Today’s Raleigh News & Observer reports:
Mayor Bill Bell on Monday night called for a formal investigation into whether a teenager accused of killing two college students should have been in jail when the crimes occurred.I urge Mayor Bell to read Chronicle columnist Kristin Butler's column today.
He hopes the answers can help target the reform efforts being made in the wake of the shooting deaths of Eve Carson, president of the UNC-Chapel Hill student body, and Abhijit Mahato, a Duke University graduate student. …
Butler lays out in detail the judicial and criminal justice system ineptitude or worse which enabled the two young men accused in the Carson and Mahato murders to roam free when they should have been in jail.
The Mayor can do three other things today without waiting for a “formal investigation.”
One, ask NBC17.com to repost and do a follow-up to its July 6, 2006 story: “Gang-related shooting kills 1, wounds 3”
The story included this:
Local authorities tried early this year to broker a truce between rival gangs. But a rape investigation involving the Duke University lacrosse team has been the focus of the police department in recent months, and the truce fell apart.The public needs to know more about all the time the DA’s office and DPD have spent on the frame-up attempt and its cover-up. Durham will be a less safe city for years because of what prosecutors and investigators did in response to Crystal Mangum’s lies.
Two, read a post, Duke lacrosse: Johnsville’s Questions , I published in Sept, 2006. It began:
Johnsville News has Nifong questions. JN starts off:Three, Mayor Bell needs to tell us now: a) how much time he’s spent in activities related to the frame-up attempt and its cover-up; b) what those activities were and are; and c) whether he agrees Durham would be a safer city today if there’d never been a frame-up attempt.Durham has real problems - gang problems. How are Mike Nifong and the Durham Police Department able to justify in their minds expending the time and effort on prosecuting a hoax against three innocent lacrosse players, when gang violence is erupting in the Durham courthouse? ….
Nifong is spending his time filing ridiculous legal motions in the Duke case about telephone surveys that involve his wife. Last Friday he spends basically the entire day at courthouse on his hoax. This doesn't count Nifong's countless hours of case related preparation, time obsessing about the case, and time spent dealing with at least seven outstanding defense attorneys.
The entire N&O story is here, Butler’s column’s here, there’s no link available for the NBC17.com story, and here’s Duke lacrosse: Johnsville’s Questions.
Hat tips: Walter Abbott and Baldo
5 comments:
John:
I know it is frustrating at times to write about the corruption and feel helpless not to get a response.
Just be aware that the Durham city leaders read every post and tie themselves in knots with anger. If they respond, they are done. Instead they seethe in silence.
There will come a time, however, when one of them will lash out instinctively. Then the house will implode.
Patience.
Ken
Dallas
NOW should have been capitalized, followed by an exclamation point! Durham needs to embrace a sense of urgency to deal with it's many judicial issues.
Thanks John
Bell will never admit it even if he does do any of the 4 easy tasks you ask of him.
kbp
Thanks John! Mahato & Carson were victims of Durham Thugs, but the Legal System and in particular the judges, attorneys, parole officials, DPD, and City Hall also failed them.
Maybe if they had done their jobs two shining lights would still be here.
Baldo
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