Something deeply sinister has transpired in Durham, and it has happened in plain view of President Brodhead. He has witnessed a crime against his own students, and I expect him to bear witness to Durham and the world. - anonymous observerUpdated - today's items:
Comment: Life is cheap in Durham, and justice is frequently cheated.
LieStoppers:
A Durham Solution? - Earlier this week, murder charges were dismissed, at the request of the District Attorney’s office, for Julius Gray, the second defendant in the case of a drug related killing...Last month, Barry Evans, the man who shot the victim in the head and had subsequently been charged with first-degree murder, received a sentence of time served, a total of seventy-six days in jail, after being allowed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
related:
LieStoppers discussion - A DA's Office Run Amuck, No Sense of Proportionality
Herald-Sun (11/28) - Mall shooting murder charge is dismissed
KC Johnson:
The Stubbornness of Facts (see comments) - Although he has refused to admit so publicly, I’m sure that Brodhead would do many things differently if he knew how events would develop. Nonetheless, the administration cannot erase the record of what it did and did not do in late March and early April. Moreover, whatever excuses existed for Brodhead’s behavior then, his subsequent refusal to demand that local authorities treat all Duke students according to the same procedures as all other Durham residents—including students of North Carolina Central—is inexplicable....
comment on KC's blog:
An important fact all, (including KC), have missed possibly due to its secrecy, is what transpired during the meeting between the team captains and Broadhead. In this meeting, (allegedly 'protected' by a non-existent academic/legal privilege Duke made up), the student-athlete captains told their President exactly what happened during the night in question. With this, Broadhead looked them in the eyes and told them he believed them and instructed them to pen an apologetic press release to smooth things over. The did.LieStoppers discussion - Spineless Dick Part II
In retrospect, this was a spineless, manipulative move by Broadhead against his own students to save face....
Updated - forum topics of note:
LieStoppers:
In 16 days, will Nifong claim this?, Dec 15th - Is December 15th when we will hear officially that Nifong and investigators are, in official proceedings, claiming that the Lineups were only to determine who was at the Party - not to identify the perpetrators - thus freeing Nifong and his co-conspirators from any wrongdoing in connection with the legions of rules and procedures that were totally disregarded in the execution of the lineups....
LieStoppers:
If the Accuser Backs Out, Reaction & Repercussions
TalkLeft:
Will the Accuser Show Up for Trial?
Comment: Sideshow Bob, a.k.a. Crash Michaels ran a low level bombing mission over the Duke case discussion forums starting Tuesday night. TalkLeft grand mum had to bring out the "insult deleted" and "snipe deleted" tools to get things back under control.
TalkLeft:
The Latest from Cash...
Cash Michaels, TalkLeft (November 28, 10:18:50 PM):
TO BOB IN PONTIFICA - You are part of a pity-party movement that puts on little Sherlock Holmes hats, gets out the magnifying glass and plastic pipe, and then harrumph’s, “By Jove, Watson, no sign of DNA here,” as if anybody in authority is actually listening....
LieStoppers:
Cash'n Cary
Cash Michaels, ABC11TV.com (WTVD , Nov. 28, 9:48 PM):
REPORT CARD ON DUKE THREE CAUSE - "F" (somebody please show Cash how to use the shift key) - Going on eight months now, and what does the "Free the Duke Three" movement have to show for all of its hate, anger, frustration, racism and emotionalism? Simple, that those who have participated in all of the above (which means there are some who haven't, so know who you are) have proven themselves to be indisputably irrelevant...
Comment: Mr. Michaels' use of the term "Duke Three" has become a pejorative blunt weapon he now wields like a baseball bat to strike back at his critics. It is very sad to see him fall like this. He should stop reading the forums and blogs until he can get himself back under control.
ABC11TV.com:
REPORT CARD ON CASH MICHAELS - "I" (incomplete)
Yesterday (11/29):
LieStoppers -
Brodhead Morning Briefing II (humor)
KC Johnson:
Green Light for Nifong (see comments) - Accepting the image of Brodhead as a latter-day defender of due process, of course, requires overlooking his silence about Nifong’s establishment of a "separate-but-equal" system of justice for Duke students. In the Nifong-orchestrated system, Duke students are treated according to procedures different than those used for other Durham residents, while they are meted out disproportionate punishment based solely on their identification as Duke students....
LieStoppers discussion - Spineless Dick...
related:
John in Carolina:
The Tragedy at Duke: Part I - A KC Johnson post today provides a detailed, gripping account of how key Duke University administrators acted when confronted with what was on its face a wildly improbable story involving the gang-rape of a black exotic dancer by a group of white Duke students during a party at a University owned house....
Michael Gaynor (11/28):
Sometimes It IS Simple - The Ninth Commandment is not complex: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." It is a commandment, not a suggestion. It obviously covers false gang rape claims. Yet the President of Duke University (Richard Brodhead) and the editor of Duke's student newspaper (The Chronicle) who wrote the October 27 editorial on the Duke case titled "Bloggers Get Point, Miss Complexity" each unhelpfully tried to complicate the Duke case....