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Duke DA backlash
Newsday ^ | April 2, 2007 | Joseph Mallia

Posted on 04/02/2007 2:35:38 AM PDT by abb

DURHAM, N.C. -- -- Sitting on the stoop of his small wood-sided home, on a parcel of scrub pines carved from a former tobacco plantation, William Ragland, 76, said he wanted to see justice, and soon, in the Duke lacrosse case.

And that would mean putting on trial not the lacrosse players, but the district attorney who led the early prosecution of the case, said Ragland.

"I was shocked by how Mr. Nifong did the whole thing. It was a cover-up. He had evidence that these boys did not rape her," and improperly kept it secret, said Ragland.

The retired Durham Housing Authority maintenance supervisor has lived in the predominantly black South Central district for a half-century.

This area of modest homes and city housing projects, where 92 percent of the residents are black, is the kind of neighborhood Nifong supporters looked to in order to help re-elect him last November. Eighty percent of South Central's voters cast their ballots for him. But now, a year after an off-campus Duke lacrosse team party sparked charges of sexual assault and put the school and Durham under a national spotlight, many neighborhood residents said this week neither he nor the accuser, who used to live here, have earned their support.

snip

(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: duke; dukelax; durham; durhamdirtbag; nifong
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1 posted on 04/02/2007 2:35:40 AM PDT by abb
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To: abner; Alia; AmishDude; AntiGuv; beyondashadow; Bitter Bierce; bjc; Bogeygolfer; BossLady; ...

Ping


2 posted on 04/02/2007 2:36:54 AM PDT by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
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To: abb

Too bad the ABA's are all about protection for their own. Nifong will end up getting nothing more than a slap on the wrist.


3 posted on 04/02/2007 2:44:16 AM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
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To: abb

If you read the entire article, it is apparent that now that the facts are out, the press will portray all the black people in Durham who rushed to judgment as only wanting justice to prevail rather than as the racists they truly are.


4 posted on 04/02/2007 3:24:16 AM PDT by thegreatmalcolmx (I came to love white people. At least that is what I was taught in my black history class.)
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To: thegreatmalcolmx
If you read the entire article, it is apparent that now that the facts are out, the press will portray all the black people in Durham who rushed to judgment as only wanting justice to prevail rather than as the racists they truly are.

Amen. It is Spin by the MSM. They thought they had a war chariot to ride to "prove" their world view.

When it turned out to be a freight train over the cliff of reason instead, they are in damage control.

5 posted on 04/02/2007 3:46:08 AM PDT by SkyPilot
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To: freeangel
Too bad the ABA's are all about protection for their own.

Yep. Lawyers are untouchable, that is one of the main reasons why the profession is as much of a mess as it is.

6 posted on 04/02/2007 3:48:13 AM PDT by Always Right
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To: abb
News stories like this are important.

If AG Cooper (or his political handlers) thinks that the AA backlash will be minimal, he is more likely to agree to dismiss this POS case.

7 posted on 04/02/2007 4:27:08 AM PDT by writmeister
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To: freeangel

And, if he came up for re-election, he could pull this same stunt again and they would all vote for him AGAIN!


8 posted on 04/02/2007 4:29:15 AM PDT by Muzzle_em (A proud warrior of the Pajamahadeen)
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To: Muzzle_em

Sadly, even knowing that NiFong presided over a total injustice against the students, his 'followers' would vote him in a heartbeat.

For too many blacks, it's about getting whitey, by any means possible.


9 posted on 04/02/2007 4:40:14 AM PDT by OldFriend ( TOM DeLAY FAN)
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To: thegreatmalcolmx
the press will portray all the black people in Durham who rushed to judgment as only wanting justice to prevail rather than as the racists they truly are.

It isn't the press leading that mantra -- it's the NAACP: They've been prominently asserting this mantra for quite some time; it's failsafe.

Early in the case, NAACP supporting Mangum in talking points asserted their demand that "justice be done".

Now that the case has been proven a sham, the NAACP says "they only want justice to be done".

10 posted on 04/02/2007 4:42:33 AM PDT by Alia
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To: Always Right; freeangel
Too bad the ABA's are all about protection for their own.

Yep. Lawyers are untouchable, that is one of the main reasons why the profession is as much of a mess as it is.

The ABA is a lobbyist organization. It probably has less influence that the AMA, UFT/AFT, AARP, and the Public Employees Union.

The ABA is NOT responsible for attorney discipline. That task belongs to the state and federal judiciary. Although I cannot speak for other states, in NY, each judicial district has a grievance committee that reports to the judges who sit on one of four appellate courts. Incompetent or dishonest lawyers are referred to the grievance committee by clients, judges, and other attorneys. Each grievance committee has its own private investigators and attorneys that prosecute cases against other attorneys. Despite what you might think, the system does work, and lawyers are severally punished. In fact, I know lawyers who have been suspended and disbarred, not for the underlying act that got them in trouble in the first place, but for merely failing to cooperate with the grievance committee. Again, I can't speak for what happens in other states, but I'm willing to bet that the disciplinary procedures that govern attorneys in NY are a heck of a lot more effective than the diciplinary procedures that govern the medical profession, teachers, and cops.

11 posted on 04/02/2007 4:49:25 AM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: thegreatmalcolmx

The Durham blacks will do what ever the Rat Plantation owners tell them to do.


12 posted on 04/02/2007 4:51:34 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. Abby is my girl....)
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To: abb
Time for The Poof Fairy to do her magic.

"poof! You didn't put on your magic powerlust glasses that morning, Nifong. True, you're blind as a bat without them, but..."

13 posted on 04/02/2007 4:54:04 AM PDT by small voice in the wilderness ( Bumper sticker idea: Hillary/Obama Nation '08. Let the desolation begin)
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To: abb

Fong got re-elected with 95% of the black vote long after the basic reality of this case was common knowledge. Turn the proposition around, i.e. have a psycho DA meet with klansmen and strike a bargain involving an election for lynching three innocent black kids and have the DA get reelected with 95% of the white vote, and the FBI would be bam straight on top of the situation like flies on manure.


14 posted on 04/02/2007 4:56:12 AM PDT by rickdylan
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To: abb

Bring back the public stockades!


15 posted on 04/02/2007 4:58:15 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: Muzzle_em
And, if he came up for re-election, he could pull this same stunt again and they would all vote for him AGAIN!

Absolute truth! This is the same unassailable bank the Dems can withdraw from with impunity, during any election. Ignorant victim classes only need a tug at the heart strings, even with unabashed lies, and they will ALWAYS pull the lever for the Democrat.

16 posted on 04/02/2007 5:05:23 AM PDT by Thommas (The snout of the camel is in the tent..)
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To: Alia

The best part for all those voters is that any case Nifong touched will now have even scummier lawyers using the Duke non-rape case as a pry car to get other cases back into court. It's only their tax dollars and their courts tied up to the point of being useless for the next dozen years or so,


17 posted on 04/02/2007 5:05:34 AM PDT by pikachu (Breakfast is the most important beer of the day!)
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To: Labyrinthos

Revisiting the Gell case ...

(Some links unavailable.)

http://www.truthinjustice.org/gell-probe.htm

Prosecutorial misconduct probe is needed
Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald By Keith Hoggard
February 26, 2004


http://www.newsobserver.com/208/story/170277.html

Published: Mar 07, 2004 12:01 AM
Modified: Oct 22, 2005 04:01 PM

Gell's prosecution, as Cooper saw it

http://www.newsobserver.com/208/story/171981.html

Cooper rebuked in Gell case
The News & Observer
February 22, 2004
Author: Joseph Neff; Staff Writer


http://www.newsobserver.com/208/story/220594.html

Gell case a test for Cooper
The News & Observer
June 5, 2003
Author: Kristin Collins; Staff Writer

EXCERPTS

This week, Cooper announced after six months of deliberation that he will try Gell for murder again. Cooper will seek life in prison rather than death.

Cooper admitted that prosecutors in his office were negligent when they failed to turn over evidence to Gell's lawyers.

(snip)


Cooper, 45, was 27 when he was elected to the General Assembly for the first time. He ran for attorney general in 2000 as a tough-on-crime lawyer who would fight for victims and keep schools safe.

His decision to retry Gell is likely to be popular among some of his biggest supporters: law enforcement, prosecutors, victims' rights advocates and death penalty supporters. Donna Pygott, executive director of the nonprofit N.C. Victims Assistance Network, said Wednesday that she supported his choice to lay out the evidence for a jury one more time.

//

http://www.newsobserver.com/208/story/212824.html

Bar set to defend its ruling
News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)
October 19, 2004
Author: Joseph Neff; Staff Writer


Last month, the State Bar gave written reprimands to prosecutors David Hoke and Debra Graves, who withheld evidence of innocence from former death row inmate Alan Gell. But dozens of lawyers statewide have ensured that the case doesn't end there.
The bar has scheduled an unprecedented public meeting Wednesday to answer critics who charge that it botched the matter.

In particular, these critics have complained that the bar's lawyers, David Johnson and Margaret Cloutier, called no witnesses during the hearing and had not spoken with some of the witnesses they said were ready to testify.

The protest swamped Dudley Humphrey, president of the State Bar, to the point where he said he could get little work done in his role as a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton's Winston-Salem office.

"Dear Mr. Humphrey: The action of the Disciplinary Committee in the Hoke-Graves-Gell matter is dismaying and distressing -- in my view, it is also outrageous," wrote W.A. Johnson, a lawyer in Lillington.

Neither Humphrey nor director Tom Lunsford could recall the State Bar ever meeting to discuss the handling of a disciplinary case.

"This is the first time we can recall any significant item that goes to the integrity" of the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission, Humphrey said.

When they prosecuted Gell more than six years ago, Hoke and Graves worked in the special prosecution division of the state Attorney General's office. Today, Hoke is the number two administrator in the state court system; Graves is a federal public defender.


(snip)

//

Bar panel to review Hoke, Graves case
News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)
October 23, 2004
Author: Joseph Neff; Staff Writer


The State Bar voted Friday to set up a special committee to examine how it handled the disciplinary hearing of David Hoke and Debra Graves, the two prosecutors who withheld evidence from former death row inmate Alan Gell.
The State Bar's governing council voted Friday to "study and identify issues arising out of the Hoke/Graves controversy" and recommend future policies and actions; it will not change the treatment of Hoke and Graves.

In September, Hoke and Graves received reprimands from the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission for their handling of the 1998 trial, which ended in a death sentence for Gell.

A number of lawyers had complained vociferously about what they perceived as the bar's perfunctory investigation and weak prosecution of the disciplinary case. Bar leadership defended the investigation, but many others were unhappy

//

Hoke-Graves case prompts State Bar review
News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)
January 19, 2005
Author: Joseph Neff
Lynn Bonner
Dan Kane; Staff Writers


Lawyer, heal thyself.
The State Bar on Tuesday kicked off an unprecedented round of self-examination into how the state's licensing agency for lawyers disciplines its own.

A special committee will spend the next six months looking into how the State Bar handled September's disciplinary hearing against David Hoke and Debra Graves, former prosecutors for the Attorney General's Office.

In September, Hoke and Graves were reprimanded for withholding evidence from former death row inmate Alan Gell at his 1998 trial, which ended in a death sentence for Gell.

A number of lawyers had complained that the bar conducted a perfunctory investigation and weak prosecution. They faulted the bar for not talking with the lead investigator in the case, for putting on no live witnesses and for not contesting erroneous testimony about constitutional law by Hoke and Jim Coman of the Attorney General's Office.

The special committee will examine two questions: Was there any bias or corruption or undue influence in the prosecution of Hoke and Graves? Was the State Bar's prosecution of Hoke and Graves within the range of acceptable lawyering?

(snip)

Easley backer gets Turnpike Authority post
News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)
June 16, 2005
Author: Rob Christensen

Joseph Neff; Staff Writers

EXCERPT

Bar's diligence challenged

The report card is in: There's room for improvement.

A special committee of the N.C. State Bar gave the Bar a "C" for its handling of the disciplinary hearing last year against David Hoke and Debra Graves, former prosecutors for the state Attorney General's Office. Hoke and Graves were reprimanded for withholding evidence of innocence from Alan Gell at his 1998 trial, which ended in a death sentence for Gell.

An outcry erupted after the hearing. The main complaint was that the Bar conducted a tepid prosecution.

The prosecution "fell within acceptable parameters," the committee found, but left a lot to be desired.

In particular, the State Bar prosecutors failed to interview SBI agent Dwight Ransome, the only eyewitness with first-hand knowledge of the actions of Hoke and Graves.

The Bar attorneys relied on the words of Hoke and Graves, said committee member Mark Ethridge of Charlotte.

"What would happen to our justice system if the role of the prosecutor was merely to ask the defendant what their version of their events were?" Ethridge asked.

The committee will recommend new policies at the next meeting of the State Bar in July. They include hiring outside lawyers to prosecute public officials who have personal or professional relationships with senior staff at the Bar.


18 posted on 04/02/2007 5:10:09 AM PDT by maggief
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To: thegreatmalcolmx
If you read the entire article, it is apparent that now that the facts are out, the press will portray all the black people in Durham who rushed to judgment as only wanting justice to prevail rather than as the racists they truly are.

I wouldn't say all. I grew up in an integrated neighborhood in Queens. I shared H. L. Mencken's assessment that American Negroes (as he called "them") were remarkably level headed despite the attempts by their White "friends" to rile "them" up.

A lot has changed since 1964 in this country. One thing is that for the last forty plus years the LameStream Media has been infected with a perverse reflexive White guilt, wherein (as has been widely noted) Blacks_can_do_no_wrong and when it is incontrovertibly shown that a Black person has committed a crime, the "root cause" is White racism.

I think there are a great number of fair minded people of good will in the Black community. When the LSM present only the ex parte pleadings of an ambitious prosecutor portraying an outrageous crime committed by privileged White boys (and anyone at Duke is privileged) against a poor young Black woman (few women who have attractive alternatives strip for frat boys, let's face it) Blacks (and many Whites) will be outraged.

The real outrage here is Nifong's and the LSM who acted as willing dupes ("a story too good to check"). Nifong is a truly sorry s.o.b. A career prosecutor (if he had any talent, he'd switch teams and make some real dough) who gets a temporary appointment as DA and wants to hold on the office, the first time he was ever the Boss, it went to his head. Now he knows that cause was not in his stars but in himself that he be one of nature's underlings. He ruined his career and his fortune. Good, he's gonna get what he deserves.

19 posted on 04/02/2007 5:15:11 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets ("We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”)
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To: freeangel

Don't agree. ABA has nothing to do with this. The NC bar is pretty pissed. Looks like at least a suspension, a lengthy one, or perhaps even disbarment.


20 posted on 04/02/2007 5:30:39 AM PDT by appeal2 (R)
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