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Judge tries to clarify bond policy

By BriAnne Dopart, The Herald-Sun
September 19, 2006 10:54 pm

DURHAM -- Weary of defending herself and the 12 criminal magistrates she supervises, Chief District Judge Elaine O'Neal Bushfan is speaking out about the "finger pointing" and misinformation she says is pervading Durham's low-bond debate.

Most recently, according to Bushfan, a media release written and distributed by Durham police spokeswoman Kammie Michael misrepresented the nature of a bond in an assault case that turned into a murder case Tuesday.

Bushfan said that "one or two little words left out" of an announcement that police were looking for murder suspect Damion Wilson may have led to the conclusion that Wilson, who had earlier been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, was released on a $20,000 bond set by a magistrate.

Police arrested Wilson Sept. 1 in the Aug. 21 beating of 56-year-old Jerome Gilbert. Gilbert was injured severely in the attack, according to police, and died from his injuries Tuesday morning after a month's hospitalization.

In Michael's account Tuesday of Wilson's Sept. 1 arrest, she wrote that Wilson "posted a $20,000 bond and got out of jail."

Bushfan pointed out that Michael failed to mention that a magistrate had set Wilson's bond at $100,000 on Sept. 1. After being held in the Durham County Jail for four days, Wilson's bond was reduced when he appeared before an actual judge on Tuesday, Sept. 5. That judge's identity was not available late Tuesday.

Asked to comment on the bond amount she listed in the media release, Michael replied that the police department "does not comment on specific bond amounts." She did not respond to questions regarding the discrepancy between the bond amount mentioned in her press release and the actual bond set by the magistrate.

As of late Tuesday, police were looking for Wilson, whose charges had been upgraded to murder after Gilbert's death, according to Michael's media release.

"That's the rub I have with the police department," said Bushfan. "They're not saying everything."

Tired of being taken to task in the public eye, Bushfan said she's speaking out to try to explain to community members the complexity behind the setting and lowering of bail bonds.

Bushfan said she didn't know which district court judge was responsible for lowering Wilson's bond, but said there could have been a number of contributing factors to the reduction that the public might not understand.

"I have some real issues with the way [law enforcement] portrays those magistrates," she said. "They need to clarify who is setting the bonds."

When a district court judge hears the case for a bond reduction, he doesn't have access to the same materials the magistrate sees when he hears the case, she said.

Arresting officers are not required to be present at first appearances, so a judge may not have a full understanding of the significance of a case. Bushfan said she sometimes requests the presence of an arresting officer if she believes the officer will have information that will sway her judgment, but judges are not bound to do that.

"I know I'm doing my job, and I would say the police [are] doing their job, but there are always going to be people out on bond ... as long as you have a democracy you are forever going to have a revolving door."

URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-771334.html

Residents want changes in the judicial system

I am responding to the Sept. 12 article about low bonds for criminals:

I left the District 2 PAC meeting as I have left others in the past nine years, exasperated. The issue of lowering bonds for accused murderers was talked around, never directly addressed by either of the appointed speakers.

Over the years, I have witnessed the same play on words and continual passing the buck with inconsistent excuses that accomplish nothing. Durham is still looked upon as a dangerous and lawless city. According to research by the Project Safe Neighborhood Initiative, adopting and implementing stricter guidelines in a city will decrease crime. Low bonds do not promote the goals of decreasing crime. Low bonds only perpetuate the problem.

All the work that Project Safe Neighborhood does is null and void if there is not a collaborated effort throughout Durham that includes the judicial system.

It was stated that families of murdered victims are not capable of being objective. Believe me, you would be amazed at how objective we can be. Families of murdered victims are not just touched by violence, we have no other choice but to eat it, sleep it and live with it everyday.

One thing we as victims understand is that, not only do we deserve aggressive prosecution of homicide cases, but also the Durham community.

It should go without saying that killers should not be returned to the streets as a matter of convenience, ineptness or lack of money. Durham's judicial system needs to come onboard with the citizens of Durham, who want and demand positive changes in Durham that will make a safe and secure city. The writer is the mother of David "Butch" Bullock who was murdered in 1997. She is also a co-leader of Parents of Murdered Children Durham Chapter.

DIANE P. JONES
Durham
September 20, 2006
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/

Legal correspondent criticizes media coverage of Duke lacrosse case
Eric Meyers
Posted: 9/20/06
When Mark Obbie picked a topic last spring for a discussion panel in the fall, he wasn't sure if anyone would still be talking about the Duke lacrosse scandal. However, it remains the subject of heated debate.

Syracuse University professors and legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick examined race, gender, class and the media's role in publicizing the controversy on Tuesday. The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media (IJPM) organized the panel, consisting of professors from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the College of Law and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

"My colleagues felt very, very comfortable within minutes of the Duke allegations," said Lithwick, the senior editor for Slate.com. "They offered analysis of what happened there.

What gives us the temerity as citizens and as journalists to make those kinds of pronouncements in these kinds of cases?"

After each panelist gave an opening address, Obbie, director of the Carnegie Legal Reporting program at Newhouse, serving as moderator, asked the panel questions. Audience members were able to ask questions at the end of the panel discussion.

Tom Maroney, professor of law, cited the exact word of the law whenever the subject of legality came up. He said that a prosecutor is not allowed to make decisions based on his or her own political ambitions. Since the prosecutor was campaigning at the time of the allegations, this was clearly an important note.

Most prosecuted cases involve a black attacker or a white victim, according to figures provided by professor Linda Alcoff. She said a case with white attackers and a black victim is rare.

Alcoff began her opening address by listing what she called "known facts" in the case, including the racial slurs leveled against the alleged victim by members of the lacrosse team.

"It was a great discussion," Lithwick said. "There's another prism through which to look at this. That isn't what you get within one dimension."

She said it was rare to talk respectfully and listen to others through so many co-disciplines.

The IJPM is a new campus program and is the first of its kind. It sponsors lectures, conferences and symposia dedicated to discussing law, politics and the media.

Bert Kaufman, a graduate assistant for IJPM and a third year joint-degree candidate in the College of Law and Newhouse, helped organize the event.

"It strives to bring together professionals from the media, from law and from politics," Kaufman said. "Our events will bring scholars, journalists and public servants to talk about issues at the intersection of the judiciary, politics and the media. It's an emerging field, and this program is the first of its kind."

Raquel Laneri, a first-year master's student in arts journalism, attended the panel and said she was a fan of Lithwick's work. "I think Dahlia is awesome," she said. "She had very interesting things to say about the media's role in covering court cases. I felt that it lost focus during the rest of the panel."

Dante A. Ciampaglia, another first-year master's student in arts journalism, had similar feelings.

"It was nice to have an intelligent conversation outside the talking heads and the news," he said. "It lost focus at some points, but it was good to see cooler heads prevail."
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