Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Himan Testimony

Assigned to the case on March 16 by Sgt. Gottlieb.

Says he would not have documented meetings or discussions with Nifong.

Doug Brocker is walking Himan through the early police reports showing that Mangum denied rape or made wholly non-credible claims.

The Christopher Day report--that Mangum said she was raped by 20 people--came from overhearing Sgt. Shelton on the phone at the Duke Hospital. Himan did not deny its validity.

Himan says that he didn't include the description of the three suspects (from his handwritten notes) in his typewritten notes because they were so vague they didn't even merit inclusion.

Doug Brocker has done a very good job of showing the lacrosse players were cooperative, and that there was no way Nifong could have been able to have spoken with such certainty that a crime had occurred based on the information he possessed at the time.

Roberts: Himan got a sense that she was a rather evasive person. Himan concedes that Roberts statement not consistent with Mangum's allegation of rape.

Reviews Levicy report noting that Mangum said no condom used in assault.

"Sgt. Gottlieb advised me that before we were going to do anything," Nifong wanted to be advised and had to go through Nifong.

Meets with Nifong at Nifong's request to go over the case--meeting occurred on or about March 27. Gottlieb, Himan, and Nifong at briefing, in DA's office.

At this initial briefing, discussed: execution of search warrant; complete cooperation of three residents of 610 N Buchanan; interview with Kim Roberts and Roberts' complete denial; failure of Mangum to identify in any of the initial photo array; that there was no one at party who made statement corroborating Mangum's statement about rape.

Nifong brought up inconsistencies in Mangum's stories. He made the comment, "You know we're fucked."

Nifong also brings up inconsistencies regarding Mangum's use of alcohol the night of the party--Nifong doesn't say how he was aware of this.

Met with Nifong daily or every couple of days during early stages of investigation.

Nifong always said that this would be a circumstantial case; consistently said would be difficult to prove the allegations.

As of March 31, Himan concedes investigation was at a "standstill."

Nifong gave instruction on how the April 4 array was to be conducted; Gottlieb then goes along. Nifong makes decision on what pictures he wants included in array.

After the 4-4 array, Nifong, through Officer Soucie, said that he wanted a timeline of Mangum's previous activities, as way of determining whether vaginal edema might have come from another source.

At meetings with Meehan, gave updates on what they had found and what these findings meant. April 10 meeting: no DNA from any Duke lacrosse players on the rape kit. Says there was additional male DNA at either the 4-10 or 4-21 meeting--subsequently concedes this information was provided by Dr. Meehan on April 10.

After 4-10 meeting says tests had no matches to lacrosse players, Nifong says he wants everything (not just SANE kit) brought over to DNA Securities for testing.

On ride back to Durham, Nifong says that the fingernails evidence can be used to indict Dave Evans. Nifong was the person who made this decision.

Meehan at May 12 meeting: "He had a final report ready that day." Meehan goes through the written report--the entire report--at the May 12 meeting. Himan believes that Nifong was engaged at the meeting--asked some questions--though doesn't recall which questions Nifong asked.

Had concerns about going forward with indictment of Reade Seligmann--"we didn't have any facts that he was there" at the party.

Gottlieb and Soucie, after meeting with Nifong, report that Nifong said he wanted to go ahead with indictments. Himan: "With what?"

Gottlieb said he had expressed similar concerns to Capt. Lamb and Lt. Ripberger, in conference call with Nifong.

Meets individually with Nifong to discuss his concerns with decision to go ahead with indictments. Nifong says must go ahead. Himan then tried to contact players' attorneys, attempting to determine whether or not they were at parties. Contacted Bob Ekstrand. Tried to "work from the bottom up"--this led to the nighttime sojourn to the Duke University campus.

Received info re: Michael Young, Brad Ross, Adam Langley, that all were not there. This occurred before the party.

Was engaging in this activity because "I didn't want to indict somebody that shouldn't have been indicted." Was at the office until 10pm the night before indictments trying to gather exculpatory evidence working with Samantha Ekstrand.

--

Elmostafa warrant originally brought up in meeting with Nifong and Linwood Wilson--after Nifong left the meeting, Linwood Wilson told Himan about warrant and said he wanted Elmostafa picked up. Wilson stops by his office the next day and says that Nifong wants Elmostafa to be picked up as soon as Elmostafa arrested. Wilson said that he had been doign "further background work" on Elmostafa.

At that meeting, Wilson says that Nifong wanted to be notified as soon as warrant served.

--

No advance notice that Linwood Wilson would interview Crystal Mangum. "Shocked" and "a little upset" that he was not notified of the interview. Finds out about the interview the next day, between 11.15am-11.30am--just before rape charges were dropped.

Had a conversation with Linwood Wilson just after reading notes of Wilson's interview. Said that the Wilson-Mangum new version of events "didn't make any sense."

Urged to Wilson that they should re-interview Mangum; this re-interview never occurred.

Involved in re-interview of Tara Levicy: Wilson raises issue of possible condom use in the January 2007 re-interview with Levicy. Prior to this interview, there was nothing in the file to indicate that condoms had been used prior to the alleged assault.

Agreed with decision to dismiss charges: "From the interviews, it was clear she was lying."

80 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am very curious what this will reveal based on news that he at some point felt the cases should not go forward

Anonymous said...

Himan is getting fileted....did not include many of his handwritten notes in his typed report. He is looking very nervous. He and Gottlieb both deserve to meet the bar of justice.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, I see that testimony a different way, Himan didn't include the 'description' because they were worthless...kind of counters the memory report with the EXACT physical description of Finnerty.

So far, Himan is coming off as at least passibly honest, a by stander in the debacle rather than an active participant a la Wilson and Gottlieb.

Duke1965 said...

In her opening statement, Ms. Jean stated that Inv. Himan, on more than one occasion, had warned Nifong about the weakness of the case, at least with respect to Seligmann.........

Anonymous said...

Himan appears to be very carefull and honest. Not defensive at all about his actions. A good witness for the prosecution.

Anonymous said...

Yes--I am keen to know more about what Himan thought of the case and when. Sounds like he will be one of the few who challenged Nifong along the way

Anonymous said...

If the point is that the players cooperated very much, contrary to what Nifong said in public, then Himan is a devastating witness for the prosecution.

Michael said...

It will be interesting to see how Freedman handles him. Given KC's post last night, I would expect Freedman to try to throw any kind of blame on Himan that he can.

Interesting that Himan is testifying to the high degree of cooperation from Dave Evans and the other captains.

Anonymous said...

Good for him, its about time someone stepped up and told the truth about this fiasco.

It sounds like he did what he could from the inside, short of leaking info to the press or resigning in protest.

Are they calling Gottlieb or Wilson, either side?

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

I agree Himan is coming across quite well. He certainly documented the cooperation of the lacrosse captains.

He is also being taken through the photo arrays now. The questioner is being quite gentle with him as to them not following guidelines so far.

Michael said...

Was that it? WRAL just signed off.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

I don't know that is it for the day. It sure was funny to see Peterson ranting on the air wasn't it?

GaryB said...

Those taping, please post to youtube.

In the meantime, you might want to take a lite break by watching this viral ad and a clever parody response video.
http://tinyurl.com/24jtq2

Anonymous said...

JLS says,

Himan is back on the stand. WRAL was probably taping a signoff and accidently let us see it.

Anonymous said...

This is great - better than I expected - everything will be out there when this is done. Himan is an impressive cop - every things points to Mike. Courtv interviewed Freda - this could put Mike in the asylum.

Michael said...

I didn't get to see the Peterson thing. I hope someone youtubed it. I can't find another feed for the trial.

Anonymous said...

JLS says ....,

Michael, I have it on WRAL again.

Anonymous said...

The reality of the magnitude of this lie is really turning out to be much much much worse than it seemed. How is it possible that this case was brought forward and kept alive for so long?

Michael said...

Thanks for the note. I have it running again.

Wow, good timing. Himan told him that she didn't identify anyone.

Now Levicy.

Anonymous said...

Why did Mike give Wade the bird, you ask??? Is it because he is just a wisecracking jokester? Or is it because he is just an egomaniacal bullying asshole who takes out his misery over choosing early on a life of public service (versus the wealth potential of private practice) on rich white kids whose parents have to good fortune of being able to send their kids to a fancy university like Duke? This prick is no better than those lowlife Duke Public Safety or Durham PD patrolmen whose lives suck so bad that their uniform-driven power trips are their only moments of pleasure in life. Love the fact that they caught him giving Wade the finger right on camera - way to respect the sanctity of the courthouse, there, Mikeyboy!!!

Anonymous said...

Good lord, it really was a sham ALL ALONG, Nifong knew he had no case before he even charged anyone and he still ran the sham right up until freaking JANUARY of 2007.

He should rot in prison along with Gottleib and Wilson

Anonymous said...

"You know we're fucked."

What you mean 'we' Kimosabe.

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

Nifong says to Himan, "you know were f'ed." in the initial briefing about the case from Himan and Gottlieb. WOW!+

Anonymous said...

Nifong said: "You know we're fucked."

Well, at the Fongster got that right. He is, as he noted, truly and absolutely "fucked."

Anonymous said...

The special prosecutors from the AG's office must have had their hair literally standing on end for days at time as they found out this stuff.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

re: anon 4:19

Yeah he got that right.

Michael said...

UNC medical records being discussed now. I wonder what the significance of those records are here.

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

Maybe that she was scamming for drugs at UNC?

Anonymous said...

This is a flat out conspiracy. If the police bear no responsibility to prevent a railroading, either:

1) They should not be considered 'law enforcement'

or

2) They are part of the conspiracy.

Anonymous said...

Probably more than her mental history would have straight off made it clear she was not credible and that Nifong also knew this right from the get go.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

Clearly if the media is not trying to hide this mess, tommorrow's head line is:

YOU KNOW WERE F'ED

HowlinNC said...

This is even worse than I thought!

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

re: anon 4:25

The only thing the DPD could have done to stop Nifong was refuse to testify to the grand jury, I guess. But then he would have subpenoed them and they would have been force to answer that Mangum IDed Finnerty and Seligmann.

How else can they stop him? Go to the press that is busy with the gang of 88 whistling "I've been working on the railroad."

Unknown said...

How can it be a circumstantial case with no circumstantial evidence? The DNA came back negative.

Anonymous said...

Bongo Fongo ought to go on and hand in his license as he leaves today. Himan has sunk him before the party really gets started.

Michael said...

Nifong tried to pound a square peg into a round hole with the picture lineup as they had run into a dead end - no more information was coming in.

At the point of the photo lineup, it seems that Himan was a little more involved in the discussions on the photo lineup.

He just implicated Nifong again as the one responsible for the photo lineup.

Michael said...

Ooooh. He Gottlieb, Clayton and two CSI members were at the Photo Lineup. He's using Gottlieb's name quite a bit now.

HowlinNC said...

This is absolutely amazing to hear what we've suspected and speculated on all along.

Anonymous said...

Himan is to Nifong what John Dean was to Nixon, (for those that remember the senate watergate hearings.)

Anonymous said...

If this was any place other than Durham I would predict that Sg. Gottleib would be taking early retirement any day now, but since it IS Durham, he will probably end up police chief one day.

Who directed that Mangum be told every photo was of someone at the party? Did Nifong give that order or did Gottlieb do it on his own?

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

re: incarolina

Yep, this is just about what I always thought. This is mostly a Nifong deal. Of course we have not gotten to Gottlieb's notes or Wilson's behavior.

Anonymous said...

The thing that is most stunning is that it appears everyone in LE and even Nifong knew all along there was never a case

..making his motive of getting elected even more obvious than it was before!

Anyone who had been giving Mike the benefit of the doubt that he believed Mangum's story now knows that was a a lie, he knew her story was full of crap even BEFORE he indicted anyone.

Anonymous said...

what is happening?
Tell us more please.

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

WOW, Nifong wanted to know Mangum's travels the week prior to the party. He was directing the investigation completely.

Anonymous said...

I bet he knew all along she was a prostitute and he was trying to find out how many customers he would have to try and silence.

Anonymous said...

Dang!!! I didn't know the wheels would start falling off this soon!!!

I like FONG's lawyer though....

HowlinNC said...

JLS, I'm just furious all over again!

Practically all the things we guessed about ARE TRUE.

And worse!

Anonymous said...

JLS says...

Himan not testifying about the meetings at DNA security.

Mr. Nifong present at all three meetings with Meehan. Bingo.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

Hey Howlin, I registered at "TheWideAwakes.com" yesterday.

Yeah it is just as I guessed early last summer. Nifong was as cynical as he could be about this. And he was mean and refused to drop the charges after the primary.

Anonymous said...

JLS say....,

Not should have been NOW testifying a few posts by me above.

Anonymous said...

I still wonder what his endgame was...was he going to drop the charges right before trial citing Mangum's fragile mental state, or was he REALLY going to take this to trial.

With all the details coming out I'm not sure even a totally racist Durham jury would have bought his crazy case....would he really have let himself be totally humiliated in court under the national spotlight?

Maybe he is mentally ill afterall. SOme kind of Napoleon complex.

GaryB said...

inCarolina said...
Jun 12, 2007 4:33:00 PM

This is absolutely amazing to hear what we've suspected and speculated on all along.


It is an interesting "under the covers" look. I'm watching the webcast live from WRAL (The refrain from Paul Simon's Boy in the Bubble "These are the days of miracles and wonders" keeps running through my head)... Still, trials are the kind of thing you like if you like that kind of thing.

I think I'll let KC report while I run some feature detection experiments on web videos which I'm sure he'd rather not watch. See ya.

Anonymous said...

Prediction for Freedman's cross: "Was Mr. Nifong cordial when he said, 'you know we're f***ed'"?

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

Himan tried to throw Nifong a bone. Bar prosecutor nailing him down to the meeting on the 10th because he started looking for DNA other samples.

Anonymous said...

I think all Freedman is gong to be able to get is "Did Nifong ever explicitely say to supress the evidence?" and he will say "no"

Other than that, what does he have? Since this isn't a jury trial but a bar hearing he won't get anywhere questioning Himan's memory...

HowlinNC said...

Myself, I'm expecting a "Caine Mutinty" moment when he takes the stand.

Anonymous said...

Has Nifong used his cancer treatment as an excuse yet? You almost wonder whether some bad effect of those treatments on an already bad tempered, not so clever person actually allowed him to believe his lies along the way. I mean--if Himan was at the meetings at the lab then how can Nifong expect to just lie about what was learned?

Anonymous said...

Nifong is going to argue that he didn't think DNA from other males was exculpatory and had to be turned over...he can't get away w/saying he 'thought' it had been turned over because if the defense had it, they wouldnt have kept asking for DNA reports and the would most certainly have filed a motion for a rape shield hearing to ensure the DNA evidence was admitted at trial.

He has to go with the 'too stupid to know definition of exculpatory' defense.

HowlinNC said...

I'd love to know what the testimony in that Grand Jury room was that made those jurors come up with indictiments.

Anonymous said...

What date were Seligman and Finnerty indicted, before or after May 12th?

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

The grand jury testimony was that Mangum said she was raped and she IDed Finnerty and Seligmann for them. For Evans, the testimony was Mangum said she was raped, she IDed Evans 90% and there was a partial DNA match to Evans on one of her false fingernails.

That is about all it take to get an indictment. The police officers testified to all of this as hearsay is allowed.

Michael said...

Gottlieb said that they were going to go ahead with indictments. Himan said: "With What?"

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

The questioner just said 17 April for the initial indictments.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

Himan just said a Captain and Lt. were in a call with Gottlieb expressing his concerns to Nifong about going forward with indictments.

Himan now tells of an in person meeting about indictments.

Michael said...

Himan raised the issue of the indictment to Nifong. Nifong said that if you believe her here, then you have to believe her there.

Grand Jury stuff coming up.

Michael said...

Himan appeared to try to contact the defense lawyers to talk to them. Looks like he had no success. He went to Edens to try to speak to some of the players.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

Ok, who could Nifong call as a defense witness who might survive cross?

Michael said...

Himan told one of the defense lawyers (I think that it was one of the non-indicted players) that he was the lead investigator.

Himan was doing this stuff on his own because he didn't want to indict someone that shouldn't be indicted.

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

Himan now tries to make some of his sneaking around Duke to interview represented players an act of kindness.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

New thread.

Anonymous said...

Woahh...honestly I could never quite convince myself that Mike Nifong was really an evil person no matter how much I wanted to...but NOW?!!? He is totally "fucked." Before Himan I didn't truely believe that they would totally disbarr him...but now that is 100% what is gonna happen. Mark my words...

Anonymous said...

He's going to face criminal charges, absent a miracle out of his defense team, the feds will charge him of NC doesn't.

Himan has BURRIED him.

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

"You know we're fucked." That... I just have no words. It's like he knew he was waltzing in a legal mine field and didn't care where he stepped. I bet he cares now that it's all blowing up in this courtroom.

Anonymous said...

It is not a SANE kit - it is a rape kit. Not one person in today's hearing called it anything other than a rape kit.

Anonymous said...

I might have missed it but I don't recall hearing Himan say Levicy's "comment" lead he and Gottlieb down the primrose path and the case is all her fault.

Anonymous said...

Cops don't sneak around during an investigation - they are not criminals - Watch Green, Briscoe and Fontans -

Anonymous said...

Carolyn says:

"From the interviews, it was clear she was lying."

Then why did you indict 3 innocent men?

William Jockusch said...

You guys are being WAY TOO SOFT on Officer Himan. He may have been a reluctant participant in the conspiracy. But he was a participant all the same.

I talk about this on my blog:

http://www.greeneggsandbacon.blogspot.com

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

William, I agree. I wonder if Himan is setting himself up to take a plea on this.

mac said...

Himan's on First; Who's on
Second...?