| Blog and Media Roundup - Monday, November 2, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 2 2009, 05:25 AM (235 Views) | |
| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:25 AM Post #1 |
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http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/ Monday, November 02, 2009 News & Notes Few journalists performed as poorly in the lacrosse case as Samiha Khanna. Virtually every statement in her N&O interview with false accuser Crystal Mangum turned out to be wrong. Khanna seemed not to have even bothered to do a basic reporting task—checking her interviewee’s name in the N&O database—which would have uncovered not only Mangum’s criminal conviction but would have proved that Mangum had lied to Khanna in claiming that she was a newcomer to the world of exotic dancing. Perhaps most problematically, Khanna conceded that she was approaching the case through a far-left ideological prism: "I think Tim Tyson taught readers Sunday about a history not many were aware had occurred. Durham is a place of many new residents, people who may not have the institutional knowledge of the university's history in the community. We are trying to explore these notions as we follow up on the story in the coming weeks. In response to your specific question about Mr. Tyson’s piece—I haven’t seen an equivalent piece in other publications. Many people have spoken out about a history of sex crimes on college campuses, but not issues of race and gender on the Duke campus specifically. These are keys to thorough follow-up stories that we are working to document." [emphases added] Liestoppers correctly termed Khanna’s reporting on the case “irresponsible and willfully misleading.” Khanna was downsized from the N&O in 2008 and spent nearly a year outside the journalism industry (as a “public relations specialist”). That’s no surprise: with the financial difficulties that journalism is currently experiencing, good reporters are having trouble getting jobs—to say nothing of figures such as Khanna. Incredibly, however, she’s back working as a reporter—though at an entity where the sort of ideological bias she demonstrated in the lacrosse case is a job requirement. Khanna is now a beat reporter for The Independent, which formed a critical element of the Nifong base of “true believers.” Khanna’s brand of “journalism” is exactly what people expect from the Indy. ----------------- Jesse Jackson managed to insert himself back into case-related news last week. In an interview with the Greensboro newspaper, Jackson gave his take on the case: “The good news is those boys’ parents paid to get the proper legal representation and get them vindicated. So often, young black youth and youth who are poor, don’t have legal protection. That’s why you have 2.3 million Americans in prison.” That’s a very different interpretation than Jackson originally offered. First, of course, Jackson stated that his organization’s donors would pay Mangum’s college tuition, even if (as ultimately occurred) it was proved that Mangum had lied. Second, he published a column riddled with false assertions: that “this was the first time [Crystal Mangum] had been hired to dance for a party”; that “the one African American on the team wasn’t there”; that “we know that the two women were abused”; that “the Duke players are maintaining a code of silence”; that “it shouldn’t take the brutalizing of a mother of two” to “lead colleges across the country to hold searching discussions about racial and sexual stereotypes, exposing the myths that entrap so many.” And a year after writing those words, the Rev. Jackson maintained, “I didn’t make a mistake.” Of course he didn’t. And now he’s on the scene to preach “the good news.” -------------------- A couple of follow-up items from the comment thread regarding other experiences with the Duke fundraising arm: I’ve had a similar experience to that of “ES Class of 1990.” For 3 years now I’ve responded to solicitations from Duke by saying that the funds I would otherwise give are “on hold” until the civil suits are resolved, because I believe the university should not be spending donor money on legal fees supporting the defense of various administrators who were not acting in the best interest of the institution and who made serious (and entirely avoidable) mistakes in judgment. This year, the student who placed the call had “talking points” about how the annual fund could not be spent on legal fees. (As if the annual fund couldn’t be spent on other things that could then free up funds from other accounts to pay legal fees!) In any event, Duke annual giving is prepared to encounter resistance from alumni who are questioning whether the institution is deserving of their largess given the current state of leadership. Another: The telephone exchanges I’ve had with Duke students dialing for dollars, once or twice annually, have been nearly identical to the one reported by ES Class of 1990. Generally, the talking points for cheerful, optimistic, true blue Dukies seem to be along the line: The lacrosse affair was a long time ago, it was an unfortunate isolated incident not indicative of what’s great about our wonderful university, President Brodhead made an eloquent apology (have you seen the video?), and all that’s behind us now. I usually ask about the status of the ongoing lawsuits, and why have several members of the Group of 88 professors been rewarded with positions of leadership and increased responsibility. That’s where the conversations abruptly end. |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:27 AM Post #2 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/alum-sets-fire-911-memorial Alum sets fire to 9/11 memorial By Staff Reports November 2, 2009 A Duke alumnus was arrested Saturday for setting fire to the temporary resting place of victims of 9/11. Brian Schroeder, Trinity ’05, turned himself in to New York City police Saturday night for allegedly setting fire to a section of Memorial Park’s chapel, located on Manhattan’s East Side. New York Fire Department personnel responded to the incident Saturday morning and quickly extinguished the flames. Police believe the incident to be the result of a drunken dare, the (New York) Village Voice reported [1]. The victims’ remains were not damaged, but items such as photos, notes, candles and flowers to honor the deceased are missing. It is unclear whether they were destroyed in the fire or stolen. A wooden bench was damaged in the fire. In an e-mail to family members of 9/11 victims, Nazli Parvizi, community affairs commissioner for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said little is left inside the chapel. “This chapel served as a quiet sanctuary where families could spend time near the remains of their loved ones and leave notes, photos, mementos, etc. behind,” Parvizi wrote. It is unclear how Schroeder gained access to the facility, as unique photo IDs are required to enter the site. “Anyone who would set fire to the inviolable Memorial Park chapel is craven and contemptible,” Bloomberg said in a statement Saturday. “Fire marshals and police will investigate this aggressively and bring whoever is responsible to justice.” Schroeder was a Theater Studies major at Duke and recently graduated from Harvard Law School. |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:28 AM Post #3 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/despite-restrictions-franklin-st-party-rolls Despite restrictions, Franklin St. party rolls on By Dennis Ochei November 2, 2009 Costumed outsiders still found their way to the Halloween party on Franklin Street this year—despite Chapel Hill’s second straight push for a “Homegrown Halloween.” As a result of the town’s initiative to keep the Franklin Street tradition local, attendance dropped last year from an estimated 80,000 to 35,000. But the Town of Chapel Hill announced Sunday that this year’s number was back up to about 50,000, as students from North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and other schools said they had few problems getting to Franklin, which runs through the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, either by foot or by car. “We’re seeing similar numbers to last year and so far there haven’t been any arrests.” said Lt. Kevin Gunter of the Chapel Hill Police Department when he spoke briefly with reporters at approximately 10:30 p.m. He soon disappeared into a group of police officers headquartered at the University Baptist Church on Franklin Street. Officers on duty declined to give a substantial statement. Ghosts, ghouls, and the occasional witch haunted the street, alongside more eclectic costumes, such as Legos, Geico Cavemen and a marauding band of H1N1 viruses. For a single night reality and fantasy melded into one, wizards and fairies ordered lattes from Starbucks and robots, aliens and sea monsters frolicked in the street. But behind the storybook atmosphere was frenetic police activity as law enforcement officials attempted to manage the activities of the night. At 9:38 p.m., Chapel Hill police officers suspended vehicle traffic, and anxious students and adults immediately poured out from the sidewalks onto the street, turning the road into a Halloween festival ground. Additional police officers were dispatched to the street and emergency medical technicians were available on site to treat the occasional reveler. Roadblocks were put up, and partygoers were searched and stripped of any potentially dangerous articles. Students said they expected Franklin Street to be closed earlier, and an Oct. 30 news release from the Town of Chapel Hill said many streets would close at around 8 p.m. “They said on the news [the police] had shut the street down at 7 p.m.,” said Iva Winstead, an East Carolina University sophomore. “Meanwhile cars were driving right by,” she added. Other students said they were disappointed that the street was not blocked off until after 9 p.m. “I think it’s a lot smaller this year,” UNC junior Cradle Harris said. “I think it’s kind of crappy that they haven’t shut the street down, and there aren’t people out walking around like there normally is. It’s pretty packed on the sidewalks, it would be nice if we had space to socialize more.” Chapel Hill and UNC police increased their presence around 9 p.m., but the streets were well packed before then. By the time the roadblocks and security checkpoints were set up, the streets were already crowded with costumed revelers. Because UNC was within the boundaries set up by the police, anyone entering from the campus could join the party without being stopped. Police started to clear streets around 12:20 a.m., and the area was reopened to traffic at around 1:50 a.m. |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:33 AM Post #4 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Easley+spectacle-+Another+sad+day%20&id=4240289-Easley+spectacle-+Another+sad+day&instance=editorial Easley spectacle: Another sad day 11.01.09 - 04:13 pm Republican State Party Chairman Tom Fetzer articulated what we suspect many people were thinking Friday after the State Board of Elections reached a decision after four days of hearings on former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign-finance missteps. "No one should take satisfaction in this embarrassing spectacle," Fetzer said, "the net effect of which has been to reduce and diminish the citizens' confidence in their government." Sadly, we think that is exactly right. The elections board, which heard sharply contradictory stories from Easley and some of his former aides and associates, fined Easley $100,000 for failing to report as campaign contributions scores of flights provided him by McQueen Campbell, a longtime friend and former chair of the N. C. State University board of trustees. The $100,000 constituted $60,000 in the actual cost of the flights and $40,000 to reimburse the board for the cost of the investigation. More ominously, the board also asked state prosecutors to investigate whether criminal violations were involved in the flights and in free repairs at Easley's Raleigh home. Easley and his campaign already are under scrutiny by state and federal authorities over an unusually favorable deal for a coastal land purchase and the hiring of Easley's wife, Mary, by N. C. State University. While Fetzer's comments might be expected from the opposing party, it should be noted that the elections board, composed of three Democrats and two Republicans, was unanimous in its findings against Easley. Members clearly credited testimony by McQueen and others over differing versions offered by Easley -- in which he essentially sought to distance himself from details of his campaign finance and attributed any failure to properly pay for flights and repairs to an absence any invoices charging for them. That didn't fly with the board. Said Democratic member Anita Earls, "I could not conclude that this was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication." Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly now will undertake to conclude whether criminal prosecution is warranted. Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby wisely removed himself from the case, concerned his long friendship with Easley would raise doubts about his ability to handle the case. We hope for a speedy decision on criminal charges, so that all the facts in this tawdry chapter in the state's government can come out. If Easley is innocent, he deserves to have his name cleared. And if not, perhaps the outcome will serve as a reminder to officials in the future to uphold the ethical standards the public has a right to expect. |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:44 AM Post #5 |
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http://yangbaoli.com/lehigh-university-student-could-stand-trial-for-false-rape-accusation.html Lehigh University student could stand trial for false rape accusation November 2nd, 2009 | Tags: First, here’s the story from Lehigh Valley Live. Excerpt: A 19-year-old Lehigh University student who allegedly made a false report about being raped by a campus police officer waived a preliminary hearing today and could stand trial. Brielynne Neumann, of Shrewsbury, Mass., was lying in the center of Parkhill Street at 11:49 p.m. Sept. 3 when Bethlehem police approached her, according to court records. She identified herself as Brei Scano and gave a fake date of birth, records say. The lie backfired when police, who claim she was intoxicated, took her to her sorority house to verify her identity, records say. Neumann then told officers she had been raped the day before by a man who claimed to be a Lehigh University police officer, records say. Bethlehem police turned the investigation over to Pennsylvania State Police, who interviewed Neumann on Sept. 4. According to records, Neumann told a state trooper a different tale then the one she spun for Bethlehem police. She told the trooper she got into a car with a man who said he was a police officer; he groped her before she fled, records say. When the trooper asked Neumann to sign her statement, she refused, according to police, and recanted the entire story. The trooper wrote in the criminal affidavit, “She admitted that she made the whole thing up.” So, this woman was drunk in a public place even though she was under the legal drinking age. To cover up her indiscretions and to blame others and appear as a victim, she invented a false rape accusation. I understand that this was a stressful situation for her, but imagine the problems she could have created by getting innocent men in trouble, as happened with the Duke Lacrosse players or the Tawana Brawley case or the Hofstra university case. According to one study, false rape accusations are commonly used by women to provide an alibi for some other crime they are guilty of committing. The study lists this reason as one of the three reasons why women invent false rape accusations. Excerpt: A study of rape allegations in Indiana over a nine-year period revealed that over 40% were shown to be false — not merely unproven. According to the author, “These false allegations appear to serve three major functions for the complainants: providing an alibi, seeking revenge, and obtaining sympathy and attention. False rape allegations are not the consequence of a gender-linked aberration, as frequently claimed, but reflect impulsive and desperate efforts to cope with personal and social stress situations.” ( Kanin EJ. Arch Sex Behav. 1994 Feb;23(1):81-92 False rape allegations. ) In 1985, a study of 556 rape allegations found that 27% accusers recanted when faced with a polygraph (which can be ordered in the military), and independent evaluation showed a false accusation rate of 60%. (McDowell, Charles P., Ph.D. “False Allegations.” Forensic Science Digest, (publication of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations), Vol. 11, No. 4 (December 1985), p. 64.) Feminist Wendy McElroy writes about the cases of Tucker Carlson and John Fund: In his forthcoming biography Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News, Crossfire co-host Tucker Carlson discusses another motive that underlies some false accusations. In 2001, a woman he had never met alleged he had raped her in Louisville, a city he had never visited. After $14,000 in defensive legal bills, Carlson discovered that the woman had a chronic mental disorder. He decided not to sue for redress since it would further link his name with the word “rape.” And it happened to John Fund of the Wall Street Journal: Consider journalist John Fund who was arrested on charges of domestic violence and publicly excoriated for sexual misconduct. The charges were later dropped. Columnist Eric Alterman recently published an article entitled “Who Framed John Fund?” There, Alterman chronicled the false accusations that haunt Fund. Once a high-profile presence on the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page and a frequent television commentator, Fund now writes for the WSJ’s far less prestigious Opinionjournal.com and is rarely on TV. On his Web site, Fund posted a notarized affidavit from his accuser, stating, “Mr. Fund has not been abusive to me contrary to what I said in reports to the Jersey City police.” He has also posted the transcript of a deposition in which she testifies under oath that she has “borderline personality disorder.” Nevertheless, it is not clear whether Fund’s career will recover. For a more detailed treatment of how false accusations are used to gain the advantage in divorce courts, check out this essay by Dr. Stephen Baskerville. Andrea Peyser writes in the NY Post about how these false accusations can lead to real victims of sexual violence not being taken seriously. I think that the solution is to prosecute false accusers . Their sentences should be proportional to the sentence that the victim of their accusation would have received, if convicted. Posted in News Tagged: Al Sharpton, Attempted Rape, Bearing False Witness, Crystal Mangum, Danmell Ndonye, Domestic Violence, Fake Charge, False Accusation, False Charge, Feminism, Hofstra, Lie, Percent, Rape, Sentence, Sexual Assault, Tawana Brawley |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:47 AM Post #6 |
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http://tnjn.com/2009/nov/01/jury-says-death-by-lethal-inje/ Jury says death by lethal injection in double murder trial Lemaricus Davidson showed little emotion during the trial. By Gina Hudson published: November 01 2009 05:28 PM updated:: November 01 2009 05:29 PM As a light rain began to fall on the City County Building in downtown Knoxville, jurors were deciding the fate of Lemaricus Davidson Friday afternoon. Davidson was the second person of four to go on trial for the rapes, kidnappings, murders and carjacking of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in January 2007. When the jury pronounced four death sentences for the 28-year-old Davidson, the palpable silence was broken with what could only be described as sighs of relief. Davidson did not react, staring blankly as the pronouncements continued. Judge Baumgartner spoke directly to Davidson saying he had been found guilty and was sentenced to death. He added that he hoped Davidson could find peace with his maker. Davidson's trial began on Oct. 19 with Judge Richard Baumgartner reading 46 counts to the jury on which to find him guilty or not. Davidson pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case went to Doug Trant and David Eldridge to defend Davidson. Takisha Fitzgerald and Leland Price represented the state. The story started when friends became worried when the couple didn't appear at a party. After contacting the cell phone company, they were able to pinpoint the tower last used by Christian's phone. This led them to search near Cherry Street where the vehicle of Channon Christian was found abandoned. By Jan. 9, 2007, Knoxville Police had discovered the bodies of 21 year old Christian and 23 year old Newsom. Both had been raped and tortured before being killed. Christian was beaten and repeatedly raped then had a bleach substance poured in her mouth before her body was wrapped in garbage bags and stuffed into a trash can where she suffocated. Her body was discovered when officers noticed an irregular shape to a trash can inside Davidson's home at 2316 Chipman Street. Newson was found raped, bound, shot, mutilated, set on fire and left beside railroad tracks near the Chipman home. Evidence presented by Knox County Medical Examiner Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan revealed that Newsom had walked barefoot to the tracks where he was bound, gagged with a sock, raped, had an accelarant poured on him and was set on fire. He was also shot three times. Three bullets entered his shoulder, back and head. Forensics showed that two shots were fired by the same weapon and the third by a second gun. Daphne Sutton, Davidson's ex-girlfriend who had recently lived with him in the Chipman house testified that she was no longer living there but that Davidson had called her and given her some clothes. The clothes were later identified as Channon's. Davidson never took the stand in his own defense, but his videotaped arrest statement to the police was played in its entirety for the court. He began by saying he had never seen either Christian or Newsom, but contradicted himself later. "I knew they were going to kill them. That's why I left," he said. Davidson had been to prison before and had only been out of prison for about a year when he left Jackson, Tenn. and moved to Knoxville to sell drugs. He referenced that he had been to prison before and said that was why he wanted nothing to do with what happened that night. He blamed everything on his half brother Letalvis Cobbins. He later said, "You all found a body in my house. I ain't stupid," to officer Ryan Flores who conducted the interview. Even defending his innocence, he said, "Either way it goes, I'm going to jail." The fifth day of testimony was a rollercoaster of emotion as the medical examiner went methodically through each injury sustained by the couple. She demonstrated trajectories for the bullets from Newsom's body with a dummy model for the jury. Other evidence included photos from the autopsies. Crime scene photographs were shown as well. Mileusnic-Polchan explained for one photo that Channon's hands looked odd because the fingernails had been removed for the autopsy. A few slides later, an assistant for the prosecution fainted. The next morning, the defense requested a mistrial saying that the fainting might have influenced the jury. Judge Baumgartner disagreed, but did instruct the jury not to consider the incident in their decision. Mileusnic-Polchan stated to the extent of Newsom's injuries, "The depth of the injury was so grave that there's no way that just a regular rape could inflict this." In his statement to police, Davidson maintained that he did not touch either victim, but DNA matches would later prove that he had raped Christian. Prints from the palm of his hand were found on three of the garbage bags that had been used to wrap around Christian's body as well. The court held a half day session on Saturday, then the state rested its case. The defense then began calling their witnesses. Ethel Freeman and Jeffrey Bradley tried to throw doubt as to where the victims had been at the alleged time of their kidnapping, but bank records seemed to contradict Freeman's story. Bradley, a neighbor of Davidson, said that he had seen Christian with Davidson together before before the murdrs when he was out one evening searching for the family cat. The prosecution then challenged Bradley by asking him about a string of charges he had been arrested in connection with. He agreed that he was the person charged. Over Sunday, a female juror became sick and was replaced by an alternate on resuming the case Monday. A defense witness, Sally Hill, requested that she be allowed to not testify because of fear for her safety as a witness for the defense. Her attorney interceded, and Judge Baumgartner agreed that she would not have to take the stand. With prosecution and defense rested, the jury was released to make its decision. They returned though and asked Judge Baumgartner to instruct them on the difference between aggravated and facilitated rape. After the judge reviewed the differences, they again entered deliberations, but returned again. They wanted to see the interrogation video of Davidson's statement to the police again. After watching the video, they adjourned. After reading the verdicts to the court, Judge Baumgartner repeated in summation, "The report of your foreman is that you found him guilty of all counts of felony murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated rape and theft, with the exception of those three counts charging the aggravated rape of Mr. Newsom." With each guilty verdict, Channon's father Gary Christian pumped his fist in the air in victory. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges except the rape of Newsom, finding evidence only for facilitation in those three counts. Baumgartner addressed the jury saying, "You found Mr. Davidson guilty of first degree murder, first degree felony murder, and first degree premeditated murder which carries the penalties of life in prison, life in prison without parole and of death by lethal injection." With the possibility of a death sentence, both sides would have a chance to prove their cases for aggravating and mitigating circumstances for deciding life or death for the defendant. The report of your foreman is that you found him guilty of all counts of felony murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated rape and theft, with the exception of those three counts charging the aggravated rape of Mr. Newsom. Judge BaumgartnerThe victim impact statements were rehearsed on Tuesday for the Judge to hear and comment on, in case the charge warranted the need to present the victim impact statements to the jury. Judge Baumgartner requested some needed omissions before going forward. The families and friends of the victims were able to tell the jury what the losses had meant to their lives. Davidson, too, had family and people who had supported him in his life testify to try to save his life. In Deena Christian's impact statement, she told the jury, “I was told I might never be able to have kids. So, when Chase was born, we were ecstatic. Then when Channon was born, we had the perfect family.” She described the life her daughter would have lived saying, "Channon was 21 years old when she was murdered. She was a senior at the University of Tennessee majoring in Sociology.” Channon would have graduated in December 2007. Channon's brother Chase told the court about the last time he ever saw his sister alive and of how she had been his best friend. Gary Christian chose not read an impact statement. Christopher Newsom's parents each related the sadness and emptiness that had come into their lives with the murder of their son. Hugh Newsom told the court about going to his son's empty room. His mother told about the happiness her son had found with Channon with a "C" and the future they might have had together. Andrea Bowers also took the stand. She expressed her sadness as a sister who wouldn't get to see her little brother grow up. The defense called witnesses to testify to the mitigating circumstances in Davidson's life in hopes that he would receive life in prison, but not death. Davidson's troubled history was illustrated through testimony by relatives and his foster parents. Davidson's uncle Hugh Wilburn testified that Davidson's mother, his sister, was a crack addict with no concern for her children. Wilburn told of constant violence including discovery of a body when he had ridden his bike by a dumpster and found legs sticking out from underneath it. He said that Davidson's mother had been in the house when the murder occurred. He also told of Davidson's grandmother who would beat them with electrical cords and table legs and sometimes lash out at them just for being hungry. Both his mother and Davidson's mother had become pregnant in their early teens and had multiple children with multiple fathers. He said Davidson's mother Nell smoked crack and had a cocaine problem. She was a prostitute who did not care for or provide any supervision to her children. Davidson's sister, LaQuitta Boddie, caused a stir in the court when she blew her brother a kiss when she left the stand. She also related that life had been unstable and that their mother was abusive, dismissive and usually on drugs. Davidson had learned to steal to help feed the family. In stark contrast, Davidson's time in foster care was a remarkably normal opportunity. After Davidson's mother was supposed to pick him up at the courthouse, he found himself abandoned. He waited for days for her, but she never came. He was eventually sent to a boys home. Jason Bramblett worked as a weekend relief parent for the Jackson children's home that Davidson was sent to. He testified that he grew close to Davidson at first because Davidson never had anyone to visit him on visitation days. Eventually, Bramblett came to think of Davidson so highly that he asked him to be in his wedding. Davidson discovered sports, which his sporadic to nonexistent schooling had never allowed him to play. Through basketball, he made a friend, Seth Rudd, who asked his parents to meet Davidson. After talking it over, they brought Davidson home to live with them. Carl Rudd told him that he would never have to wonder what life would have been like if he'd had a chance, because now he had that chance. He was 16 years old. When the jury pronounced four death sentences for the 28 year old Davidson, the palpable silence was broken with what could only be described as sighs of relief. Davidson attended Jackson Christian School and even led a bible study group at his church. His foster parents arranged tutoring for him in math and reading and gave him his own room in their five-bedroom, middle-class home. When asked, Flo Rudd said Davidson's mother showed no interest in him while he lived with them. Former UT coach Phil Fulmer did show interest saying of Davidson that "this is what we look for" when he was scouting the school. Flo Rudd said, "He was very much one of our children." But, the happy home life ended when the Rudds discovered that Davidson had brought marijuana into their home. They warned him the first time, and when he did it again they said he would have to leave. He went to live with a coach around May 2000. He was 18 and no longer a minor. On Sept. 9, 2000, he was sentenced to prison for aggravated robbery. While in prison he tested positive for marijuana four times. When he was released from prison he returned to Jackson, Tenn. for a short while then moved to Knoxville, Tenn. and became a drug dealer. The defense also called a psychiatrist who outlined the likelihood that someone raised in the environment of neglect, rejection, lack of monitoring, lack of a male role model, violence, drugs, crime and school failure would almost inevitably turn to violence later in life. In closing, the prosecution sought the death penalty asking the jury for "justice for Channon and Chris." The defense said that Davidson was a victim of circumstances that put him on a difficult path and that he deserved leniency. Letalvis Cobbins, Davidson's half brother was tried in the double slayings in August and given life without parole. Trant said in closing, "Davidson never had a male role model period - except for men that would come in and pay for sex with his mother or sell her crack cocaine.“ He reiterated the psychiatrist's evaluation that with all the factors in Davidson’s life, “violence was almost inevitable.” On the first day of the trial, the prosecution was able to place items of Newsom's with Davidson including tennis shoes that were found with Davidson through Newsom's friend Josh Anderson. Trant then cross examined Anderson asking about marijuana that had been removed from Newsom's vehicle. This was the first reference to drug use by the victims, but not the last as the parents of both became steadily angrier that their children were being put on trial instead of the alleged killer. Prosecutor Fitzgerald in her final comments said that Davidson's sister and uncle had that same rough life, but it didn’t define them. She said that despite the opportunities Davidson was given, “he made the choice to come to Knoxville to sell dope.” And that he made the decision to end the life of two people. There are two more suspects scheduled for trial in this case. George Thomas, who is set to come before the court Dec. 4., and Vanessa Coleman, Cobbins' girlfriend, will also face a jury. After the trial ended, the two families held a group press conference. When Hugh Newsom thanked the jury, the families burst into applause saying justice was finally there for their children, but that there were still two more to go. Davidson's appeal will take at least four months, to compile and review the transcript. Until then, he will be housed on death row in Nashville, Tenn. |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 05:48 AM Post #7 |
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http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/nov/02/defense-attorneys-went-too-far/ Defense attorneys went too far By Staff Reports Monday, November 2, 2009 I am not personally acquainted with the families, but for two-and-one-half years I have read of and listened in horror to the details in the deaths of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. I was in tears as I heard the attempts of defense attorneys Doug Trant and David Eldredge to damage the reputations of the two young people who were carjacked, kidnapped, abused, beaten, raped, tortured and killed. How do they sleep at night? Defend if you must, but do not impugn the character of the dead. Channon and Christopher are not on trial and are not here to defend themselves. There is nothing in their lives that would make it OK for this crime to be committed. My heart goes out to the Christian and Newsom families in this attack on the character and reputation of their loved ones. I pray for strength for them as they endure the torture of these trials. Sheila Craft Knoxville |
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| abb | Nov 2 2009, 06:38 AM Post #8 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/171107.html Published Mon, Nov 02, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Mon, Nov 02, 2009 06:34 AM Oblinger can't shake Mary Easley mess The job former first lady Mary Easley got at N.C. State University - and its fallout - is following former N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger across the country. Oblinger resigned his post amid shifting stories about the severance package given to former Provost Larry Nielsen. Oblinger and Nielsen are key figures in unraveling how Easley, wife of former Gov. Mike Easley, got a $170,000 job at the university. Oblinger is one of five finalists for the job of president of New Mexico State University. Another finalist is former University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman, who admitted to arranging admissions to the university for under-qualified family members of politicians and their donors, according to a report in the Round Up, a student newspaper at New Mexico State. "I think it is completely ridiculous that the search committee would even entertain the thought of recommending [Herman and Oblinger]," Kevin McNelis, associate professor of accounting, told the Round Up. "I am disgusted the search committee would even think of such candidates." Administrators who selected the finalists defended the picks to the Las Cruces Sun-News. Del Archuleta, chairman of the committee, said the panel knew of the allegations against Oblinger and Herman. "Even with the situation, the committee felt these two should be considered," Archuleta told the paper. "Why? Because they are outstanding. All five of the candidates are really stellar." More bad poll news for Burr A new poll has found that 42 percent of North Carolinians say someone else should have U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's seat. The Elon University Poll found that 19 percent of state residents believe Burr deserves another term in office, according to the survey of 703 state residents that was conducted Oct. 26-29. The poll also found 29 percent of respondents said they "don't know" whether Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, deserves re-election. Burr's approval rating stands at 37 percent, the poll found, while 22 percent of respondents disapprove of the way he is handling his job. Forty-one percent don't know how they feel about his job performance. Two Democrats, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and lawyer Kenneth Lewis, have formally entered the race. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. Ask 'em if you've got 'em Questions about the state's new smoking ban can now be answered online at www.smoke free.nc.gov . The state recently launched the site to help business owners and the public better understand the law that will ban smoking in 24,000 restaurants and bars starting Jan. 2. "Our goal is to make sure North Carolina's families and businesses have the information they need about the hazards of secondhand smoke and how to implement the new law," Gov. Bev Perdue said in a prepared statement. Some bar owners, in particular, have expressed confusion over the law. The site offers data on the hazards of smoking, resources for smokers who want to quit and tools for business operators adapting to the law. A packet of information is scheduled to be mailed out soon to affected businesses. By staff writers Benjamin Niolet and Mark Johnson. bniolet@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4521 |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Nov 2 2009, 07:58 AM Post #9 |
~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Good+times+hard+to+find+for+blacks%20&id=4241259-Good+times+hard+to+find+for+blacks&instance=homefirstleft Good times hard to find for blacks BY JOHN MCCANN If proverbial gold's been struck in this state, then black people sure haven't found it, according to discussion during a Sunday summit in UNC's Hyde Hall about black folks and money. The African American Economic Summit continues today in a conference room inside Duke University's Social Science Research Institute, 2024 W. Main St. The meeting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is free and open to the public. More details are at www.unc.edu/iaar. During the exchange of ideas at UNC, Andrea Harris, president of the Durham-based N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development, said people are moving to North Carolina because of what they've heard about economic prosperity in this state. But the good times obviously are bypassing a whole lot of black people -- just look at the unemployment numbers, Harris said. Both blacks and whites are migrating to the South, said Ferrel Guillory, the director of UNC's Program on Public Life. That's opposite the trend many years ago when black people sought better fortunes up north. Guillory said both black people and white people who are migrating south tend to be better educated. Troubling, though, is the number of Latino adults here who haven't completed high school, he said. That gap must close, Guillory said. Bruce Carney, UNC's executive vice chancellor and interim provost, stressed the importance of education and said UNC consistently ranks first or second in the country in terms of admitting black students. The university still has more work to do, though, not only in that regard but also with respect to having a diverse faculty. More specifically about the economy, Guillory said the income gap through the late 1990s until now has widened. But the poor aren't getter poorer -- the rich are getting richer, he said. The demand for services from those with larger incomes has drawn into metropolitan areas more low-wage workers to do service-oriented work, Guillory said. Which creates an income disparity, he explained. Finding a way to pull up the poorer people is the challenge, Guillory said. Guillory -- pinch-hitting for state Sen. Dan Blue who missed the session to handle some business, according to a summit moderator -- lamented the downsizing of local media. That stands to diminish the government-watchdog role that for so long has been such a valuable function of the local media, he said. Universities need to step into that role to inform the masses that include civic leaders and policy-makers, said Guillory, who used to be a mainstream journalist. Bending the ears of policy-makers is where it's at, because public policy leads to power moves like schools getting built in black neighborhoods, Harris said. Which would be boons since development follows school construction, she explained after addressing the crowd. The state of the black economy is not good, Harris said. It's a crisis situation, she said. Sure, black students are going to college, but they get out of school saddled with tremendous debt and find themselves out of the loop for certain jobs because their credit is messed up, she said. Harris reminded those at the summit about the amount of income not coming into black households on account of incarcerated loved ones not being able to contribute. And many older black people out of necessity will have to stay in the work force longer, she said. During an interview, Harris offered this nugget to chew on: What's been the economic impact of Research Triangle Park on black people here? Has it made all that much difference for them? |
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| Quasimodo | Nov 2 2009, 08:36 AM Post #10 |
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| chatham | Nov 2 2009, 08:36 AM Post #11 |
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OT but I got this in an e-mail today. (February 17, 2009) Tiger Woods family, (L-R) Sam, Elin, Tiger, Charlie Woods and their dogs Yogi (L) and Taz AS IF YOU NEED ANOTHER REASON TO ADMIRE "AMERICA'S" TIGER WOODS. Tiger Woods is a Highly Educated Individual who was properly raised and taught to be his own man by an educated Mother and Father. You can readily see that Tiger Woods listened to his parents and remains very proud of them both. Many citizens are not aware of the following, which is the reason for me sending this e-mail to my friends and I would appreciate you sending it on to your friends. A COPY OF HIS SPEECH AT THE 2009 INAUGURATION Tiger Woods received a special invitation to speak at the Obama inauguration. His inviters were stunned, shocked when he did not deliver the message they expected. A brief read and you will understand why the media swept Woods' remarks under the rug with no further ado and why the liberal left of our American society was again displeased with Tiger. His speech was entitled "You'll Never Walk Alone" [text is word-for-word as posted on Tiger's web site] "I grew up in a military family - and my role models in life were my Mom and Dad, Lt.. Colonel Earl Woods. My dad was a Special Forces operator and many nights friends would visit our home. They represented every branch of the service, and every rank. In my Dad, and in those guests, I saw first hand the dedication and commitment of those who serve. They come from every walk of life; from every part of our country. Time and again, across generations, they have defended our safety in the dark of night and far from home. Each day -- and particularly on this historic day -- we honor the men and women in uniform who serve our country and protect our freedom. They travel to the dangerous corners of the world, and we must remember that for every person who is in uniform, there are families who wait for them to come home safely. I am honored that the military is such an important part, not just of my personal life, but of my professional one as well. The golf tournament we do each year here in Washington is a testament to those unsung heroes. I am the son of a man who dedicated his life to his country, family and the military, and I am a better person for it. In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man at whose memorial we stand, spoke to the 164th Ohio Regiment and said 'I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country.' Just as they have stood tall for our country - we must always stand by and support the men and women in uniform and their families. Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the US Naval Glee Club ..." ==== Tiger Woods' 2-minute, 5-second tribute to the our nation's military was delivered January 18th at the Inaugural Celebration in Washington, DC. He had been subjected to intense pressure to attend and offer remarks.. Especially so by liberals who have demeaned and criticized him for a decade for not joining their ranks. Yet, at the Lincoln Memorial, instead of paying homage to Barack Obama, Tiger paid tribute to our soldiers. Not once did Tiger mention Obama, the inauguration or the new administration. Understanding that expressing his love for America and his appreciation for our military men and women would disappoint the national news media and the liberal left, he did what he thought was best for the people of our country. But Tiger, being is his own man, just as his father taught him to be his own man. Somewhere over that cold, gray Washington sky, Colonel Earl Woods was smiling down on his beloved son. And there will be one more crying hug waiting for Tiger when the time comes he passes through heaven's gates into God's arms. ****** What's that you say? You did not previously know what Tiger said? You did not see a video clip of him speaking on any national television network? You did not see a photo of Tiger at the Lincoln Memorial offering his remarks honoring our military. You did not read a story in the NY Times? His appearance at the Inaugural Celebration had been widely hailed and promoted in advance by the Obama inaugural organizers ... yet January 18 when he came and spoke ... afterwards, a black out. If you are as tired of the biased, hypocritical, liberal media hoopla as I am, please send this on to your friends. Thanks |
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| ~J~ is in Wonderland | Nov 2 2009, 11:29 AM Post #12 |
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~J~ is in Wonderland
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http://blogs.newsobserver.com/bullseye/durham-superintendent-to-leave-work-for-obama-administration Durham superintendent to leave, work for Obama administration Durham Public Schools superintendent Carl E. Harris will leave the school system at the end of the calendar year in order to work for the U.S. Department of Education, according to a news release sent this morning. Harris has accepted a position as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education for Policy and Strategic Initiatives with the federal agency. snip- 
Edited by ~J~ is in Wonderland, Nov 2 2009, 11:38 AM.
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| Kerri P. | Nov 2 2009, 02:54 PM Post #13 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/6328608/ Ex-officer to be sentenced for assault conviction Posted: Today at 8:03 a.m. Raleigh, N.C. — A former Raleigh police officer is expected to be sentenced Monday for assaulting a man in his ex-wife's apartment last February. Sources told WRAL News that Andrew R. Caruana, 32, will be sentenced to up to a week in jail. snip... |
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| chatham | Nov 2 2009, 08:28 PM Post #14 |
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http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2009/11/wall-street-journal-declares-pelosicare-the-worst-bill-ever.html Wall Street Journal Declares PelosiCare: "The Worst Bill Ever".... (WSJ) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told fellow Democrats that she's prepared to lose seats in 2010 if that's what it takes to pass ObamaCare, and little wonder. The health bill she unwrapped last Thursday, which President Obama hailed as a "critical milestone," may well be the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced. In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago. With spending and debt already at record peacetime levels, the bill creates a new and probably unrepealable middle-class entitlement that is designed to expand over time. Taxes will need to rise precipitously, even as ObamaCare so dramatically expands government control of health care that eventually all medicine will be rationed via politics. Yet at this point, Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan "reform" and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be "universal coverage." The result will be destructive on every level—for the health-care system, for the country's fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity. •The spending surge. The Congressional Budget Office figures the House program will cost $1.055 trillion over a decade, which while far above the $829 billion net cost that Mrs. Pelosi fed to credulous reporters is still a low-ball estimate. Most of the money goes into government-run "exchanges" where people earning between 150% and 400% of the poverty level—that is, up to about $96,000 for a family of four in 2016—could buy coverage at heavily subsidized rates, tied to income. The government would pay for 93% of insurance costs for a family making $42,000, 72% for another making $78,000, and so forth. At least at first, these benefits would be offered only to those whose employers don't provide insurance or work for small businesses with 100 or fewer workers. The taxpayer costs would be far higher if not for this "firewall"—which is sure to cave in when people see the deal their neighbors are getting on "free" health care. Mrs. Pelosi knows this, like everyone else in Washington. Even so, the House disguises hundreds of billions of dollars in additional costs with budget gimmicks. It "pays for" about six years of program with a decade of revenue, with the heaviest costs concentrated in the second five years. The House also pretends Medicare payments to doctors will be cut by 21.5% next year and deeper after that, "saving" about $250 billion. ObamaCare will be lucky to cost under $2 trillion over 10 years; it will grow more after that. • Expanding Medicaid, gutting private Medicare. All this is particularly reckless given the unfunded liabilities of Medicare—now north of $37 trillion over 75 years. Mrs. Pelosi wants to steal $426 billion from future Medicare spending to "pay for" universal coverage. While Medicare's price controls on doctors and hospitals are certain to be tightened, the only cut that is a sure thing in practice is gutting Medicare Advantage to the tune of $170 billion. Democrats loathe this program because it gives one of out five seniors private insurance options. As for Medicaid, the House will expand eligibility to everyone below 150% of the poverty level, meaning that some 15 million new people will be added to the rolls as private insurance gets crowded out at a cost of $425 billion. A decade from now more than a quarter of the population will be on a program originally intended for poor women, children and the disabled. Even though the House will assume 91% of the "matching rate" for this joint state-federal program—up from today's 57%—governors would still be forced to take on $34 billion in new burdens when budgets from Albany to Sacramento are in fiscal collapse. Washington's budget will collapse too, if anything like the House bill passes. • European levels of taxation. All told, the House favors $572 billion in new taxes, mostly by imposing a 5.4-percentage-point "surcharge" on joint filers earning over $1 million, $500,000 for singles. This tax will raise the top marginal rate to 45% in 2011 from 39.6% when the Bush tax cuts expire—not counting state income taxes and the phase-out of certain deductions and exemptions. The burden will mostly fall on the small businesses that have organized as Subchapter S or limited liability corporations, since the truly wealthy won't have any difficulty sheltering their incomes. This surtax could hit ever more earners because, like the alternative minimum tax, it isn't indexed for inflation. Yet it still won't be nearly enough. Even if Congress had confiscated 100% of the taxable income of people earning over $500,000 in the boom year of 2006, it would have only raised $1.3 trillion. When Democrats end up soaking the middle class, perhaps via the European-style value-added tax that Mrs. Pelosi has endorsed, they'll claim the deficits that they created made them do it. Under another new tax, businesses would have to surrender 8% of their payroll to government if they don't offer insurance or pay at least 72.5% of their workers' premiums, which eat into wages. Such "play or pay" taxes always become "pay or pay" and will rise over time, with severe consequences for hiring, job creation and ultimately growth. While the U.S. already has one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the world, Democrats are on the way to creating a high structural unemployment rate, much as Europe has done by expanding its welfare states. Meanwhile, a tax equal to 2.5% of adjusted gross income will also be imposed on some 18 million people who CBO expects still won't buy insurance in 2019. Democrats could make this penalty even higher, but that is politically unacceptable, or they could make the subsidies even higher, but that would expose the (already ludicrous) illusion that ObamaCare will reduce the deficit. • The insurance takeover. A new "health choices commissioner" will decide what counts as "essential benefits," which all insurers will have to offer as first-dollar coverage. Private insurers will also be told how much they are allowed to charge even as they will have to offer coverage at virtually the same price to anyone who applies, regardless of health status or medical history. The cost of insurance, naturally, will skyrocket. The insurer WellPoint estimates based on its own market data that some premiums in the individual market will triple under these new burdens. The same is likely to prove true for the employer-sponsored plans that provide private coverage to about 177 million people today. Over time, the new mandates will apply to all contracts, including for the large businesses currently given a safe harbor from bureaucratic tampering under a 1974 law called Erisa. The political incentive will always be for government to expand benefits and reduce cost-sharing, trampling any chance of giving individuals financial incentives to economize on care. Essentially, all insurers will become government contractors, in the business of fulfilling political demands: There will be no such thing as "private" health insurance. *** All of this is intentional, even if it isn't explicitly acknowledged. The overriding liberal ambition is to finish the work began decades ago as the Great Society of converting health care into a government responsibility. Mr. Obama's own Medicare actuaries estimate that the federal share of U.S. health dollars will quickly climb beyond 60% from 46% today. One reason Mrs. Pelosi has fought so ferociously against her own Blue Dog colleagues to include at least a scaled-back "public option" entitlement program is so that the architecture is in place for future Congresses to expand this share even further. As Congress's balance sheet drowns in trillions of dollars in new obligations, the political system will have no choice but to start making cost-minded decisions about which treatments patients are allowed to receive. Democrats can't regulate their way out of the reality that we live in a world of finite resources and infinite wants. Once health care is nationalized, or mostly nationalized, medical rationing is inevitable—especially for the innovative high-cost technologies and drugs that are the future of medicine. Mr. Obama rode into office on a wave of "change," but we doubt most voters realized that the change Democrats had in mind was making health care even more expensive and rigid than the status quo. Critics will say we are exaggerating, but we believe it is no stretch to say that Mrs. Pelosi's handiwork ranks with the Smoot-Hawley tariff and FDR's National Industrial Recovery Act as among the worst bills Congress has ever seriously contemplated. ZIP |
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| Kerri P. | Nov 2 2009, 10:56 PM Post #15 |
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http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6334487/ Perdue defends decision to hire inmate Posted: 49 minutes ago RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue is defending her decision to hire a woman convicted of murder to work in her office. “Sally Holloman came to me to work in my office on a DOC – a Department of Correction sanction work release program,” Perdue said Monday. While she was lieutenant governor, Perdue hired Holloman to work in her office. Holloman was convicted in 1981 of murdering her husband and a Selma businessman. Perdue recently blocked the release of 27 North Carolina inmates, serving life for rape and murder and other violent crimes. snip... |
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7:26 AM Nov 26
