police last year.

The police department's official policy gives officers discretion in whether to transport someone to the lockup downtown. Factors other than just the "elements of the crime" can be considered, such as whether the suspect is belligerent.

"Our general order, it basically gives the officer room to use his or her own judgment," said Cpl. David Addison, a police spokesman.

But a standing order encourages officers to use alternatives to arrests for misdemeanors, including the use of written citations because of "jail overcrowding, crowded court dockets, staffing problems and the intrusiveness involved in a physical arrest."

On Oct. 8, Gottlieb and officers he supervised responded to a call about a rowdy student at a duplex at 203 Watts St. -- a Trinity Park address familiar to the police as a party house.

In an affidavit, Gottlieb wrote that officers arrived about 6:30 p.m. and told partygoers to be quiet. After the police left, party-goers urinated on neighbor Lee Coggins' home and threw a beer bottle in her direction that shattered on the sidewalk, Gottlieb wrote.

Police obtained a search warrant, and Gottlieb's squad entered the duplex at 3:19 a.m. They seized three beer kegs -- one empty -- and "beer bong tubing." On the wall was what Gottlieb described as a "stolen Duke flag." A Duke flag had been reported stolen from an administrative building on campus the previous spring.

Five students there were arrested by Gottlieb for violating the city's noise ordinance and alcohol-related misdemeanors. Another housemate, Mike Kenney, was arrested the next day.

Kenney, then 21, was charged with a noise ordinance violation and possession of an open container of alcohol on public property and taken to jail. Two days later, records show, Kenney was arrested a second time and taken to jail on charges of possession of stolen property. The flag had been in his room.

When the case went to trial in January, Gottlieb testified that in the wake of rowdy parties in Trinity Park, the department's policy was to take alcohol-related violations seriously. But the judge threw out the charges against Kenney, citing a lack of evidence.

Glen Bachman, Kenney's attorney, successfully argued that Gottlieb couldn't prove the college senior was home during the party or that the flag in his room was the same flag that had been stolen.

Coggins, the woman who called police about the party at the duplex, said Gottlieb's actions seemed responsive and professional. He doesn't have a vendetta against Duke students, she said.

"It's not like he's hanging out at their house waiting for them to do something," Coggins said.

Kathy Summerlee, Kenney's mother and a lawyer in Minnesota, called the arrest and prosecution of her son "frivolous."

Though the charges were thrown out, Kenney could have faced suspension if convicted. He graduated from Duke in May and now is looking for a job, she said.

"It was clear to all of us that the police were feeling a lot of pressure to make a difference in the behavior in that neighborhood," Summerlee said this week. "I think there was a lot of damage done in this process. It cost us money. It cost us a lot of worry. It rearranged Mike's life."

Still, some in Trinity Park cite Gottlieb as a dedicated officer. He prides himself on being a victim's advocate, often recounting stories from his years as a domestic violence investigator.

Dagenhart said she remembers seeing him at a vigil for domestic violence victims.

"This was not something he had to do as a part of his job," she said. "It's something he did as someone who cared. I know he cares about Durham. It's not just a job for him."

(News researchers David Raynor and Denise Jones contributed to this report.) Staff writer Michael Biesecker can be reached at 956-2421 or mbieseck@newsobserver.com. News researchers David Raynor and Denise Jones contributed to this report.

Duke athletes, coaches gather and stress need for 'excellence'

By BRYAN STRICKLAND, The Herald-Sun
September 11, 2006 11:18 pm

DURHAM -- Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski couldn't recall a time in his 26 years on campus when the entire athletics department -- from veteran coaches and administrators to first-year athletes -- came together under one roof.

Krzyzewski also couldn't recall a time it was as crucial that that happen.

School is back in session, nearly six months after the university first faced what Krzyzewski called the most trying time in his tenure, brought on by still-pending allegations of sexual assault against three lacrosse players.

Monday, the 2006-07 men's lacrosse team -- along with every other team at the school -- gathered at Cameron Indoor Stadium to re-affirm their beliefs overall and their belief in each other.

One by one, former Duke athletes took the stage to unveil a word that spoke to the department's mission going forward. Athletes like former basketball greats Grant Hill and Johnny Dawkins and former football player and Shaw University president Clarence Newsome shared words like "education," "accountability" and, above all, "excellence."

Attendees received Nike-designed T-shirts with a logo featuring the word "excellence" surrounded by the rest of the words -- respect, integrity, diversity, sportsmanship, commitment and loyalty -- and soon all the words will hang off the lampposts in Krzyzewskiville, the grassy area where students await entry to basketball games outside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But the meeting was also about showing how actions can speak louder than words and underscoring that the alleged actions of a few shouldn't drown out the many.

"Just like every once in a while with your own kids, with your own employees, with your family, you need to look somebody in the eye and say, 'You're really good, you've been good, and you share some amazing beliefs. This is going to be an incredible year.' That's instead of, 'What's going to happen next?'" said Krzyzewski, the keynote speaker at the closed-door meeting of more than 850 athletes and administrators.

"What this situation this spring did was that people wanted to put a cloud over all of athletics and specifically lacrosse, and I don't think that's fair, quite frankly, because we have so many great kids. If somebody did something wrong, then hold them accountable, but don't indict everyone. So tonight was about saying to the rest of the student-athletes, 'Hey, y'all are good. Have a great year. Let's keep pursuing excellence.'"

While saying the meeting wasn't a direct result of the lacrosse situation, athletics director Joe Alleva admitted that the meeting likely wouldn't have taken place if not for it. The athletics department recently got together for its annual beginning-of-school picnic a couple of week ago, but Monday's meeting was an acknowledgement that it's been no picnic for Duke athletes in recent months.

"I would rate morale as low in April and May, but I would rate the morale as back to normal and high right now," Alleva said. "I thought we had already turned the corner, but this really does help. It's a fresh start. We're turning the page, and we're moving forward."

Athletes like Jenny Shull, a junior on the volleyball team, seemed to embrace the sentiment.

"Everyone felt real unified, and it gave us a morale boost," Shull said. "There have been tough moments because it was always, 'Wow, you go to Duke University. They're known for their academics and for their great athletics and for overall excellence.' You were looked at almost as a perfect school, and this thing in the media showed us as not 100-percent perfect, and it was kind of rough.

"We just had to support each other and be there with each other through hard times."

In the wake of both the sexual-assault allegations stemming from a March 13 team party and the numerous examples of bad behavior brought to light in the aftermath, many have called for a more specific code of conduct for Duke athletes. The lacrosse team made a new set of team rules public, and Alleva pointed out that every team has its own rules, but he said that the behavior of athletes first falls under the university's rules for all students and will continue to do so.

"I don't think the university has to strengthen its rules," Krzyzewski said. "If somebody does something bad, they will be held accountable for it. But you can't over-rule a university or a team or whatever, where you stop giving them an opportunity to make choices.

"You have to allow people the freedom to make choices, and if you stop doing that then you hinder the educational process that this university has been great about."

In addition to honoring current athletes, officials took time to honor a couple of former athletes who died in the World Trade Center attacks five years ago, football player Rob Lenoir and former lacrosse player Peter Ortale.

"We're all in the same family and all have a bond. It's great for all of us to sort of reconnect tonight," Hill said. "I think the morale was pretty low in lieu of all that's happened, but I think today was a real positive.

"I think everyone walked out of Cameron today feeling real good about being a Duke student-athlete."

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-768845.html

Debate on suspects' low bonds emotional

By BriAnne Dopart, The Herald-Sun
September 11, 2006 10:48 pm

DURHAM -- Diane Jones says a revolving door in the justice system that allows murder suspects to be put back on the streets has resulted in threats against one parent and caused other relatives to consider suicide.

Jones, the mother of murder victim David "Butch" Bullock, posed tough questions to court officials Monday night, but left the meeting in tears after a tense exchange with Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.

"My son is dead," Jones told Nifong, Chief District Court Judge Elaine O'Neal Bushfan and Chief Magistrate Chet Dobies. "I am trying as best I can to understand why murderers are being let back out on the streets."

Nifong responded that anyone arrested and charged with a crime is entitled to bond, unless the district attorney is seeking the death penalty in the case.

"The fact is not every case is deserving of the death penalty," Nifong told her, "Nobody whose family has been touched by murder could ever understand that objectively."

The emotional debate took place at Monday night's District 2 Partners Against Crime meeting, to which court officials were invited to respond to community concerns about recent instances in which violent criminals were given low bonds and released from jail.

PAC2 representatives issued the invitations last month after murder suspect Breon Beatty, 17, allegedly shot someone while out on bond awaiting trial.

Jones, who counsels bereaved mothers, said at least three members of her group are considering suicide because they feel unsafe in the community.

Durham is low on magistrates and high on criminals, a mix that, when paired with magistrates' 1970s technology, results in several errors, Dobies said.

The Durham County Jail, according to Nifong, is overcrowded, although its population remains 100 people below its maximum occupancy. While pretrial release programs were intended to take inmates off the hands of the judicial system, they actually create the opposite situation when alleged criminals don't comply with the program, Nifong said.

"This is a reality," Bushfan added. "More people will be on probation than in jail. That's an inevitable result of not having enough jail space. And you never will. So somebody's gonna be out, they always will."

Bushfan, whose position is superior to all magistrates -- although she claimed at the meeting that they do not answer to her -- said the county's 13 magistrates (11 criminal, 2 civil) have no choice but to uphold the law.

"We are charged to uphold the law," she said. "It's not personal. It's not business. It's the Constitution. We can't be swayed by public opinion."

Upholding the law, Dobies said, means setting bonds within legal limits, set by Bushfan and Judge Orlando Hudson.

"We don't let anybody go," he said. "We provide them with their constitutional right to have bond set."

There are some cases in which magistrates can use discretion, both Nifong and Dobies said. For example, if the charged person has a long criminal history or if officers expect the charged individual to be served with warrants from other jurisdictions, court officials can raise bond amounts.

Bushfan recommended that the community look to its legislators to work for more money for Durham's judicial system, which has not received a new judge since Judge Marcia Morey was installed in 1998. The Legislature approved adding one judicial position this year.

Nifong said the attention surrounding the low bond issue was "a testimony" to how well Durham has been handling its criminals.

"There was a time that what you've read about in the paper the past few weeks wasn't an aberration," he said.

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-768840.html

http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/
Duke lacrosse case has damaged the city's image

As a longtime Durham citizen, I have become increasingly embarrassed by our poor regional image. The latest blockbuster is the Duke lacrosse team's recent criminal charges generating national attention. This poor judgment by our new district attorney, Mike Nifong, brought forth challenger Lewis Cheek to successfully gather the necessary petition signatures for the November ballot.

His delayed decision not to accept if elected left his community and supporters no viable candidate.

Steve Monks, a highly qualified criminal lawyer with 18 years experience, is trying to fill this gap. The fact is our only hope for an elected strong Nifong replacement is the straight talking Monks. If Cheeks wants Durham voters to replace Nifong, he should endorse Monks. As a write-in candidate, strong financial and voting support is required. Anyone voting for Cheek is not voting for "anyone-but-Nifong" because that vote is an "anyone-but-Cheek" vote, should Cheek win. It would require the governor to appoint the Durham district attorney, again. He could appoint Nifong, again. Does Durham want Raleigh to elect our district attorney, again?

"To support Durham or learn more, please contact Steve Monks in Durham, 27717, Box 51666, Telephone 430-0339.

JOSEPH H. COLLIE
Durham
September 12, 2006

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