Indicators of False Accusations (DukeLAX - LieStoppers)

LieStoppers ^ | 11/28/2006 | LieStoppers 'staff'

[xoxoxox]

Innocence and 'innocence'

David Kleban, The Chronicle, 11/28/06

Prosecution should occur, whether it happened or not. It would be justice for things that happened in the past." -NCCU Student Government Senator Chan Hall, Newsweek

"I do know the following items about the case that would lead one to hesitate before throwing out the case . The Duke lacrosse players were not angels-they had a previously established history of rowdiness tarnished with racial comments, and one of the accused had previously been arrested for anti-gay comments while drunk."

-Duke Geology Professor Thomas Crowley, the Herald-Sun

"Much of this emphasis on 'innocence' has ignored the gender and racial prejudice of the March 13 party . A rape may not have occurred on March 13, but as a woman on Duke's campus, as a Women's Studies major, and as an activist for survivors of sexual assault, I assure [defense attorney Joseph] Cheshire that these men are not innocent, nor are they upstanding citizens of Duke or Durham law . Nifong might not be in the right, legally, but that doesn't mean he's not doing the right thing."

-Duke senior Shadee Malaklou, the Herald-Sun

What's a more frightening concept: being railroaded by an overzealous, obstinate, politically ambitious district attorney; or having members of your own community applaud him despite overwhelming evidence of both his malfeasance and your innocence?

It's hard for me to imagine either of these scenarios, but for lacrosse players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans, they have been a part of daily life for months.

These three are being condemned by professors and other students, not based on factual evidence or even individual character, but on nebulous accounts of an entire team's history of being less than "angels."

They have become the scapegoats of a radical segment of academia that believes, as English Professor Karla Holloway wrote, that, "The appropriate presumption of innocence that follows the players, however the legal case is determined, is neither the critical social indicator of the event, nor the final measure of its cultural facts."

These "cultural facts" represent the altar at which some seek to sacrifice three men, regardless of their factual-in the real sense-actions. That doing so implies a perversion of traditional and constitutional methods of administering justice is a secondary concern, judging from Malaklou's quip about the legality of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's actions.

Such voices do more than express an understandable level of schadenfreude at seeing misfortune befall formerly preeminent members of Duke's elitist (and, depending on whom you ask, sexist and racist) ethos. They indicate a malicious and irrational desire to get even with an entire class of white male oppressors through three individuals who may be "innocent" (quotations, I gather, are used to represent the apparent irrelevance of the term).

Nifong seems to adhere to this interpretation of our legal system's function, musing that to dismiss the case would "[do] nothing to address the underlying divisions that have been revealed. My personal feeling is the first step to addressing those divisions is addressing this case . The future of Durham's in the balance."

This might explain why 49 percent of voters in the recent election voiced approval of Nifong's record. But I doubt it provides any comfort to the three men whose lives have been placed on hold in order to "address" the resentment of Durham residents for Duke students.

More important than identifying the motives of one group of professors and students-those who cling to the notion that a faulty prosecution could possibly lead to justice-is for the rest of us to realize that it is a minority and dismiss such thinking.

Thankfully, I'd guess that from the evidence made public in the case, a majority of the Duke community believes in the innocence of the indicted three-maybe not in a sense of the word that would convince Malaklou, but one that will hopefully satisfy a jury-and is quietly waiting for justice to take its course. Although others on this page have rightly chided us for allowing Nifong's reelection through such complacency.

But an even greater proportion would shudder (and I hope the quotes that begin this column make them do so) at the idea of seeing anyone punished for something they didn't do in order to serve the agenda of a vocal, radical minority.

David Kleban is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Tuesday. He would like to thank the "Durham-in-Wonderland" and "Liestoppers" blogs for their aggregation of literature on the lacrosse case, from which the included quotations were drawn.

* The heck with the loonies on the Duke Campus. Someone needs to start taking the Durham city fathers to task.

[Jezebelle]

7 Months? Why not 3 weeks?

[Jezebelle]

It isn't unusual for the AG to handle a prosecution of LE or their close family members. There are good reasons for it.

[Jezebelle]

I tend to agree. But I think constructing the telltale indicators as an appendix to the document is a little troubling. They could have made it part of the investigative section, thus giving it more importance than having it appear to be a less important afterthought.

[xoxoxox]

"7 Months? Why not 3 weeks?"

"It isn't unusual for the AG to handle
a prosecution of LE or their close family
members. There are good reasons for it."

An indictment handed out this week
would not need to go to trial for another
year, or November 2007, the same time
Chalmers is set to retire. This would
shut him up until the DA is through with
his record-setting six-month farce trial,
which he also has tried to schedule starting
one year from the April indictments
(Spring 2007). One would think an ethical
and competent police chief would have more
to do and say with the biggest headliner
of his career. If he was smart he would be
keeping his own private investigation going.
However there have been few signs of
intelligence emanating from the West Chapel
Street headquarters for several years now.
**Conspiracy mode only** This deal lies
close to the heart of the Durham hooker fraud.

[xoxoxox]

There was also the need to
get safely past the election.

Wonder if those two girls
know each other. About the same
age. High-school? The chief
is a Hillside man.

[ltc8k6]

"Much of this emphasis on 'innocence' has ignored the gender and racial prejudice of the March 13 party "

Yes Shadee, why is the prejudice of Kim and Crystal getting a pass? Why are they allowed to make racist and sexist remarks? Where is the outrage?

[xoxoxox]

Jury indicts 6 murder suspects

By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Nov 28, 2006

DURHAM -- Six homicide suspects -- including one who was Durham's top fugitive until his arrest in Reedsville, Va., last month -- were indicted by the county grand jury Monday.

The former No. 1 fugitive is Tyrone Joseph Lacour, who is accused of killing 43-year-old Dennis Wayne Rowe two years ago.

Police found Rowe dead in November 2004 when they were called to 408 W. Maynard Ave. He was lying face-first in a garbage can with his head wrapped in duct tape, beaten so severely that blood was spattered on the ceiling.

Officers have not said what led them to charge Lacour, who is no stranger to the criminal justice system.

In 2001, he was a temporary suspect in the burning death of his roommate, 33-year-old Eric Pennebaker. However, a Person County grand jury subsequently concluded that Pennebaker committed suicide.

The other murder suspects indicted in Durham Monday were Umar Malik, Jameel Ray, Damian Wilson, Kevin Wimbush and Khurman Choudhry.

Indictments move felony cases from District Court, where all criminal matters originate, to Superior Court, where they are tried or plea-bargained.

Malik and Choudhry are accused in the November 2002 beating death of 26-year-old convenience store employee Rana Ahmed.

Ray is alleged to have participated in the August beating of 56-year-old Jerome Gilbert, who died a month later from blunt-force trauma. Police said the beating apparently occurred during an argument over money on Meriwether Drive.

Wilson is charged with murder in the same case.

Details of the homicide charge against Wimbush were not immediately available Monday.

In other grand jury action, a rare not-true bill was returned on a rape charge against Carl Vincent Johnson.

A not-true bill means the jury concluded there was insufficient evidence to indict Johnson. However, officers could return to grand jurors with additional evidence and seek another indictment later.

Johnson was charged with first-degree rape and resisting arrest in May. Warrants alleged that he attempted to flee as officers placed him in custody.

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-793128.html

* This was the grand jury that indicted the police chief's daughter. It looks like they were pretty busy.

[xoxoxox]

Mall shooting murder charge is dismissed

By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Nov 28, 2006

DURHAM -- A murder charge stemming from a fatal shooting outside The Streets at Southpoint mall was dismissed Tuesday, and the suspect pleaded guilty instead to a minor drug charge and received probation.

Julius Gray was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and fined $200 after admitting he had conspired to sell marijuana. A suspended prison term of four to five months was left hanging over his head and could be activated if he violates any conditions of probation.

Gray and another man had been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Harvey Dennard Wiggins, who was shot outside The Streets at Southpoint two years ago this week while the mall was thronged with holiday shoppers. No one else was injured.

The gunfire reportedly was sparked by a drug deal gone sour.

Another suspect in the case, 24-year-old Barry Ford Evans, got a plea deal last month for a drastically reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter. He also received probation.

Evans originally was accused of first-degree murder, for which the only possible punishments are death or life in prison without parole.

Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Garrell said in court Tuesday that he frequently consulted with Wiggins' family and analyzed the case for hours before coming up with plea deals for Gray and Evans.

Garrell said he promised the victim's mother that if she wanted the suspects prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law, he would take them to trial.

"She came to me tearfully and asked me to plead these cases on this basis," Garrell added, referring to the probationary penalties.

Citing official reports, Garrell said it appeared Wiggins went to the mall to purchase "a relatively large amount of marijuana" from Gray and Evans. "He put in progress a series of events that ended in tragedy."

According to Garrell, Wiggins was in the front passenger seat of a car in the mall parking lot, with Evans behind him and Gray at the steering wheel. At some point, Evans apparently pulled out a handgun and shot Wiggins in the head, the prosecutor said.

Garrell gave Gray credit for remaining at the scene and calling for help even after Evans fled.

"He has cooperated from the beginning," said Garrell.

Defense lawyer Bill Thomas said Gray was an N.C. Central University** junior with bright prospects at the time of the incident.

"This case has shattered his dreams and ambitions," Thomas added, noting that Gray had no previous criminal history.

"Mr. Gray admits to full responsibility for his role in the attempted sale of marijuana," said Thomas. "But his role was merely to be the driver."

Gray didn't even stand to gain much money from the drug deal, according to Thomas.

"Mr. Wiggins pulled a weapon in the car and was going to shoot Mr. Evans," the defense lawyer said. "Then Mr. Wiggins got shot. It's a horrible tragedy without any question."

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-793424.html

** The crime stories in the Herald-Sun provide a unique view into the sociology of the Bull City.

[xoxoxox]

Crime log: Information sought on 4 robberies

Herald-Sun, Nov 28, 2006 : 9:33 pm ET

DURHAM -- Police are asking for information about four robberies that occurred within six hours of each other Monday night and early Tuesday. The request for information came just one day after police announced they were investigating at least seven robberies involving apartment complexes that occurred between Wednesday and Friday of last week.

Investigators are not sure if the latest set of robberies were committed by the same group of people, police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Tuesday. Most of the victims were Hispanic, she said.

Police received only vague descriptions of the suspects, Michael said. They were reportedly black males in their late teens or 20s usually wearing bandanas or scarves to cover their faces.

The following robberies occurred late Monday and early Tuesday:

-- 1900 block of Taylor Street, 7:17 p.m. Monday. Two men driving on Taylor Street were stopped by three men standing in the road. Two of the men approached the victims' vehicle and pulled out guns. They took a wallet and a necklace from the victims and fired seven shots into the vehicle. There were no injuries.

-- The Oaks at Northgate, 2112 Broad St., 9:26 p.m. Monday. A man was sitting on the stairs near his apartment when three men armed with guns approached him and took his wallet and a cell phone. They pistol-whipped the victim before fleeing in a white sedan.

-- Duke Court Apartments, 1611 Duke University Road, 9:35 p.m. Monday. Three males (one armed with a gun and one armed with a stick) entered an unlocked apartment and grabbed a male victim. The victim was pistol-whipped and shot in the arm after he told the suspects he had no money.

-- 1900 block of Taylor Street, 12:47 a.m. Tuesday. A man was driving with a woman acquaintance when she told him to stop in the 1900 block of Taylor Street. A man armed with a gun approached the car and the woman told the suspect to take the victim's money.

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-793430.html

* Some more sociology. An economist would probably find that crime is one of Durham's largest industries.

[abb]

http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=gaynorm&date=061128

WEBCommentary Contributor
Author: Michael J. Gaynor
Bio: Michael J. Gaynor
Date: November 28, 2006

Duke Case: Sometimes It IS Simple

[Ready4Freddy]

11/29 KC Johnson / D-I-W: Green Light for Nifong

[xoxoxox]

Probation ends mall killing case
A second plea deal is accepted in a 2004 shooting at Southpoint mall in Durham

Benjamin Niolet, Staff Writer, N&O, Nov 29, 2006

DURHAM - Investigators think that the 2004 shooting death of a man in a parking lot at The Streets at Southpoint mall was a case of cold-blooded murder. But they can't prove it.

The case came to an end Tuesday when Julius E. Gray, the second of two suspects, pleaded guilty to a drug charge. The other suspect, Barry Ford Evans, pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter. Both men are on probation for their roles in the death of Harvey Dennard Wiggins, 23.

"I told Harvey Dennard Wiggins' mother, and I don't do this in many cases, if she wanted to prosecute these two defendants for murder, we will put 12 in the box," Assistant District Attorney Mitchell Garrell said in a plea hearing Tuesday.

Garrell said Wiggins mother agreed to the plea deals.

The problem with taking the case to a jury was that Gray, who cooperated with authorities from the beginning, has always maintained that Wiggins pulled a gun first, Garrell told Superior Court Judge Kenneth Titus.

The shooting happened Nov. 29, 2004.

Gray, 26, was a student at N.C. Central University** who needed a little extra cash, said Bill Thomas, his attorney. Evans offered to pay Gray to drive to the busy mall for a marijuana deal.

Wiggins was looking to buy a large amount of the drug, and he got into the front seat of the car driven by Gray, Garrell said.

What happened next is in dispute.

Gray says that in the middle of a drug deal, Wiggins pulled a gun on him, and Evans fired his own weapon.

Investigators think Evans, who was sitting in the back seat, pulled a gun and shot Wiggins to death. Later someone threw a gun down to make it seem that Wiggins drew first, Garrell said.

The only other witness, who was across the parking lot, had credibility issues, Garrell said.

The difference in stories was the difference between a murder trial and a manslaughter plea for Evans, who was placed on three years' probation and given credit for the 75 days he spent in jail.

On Tuesday, Gray pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell marijuana. He was placed on two years' probation and ordered to pay more than $1,000 in costs, fines and fees, according to court records. Gray had never been in trouble before and was a strong student before the incident.

http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/515751.html

** No one dares to get the NCCU story in the lax hoax scandal.

[pepperhead]

Kill a man during a drug deal and get probation. Yep that sounds fair........................................

[pepperhead]

The problem with taking the case to a jury was that Gray, who cooperated with authorities from the beginning, has always maintained that Wiggins pulled a gun first, Garrell told Superior Court Judge Kenneth Titus.

Wiggins can't very well claim he didn't now since he is dead.............

[xoxoxox]

This story on the mall murder got
big play in the N&O this morning.

We have out of-control-criminals
terrorizing Durham, and an out-of-
control District Attorney's office
playing "catch and release".

Oh well, crime and all its related
police and judicial necessities does
seem to keep one-half of Durham fully
employed. The Nifong Half.

[xoxoxox]

His sister in danger, 4-year-old plays hero

Matt Dees, Staff Writer, N&O, Nov 29, 2006

DURHAM - The robber was holding a gun to 5-year-old Mary Long's head when a 3-foot-tall Mighty Morphin Power Ranger leapt into the room.

"Get away from my family," 4-year-old Stevie Long shouted, punctuating his screams with swipes of his plastic sword and hearty "yah, yahs."

The robber and his accomplice, who was waiting outside the apartment Friday night, fled with credit cards, jewelry, cash and other items that Stevie's mother, Jennifer Long, dumped from her purse.

"I scared the bad guys away," Stevie said Tuesday evening at the apartment at 901 Chalk Level Road in north Durham.

Two men had approached Jennifer Long's boyfriend and his son Friday night as they stood outside the apartments she helps manage, according to a police report. The strangers asked for pot, and then a cigarette, and as the son went to get one, both men pulled guns, police said.

One stayed with the boyfriend as the other forced the son back into the apartment, police said. Inside were Jennifer Long, a cousin, Stevie, Mary and two other children, police said.

They were forced on the floor. The robber pointed the gun at Mary and a 1-year-old girl named Sierra, said Stevie's uncle, Bernie Evans, 33, who lives above the Longs.

Enter Stevie.

"During the robbery, a ... boy snuck into his bedroom, dressed himself in a Power Ranger costume and armed himself with a plastic sword," police said. "The child then exited his room and approached the armed suspect, in an attempt to protect his family."

Relatives said the robber abandoned plans to take Stevie's mother to an ATM to withdraw cash when he saw Stevie.

"It tripped him out, and that's when they moved on," said Evans, who did not witness the incident. Jennifer Long declined to comment, saying her employers at the apartment complex would not allow it.

Stevie likes to think he cuts an intimidating figure in his red-and-black mask and foam suit that replicates the rippling muscles of the kiddie adventure show heroes. But Evans said the robber was more startled that Stevie was able to retreat to his bedroom and morph.

Fantasy, reality

Though the robbers wore no masks, victims could only give vague descriptions of them. Police have no suspects in this or the other 10 armed robberies reported in Durham in the past six days, said Kammie Michael, a spokeswoman.

Evans said family members are struggling to help their children understand their ordeal. A counselor said Stevie needs to improve his distinction between fantasy and reality, said Heather Evans, Stevie's aunt.

"He fully believed he morphed," she said.

Mary grasps her danger better. She stayed home from school Monday and Tuesday.

"My doctor said I get a day off," she said.

"My mommy said I was crying in my sleep because I had bad dreams."

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/515756.html

* A true Durham Hero emerges. He should run for mayor.
[The whole lax story really is about fraud, crime and Durham. A city truly bereft of heroes.]

[Howlin]

Police Chief's Daughter Facing Assault Charges

 Eyewitness News

(11/28/06 - DURHAM) - The daughter of Durham Police Chief Steve Chalmers is facing felony assault charges.

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A grand jury indicted Stefani Chalmers Monday.

The charges stem from an incident that happened in April when Chalmers allegedly hit a woman in a vehicle.

The case will be prosecuted by the state Attorney General's Office.

[pepperhead]

Since the state AG is handling this Chalmers might end up serving more time than the guys that shot the drug dealer in the head did.

[pepperhead]

I think if I lived in Durham I would move.