| Viewing Single Post From: Shake up in Durham Police attorneys! | |
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| maggief | Jun 18 2008, 12:26 PM |
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Bar hearing solidifies push for city probe Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) - June 19, 2007 Author: RAY GRONBERG A detective's testimony in the hearing that produced District Attorney Mike Nifong's disbarment has City Council members saying they're even more convinced an investigation of the Durham Police Department is necessary. The detective, Ben Himan, told an N.C. State Bar disciplinary committee that investigators and Nifong knew two weeks into the Duke lacrosse case that the accuser had given police contradictory accounts about what had transpired. The discrepancies were so serious that Nifong responded to his initial briefing by detectives with the words, "You know we're f-----," said Himan, who also testified that he'd later voiced skepticism about the case when told Nifong would seek indictments. Himan's testimony undercut comments Police Chief Steve Chalmers made to The Herald-Sun last month after the City Council ordered an inquiry into the department's handling of the case. Chalmers claimed the accuser's story had been consistent before Nifong sought grand-jury indictments of since-exonerated players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. The obvious contradiction didn't escape council members. "The questions that came out of Investigator Himan's testimony last week reinforced the necessity for having a third-party investigation," Councilman Mike Woodard said. "Obviously, there was either miscommunication or no communication, or tacit approval from someone to go forward," Councilman Eugene Brown added. "And that's one of the reasons we're having this independent investigation." The investigation, chaired by former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Willis Whichard, could begin next week. Council members on Monday settled a key detail, making it clear the committee will be able to subpoena witnesses. They agreed to exercise their authority to compel testimony if the investigators need it. City Attorney Henry Blinder also advised the council Monday that the committee, which is supposed to meet in public, has to be careful not to violate the state's personnel-privacy laws. The committee should focus on "broader operational and criminal-procedure issues," not on "individual employee performance or [recommending] any disciplinary actions against individual employees," Blinder said. Also on the personnel front, council members acknowledged that last week's hearing could influence City Manager Patrick Baker's pending decision on a replacement for Chalmers, who's retiring. Baker has said he wants the new chief on board by mid-August. He is considering three finalists: Durham Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge, Hartford, Conn., Assistant Police Chief Jose Lopez, and Knoxville, Tenn., Deputy Police Chief Don Green. Any weighing of the lacrosse case could damage Hodge's chances. The case notes of Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, Himan's supervisor, indicate that higher-ups in the department twice told detectives to follow directions coming from Nifong's office. The first such order came on March 22, 2006, from Police Attorney Toni Smith as Gottlieb and Himan were preparing a court order that compelled lacrosse players to submit DNA samples. The second came on March 24, 2006, from Capt. Jeff Lamb, commander of the operating district the investigators worked in. The police attorney's office answers directly to Chalmers, and Lamb's chain of command runs to the chief through Hodge. (snip) Baker added as defendant in lacrosse lawsuit - Complaint alleges city manager conspired to levy false charges Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) - December 12, 2007 Author: RAY GRONBERG DURHAM -- Attorneys for three former Duke lacrosse players filed new court papers Tuesday to add City Manager Patrick Baker to the list of defendants in the players' federal civil-rights lawsuit against the city. The amended complaint alleges that Baker was among the city officials who conspired last year to levy false charges of rape against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. Lawyers for the players singled out Baker's participation in two meetings that occurred on March 29, 2006, two days before detectives and former District Attorney Mike Nifong planned an against-policy photo lineup that enabled the players' indictment. The first of the meetings occurred the morning of March 29 and involved Baker, Mayor Bill Bell, former Police Chief Steve Chalmers, Senior Assistant to the City Manager Reginald Johnson and lacrosse case lead detective Ben Himan. The follow-up session occurred the afternoon of March 29 and included Baker, Chalmers, Himan, Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge, supervising detective Mark Gottlieb, police attorney Toni Smith and a group of officials from Duke University. Lawyers allege that the two meetings gave senior officials an avenue to pressure the detectives to make quick arrests in the case, regardless of evidence that was by then pointing toward the players' innocence. Quick arrests were supposed "to satisfy a Durham community that had been misled by ... false and inflammatory Nifong statements and Durham police statements into believing that three white Duke lacrosse players had committed a violent and racially motivated gang rape," the amended complaint said. The complaint lumped Baker in with Chalmers, Hodge and several other Durham Police Department commanders who are alleged to have put pressure on detectives, or to have failed to supervise them properly. The players are suing them not just as city officials, but as individuals who are personally liable for what occurred. (snip) Assistant DA gets harassing messages - Cline denies callers' claims of her role in lacrosse case Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC) - January 10, 2008 Author: RAY GRONBERG DURHAM -- Assistant District Attorney Tracey Cline says callers have targeted her with racist hate messages after she was identified -- incorrectly, she maintains -- with a key document in the since-debunked Duke lacrosse rape case. "It's really nasty people," Cline said of the anonymous phone callers. The content, she added, is "racist stuff." She quoted one caller as saying "How's your black a-- going to run for DA?" because of a document that local defense lawyers maintained was unconstitutional. "It's really distressing me," Cline said of the hate calls, which she said are jamming her voice mail. "I'm just stressed out." At the heart of the matter is material taken from the notes of lacrosse case lead detective Ben Himan, and notes and a deposition from Durham police Sgt. Mark Gottlieb. They referred to Cline's role in the creation of a non-testimonial order, or NTO, that allowed police to take photographs of and collect DNA evidence from 46 of the 47 members of the Duke lacrosse team. Cline denied that she had any role in writing the order. "The record will indicate that David Saacks did it," she said. Saacks is the interim district attorney but was an assistant DA at that time. "I didn't prepare any paperwork on that case. Nothing at all. I've never even seen or laid hands on a non-testimonial order." She said, "I remember Gottlieb asked me about a non-testimonial order, and I told him I was not available." But when asked by The Herald-Sun whether she'd asked police to draft the non-testimonial order, Cline responded, "I don't recall." Himan's notes and Gottlieb's deposition indicate that police consulted Cline on March 22, 2006, after they learned players, on the advice of attorneys, wouldn't show up that day for a scheduled meeting with investigators. As soon as that was clear, Himan contacted Cline, who handled most sexual-assault cases for the district attorney's office. Himan -- who turned over his notes to defense lawyers in May of 2006 -- reported that the conversation took place at about 4:15 p.m. He said Cline urged police to secure the order. "I went to Assistant District Attorney Tracey Cline and spoke to her about our case," Himan said, summarizing what happened. "She stated that we should do the non-testimonial on the players including upper-torso pictures, current mug shots and cheek swabbings." Gottlieb's notes -- turned over to the defense in July of 2006 -- backed Himan's account. "I spoke to [Police Attorney] Toni Smith and notified her that Investigator Himan spoke with ADA Tracey Cline. Ms. Cline asked them to draw up the NTO so the DA's office could present it to a judge in the morning. [ Smith ] stated follow the directions of the DA's office since they are the ones conducting the possible future prosecution." The sergeant's deposition -- given to N.C. State Bar investigators as they assembled evidence for then-District Attorney Mike Nifong's eventual disbarment -- echoed his notes. "I had actually spoke with Ms. Smith and Investigator Himan spoke with the District Attorney's office, Ms. Cline, and they decided to -- the district attorney's office thought it was a good idea [--] to go ahead and do a non-testimonial, and I assisted Investigator Himan in preparing it," Gottlieb told bar investigators. (snip) |
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| Shake up in Durham Police attorneys! · DUKE LACROSSE - Liestoppers | |
10:30 AM Dec 2
