Posted on 09/09/2006 2:39:24 AM PDT by abb
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.
Students go to jail
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.
Get-tough tactics
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."
Party house
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.
In any event, I think my thread starting days are pretty much over. Of the last two I started, one got zotted. And on the other, I ended up with several test patterns and one Time Tunnel in the various replies. There was also a "WTF?" in the keyword section.
And nailing the bad guys at Duke which may even take longer could salutory effect throughout the academy. In addition failing to nail the bad guys in Durham and at Duke will encourage the bad guys around the country that it is open season on white males students.
And yet there is puzzlement in academic circles why more than 50% of our students are female and why the trend is toward a higher percentage of females. Duh, you don't go where people hate you for your sex or race if you don't have to.
If I may editorialize here a bit, I think we're all on the same page. We know who the enemy is and we're mad as hell. Sometimes we take our frustrations out on each other and that's understandable. Part of why that is that we want something to happen but the "justice" system moves with glacial speed.
My heart breaks for SDP and his/her daughter. I have a college age daughter and if she was in a similar situation, I would be crazy with grief, fear, anger and all the emotions in between. And I'm sure SDP has done all he/she possibly could have to fix the situation.
But SDP you need to know this: Free Republic was THE FIRST bulletin board or blog to call bullsh%t on this hoax back on March 29, with the exception of the team members, their families and their attorneys. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE in the DriveBy Media was on our side. And JLS has pretty much been here since early April, on our side.
So what needs to be done about Duke after this hoax is dropped? IMO, Brodhead and some of the faculty need to go. And its up to the alumni to make it happen, otherwise some other set of parents will have to go through all this again.
JLS thinks the way to do that is to send your kids to another school and if enough parents do that, the administration will finally get the message. Some others may want to try and work from within the system.
I don't know which is the better way to go, but I DO KNOW we here at Free Republic are on the side of justice, because I've been here since early April, too. Every day...
Break-in, assault reported at Belmont,
The Chronicle, 9/13/06.
by Saidi Chen.
A student who lives at The Belmont apartment complex reported being assaulted Monday night.
A 21-year-old female student told Durham Police Department officials that she was assaulted Monday night when an unidentified man illegally entered her off-campus apartment.
The assailant attempted to strangle the woman in the 10,000 building at The Belmont apartment complex but fled the residence before police arrived, she said.
The officer who responded said poor lighting in the Belmont complex delayed Durham Police officers' response.
The woman said she returned to her apartment around 11 p.m. and, without locking the front door, entered her bathroom to change her clothes.
The man came into the apartment shortly after and attempted to open the bathroom door, she said.
"He had a long, black cord and came in and dragged me out of the bathroom into the hallway--I was completely naked," the student told The Chronicle. "He told me to lie down on the floor, he took the cord and... tried to strangle me with it."
"He kept telling me not to move, and I asked him what he wanted and he told me, 'You know what I want,'" she added.
The woman, who The Chronicle has chosen not to identify because of the sexual nature of the alleged assault, said she offered the man money and valuables, and he let her go into her bedroom to check how much cash she had.
Once there, she locked the doors and called 911. She also sent instant messages to male friends who live nearby.
"I didn't hear anything from him after I locked myself in my room," the student said. "I stayed in my room until the cops got there... 15 or 20 minutes later."
The suspect had fled the scene by the time DPD officers arrived.
"When I arrived, the suspect was no longer on scene and the canvas [of the surrounding area] proved to be futile," said DPD officer Shawn Stone, the first to respond.
The suspect is a slim, black male who is approximately 5-foot-10. He was wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt.
http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/
2006/09/13/News/BreakIn.Assault.Reported.At.Belmont-2269402.shtml?
sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com
http://www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2006/09/13/Athletics/Duke-Brings.In.New.Student.Athlete.Liason-2269423.shtml?norewrite200609131741&sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com
Duke brings in new student athlete liason
I saw the program. Nancy Grace asked the kind of questions one would have expected her to ask - did she take a polygraph test and where did she go on those days. The mother evaded very simple questions. She did nothing wrong here. However, in the Duke case she was way out of line.
I did not see. Hannity defended Grace early on in his program. I agree adults do know what kind of show they are going on. But hosts also should have the humanity to recognize when someone is grieving.
Now maybe this is all unrelated. As I said above I did not see the show and maybe the mother did not outwardly seem under this much pressure, but Grace does seemingly consider everyone a perp.
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/08/valuing-procedure.html
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0605/02/ng.01.html
Nancy is two faced....
CALLER: Yes.
GRACE: Go ahead.
CALLER: I wanted to ask you why the boys have not begged for a lie- detector test?
GRACE: Oh...
(LAUGHTER)
... good question, Jessie.
What about it, Michael Mazzariello? Why not submit themselves to a lie-detector test and just be done with it?
MAZZARIELLO: Because it proves nothing, Nancy. You know that. Absolutely.
GRACE: Yes, well, you know what? You know why I don`t think that they want a lie-detector test? I don`t think they want a lie-detector test because they`re afraid they won`t pass a lie-detector test.
State law in NC is really a big problem that has allowed this hoax to go on. Prosecutors have so much power there that they don't have in other states.
The discovery statutes have only recently been changed to allow for open discovery. I can't imagine how prosecutors got away with that for all those years.
They don't have a speedy trial statute. In California a defendant has a statutory right to go to trial within 60 days. In NC they have this ridiculous case management system where the prosecutor can really control the pace of the case and when it goes to trial. Since they have that power it's easy for them to get the judge of their choice.
The law in NC greatly favors prosecutors. They can get away with alot.
They may be doing just that when it finally dawns on them what a hole that Nifong has dug for them.
3 Wake Deputies Resign Amid Assault Investigation
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Three undercover deputies accused of harassing and beating a preacher outside a Garner restaurant have resigned, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison announced Wednesday afternoon.
Chris Roth, Katie Broda and Kevin Hinton, of their own volition, submitted their resignations to Harrison on Wednesday, he said. One is effective immediately; the other two are effective Friday.
The alleged incident happened outside Applebee's on Aug. 26. Robert Wise, of Garner, said he, his wife and 11-year-old daughter were leaving the restaurant when a man came up to their car window, yelling at them about taking up two parking spaces.
Wise said the man didn't identify himself as a law enforcement officer and tried to pull him out of the car. He said he was beaten, sprayed with pepper spray and handcuffed and needed to be taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Harrison said Wednesday that he in no way condoned the officers' alleged actions but said that they had made a mistake.
"This was something that just happened," he said. "We're human beings. We make mistakes; and we're going to learn from these mistakes and keep going."
Prior to the accusations, Harrison said, the deputies involved had exemplary performance records and never had any problems.
"I do want the citizens of this county to know, and the employees of this sheriff's office to know, that I will not tolerate any unprofessional conduct in this office," Harrison said. "And I would like to tell Mr. Wise and his family that I apologize for this instance, and we're going to move forward."
The State Bureau of Investigation and the Wake County district attorney's office are investigating the case at Harrison's request. District Attorney Colon Willoughby said it could be several weeks before he receives the SBI's report and decides whether to file criminal charges in the case.
Roth had been with the sheriff's department for nine years, Hinton for seven and Broda for five, Harrison said.
Wise could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.
Based on recent reevlations of Gottlieb/DPD policy of harassing Duke students, a theory of hte case is emerging. There are 3 players involved in the rape hoax, Duke, DPD and Nifong. Here is how it all converged in this debacle:
1. Durham Police -- They have been on the receiving end of neighbors irate with unruly students for a few years, and hte neighborhood organized a campaign with the city and DPD to do something. DPD kept escalating the action, at first tickets, then arrests for misdemeanors, then overnight prison stays, then more serious charges, and stories the DPD (mostly Gottlieb) concocted to justify the roughing up students and arrests. The rape allegations were consistent with the DPD practices of the last few years, as shown in that Herald-Sun article.
At some point in early 2006, the DPD, under pressure from the neighborhood and politicians, decided to run the students out of local housing. THe letter sent to prospective residents (how did they get those names?) is a threatening letter that assuredly intimidated some students from living there. This policy of running DUke students out of Durham and back onto campus dovetailed nicely with . . .
2. Duke University's desire to get more students on campus. Duke recently built a "green" dormitory they had trouble filling wit hstudents because, like other "green" buildings, the toilets had to be flushed several times, the electricity was iffy, etc. Duke students forced back onto campus would be required to pay a pretty penny to Duke to live on campus. Thus, Duke turned a blind eye to what DPD was doing to intimidate students. What DPD and Duke did not count on was . . .
3. Nifong, who was in deep electoral trouble, and needed a case he could turn to his advantage before the AA community, and hte middle class neighborhoods. Voila, Gottlieb appears with this case, and Nifong and DPD knew that Duke would not lift a finger to help, because it was in Duke's interest to get students back on campus. Nifong was also aware of hte policy and knew that nearly all students arrested and roughed up in the process would have (to use Nifong's words) "their daddies" make it go away. Nifong assumed that hte players would beg to make this plead down as well, not counting on Gottlieb being a pathological liar and the FA being unreliable at best.
This is just a theory but it is coming together. This case is going to trial because in every other instance when Duke students were charged with obvious bogus allegations, the DA went to trial vice dismissing it. The point was to make life as miserable as possible for Duke students, and they are okay with losing at trial because they elevated the pain threshold and can go back to the voters that they tried. The comments from the neighborhood supprtove of over-the-top police state tactics supports the view.
Hack away at the theory.
3
"Hack away at the theory."
Good so far, except that I'd add--
I think the Durham PD thought they could make up a case for rape, because the two dancers were prostitutes and so they thought the guys would have had sex with them. A false charge of rape could easily be alleged.
I think somebody also saw some dollar signs somewhere (in order to get the charges dropped).
I can't believe it's entirely coincidence that the wealthiest players are the ones that got charged.
And, maybe students in the past have paid out money rather than have a criminal record imposed on them by the Durham PD. If this was the pattern, then Gottlieb and co. could easily have thought they could repeat it here.
Except that this time, the guys didn't have sex, so there was no DNA; and they couldn't intimidate the players and threaten them (and then get them to plead for a lesser charge, or else pay off to have everything dropped) because they were absolutely innocent.
(And that explains the anger of the PD at their being "uncooperative" in not trying to go for a plea bargain.)
Actually, the potbangers are forming groups to support Nifong during the election. They like what he is doing.
Nifong can't drop the case because Nifong knows his base.
That rings very true. Puzzling.
Yeah, it was just a accident. I know I pull people out of their cars all the time for double parking and beat them. I don't have any hand cuffs but zip ties work nicely. (/sarcasm)
Give Raleigh credit, problem cops came to their attention and the did something about it. In Durham they apparently become investigators.
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