Posted on 02/28/2014 10:39:54 AM PST by Altariel
DURHAM, N.C. — A 20-year-old sophomore communications major at North Carolina Central University, Lewis James Little sat in the Durham County jail for a month last year after he did what he says he thought was the right thing.
He and several friends had been visiting the home of a childhood friend on Melbourne Street in east Durham on the night of June 21, 2013, when, he says, they discovered 25-year-old Michael Lee dead in the middle of the road.
"I called the police – when none of the other guys were even thinking about it – trying to do the right thing, and it pretty much started from there," Lewis said.
Twenty minutes after officers arrived, he was handcuffed and later jailed under a $1.425 million bond on burglary, kidnapping and several other criminal charges in connection with a break-in at a nearby home.
*****
Little had been wrongly accused, and even though the case was dismissed, the damage was already done. Since then, he says, he has had issues finding both housing and employment.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
I’m a little surprised at the comments here. The kid clearly did the right thing. AND, after having had that experience, the only negative comment he has is about the consequences — of the people who wrongly accused him and jailed him for a month he says “You can assume a lot just from looking at my face and dreads. I was in basketball shorts and flip flops,” Little said. “Something like that happening to them – I can kind of understand that maybe they would jump to conclusions.”
He hasn’t sued anybody or cried racism or done anything else at all negative or ugly.
I know a lot of people of all races, who are a lot older than this guy, who would have been way way angrier and less rational. I think the kid is a gentleman. In the end, that’ll be enough.
Plus now, if somebody googles him, at least they’ll come up with this story too. That’ll help.
There’s no reason for anybody to be saying anything about this young man that’s not a compliment.
That is how he looked at the time of his arrest. The photo in the article is how he looks now, when he is being presented to the press.
Gasp! He looks terrifying! Jeez, just looks like a nice normal young man.
1. NEVER involve police.
2. NEVER involve lawyers.
3. If you ignore rule 1 and involve police, ALWAYS involve lawyers.
Read down... he is an engineering student. He has dreadlocks but but this doesn’t mean much these days. I have met non-angry black guys with them and he looks like one
He hasn't sued anybody or cried racism yet.
Maybe he never will, but he sure seems to be getting prepped as the new racism poster boy. His 3 week incarceration occurred last June. Why is he getting shopped around to all of the news outlets now?
and getting a record expunged is expensive... especially for a young guy without a job...
expensive...
then you didn’t read the story.
“I called the police – when none of the other guys were even thinking about it – trying to do the right thing, and it pretty much started from there,” Lewis said.
Twenty minutes after officers arrived, he was handcuffed and later jailed under a $1.425 million bond on burglary, kidnapping and several other criminal charges in connection with a break-in at a nearby home.
“You can do good your whole life and like that, (you’re in jail under) a million-dollar bond,” he said. “It was kind of like a dream. I kept waking up, like, ‘I can’t believe I’m in here.’ I kind of felt defeated.”
Then, on July 15, a corrections officer told him he was free to go. The Durham prosecutor working the case dropped the charges and apologized to Little.
A witness in the home invasion had identified Little as one of three men who broke in, but statements to police called into question that identification, authorities say.
sadly, i am a little surprised that you are a little surprised at the comments here... :(
See the background? Mug shot. He’s dazed. Probably something like shock. At least you bothered to look. Many don’g really care to know the truth when a picture can fill in their pre conceived notions.
Why is it that in the US potential employers can find out whether or not you have been arrested? In the UK, you only have to disclose your dealings with the law if you’ve either accepted a police caution (i.e. owned up to an offence) or been convicted by a magistrate or a jury. Merely being arrested isn’t good enough. How is it even constitutional to be punished for a crime for which you haven’t even been charged, never mind convicted?
He hasn’t sued anybody or cried racism or done anything else at all negative or ugly
I'm not big on suing or crying racism - but in this case, he might have a justifiable claim for both.
The silver lining is that all the cops were safe.
It’s Mangum, not Magnum!
Because he’s fighting the fire with fire, duh. Prospective employers googling his name will now find at least one corrective article from the venue it occurred in.
My guess is he’s taking steps to “fix the internet”. By contacting various new organizations that have published articles on him and asking them to add an update or correction on the story on their news sites.
It’s probably much cheaper than hiring a lawyer to get the record expunged which wouldn’t fix the internet problem anyway.
I wish him well.
I don’t think your post was meant for me...
Were you to actually read the article, you would find that the kid has no redress against the police.
What he would actually like to do is have the police expunge his record. Not so easy, that will be on his dime too.
He also lost a semester of class sitting in jail for a month. How would you like it if he were your son?
Really Olivia??
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