Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
Blog and Media Roundup - Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009; News Roundup
Topic Started: Feb 11 2009, 04:36 AM (955 Views)
abb
Member Avatar

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1094218.cfm?

N.C. State Bar suspends ex-Durham public defender over sex complaints
BY MATT GOAD : The Herald-Sun
mgoad@heraldsun.com
Feb 11, 2009

DURHAM -- The former chief public defender of Durham County, Bob Brown Jr., has admitted to sexually harassing three employees at his office and has been suspended from the N.C. Bar for five years.

Former Public Defender's Office employees Danielle Bruno, Janice Ingram and Rachael Allen had filed a lawsuit against Brown in 2007, seeking damages for sexual harassment in 2005. Bruno was an attorney, Ingram a paralegal and Allen a legal assistant.

The disciplinary order signed by Brown and dated Friday states Brown made frequent sexual comments to the women, asked them about their bra sizes and told them details about his sexual experiences. He touched them inappropriately, including putting his arm around their shoulders or waist and massaging their shoulders.

When Brown hired Ingram and Allen, he told them they could have flexible schedules to help them care for their children, according to the order. While they were employed, he remarked that they would have a hard time finding another job that would allow flexible hours.

Ingram said Brown insinuated he wanted more than a working relationship, saying he would "help her if she would help him," the findings state. Bruno said Brown made statements to her such as, "Things will be easier for you here if we get along."

Superior Court Judge Orlando F. Hudson Jr. suspended Brown in December 2005 after Bruno filed an action seeking Brown's removal because of sexual harassment, and Brown resigned a week later.

Brown also had pleaded no contest in 1996 to a charge of assault on a female by grabbing her buttocks. He was reprimanded by the N.C. Bar that same year.

After three years of serving the suspension, Brown may file for a stay of the final two years if he undergoes an evaluation by two psychiatrists, both of whom conclude he doesn't not suffer from a condition predisposing him to inappropriate sexual behavior.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/state/6-1093996.cfm

NC legislative GOP wants bettter probation system
By EMERY P. DALESIO : Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
Feb 10, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Republican lawmakers took the initiative Tuesday on efforts to fix a broken probation system blamed for losing track of thousands of criminals who were supposed to be under supervision.

A first step should be putting their names, photos and last known addresses on the Internet to generate tips on where to find 14,000 offenders who have disappeared, said Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

"We should see a lot of public participation and we should be able to reduce the number of lost probationers to a manageable level," said Berger, the Senate minority leader.

GOP leaders also want a bill that would allow local police, in addition to probation officers, the authority to search a probationer's home or pockets without a warrant.

"It's a force multiplier for probation officers and law enforcement to use each other," said Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, the House minority leader.

Probation is a sentence that a judge can impose instead of or in addition to prison time. Probationers must agree to conditions including paying child support and court costs, not possessing weapons, and to "submit at reasonable times to warrantless searches" by a probation officer.

The GOP pressure comes after reports detailed long-standing problems in the Division of Community Corrections, including heavy caseloads, low pay, high employee turnover, and an outdated court data system that contributed to the lost probationers.

The News & Observer of Raleigh also reported in December that since 2000, 580 people committed killings while on probation. Outgoing Correction Secretary Theodis Beck responded that the number of killings by probationers has been decreasing in recent years, though "even a single murder is one too many."

The Legislature last year responded to shortcomings in the probation system uncovered in the wake of the slaying of University of North Carolina student president Eve Carson. The two men charged with her killing were on probation.

Lawmakers dedicated $2.5 million to hiring probation officers and parole field workers. So far, six officers have started work and eight others are awaiting final approval in regional offices, Correction Department spokesman Keith Acree said Tuesday.

Parole officers last month were required to begin using a new computer tool that allows them to get a daily report on offenders they supervise who have gotten into new legal trouble, Acree said.

Berger and Stam asked Gov. Beverly Perdue in a letter Tuesday to implement their low-cost Internet tip-line and support expanded warrantless searches.

Perdue is still forming her administration's priorities for legislation and spending, spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said. The first priority is balancing a state budget that could be $2 billion out of whack by June, when the fiscal year ends.

"We are welcoming all suggestions," Pearson said. "Otherwise, we are sorting through our legislative priorities and our budget priorities. We have a lot of decision-making on our horizon."

Democrats who control the Legislature are also still organizing for at least six more months of work.

"Nothing is off the table at this point," said Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, the Senate's majority leader. "Significant time and attention will be given to this thing in terms of staffing levels and span of control."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsedits/56-1093955.cfm

Withhold judgment
Feb 11, 2009

We encourage everyone to withhold judgment about the charges that Southern High School's band director had sex with students.

It's difficult not to judge, because it's such an emotional issue. Any educator or, for that matter, anyone who works with children and betrays the trust in the relationship should face the severest penalty.

Such crimes tear at the fabric of society, which is based on caring adults mentoring children to help them grow into healthy grown-ups. When an adult uses the position of trust to harm a child, he or she deserves to be removed from society.

With that said, band director Jamal Butler, 30, deserves the same presumption of innocence as anyone charged with any crime. Butler stands accused of having intercourse with two 16-year-old students between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. Butler, a band director since 2005, has since resigned.

A court will decide his fate. He will have the opportunity to plead guilty and face sentencing, or plead not guilty and face a trial. That is the appropriate venue to judge whether the serious charges have merit or not.

Likewise, we shouldn't judge Southern High School based on what we know so far. Of course school officials should be constantly on the alert for any sign of inappropriate contact between students and teachers. But such conduct can occur under the radar, with students afraid or unwilling to come forward. The school may well have acted as quickly as it could.

We hope, as the process unfolds, that the school district will be forthcoming about when school officials became aware of the allegations. The public also needs to know that schools are carefully checking the background of all applicants.

Concerned parents must be assured that the school district is taking every precaution to keep their children safe at school.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1401453.html


Published: Feb 11, 2009 12:30 AM
Modified: Feb 11, 2009 02:41 AM

Former teacher in court on sex charges
Stanley B. Chambers Jr., Staff Writer Comment on this story
DURHAM - Jamal Butler was silent during his first appearance in court Tuesday morning on charges of having sex with two students.

Butler was given an April 1 court date. He did not enter a plea, but met with an attorney from the law firm of Kurtz & Blum of Raleigh. The firm will be representing Butler during his trial.

Butler, 30, of Calibre Park Drive, is charged with two counts of sexual offense with a student. He is out of jail on a $20,000 bond.

Butler allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with two 16-year-old female Southern High School students between July 1 and Jan. 8, according to arrest warrants. School officials conducted an investigation along with police after allegations were made, said Michael Yarbrough, Durham Public Schools spokesman.

Butler, who became Southern's band teacher in August 2007, resigned Jan. 29, Yarbrough said.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1401643.html


Published: Feb 11, 2009 12:30 AM
Modified: Feb 11, 2009 02:53 AM

State GOP offers probation remedy
The proposal would let police officers conduct no-warrant searches of probationers
Joseph Neff and Benjamin Niolet, Staff Writers Comment on this story
North Carolina Republicans introduced a strategy Tuesday to fix the probation system: allow any police officer to search any probationer at almost any time, without a warrant.

The plan would increase supervision of criminals and offer sorely needed assistance to probation officers struggling with heavy caseloads, proponents said.

Rep. Paul Stam, the House minority leader, said law enforcement and probation officials need to work together more closely, just as the CIA and FBI have had to cooperate more since Sept. 11, 2001.

"This is a force multiplier," said Stam, a Wake County Republican.

The proposal came in reaction to News & Observer articles detailing how probation officers can't locate 14,000 offenders, how 580 probationers were convicted of killing while on probation since 2000 and how top probation officials ended promising computer programs to help officers track their clients.

The Republicans called on the Department of Correction to make public on its Web site the names and photos of the thousands of absconding probationers. Correction spokesman Keith Acree said most of that information is now available, though not all in one place. The department will likely make all absconder information easily searchable on its Web site soon, Acree said.

Some legislators and law professors questioned whether the bill affecting searches might violate the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

In general, a law enforcement officer needs a judge or magistrate to sign a warrant before conducting a search.

North Carolina law, however, allows probation officers to conduct warrantless searches of a probationer, his car and his home if a judge has made that a condition of the offender's sentence. That is common; 61 percent of the state's 117,779 probationers and parolees are currently subject to warrantless searches. The law says the search must be related to supervision of the offender.

The legislative proposal, however, would open the doors for police to conduct searches that have no connection to probation, said Duke law professor James Coleman.

"This establishes a subset of citizens without Fourth Amendment rights," Coleman said. "Any officer anywhere can search this person's house."

Republicans said the idea for their proposal came from an N&O article about probation surveillance officer Mark Hornsby, who has made scores of seizures of guns and drugs from probationers in Harnett County. Hornsby had conducted a warrantless search in 2008 in Harnett County of a convicted drug dealer who was on probation in a neighboring county. Hornsby's supervisor disciplined him for the search, which she called unlawful.

Rep. W. David Guice, a retired probation supervisor from Brevard and a Republican, said all probationers and parolees should be subject to warrantless searches by any law enforcement officer.

"If we allow the courts to pick and choose which offender to search, we're making a grave mistake," Guice said.

The bill raises the question of the purpose of probation, said UNC law professor Richard Myers. If the proposal is truly aimed at helping probation officers supervise their offenders, police should be required to contact the probation officer before conducting the search, Myers said.

"If not, then this is just an investigative tool for law enforcement," Myers said.

joseph.neff@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4516
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1401657.html


Published: Feb 11, 2009 12:30 AM
Modified: Feb 11, 2009 05:26 AM

Crowded prisons may force lighter sentences
Dan Kane, Staff Writer Comment on this story
After years of trying to build their way out of a space crunch in the state's prisons, lawmakers this year may have little choice but to reduce sentences for future crimes to avoid overcrowding.

The latest projections show that in the fiscal year that begins July 1, the state will not have space for nearly 2,300 inmates. That's the equivalent of two new prisons.

But lawmakers have neither money nor time to lay bricks and mortar for more cells. They are looking at one of the worst budget crises in decades -- a deficit of at least $2 billion. It takes longer than a year to build a prison or add to existing ones. "There's no way we could build something that quickly," said Keith Acree, a Department of Correction spokesman.

It's a problem that could dog the state for years.

The state has 79 prisons holding just under 40,000 inmates. Lawmakers have approved expansion projects that will add room for roughly 2,250 inmates by 2012. But the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission's projections show that the new projects won't cover all the growth. By then, the prisons will still be short of about 1,700 spaces.

A decade from now, North Carolina will have to find room for nearly 50,000 inmates, a projected population that outstrips both approved and proposed prison buildings.

Overcrowding is a danger to inmates and the state employees who work in the prisons. A similar problem in the 1980s led the U.S. Justice Department to intervene.

The only good news for North Carolina is that it could be worse. Federal judges this week issued a ruling that could force California to reduce prison overcrowding by releasing as many as 58,000 inmates during the next three years.

Susan Katzenelson, the sentencing commission's executive director, said the rising projection is based on felony and misdemeanor convictions in the previous year. State lawmakers have added more prosecutors and judges in recent years, and that appears to have resulted in more defendants being sentenced and shipped off to prison.

Many of those felonies carry hefty prison time, which means more prisoners are coming into the system than leaving it, Katzenelson said.

"I think it's a little bit faster than I had expected," Katzenelson said, "but we certainly had expected some growth."

The probation problem

There's also a wild card that could push prison growth higher this year -- the problems within the probation system, which is also run by the correction department. Two high-profile killings last year exposed a system that was not keeping track of probationers, and attacking that problem could send many violators back to prison. The only upside is many of those inmates would be serving the remainder of their sentences, which would mean they would not be in prison for long stretches.

The well-publicized flaws in the probation system may also cause lawmakers to balk at cutting the time on some sentences, even if it includes increased supervision by probation officers. State Sen. Pete Brunstetter, a Winston-Salem Republican, chuckled at the thought of entrusting the probation system to solve prison overcrowding.

"Our probation system has been widely criticized for not providing appropriate supervision," said Brunstetter, who sits on the budget subcommittee that oversees justice and public safety spending. "We're going to have to get one system fixed before we can use it to help another."

But state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Chapel Hill Democrat who leads the budget subcommittee, said lawmakers should get behind long-sought legislation that would reduce sentences in ways that she thinks would do no harm to public safety. She plans to file a bill that would bring about changes, suggested by the sentencing commission, that could free up space for 4,600 inmates.

She said lawmakers should pass laws that steer more nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of prison. And, she said, they should question a habitual felon law that locks up people for long periods even if the latest conviction is a low-level, nonviolent offense.

Getting tough on crime, she said, "sounds good when you are running for office. But when you are governing, you've got to realize that we are doing a disservice to our state, both in our expenditures that we are making as well as the price society is paying."

dan.kane@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4861
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
chatham
Member Avatar

If anyone is interested, or maybe some already know, there is a new search site that is pretty cool to use. The web site is http://www.searchme.com/ . It searches like google but it brings up a picture of the page it finds in the search. One can also seach pictures and video. Video is cool. When I click on video and search for Tara Levicy, her testimony during the nifong disbarment comes up. And only 2 videos come up, not a whole bunch of junk. It has some faults but I find it very useful. It may still be in its beta form.

http://www.searchme.com/
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
chatham
Member Avatar

Related Items

A man claiming to be the father of a 14-year-old boy said his son was shot on this school bus Wednesday morning.
On The Web

Map
Site Search



Father says son shot on school bus
Posted: 44 minutes ago
Updated: 5 minutes ago

YOUNGSVILLE, N.C. — A man claiming to be the father of a 14-year-old boy said his son was shot in the leg on a school bus Wednesday morning that was traveling on Halifax Road near Highway 96 in Youngsville.
Wake County Sheriff's authorities said they are investigating an "incident" with the school bus, but they refused to provide more details.
Tommy Gray said another boy on the bus shot his son, Dustin Gray, in the upper leg with a .22-caliber gun.
Emergency crews took Dustin to Rex Hospital, according to his father.

http://www.wral.com
Edited by chatham, Feb 11 2009, 08:32 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Baldo
Member Avatar

chatham
Feb 11 2009, 08:24 AM
If anyone is interested, or maybe some already know, there is a new search site that is pretty cool to use. The web site is http://www.searchme.com/ . It searches like google but it brings up a picture of the page it finds in the search. One can also seach pictures and video. Video is cool. When I click on video and search for Tara Levicy, her testimony during the nifong disbarment comes up. And only 2 videos come up, not a whole bunch of junk. It has some faults but I find it very useful. It may still be in its beta form.

http://www.searchme.com/
Interesting web site.. Good for videos

try entering "Duke Lacrosse" under Videos search
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kerri P.
Member Avatar

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4515855/
Student in Krzyzewskiville contracts meningitis
Posted: Today at 10:43 a.m.
Updated: 37 minutes ago

Durham, N.C. — A Duke University freshman was diagnosed Tuesday with meningicoccal meningitis and was being treated at Duke Hospital, officials said.

The unidentified female student had been camped out in Krzyzewskiville, the location on campus where students wait for basketball game tickets, for Wednesday night's game against UNC.

Officials started antibiotic treatments for the student, her roommate and the students who had been camping with her.

Duke University student affairs said 10 to 15 students were being treated as a precaution.

Bacterial meningitis cannot be transmitted through casual contact, Duke officials said, and they said the risk of the disease spreading on campus was small.

Still, they said they were following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to prevent any outbreak.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kerri P.
Member Avatar

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4516084/
Volunteer firefighters charged with setting fires
Posted: 35 minutes ago
Updated: 31 minutes ago

Bailey, N.C. — Two Stanhope Volunteer Fire Department firefighters face charges in a string of fires set in abandoned buildings, authorities said Tuesday.

Christopher Lee Averette, 23, of Winters Road in Bailey, was charged with four counts of burning certain buildings. The charges stem from a Dec. 21 fire of an abandoned farmhouse on Frazier Road, a Dec. 7 fire at 4686 W. Hornes Church Road, an April 12 fire at Stone Whitley Road and a Jan. 6, 2008, fire at 6358 Squirrel Den Road, authorities said.

Christopher Finch, 20, of Christian Road in Wilson, was charged with one count of burning certain buildings. The charge stems from the Dec. 21 fire.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1402009.html


Published: Feb 11, 2009 10:53 AM
Modified: Feb 11, 2009 11:17 AM
James Fullwood

Regional probation manager steps down
By Sarah Ovaska, Staff Writer Comment on this story
James "Woody" Fullwood, the regional manager of a 21-county probation judicial division area that included Wake, Durham and Harnett Counties, has stepped down from his job. His resignation came less than a week after The News & Observer reported that Fullwood ordered probation managers to conduct a two-day investigation into how a potted plant fell down in a the office of a Harnett County probation supervisor. Fullwood was also the manager that oversaw Wake and Durham probation offices, described by other probation officials as the worst-run in the state.

Fullwood, 60, sent an e-mail to staff of the state's Division Two at 5:22 p.m. Tuesday, telling them he was retiring from the state's battered probation system after 36 years of working for the correction department. His departure was immediate, after factoring in other leave time before his April 1 retirement date, according to a copy of an e-mail obtained by The News & Observer.

"Effective today at 5 p.m., I will be utilizing leave until March 31, 2009," Fullwood wrote in the e-mail. "As I depart, I challenge each and every one of you to omit the word 'try' and replace it with 'I will.' Stand tall."

Fullwood, who made made $89,144 annually, had been in charge of the the state's Judicial Division Two, one of the four regional divisions in the state. Efforts to reach Fullwood were unsuccessful.

His resignation follows that of other probation and correction leaders, including Robert Guy, the former head of the Division of Community Correction who stepped down in January. Guy's position has yet to be filled, but Tim Moose, a longtime probation employee, is serving as the interim director.

Fullwood's leadership had come under scrutiny after a News & Observer series published in December. Statewide, the investigation found that 580 probationers had killed since the start of 2000.

The series also showed that the probation system had lost track of nearly 14,000 convicted criminals. Many of the problems were in counties under Fullwood's management, including the highly publicized killings last year of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato. The men accused in their killings had received scant attention from probation officers in Wake and Durham counties, but state officials initially said the cases of lax oversight were unusual.

In 2006, Fullwood ordered an investigation of a toppled potted plant in the office of probation supervisor Joyce James. The investigation involved questioning 20 probation officers and examination of time cards. The results of the investigation were found in a two-page report with the conclusion: "It is undetermined as to whom or how the plant located in chief probation/parole officer James' office got overturned."

Fullwood will be replaced temporarily by Diane Isaacs, who has been Fullwood's assistant administrator.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kerri P.
Member Avatar

http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/4519712/
Person Co. woman raped in home
Posted: 13 minutes ago
Updated: 6 minutes ago

Roxboro, N.C. — An elderly Person County woman was raped in her home early Wednesday, Sheriff Dewey Jones said.

The woman, 83, was home alone when a man approached her, told her to close her eyes and committed the act, Jones said. The victim was otherwise unharmed. She was treated at a hospital and released.

The rape was reported to the Person County Sheriff's Office just after 2 a.m. Jones said deputies found evidence that the suspect may have entered the home through the basement.

The victim was unable to describe her attacker. Deputies with dogs searched near the home and interviewed several people, Jones said. He asked that anyone with information contact the Person County Sheriff's Office at 336-597-0500.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kerri P.
Member Avatar

http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/4518056/
Perdue won't support state employee health premiums
Posted: Today at 2:26 p.m.
Updated: Today at 3:18 p.m.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Beverly Perdue is opposed to requiring North Carolina state employees to pay a premium for their own health insurance.

Perdue's office largely confirmed a comment made by the head of the State Employees Association of North Carolina.

Association executive director Dana Cope said Tuesday the governor told him last week she would veto any bill requiring employees be charged for their own premiums.

Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said the governor understands the State Health Plan is under financial strain but won't support a premium increase as part of the solution.

Forcing workers to pay a monthly premium could generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The State Health Plan may need an extra $1.2 billion over the next two years to cover claims.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
DMom

abb
Feb 11 2009, 05:29 PM
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1402009.html


Published: Feb 11, 2009 10:53 AM
Modified: Feb 11, 2009 11:17 AM
James Fullwood

Regional probation manager steps down
By Sarah Ovaska, Staff Writer Comment on this story
James "Woody" Fullwood, the regional manager of a 21-county probation judicial division area that included Wake, Durham and Harnett Counties, has stepped down from his job. His resignation came less than a week after The News & Observer reported that Fullwood ordered probation managers to conduct a two-day investigation into how a potted plant fell down in a the office of a Harnett County probation supervisor. Fullwood was also the manager that oversaw Wake and Durham probation offices, described by other probation officials as the worst-run in the state.

Fullwood, 60, sent an e-mail to staff of the state's Division Two at 5:22 p.m. Tuesday, telling them he was retiring from the state's battered probation system after 36 years of working for the correction department. His departure was immediate, after factoring in other leave time before his April 1 retirement date, according to a copy of an e-mail obtained by The News & Observer.
//snip//
In 2006, Fullwood ordered an investigation of a toppled potted plant in the office of probation supervisor Joyce James. The investigation involved questioning 20 probation officers and examination of time cards. The results of the investigation were found in a two-page report with the conclusion: "It is undetermined as to whom or how the plant located in chief probation/parole officer James' office got overturned."

Fullwood will be replaced temporarily by Diane Isaacs, who has been Fullwood's assistant administrator.
Shall we HOPE that Joyce James has already/will soon resign?

What a waste of $$$ if she is still employed by the State of NC
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · DUKE LACROSSE - Liestoppers · Next Topic »
Add Reply