maggief

Jun 18 2008, 12:26 PM

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.

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