| Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, November 13, 2010; News Roundup | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 13 2010, 06:07 AM (203 Views) | |
| abb | Nov 13 2010, 06:07 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.justice4nifong.blogspot.com/ Friday, November 12, 2010 Panthers and people of Durham County have no one to blame but themselves In the November 11, 2010 sports section of The News & Observer, writer Caulton Tudor opined what everyone who follows the NFL already knows… the Carolina Panthers are terrible. Titled “Panthers are awful, and no fun to watch: Even worse, there’s not much hope for the future,” Tudor whines about how depressing it is to watch the 1-7 team which appears to be struggling mightily to win. He is especially critical of the Panthers’ quarterbacks, stating that they lack any hint of promise or improvement… and that they are unable to get the ball with an accurate throw to the team’s most exciting player Steve Smith. Mr. Tudor ranks another 1-7 team, the Dallas Cowboys, as being better than Carolina. Even winless Buffalo Bills are placed in a more enviable position than the lackluster Panthers. Now, there is not much that I disagree with in the Tudor evaluation, including his prediction that Coach John Fox will not be able to retain his position as head coach. Although I will bet dollars to doughnuts that Tudor is equally accurate in his assessment that John Fox will not be at the team’s helm next season, that doesn’t mean I have to like it. It seems that whenever a team goes into a tailspin, the solution all too often is to release the coach. With the Carolina Panthers, it is the owners who are responsible for the dire situation in which they find themselves. First they were too quick to rid themselves of the veteran quarterback (Jake Delhomme) whose play was admittedly streaky at times, with no quarterback of substance to step in immediately and take over the position. Matt Moore and Jim Clausen may very well develop into first rate quarterbacks, but that usually requires experience to back up talent. Secondly, and more importantly, the owners of the Carolina Panthers had the opportunity to pick up, for a song, one of the best and most exciting quarterbacks in the league… Michael Vick. But they didn’t. After Vick was released from incarceration after serving a two year sentence for his role in a dog-fighting venture, he was available to play for all of the teams in the league. Carolina could have made an offer to Mr. Vick, which I am sure he would have taken. As it was, no team showed any interest in having Michael Vick on their team. Carolina definitely did not. Philadelphia Eagles was the only team willing to give Vick any consideration, and this only after its star quarterback McNabb pleaded with the Eagles to give Vick a chance. So, it was only with reluctance that Michael Vick landed on an NFL team as a backup QB. This is hard to comprehend when one considers the talents of Vick… he has a rifle for an arm, the southpaw is accurate with his throws, he runs like a deer, and he has the ability to escape from a collapsing pocket and turn a big loss into a big gain. Talk about an exciting tandem of Vick and Steve Smith… makes your mouth water. Not only that, but Vick has been playing in the league for years, so he brought with him to Philadelphia on-the-field experience, as well a maturity that was honed in prison. Panther owners passed on the opportunity to have Michael Vick quarterback the Carolina franchise, and now to make amends for their lack of foresight they will most likely sack their head coach, John Fox. Had the owners made the logical and intelligent decision to immediately pick up Vick the moment he was available, there is little doubt that the Panthers’ record would more likely than not be better than .500. There is no doubt that it would be better than it is currently. An attempt to obtain Vick was not a coaching decision, rather it was a ownership one, and because the ownership messed up by not at least trying to acquire Vick, it appears as though the Panthers, Coach Fox, Panther fans, and Sports commentator Caulton Tudor will suffer. The reason the Panthers owners did not go after Vick is not a mystery. They were in cahoots with the other owners to blacklist Michael Vick. He was not supposed to be picked up by any NFL team, but the Philadelphia Eagles owner, it seems, would much rather have a chance at bringing home a championship trophy than engaging in a loosely knit cabal to put a premature end to a talented professional’s career. Not so, the Carolina Panthers owners (who needed a quality quarterback much more than Philadelphia which had Hall of Fame-bound quarterback Donovan McNabb at the time), and as a direct result, the Tar Heel state team is now suffering the consequences. The media has kept quiet about the debacle with NFL teams not pursuing Michael Vick, especially those in need of a quality player in the game’s most important position. Mr. Tudor did not even mention the fact that Carolina passed on the opportunity to obtain Vick. And, of course, since Michael Vick landed with the Eagles, the media has consistently tried to stir up a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia... even after Vick’s spectacular play was interrupted by a rib cartilage injury. I did not buy into the media’s QB controversy hype for a minute because I knew that when Vick recovered that he would be playing… and he would be playing because the Eagles want to win more than they want to punish a man who has served his time with dignity. As I have stated before, this same sort of blacklisting can be compared to legal events in the cash-strapped city of Durham. Another Michael, former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, represented the finest prosecutor, in my opinion, that the state of North Carolina will ever have the fortune to have. He had nearly three decades of prosecutorial experience under his belt when the Duke Lacrosse case fell into his lap, and he had built a reputation of being a prosecutor who was fair and who had integrity. One thing that set Mr. Nifong apart from other prosecutors is the fact that he was independent in seeing that justice prevailed. Very much like Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckett who defied England’s King Henry II and followed strong-held religious principles much to his detriment, District Attorney Nifong defied the wishes of the Powers-That-Be when he proceeded to prosecute the three Duke Lacrosse defendants based on statements made by an alleged sexual assault African American victim. When the defense attorneys for the Duke Lacrosse defendants filed a motion for prosecutorial discovery, Nifong’s office responded within 24 hours with approximately 1,500 pages of documents, plus CDs and DVDs. The media has never mentioned that Mr. Nifong has always maintained an open file policy when it came to sharing evidence with defense attorneys… doing so 25 years before it became mandated by law. Finally, Mr. Nifong demonstrated his dedication to the principle of acting as a “Minister of Justice” when, after later statements by the alleged accuser did not meet standard for rape, he immediately dropped those charges against the Lacrosse defendants. The media, egged on the Carpetbagger families of the Duke Lacrosse defendants, flagrantly devoted its energies to destroy Mike Nifong. One outstanding example was the fabrication by MSNBC Legal Analyst Susan Filan that Mr. Nifong requested that his son attend his hearing. Using this false statement, she then lambasted Mr. Nifong for using his son, when she is the one, in fact, who was using Mr. Nifong’s son. Another example of media bias was the rigged Primary Poll sponsored by ABC-11 News in an attempt to establish a pitiful and diabolical motive for Mr. Nifong’s decision to prosecute the Duke boys. Another egregious act by all media was the misleading and false statements that the Duke Lacrosse defendants were exonerated, cleared, and determined to be not guilty… all based on Attorney General Roy Cooper’s April 11, 2007 “Innocent Promulgation.” Although the state persecuted Mr. Nifong, it was the media that crucified him, and turned the unwitting public against him. In comparison of the cases of the two Michaels, the owners of the Carolina Panthers went along with the overriding consensus of the majority of other NFL owners… only at their detriment when giving up the golden opportunity to have on their roster one of the game’s most exciting and talented players. The people of Durham County, who did not rally behind their unjustly beleaguered district attorney, are the ones who suffer by not having as district attorney the man who epitomizes “equal justice for all.” Furthermore they lack the services of a prosecutor who has the courage to go it alone in truly fulfilling his role as a “Minister of Justice.” Whereas the people of North Carolina should be well aware of the blunder by the Carolina Panther owners, it may take some time before the people of Durham County realize theirs. Posted by Nifong Supporter at 11:56 AM |
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| abb | Nov 13 2010, 06:07 AM Post #2 |
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http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1289543423303630.xml&coll=1 Editorial: Empowering police monitor Friday, November 12, 2010 The New Orleans Police Department took a critical step toward reform this week when Superintendent Ronal Serpas signed an agreement allowing Independent Police Monitor Susan Hutson to oversee the department's handling of misconduct and use-of-force complaints. The agreement is a formality, but an important one. Former Superintendent Warren Riley did not cooperate with the independent monitor's office, which was created more than a year ago. That has changed under this administration. Mayor Mitch Landrieu's decision to appoint Ms. Hutson, a civilian lawyer, makes New Orleans one of only three cities in the nation to have a civilian in this post. Adding a layer of independent scrutiny is crucial to restoring trust in a department marred by allegations of police misconduct, brutality and cover-ups: 21 officers stand accused of federal crimes. The independent monitor's office cannot conduct its own investigations. Instead, it's charged with reviewing civilian and internal complaints, internal probes, disciplinary actions, police shootings, reports of use of force and in-custody deaths. The office also is responsible for the crucial task of spotting larger misconduct and corruption patterns. Jasmine Groves, whose mother was killed 16 years ago as retribution for complaining about a police officer's brutality, was on hand for the signing of the agreement. Her presence is a somber reminder of what happens when police departments fail to root out rogue officers like Len Davis, who is on death row for Kim Groves' murder. Civil rights attorney Mary Howell pointed out that the current wave of reform isn't the first. "We've had reforms before that have not lasted,'' she said. "The question now is how do we have reforms that can be sustained.'' A strong monitor's office and a cooperative department can be part of that answer. |
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| abb | Nov 13 2010, 06:12 AM Post #3 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/11/13/799450/sbi-employee-resumes-work.html Published Sat, Nov 13, 2010 04:18 AM Modified Sat, Nov 13, 2010 04:21 AM SBI employee resumes work Duane Deaver, who has been maligned for his handling of dozens of cases involving blood analysis at the State Bureau of Investigation, is back at work. Deaver returned to work late last month, ending a 60-day, at-home investigatory leave prompted by an August audit that sharply criticized his and other analysts' work. He is still on administrative duty while the SBI continues to internally investigate staff members involved in a 16-year practice of withholding results of sophisticated blood tests in reports prepared for prosecutors. It is not clear when that investigation will be complete. "Duane is showing up to work and doing what is asked," said Philip Isley, Deaver's lawyer. "He's a dutiful and hard-working state employee. He'll do what's asked." It's not clear what work Deaver is being asked to perform. In August, Deaver was singled out in an audit of the SBI's serology unit. Supervisors sent him home with pay and commissioned an internal team to investigate. Deaver began his career in the late 1980s in the serology unit, where he tested evidence from crime scenes for blood and other bodily fluids. He then became the SBI's chief blood stain pattern analyst. This year, Deaver worked as a training supervisor and a criminal profiler for the SBI. Deaver is still in the hot seat for testimony he offered to the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission in 2009. Last month, the commission voted unanimously to pursue criminal contempt of court charges against Deaver. The commission, which reviews claims of innocence, took up the case of Gregory Taylor in September 2009. Taylor was exonerated in February; blood evidence tested by Deaver was pivotal in Taylor's conviction. During the commission's 2009 hearing, Deaver testified that he could not perform more tests beyond the basic, presumptive blood test. That statement contradicted his notes from work done in Taylor's case. Deaver, did, however, refer to sophisticated blood tests elsewhere in his testimony. Caswell County Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith has been appointed to handle Deaver's contempt charge. No hearing has been set. He bears legal expense Deaver has been left to pay for his defense of the contempt charges. A spokeswoman for the SBI said the agency has provided no legal assistance to Deaver. Help is usually extended to agents facing legal trouble for work performed in their official capacity. Isley, Deaver's attorney, said he has received no word from SBI officials about whether Deaver has been cleared of wrongdoing. "We also haven't received any statement to the contrary," Isley said. GregMcLeod, the SBI director, said in an e-mail message that the state personnel law limits the amount of time that an employee can remain on investigative leave. McLeod said the internal investigation into Deaver remains active as new information has come to light. Return draws criticism Critics of Deaver say his return to work is premature and may signal a lack of seriousness by SBI officials. "If they are actually putting Deaver back into a position where he is potentially affecting the outcome of cases, they are not serious about reforming what has gone on there for the last 20 years," said David Rudolf, a Charlotte lawyer. Diane Savage, a Chapel Hill lawyer, asked whether the SBI would ever draw a line on Deaver. "I guess the message is: Even if you cheat and ruin people's lives, you can keep your job," she said. mandy.locke@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8927 |
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| Quasimodo | Nov 13 2010, 08:08 AM Post #4 |
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An independent police monitor... what a novel idea... |
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