Friday, June 08, 2007

The Unbalanced Panel

In his initial memo outlining his hopes for the police inquiry panel, mayor Bill Bell said his ideal would be four people from law enforcement; four people with criminal defense experience; and four community activists. Yet, as Brad Bannon points out in today’s Herald-Sun, this balance seems lacking:
They have five people with law-enforcement backgrounds, one person, a rape crisis counselor, who’s pseudo law-enforcement, and apparently they’re looking for a prosecutor . . . That doesn’t give me a lot of comfort about the necessary diversity on this panel.

Diane Catotti’s appointment of Aurelia Sands Belle—a figure who seems unable to affirm that a rape did not occur—raises obvious conflict-of-interest problems: the Durham Rape Crisis Center over which Belle presides not only received a six-figure grant from the DPD but helped train the very police force whose conduct is under investigation. It seems as if Catotti’s only goal is to produce discord within the inquiry, thereby helping to cover up the abuses associated with the case.

Eugene Brown, on the other hand, offered the kind of appointment that his colleagues should have imitated—a former state senator known for his work on open-discovery issues.

In general, how can it possibly be that the Council has seen fit to appoint to the panel more rape crisis counselors (one) and Nifong campaign donors (one) than practicing criminal defense attorneys?

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

These cases do NOT need to be settled...Take Duke to open court!! No more settlements!!

Anonymous said...

You would think that at some point--even in Durham--folks will actually want, indeed demand, some judicious, real "adult" leadership. What you have is a collection of venal morons running the show. As a general rule, folks typically simply ignore these idiots and their "nickel-and-dime" lives. At this juncture, however, they are playing with real money. Consequently, you would have thought that Durham's *real* adults would have stepped up by now. Obviously, this is not the case. And, for the most part, it's too late. Durham taxpayers are going to pay through the nose on this one.

wayne fontes said...

Does any one else wonder what Ms. Belle is doing running the DRCC? Given the number of positions she has held nationally the DRCC seems to be a large step backwards.

Anonymous said...

Should lawsuits be filed against Durham PD, Nifong, et al in the coming days, what will this do to the inquiry? Will the legal concerns of the defendants prevent the panel from getting answers to their questions?

Anonymous said...

professor:

Given the DPD's policy to treat some citizens differently before the law. I.E. Policy to be more harsh on Duke students in Trinity park, do any of the students thus affected have any civil recourse in the courts for a judgement against DPD for violation of civil rights?

Anonymous said...

KC,

As much fun as this has all been, I think it's time to throw in the towel.

Nothing has changed. Nothing is going to change.

What a farce! At least, I can appreciate all the unintentional humor.

Anonymous said...

Also, the quotas set for this panel gurantee that there will be no civilian white males, who just happpen to be the victim class in this case. So this panel comes pre-discredited.

Given that we're talking about the Durham city government, that probably just saves time.

Anonymous said...

C'mon, let's get behind putting Solomon Burnette and Chan Hall on the panel. Because the council has BANNED anyone looking like the Hoax's victims (white male citizens), we may as well make the farce complete.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of USDOJ interest in the case, has anyone noticed the speed with which the Feds descended on Surry County Virginia where NFL player Vick allegedly was running an interstate dog-fighting operation? Even though Virginia State and County agencies are working the case, the Feds are on it. I mention this because some posters have suggected the DOJ is waiting to see if NC takes care of the Nifong matter before assuming jurisdiction. My conclusion? Don't hold your breath for Gonzalez to take action.

Anonymous said...

This is amazing. So, Bell stacked the panel with people either who refuse to believe anything but Crystal's lies, or they are people with a vested interest in making the cops look good.

Don't expect any justice from these people. They are incapable of doing anything but covering up for criminals and liars.

Anonymous said...

I was recently in Philadelphia. The Inquirer was running a series about results of a panel named by the African-American mayor to investigate the city's Department of Human Services (DHS) after an Inquirer investigative series last year "into child deaths at DHS."

Last week's paper included short bios of the are nine people on the panel, along with pictures. Only one person doesn't have a picture with the bio. Of the other eight panelists, only two are African-American, both women. Four are white males; two white females.

I checked the Census Bureau website: Philadelphia COUNTY (I couldn't easily find the city) is 43.2% AA, more than twice as much as any other county in Pennsylvania. Of course, chances are that a large percentage of children in the "system" are also minorities. Assuming that Philly, like most major cities, has an even larger percentage of minorities, it is clear that the mayor named a panel based on experience/expertise in the matter at hand, not on the race of the individuals.

Does anyone think Durham will notice? Just wondering.

Also, there was an abduction/kidnapping of a child from school by the mother who did NOT have custody; the child was in foster care and lived with an aunt & uncle (the mother's sister and her husband). The mother & child were found in Indianapolis. Surprise: the mother has a history of mental health problems. The Inquirer story about the child’s return said:

~snip~

Officials said his mother - who was in custody in Indianapolis last night - is expected to be extradited to Philadelphia in one to two weeks to face charges of kidnapping, unlawful flight, obstruction of justice and other offenses.



Officials said his mother - who was in custody in Indianapolis last night - is expected to be extradited to Philadelphia in one to two weeks to face charges of kidnapping, unlawful flight, obstruction of justice and other offenses.

~snip~

(http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/philadelphia/20070602_Abducted_boy__7__returns_to_guardians.html)

Again, will anyone in Durham notice that in Philadelphia even someone with a history of mental health issues is held accountable by the justice system?

[The Inquirer series re the Philly DHS can be found at: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/special/child_welfare]

Anonymous said...

Bill Bell is a pos.

So are most of the city council members. They know, and the black racists and race and gender bigots know, that this ia all a joke.

A chance for them to try to put forth that something happened that night and appease the ignorant people who live in Durham.

No more praise should go to Bill Bell unless he steps up and puts a stop to this farce. National shame needs to visit him from the media until he acts like a responsible adult.

Anonymous said...

KC, You're getting a bit tedious. I am sure that scholarship is well served by this reductionist approach to everything butsomewhere along the world you are going to have to take this all a step up if you expect that anything transformative will come out of this. Or perhaps you prefer to be the perrennial lab assistant, or law clerk, or reseacrh assistant.

Don't worry, very fine minds are taking full note of what you are doing and they will tell the mete-story even if you won't.

Anonymous said...

We have about twenty days to go before KC gives up the blog. Can we forgo the insults?

Anonymous said...

What is a pos?

Anonymous said...

KC has done a wonderful job, but he is still reluctant to explore certain areas, and those areas are the reason for the hoax in the first place.
Using James Coleman like a broken record won't cut it. Even Coleman has been disingenuous throughout. It would not have put Duke in an awkward position to have come out and supported their students on the lacrosse team. Coleman is full of crap and is muttering Brodhead's talking points when he says that.
He and Brodhead have been joined at the hip, coordinating every move. It was deemed safer for Coleman to speak out for justice (a little), but he was tepid. Never has he or any of his law school colleagues spoken out against the Faculty88 and other shenanigans from the administration.
The whole thing has been a self-serving, ass-saving exercise.
Who will put a stop to this madness? The lacrosse players are INNOCENT. The issue of rape is not on the table.

Gary Packwood said...

Anonymous 2:13 said...

...you are going to have to take this all a step up if you expect that anything transformative will come out of this.
::
I thought the whole idea was to get the facts and the truth in front of the citizens so that THEY can take transformative steps.
::
GP

Anonymous said...

2:26

Don't ask if you don't know.

Anonymous said...

2:27
That's an ignorant attitude, and I just figured it out. Thanks you pos.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous at 2:26 wrote:
Even Coleman has been disingenuous throughout.

===
Its too bad that this author can't discern between the truth-seeking, objective and fair, and the oppressive and deceptive. Coleman is a superb human being; he doesn't also have to be a perfect one. Yes, the 3 young men and the lacrosse team are innocent. No, every wonderful person shouldn't have to express their truth in the same way to be worthy of our admiration. History will look with extreme kindness on James Coleman.

Anonymous said...

. . . and history will look with kindness of KC Johnson for his persistent pursuit of truth and justice.

Anonymous said...

Unbalanced Panel. I like the double entendre.

Anonymous said...

Mark these words. By the time the maypr, city council, and others involved in this joke of a panel are finished, they will have put forth a calculated effort in the extreme to make Crystal Mangum look respectable and a victim of sexual assault.
No matter what Roy Cooper has told the world. No matter what every intelligent person knew a long time ago.
This whole panel episode is yet another hoax. Eugene Brown seems to be the only person interested in sorting through the police corruption. This is a gift to future Durham voters. Mostly, the black ones.

Anonymous said...

Oooooooooew.....I'm not feeling the love on this thread today. Everyone should be happy and relaxed. It's week's end. Time for a tall, chilled glass of white......or perhaps a sexy vodka chiller!

I know that I join all of you on KC's blog in sending our support and heartfelt sympathy to Paris Hilton on her return to the slammer!

LOL!!!
GOL!!!
LIS!!!
GIS!!!


Debrah

Anonymous said...

I agree with the earlier poster. If there is a group that needs to be included, it is those upon whom the hoax was fabricated. There needs to be a white male athlete - appointed by the LAX players - to represent the victims. If not, to use the redical left's rules, the committee has no credibility and further re-inforces the steretypes tha have come out in this case.

Ed

Anonymous said...

re: above - sory, butt ma spel chek iznt wurkin.

Ed

Anonymous said...

A nice bio with picture of Ms Belle can be found at:

http://vroh.uakron.edu/summaries/SandsBelle.php

RL alum medicine '75

Anonymous said...

We shouldn't even waste any time talking about this farce. This investigation is obviously designed to placate the village idiots in Durham and on the boards and blogs.

Anonymous said...

4:03
Who the heck cares? Belle is not a doctor by any stretch. She's a hoax-enabler and a professional fraud.

Anonymous said...

I really do have sympathy for Paris. Hope they have her on suicide watch.

Anonymous said...

OK, it's almost 5:00 Friday. Where's the Fong's bar card and resignation? He's going the distance.....(all the way down.)

Anonymous said...

Unbalanced panel is not a double entendre.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of bars--whatever happened to Kemp and his Bar Buddy? He was kinda like a Cheers connection to this place.

Anonymous said...

Catotti clearly isn't interested in right and wrong or what every objective observer can plainly see, that her appointment is an act of sabotage. She has sold her soul in hope of being returned to office by an electorate who is used to being pandered to and fooled into acting against their own self-interest -- by furthering endemic corruption at every opportunity. She knows there is no rational accountability in Durham.

Utterly disgusting.

Gary Packwood said...

KC wrote...

...Diane Catotti’s appointment of Aurelia Sands Belle—a figure who seems unable to affirm that a rape did not occur—raises obvious conflict-of-interest problems: the Durham Rape Crisis Center over which Belle presides not only received a six-figure grant from the DPD but helped train the very police force whose conduct is under investigation. It seems as if Catotti’s only goal is to produce discord within the inquiry, thereby helping to cover up the abuses associated with the case.
::
Aurelia Sands Belle is new to Durham.
She began her work in late June last year after their board fired their co-executive directors.

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A34451

One of their board members is Cynthia Clinton, JD, Director Harassment Prevention, Office of Institutional Equality at Duke University.

http://www.duke.edu/web/equity/har_HPA_Advisors.htm

The Duke Harassment Prevention URL is below

http://www.duke.edu/web/equity/har_discrimination.htm

According to the IRS,the proper name for this organization was the Durham Crisis Center at the close of 1996.

There is much more here than meets the eye.
::
GP

William Jockusch said...

Catotti and the woman she appointed don't deserve the right of day. As for the rest of the panel -- it seems perfectly reasonable that there should be a lot of people with law enforcement backgrounds. However, those people need to take their roles seriously. They have the power to make the whole thing a farce, or to make it a serious inquiry. We need to watch what they do.

Gary Packwood said...

GP said..
According to the IRS,the proper name for this organization was the Durham Crisis Center at the close of 1996.
::
Error.
That should be 2006
My apologies
::
GP

Anonymous said...

Anon wrote:

A nice bio with picture of Ms Belle can be found at:

http://vroh.uakron.edu/summaries/SandsBelle.php

---------

Run for your lives! It's Idi Amin in a dress!

Anonymous said...

How bizzare! It's like living in reruns of Dukes of Hazzard. Sanity seems to be an option in Durham.

Anonymous said...

I intended to provide this link the other evening, but got sidetracked by the Sopranos.

When you click on this link, read the names of the staff on the left-hand side. Click on each of those names. Most have photos of the staff members.

Nothing more illustrative as to the mindset of this Catotti person. Her bread is buttered in the sloth of this PC, ultra-Liberal, parasitic environment.

Also, I find it hilarious that these people who pride themselves on plebian pursuits have chosen a name like HERMES for their little endeavors.

Too funny!


A_Tangled_Web


Debrah

Anonymous said...

Health

Education

Management

Epidemiologic

Services


HERMES, LLC



So many plebes.....so little time!

Debrah

Anonymous said...

In general, how can it possibly be that the Council has seen fit to appoint to the panel more rape crisis counselors (one) and Nifong campaign donors (one) than practicing criminal defense attorneys?

First of all, we are talking about Durham here, so it would be expected that they wouldn't do the logical thing. They still are in Wonderland the last time I checked.

Further, however, I'd bet any council anywhere would be reluctant to appoint members to a review board that really were capable of doing a good job of analyzing what went wrong and should be corrected and also what went right and should be continued. Here, there's virtually none of the latter.

I don't really believe Mayor Bell is that interested in having competent people digging through the dirt that is rampant in the DPD, which could, in turn, veer over into the City Manager's office and perhaps other aspects of Durham city government. He says he wants an investigation, but what he really wants is a panel that goes through the motions in an attempt to hoodwink the citizens of Durham that something is being done, while basically whitewashing the whole thing. I'd guess several of the council members feel the same way. Most people in government don't actually want to do anything for their constituents. They want the perks and the power, whatever it may be, that go with the office.

This will end up being a fiasco just like everything else has been for the last 15 months (and probably before, but I can't say because I knew nothing about Durham before March 2006). At the end of the day, Durham is Durham and that's all they're capable of.

Anonymous said...

These people are not even trying to pretend to appoint non-biased people to this POS sham committee...what a joke...

GaryB said...

They don't need a white male athlete on the panel any more than they need a rape counselor.

The purpose of the panel is to ascertain who had control of an investigation and where due process went wrong. Nothing in this task is specific to white male athletic victimhood nor to counseling rape. It's procedures and processes or it SHOULD be.

For example, if I were on the committee, I'd recommend that the city issue note pads (OK, Camcorders) to all police investigators to start ASAP taking notes/records at all witness and accused interviews. That would be a big step. Then there should be a procedure for who has investigation control and for being clear about who has it. Next, can checks and balances be put in for when politics seems to be intruding?

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

Hard to believe that with such a big day with so much of the public focused on Paris Hilton that Nifong did not take today as a chance to discover his cancer had returned or some other illness had been discovered and retire. He missed a real chance.

I guess he has not been DA long enough yet to up that pension. Now maybe he will opt for Monday, but from the time the word was out last night that the judge was calling Hilton back into court today, Nifong had to know he had a real opportunity to resign under the radar.

Anonymous said...

JLS


LOL

Cedarford said...

I'll play Devil's Advocate:

Diane Catotti’s appointment of Aurelia Sands Belle—a figure who seems unable to affirm that a rape did not occur—raises obvious conflict-of-interest problems: the Durham Rape Crisis Center over which Belle presides not only received a six-figure grant from the DPD but helped train the very police force whose conduct is under investigation.

Like it or not, a central part of the inquiry has to be how the police deal with an accuser, how aggressively they probe into the accuser's story. How police in the future will deal with potential false accusers so that police resources, city resources, Durham Crisis Response Center (not Rape Crisis Center, KC!) resources are not squandered.

Aurelia Sands-Belle might be a better appointment than many suggest for that reason. For she might very well have some good policy suggestions that she, as a woman and a black can suggest that might be opposed by if made, say, by a few white defense lawyers who have used the "nuts and sluts" defense strategy in the past.

Her background is not as a feminazi, but as a person who wants to set up a well coordinated and run agency that responds to ALL crimes, not just "womyns priorities". Her past efforts in other cities and as a consultant have been more on the neglected victims of other crimes like burglaries, robberies....than piling on more "rape caregivers".

Also, she arrived AFTER the Lacrosse case started. She has no personal connection to past DRC training of cops, money provided DRC. I would have a problem if the "old guard" of Ada Gregory and Joy Cunningham had been selected. Both were far more into the "Womyns Advocacy" than Belle. Cunningham was the "always believe the woman!!" SART Coordinator that trained cops and SANE people like Arico. Gregory the feminist...Both were fired last July by the DCRC Board for matters that still remain murky...

(Not so coincidentally, both Ladies now work in Duke Administration middle management. Ada Gregory is now HR and Business Manager for the Kenan Ethics Center, reporting to "Water Buffalo" Moneta. Joy Cunningham is now the Administrative Manager at DUMC in Women's Health Programs and some sort of faculty development deal.)

I have a far bigger beef with Catotti herself and her and Bell's endorsement of race quotas for this committee that omit any white males from the Durham citizenry working with the external cops selected. And those on the Council that then loaded up on "Heroes in Blue" lovers and long-time DPD knee-jerk supporters as community reps than a choice like Belle.

Gary Packwood said...

Cedarford 829 PM said...

...Like it or not, a central part of the inquiry has to be how the police deal with an accuser, how aggressively they probe into the accuser's story.
...I would have a problem if the "old guard" of Ada Gregory and Joy Cunningham had been selected. Both were far more into the "Womyns Advocacy" than Belle.
...Cunningham was the "always believe the woman!!" SART Coordinator that trained cops and SANE people like Arico. Gregory the feminist...Both were fired last July by the DCRC Board for matters that still remain murky...
...(Not so coincidentally, both Ladies now work in Duke Administration middle management. Ada Gregory is now HR and Business Manager for the Kenan Ethics Center, reporting to "Water Buffalo" Moneta. Joy Cunningham is now the Administrative Manager at DUMC in Women's Health Programs and some sort of faculty development deal.)
::
Goodness, you are just a storehouse of knowledge!

Like it or not, a central part of this whole case now is the connection between these groups that President Broadhead inherited.

Seems to me that they are all affirmative action hires who are creating the academic center for diversity in Durham and at Duke...for the Southern States.

Ms Belle would be perfect to coordinate this big diversity movement for the Southern States with Duke (alums) paying the bill.

It would have been so much easier for these women to build that organization if they could have taken down the entire lacrosse team and sent Colin, Reade and Dave to prison for thirty years.

Are these groups the groups we are going to hear Nifong talking about next week?
Is this where he learned about parties with strippers?
::
GP

Anonymous said...

8:29pm

I disagree totally. You grossly underestimate the mission of someone like Belle. These dyed-in-the-wool advocates for "womyn" or "women"--whichever, should be watched as one would watch a Solomon Burnette or a Chan Hall.

Durham is the Haiti of the United States. In almost all respects.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

A few things I think that I could be corrected on:

1. Early on the Mayor said this investigation was to find out why three young Durham residents had to rely on the AG's office for justice. I can not imagine an investigation to find out why three young black males from Durham had to go to the AG for Justice that would include no young white males. There certainly should be Duke students and probably white maile Duke student to get that perspective on interaction with the DPD and the Durham justice system.

2. Belle is now on the committee it seems. If Cedarford's reading of her record is correct she can show us. If not, she will show us the other way.

3. It is unrealistic not to expect a committee appointed by politicians not to be political.

Anonymous said...

Look, everybody. This is just a stupid exercise from a small city of black racists and their white Marxist enablers to prance through a further meaningless exercise so that it will appear they care about right and wrong.
This is just more taxpayer money wasted on a bunch of hoodlums masquerading as decent people. No one wants the truth! No one in Durham wants to make public what the DPD did along with Nifong.
To get the truth, you will need the FEDS.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all those who agree with my earlier posting, but I still think Cedarford rocks.

Cedarford said...

9:37 - I disagree totally. You grossly underestimate the mission of someone like Belle. These dyed-in-the-wool advocates for "womyn" or "women"--whichever, should be watched as one would watch a Solomon Burnette or a Chan Hall.

If you have evidence of Belle being a feminazi, spit it out. Otherwise, in the absence of any evidence, you appear to be operating on pure prejudicial presumption that anyone who is black or a woman is fatally flawed and incapable of rendering good judgment, and only white men can be trusted.

I have already said that the quota system Bell & Catotti (spouse of Duke's Event and Conference Manager Chuck Catotti, BTW) devised sucks a wet one. Since she and the Mayor set it up so no white male Durhamite resident was allowed to be considered.

But that doesn't mean anyone should assume any black or woman on such a panel is evil and biased.

At this stage though, since Cooper and staff gutlessly avoided the issue of the false accuser - the only person that might call her on the carpet for lying and abusing the resources of DPD and DCRC is someone like Belle. Who can also perhaps come up with an improved protocol that insists victims stories be evaluated for credibility by the appropriate city personnel before city taxpayer's dollars are simply wasted on scammers out for pain meds or some other agenda like lying so cops have to get rid of an unwanted boyfriend the woman fears chucking out on her own.

Perhaps Belle is well aware that resources are limited such that for every Crystal Mangum that deceives and gets the money and time - a legitimate abused woman or family of a murder victim is denied...

Anonymous said...

I hope you're right, Cedarford.

If so, it will certainly be a first for Durham, North Carolina.

But I reiterate. This Belle appointment is pure shit. Appointed by pure shit. Designed for a pre-planned outcome of pure shit.

Anonymous said...

Let's look at the most recent four who were appointed to the panel.

Roland Leary, Ken Spaulding, Wib Gully, and Aurelia Sands-Belle.

I agree with Brad Bannon. I don't have much confidence in these people, in general. Maybe they will surprise us, but why, after this long travesty must we have to sit back and hope?

Everyone of these people are liberal Democrats.

Ken Spaulding, although from an old and respected black Durham family--(North Carolina Mutual Insurance Co.)--holds fast to the mores and bizarre double standards that characterize black Durham.

He was the anemic guy sitting beside Johnnie Cochran during part of the OJ trial. He was the local legal assistant for the woman who taped Mark Furhman and was summoned as a witness.

He was also one of those along with Irving Joyner at NCCU who partied amd rejoiced as OJ was declared "innocent".

He is known in Durham as a "strong advocate" for the black "underclass". His older brother Asa Spaulding, Jr. received around $30-$40,000 of taxpayer money a few years ago for doing almost nothing when Durham Police Chief Chalmers asked his "good friend" to do a "study" for him which consisted of about 12 pages of BS. The local media criticized and ridiculed the wasted money.

This is a small example of how Durham's black community has always operated. If you question this welfare state, then you are a "racist". It's the freeloading state of affairs that they do not want upset.

Does anyone really think that Ken Spaulding is going to say anything honest about the conduct of Chief Chalmers?

All of this is a continued hoax and should be stopped!

Anonymous said...

And Mayor Bill Bell appointed Ken Spaulding.

Bill Bell has lived from the huge taxpayer proceeds from UDI. His good friend and Ken Spaulding's former wife, Jean Spaulding, all have strong financial ties to Duke University, as well as the full suction cup of huge taxpayer money.

Bell has appointed no one who is not interested in protecting either the DPD or Duke University.