Duke lacrosse: JinC admits problem; vows to seek help

I hope the post title didn’t lead any of you to think I have a “ Rep. Patrick Kennedy” kind of problem.

You know – The AP is reporting

At 2:30 a.m. this morning, blogger JinC drove his brand new Lexus into the guardrail surrounding the Raleigh News & Observer’s executive office building.

JinC told security guards he thought he was on his way to an N&O editorial board meeting where exec news editor Melanie Sill, editorial page editor Steve Ford and others were voting on strategies to prop up Durham DA Mike Nifong and Duke’s President, Richard H. Brodhead.

No charges were filed against JinC who was driven home by Durham Police Sgt. Mark Gottlieb who passed the scene of the accident while driving back to Durham from Blinco’s, a popular Raleigh sports bar.

At a hastily called press conference this afternoon, JinC admitted he'd been with friends in the hours immediately preceding the accident but he vehemently denied reading even one article in the N&O or NY Times. “My friends read some of them, but I didn’t, “ JinC told reporters.

JinC refused to take further questions. He vowed to seek treatment at the Durham-in-Wonderland clinic; and said any future comment on his condition would come from the clinic's director, Dr. Robert KC Johnson.

No, folks, my problem is nothing like that.

I have the same problem many of you have. I can’t get straight answers from the N&O to questions decent citizens have been asking for months about the Duke Hoax.

Just two days ago I asked some very serious questions of Editor Sill at the N&O’s Editors’ Blog. You can read my questions on the thread of Sill’s post, "Duke lacrosse latest: Gottlieb profile," and then you can read Sill's response.

After reading Sill's dismissal of my questions, I decided to ask Sill if she’d answer very serious questions put to her and the N&O by historian and blogger KC Johnson.

Here’s the comment I just left on the thread of the same Edtiors’ Blog post.

Dear Melanie,

If you won’t answer my questions, will you answer those of the distinguished historian, Professor Robert KC Johnson?

At his Durham-in-Wonderland blog KC wonders why the N&O and other newspapers refuse to ask such questions as:

What actions has the Durham D.A.'s office taken to ensure that police officers uphold defendants' constitutional rights?

Or did Nifong's infamous statement--"One would wonder why one needs an attorney if one was not charged and had not done anything wrong"--suggest a D.A.'s office that cares little about how cases reach the court?

Is Nifong at all concerned with the stunning statistical disparity between Gottlieb's arrest record and that of the other three District 2 supervisors?

When did the Duke administration first learn of the statistical disparities revealed in the N&O article?

What actions does President Richard Brodhead plan to take in coming days to ensure that the Durham Police are not unfairly targeting Duke students?

What assurances, if any, can Brodhead give current or future Duke parents that their children will not experience the kind of treatment that Gottlieb provided Duke students in the months before March 2006?

Thank you for your attention to KC’s questions.

John
www.johnincarolina.com