Friday, August 31, 2007

Morning Session I--Meehan: Nifong Statement to Court "False"

The morning session resumed with Dr. Brian Meehan returning to the stand. Perhaps on order from the owner of his lab, he was wearing a suit today, rather than his outfit of yesterday, a short-sleeved shirt with “DNA Security” custom embroidery.

Meehan: received no instructions about what to appear.

“Let me clarify something”—“we did talk about not including the DNA profiles of players for which there were no matches.”

“I didn’t document the exact time of those discussions.”

Glover is—if possible—speaking in more of a monotone than he was yesterday, as he and Meehan establish a timeline of Meehan’s testing activity.

Glover, as he did yesterday, is liberal with his use of the lacrosse players’ names, even as he refers to Crystal Mangum as the “alleged victim.”

The number of spectators is much less than yesterday—perhaps people were driven away by Glover’s “bore-the-court” strategy.

Around five minutes into his testimony, Meehan asks for water.

Meehan: “We went through everything in the report.” “We did go over each section . . . when we got to the result sections, we went through those in detail.”

‘We definitely touched upon again that the reference samples were not included” [for privacy reasons]

“And we did go through this one item that was important to me that some reference items that we considered non-probative were not included in this report.”

“We didn’t spend a lot of time on that. It was important for me in issuing this report that everybody understood that there was more information” than what was in the report.

Didn’t see anything improper in discovery request by defense.

Glover—now suggesting that Meehan expected the request to come, therefore why would Nifong have been trying to hide anything?

Nifong asked Meehan to put in writing his concerns about cost and privacy in turning over the underlying DNA data.

After releasing the underlying data, the next communication he had with Nifong was phone call of Dec. 13 based on defense motion.

Nifong tells Meehan that Dec. 13 motion “didn’t shed a nice light on the lab.”

Judge Marcia Morey, as she was yesterday, has come by to express her solidarity for Nifong. She wins the “Kendra Montgomery-Blinn Award” for undermining confidence in the judiciary.

Meehan: defense discovery request “a pain the butt for us”—but concedes the request was appropriate.

Glover is now suggesting that the defense were likely to turn over the underlying data to experts, and therefore couldn’t have been reason to conceal things.

Glover: How long would it have taken an expert to go through this case?

Meehan: could have gone through the case file in 10-20 hours.

[Glover, in short, appears to be returning to the “no harm, no foul” defense.]

Meehan: “I was pretty upset with what was in that document, and I expressed it to Mr. Nifong.”

company decision that I do go and clarify”—his initial inclination was not to appear.

Bannon: “some things that they didn’t understand completely, that they basically got wrong.”—everything was there (Meehan doesn’t say what Bannon got wrong.)

Glover: Meehan had “little time to prepare”

Meehan: showed up at Nifong’s office on the 15th—“I was greeted by a detective.” (Actually it was Linwood Wilson—but he had a badge . . .)

Didn’t have a discussion with Nifong before his court appearance.

Meehan now explaining what his answer meant on Dec. 15th: “The answer to that question then and now is still yes because it’s a broad question.”

“The intention of Mr. Cooney—“

Objection; sustained.

Meehan is now claiming that he thought Cooney was referring to the non-reporting of the reference profiles.

Meehan: he wasn’t “allowed”(!) to explain himself at the Dec. 15 hearing. [Of course, Nifong cross-examined him.]

[Glover is again steering very clear of the Sept. 22 hearing.]

“I wasn’t concerned with anything being left out of that report” because he hadn’t left anything out of the report(!). [except, of course, all the exculpatory evidence]

Glover then rests.

--

Charles Davis begins cross-examination.

“We don’t include narratives of discussions in any of our reports.”

Meehan: ‘We did’ discuss all the test results with Nifong.”

“The specific profiles of those reports and the details of those results were not included in the report.”

“I intended to include everything”

“What I left out of the report were specific profiles.”

Meehan: Nifong statement in court was “true” [Meehan is basically lying.]

Then, Meehan concedes that “there’s nothing in that report that includes details of discussions” with Nifong.

Meehan: Nifong’s statement “would be false.” “We don’t include narratives of discussions in any report.”

Concedes “there is no reference to it [May 12] report being an interim report.”

Meehan: received additional reference samples after May 12, did test results, and Meehan told Himan that they had done the additional testing.

Himan—“every occasion, he told Mr. Nifong, and Mr. Nifong told him there was no need to provide a report.”

Davis: How, then, were defense attorneys to have received the information?

Meehan: “This is the first time we’ve ever issued an interim report.”

Meehan: Nifong never used “interim” report. But was discussed this wasn’t a report for the trial.

Amended report “attempted to help clarify some of the shortcomings of the [May 12] report.”

[This has not been a good cross-examination for Nifong, at all.]

Concedes that amended report eliminated word “non-probative.”

Between the Dec. 15 and Jan. 10 report, “there were complaints made with our accrediting agency.” Concedes that “the terminology used [in the May 12 report] was not appropriate and did not convey my intent.”

DSI protocols have nine items that must be included in all reports. Meehan again concedes that report didn’t meet protocols.

Meehan: “I’ll go both ways here” in interpreting his lab’s protocols as they apply to the May 12 report.

Concedes he had never before issued a report that didn’t list results of all tests.

“I can’t answer your question”

“We have never issued an interim report.”—Mr. Obfuscation in action, refusing to answer the questions, or rephrasing the questions as he preferred.

“We’ve been through a lot of inspections” in last eight months.

“We would have been more than happy to issue a final report”—but not his responsibility to issue a final report, was Nifong’s responsibility. Concedes, however, that no one asked for amended report in Jan. 2007.

“Individuals from our accrediting agency and other advisors” told him to issue the Jan. 2007 report.

Meehan seems to blame the defense attorneys—they should have just called him up and asked him about the report(!!).

Jan. 10 document: “an amended report to the report.”

Glover has no redirect questions.

--

Judge Marcia Morey is now called—has been a district court judge in Durham since 1999, had been an ADA in Durham before then.

Morey: Nifong as ADA was an advocate of turning everything over to the defense.

Nifong an advocate of “equal playing field”

[This line of argument by Glover is an odd one: essentially, he’s saying that Nifong had a practice of turning over everything. If so, that makes his decision not to do so in this case all the more striking.]

Morey: don’t have luxury to read all documents when you have 100 or other cases. [But, of course, Nifong had no other cases at the time of the Sept. 22 hearing.]

--

X-exam, by Boyd Sturgis

Gets Morey to concede that turning over incomplete report would be misleading, and contrary to Nifong usual practice.

Morey: hypothetically, a lawyer saying there was nothing in discussions beyond what was in the report, and learning later that the report didn’t contain everything, would be less-than-candor—but “makes a difference” if not in a trial stage(!).

[She wasn’t very helpful to Nifong.]

--

David Saacks now testifies on Nifong’s behalf.

15-year employee, ADA in Durham, person who signed off on Tracey Cline’s non-testimonial order.

Glover now introduces the March 23 NTO—a document that should have been recognized as fraudulent at the time, and is demonstrably untrue now.

Saacks: Nifong had open-file discovery policy; his approach—if you have something to hide, probably shouldn’t prosecute the case.

x-exam:

Saacks went out of his way in the x-exam to distance himself from the case. He reiterated—as first came out at the Bar trial—that ADA Tracey Cline was prepared to assist Nifong in the case.

46 comments:

Debrah said...

Mikey looks so gaunt and haggard.

In the last year, he seems to have aged a decade.

Anonymous said...

I really dislike this man...

BDay

Anonymous said...

Please, make the cross as excoriating as possible....

BDay

Debrah said...

I thought this would be a good time to bring in Linwood to do some biblin' and testifyin' to his old friend-in-need, Mikey.

Hit it!

Anonymous said...

Judge Marcia Morey

She was forced to come, she was served. And she hurt Nifong at the end of cross.

I think she is not a big fan of Nifong actions.

Anonymous said...

This man is becoming a very repulsive individual the more I see his smirky dial on the picture tube!

One of lifes loosers who thought he was a legend in his own mind!

"AN ORRIBLE LITTLE MAN "

Anonymous said...

I wonder if he will say he still thinks something happened !!

I would feel more comfortable if Mr. Brocker (State Bar prosecutor) were prosecuting here...

BDay

Anonymous said...

omg non-ejaculatory event again.

Anonymous said...

I forget is this trial taking place in Russia or Rwanda?

Anonymous said...

to 12:29

wtf?

Anonymous said...

JLS says....,

Is there not a decent attorney in NC to advise Nifong to plead guilty IN ALL THESE CASES.

"....doing things day in and day out that he had never done before???" LIKE MAYBE HIDING EVIDENCE AND LYING TO A COURT?

Anonymous said...

Have to wonder why Nifong did not get Tracey Cline.

I wonder what she could tell us?

Anonymous said...

Because she is now in NH.
Have you noticed how Nifong's right eye is twitching?

Anonymous said...

He is a LIAR...

BDay

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

Irregardless????? hahahahaha! Nifong's attorney apparently does not speak English.

Anonymous said...

As I understand it, no one of the 46 ever got a copy of the results, even as of today.

Debrah said...

TO 12:55PM--

I hate to hear "irregardless".

It is nonsensical. It isn't even a real word!

Anonymous said...

"Glover is—if possible—speaking in more of a monotone than he was yesterday..."

With all due respect, technically, that is not possible.

Debrah said...

Again, a little sidebar:

The word is REGARDLESS.

If you want to use "irrespective", use it......but don't use "irregardless".

Anonymous said...

don't expect NY Slimes to cover this (another example of Gang88 behavior):

The first public screening of "Indoctrinate U" is set for the
Kennedy Center in Washington, DC! On the evening of September 28th,
the legendary venue that routinely hosts presidents and world
dignitaries will turn its screen over to "Indoctrinate U".

http://indoctrinate-u.com/pages/welcome.html

Debrah said...

And when someone is trying to say that they don't care at all about something, it is "I couldn't care less."

Not...."I could care less."...which is incorrectly used all the time.

If you "could care less", then you still care about what you are trying to say you don't care anything about.

You cancel out your own point.

OK?

Anonymous said...

Judge Marcia Morey seemed to have been brought as a friendly witness--I mean why have her if not to help.

I think she tried and tried, but at the end, she knew it had not worked. Morey had to go to plan B.

Before she left the stand, she told the cameras that she did not come as a character witness, but as a consequence of a subpeona. "They made me come."

I think the mention of the order to apprear is her disinfectant, should anyone try to to have her justify her apprearance.

Anonymous said...

One thing that the Bar Hearing attorneys did that has not been done in the contempt case was to explain Nifong's motivations. There has been little here to show that:

1. Nifong was behind in the polls.

2. Nifong spent large sums of money on his campaign.

3. Nifong went after the indictments.

4. Nifong moved up in the polls.

5. Nifong wins election.

6. Nifong can pay off his campaign debt.

I always think that if you are going to show that someone is lying, you also have to provide a context - "Why are they lying?" Maybe the prosecutor will get into this during Nifong's cross.
________________

I have said it before, Nifong is sending morse code signals to le resistance. 17 eyeblinks in rapid succession, followed by a pause, then 4 eyeblinks in rapid succession, followed by a smirk translates to "S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G [pause] H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D." If you don't believe me, look it up yourself.
________________

I hope that Reade, Dave and Collin are able to see how much his injustice has eaten away at Nifong. He is a shadow.
________________

"Disney has announced the opening of a new attraction in North Carolina, 'Johnsonland' will have scary rides, including the 'Rollercoaster of Justice,' and animatronic shows depicting the pot-banging march and the NBPP protest. I'm told the animatronic Victoria Peterson is very whine-like. Of course, an ice cream sandwich will still cost $6.75." FORTUNE MAGAZINE (Sept. '07). MOO! Gregory

Anonymous said...

My sweet, delicious Debbie

"Irregardless," while nonstandard, is indeed in the dictionary (see, eg, American Heritage). But I agree: the word is nonsensical--but can you tell me why?

Trinity '74

Anonymous said...

irregardless is a double negative

Anonymous said...

you are coreect,sir

Anonymous said...

To Debrah: I have used "I could care less" before, but only like this:

SILLY PERSON: "Blah, blah, blah...."

ME: "You know what, I could care less. See, give me a second here, right abooooouuut ... NOW ... I care even less, whoops, wait a second I almost cared a little more there, but no, I'm back to a downward spiral of caring less. [pause while holding up a hand] NOW, I cannot care less. Good day."
________________

Any scoop on other witnesses in the case? Will we see Cy Gurney or, perhaps, Crystal G. Mangum? Will the Judge make sure to finish this up today?
________________

"The animatronic K.C. Johnson broke free from it's moorings at 'Johnsonland' this morning, and it is now fighting crime and injustice throughout North Carolina. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest updates on this breaking ...." CNN (Aug. 31, 2007). MOO! Gregory

Anonymous said...

The word "irregardless" is found in a wide range of dictionaries including: Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged (1961, repr. 2002), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology (1988), The American Heritage Dictionary (Second College Edition, 1991), Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary (2001), and Webster’s New World College Dictionary (Fourth Edition, 2004).

The origin of irregardless is not known for certain, but the consensus among references is that it is a blend of irrespective and regardless, both of which are commonly accepted standard English words. By blending these words, an illogical word is created. Since the prefix ir- means "not" (as it does with irrespective), and the suffix -less means "without," irregardless is a double negative. However, such double negatives are already found in the language in such words as debone and unravel.

gak said...

irregardless
One entry found.

irregardless



Main Entry: ir·re·gard·less
Pronunciation: \ˌir-i-ˈgärd-ləs\
Function: adverb
Etymology: probably blend of irrespective and regardless
Date: circa 1912
nonstandard : regardless
usage Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that “there is no such word.” There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.


FROM M-W.COM

Anonymous said...

Debrah - do you also take issue with debone? or unravel?

Anonymous said...

[INSERT WITTY JOHNSONISM - I'M RIGHT OUT] MOO! Gregory

"The crowd at the first tee went into a stunned silence. Tiger Woods and Zach Johnson could only gape in amazement. They were stunned after seeing KC Johnson's drive from the tee on hole number 8 -- the Par 5, 570 yard monster,... for no one, not one sole had ever reached the green in 1. (Augusta National -- comments by William "Hootie" Johnson, 2008). MOO! inman

Anonymous said...

"Perhaps on order from the owner of his lab, he was wearing a suit today, rather than his outfit of yesterday, a short-sleeved shirt with “DNA Security” custom embroidery."

It's a tough call from a marketing point of view, deciding how heavily to position your lab as one that willing to cook up data to order. Obviously it will be very attractive to some police departments and prosecutors, but other potential customers will worry about the risk of defense challenges.

DSI should have a standing order with the LAPD.

Debrah said...

Gregory opines:

"You know what, I could care less. See, give me a second here, right abooooouuut ... NOW ... I care even less, whoops, wait a second I almost cared a little more there, but no, I'm back to a downward spiral of caring less. [pause while holding up a hand] NOW, I cannot care less. Good day."

LIS!

I hope I don't get too hot and bothered by all this. I'm not feeling up to the Diva max today.

I just might need to ly down and rest...right at this very moment!

Anonymous said...

The correct expression is

I could NOT care less--meaning, of course, that you not only uninterested, you're DISINTERESTED

Thank you very much.

Debrah said...

TO 1:50PM--

That was redundant.

It's all been explained.

And better.

:>)

Debrah said...

To 1:45PM--

Why would I?

Anonymous said...

Debrah,

I've always been curious how one could be "redundant", without first being "dundant."

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

12:29, I'm guessing they stepped through a wormhole and landed in Soviet Russia, because Crystal Gail Mangum would have probably been the legitimate victim (for perhaps the first time in her life) of an "honor killing." May all those responsible for this injustice and the persecution of these and other innocents everywhere live to see at least another 30,000 days, and may each day bring each and every one of them a new agony.

Debrah said...

To "inman"--

I suppose they can't.

LOL!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Tom Inman! That was a hootie! [See below]
________________

Why wouldn't Glover subpoena Nifong's doctor or psychiatrist? Those eye blinks are symptomatic of something. The travesty of Nifong's actions are symptomatic of the same thing or something else. Believe me, I'm hoping that the ex-prosecutor gets the full 30 days (and not house arrest), but Glover needs to START his defense of Nifong here sometime.

I wonder if this will be a situation in which the Judge sets a date in the future for sentencing? I hope not, but that is what is usually done in my jurisdiction for anything above a misdemeanor. (This is below a misdemeanor, so I use my experience only as a reference). Anyone know? Any good guesses?
___________________

"K.C. Johnson golfs with a 'mind wedge,' the same thing he used to send General Zod back to Krypton." Superman VII: Nifong's Revenge (UA 2009). MOO! Gregory

Anonymous said...

Gregory good one.

And about those eye blinks, I think there is an alternative explanation.

Nifong had tiny pneumatic pumps installed adjacent to the tear ducts on either side of his eyes. When he blinks, he is operating the pumps to inflate his ego.

Anonymous said...

WRAL.COM is back up! They need to pan over to K.C. Johnson and his laptop. At least give us a shot of Victoria, if she is there, pretty please.

Tiny pneumatic pumps! LOL Inflating the ego! Would explain the NUMBER of blinks, no doubt.
_____________

"This just in. The evil Nifong animatronic has escaped from 'Johnsonland' and is believed to be making its way to Durham County Courthouse. The use of 'evil,' in the preceding sentence is an example of 'dundancy.' Stay tuned for more on this ...." CNN (Aug. 31, 2007). MOO! Gregory

LarryD said...

I always think that if you are going to show that someone is lying, you also have to provide a context -

A context would be nice, but to prove a lie, all that is needed is to prove that the person made statements knowing that they were false. That's what a lie is, after all.

Anonymous said...

1:45 PM INMAN

People must read these simple inanities . . . in stunned silence. Idiots could wirte better drivel . . . much better, and so could Hootie wtite better, and it might even be as meaningful of some decent consideration of what is going on as yours is not. Hit that ball . . . you know it. Moo! Are you a communist? Well, . . . irregardess of the drivel . . . must be a Durham thing . . . irrrrrrrrrregardless of the facts.

Anonymous said...

5:09

You ARE a moron. Your writing skills suck. You have absolutely no sense of the history of this web log. You demonstrate your lack of tact and analytical ability as well as your lack of education. So...what is it....do you have a high school degree? Community college? What was your major?

Please, spare me your low-rent rants. I really don't care what you think of me. Especially if you remain anonymous. Pick a pseudonym like "Sucks My Toes" or "Sharp Pin Head" or "Using My Diddle" ...

Surely your limited imagination can come up with some unique moniker.

Give it a rest, hot-shot.
_________________________________

Oh and by the way -- a lot of posters here are fully aware of my bona fides,...and they will most surely rate you a "loser" .... if you continue.

Anonymous said...

To Larryd: You caught me with a nasty case of the "haftas"! If I could re-write my earlier post, I would exchange "have to" with "should."

I agree with your procedure for proving a lie.

In a murder trial, though, it is also nice to have context (a motive) to allow the finder of fact to rationalize the big question: "Why would somebody do something so horrible."

It may also make it psychologically easier for the judge to rationalize a more severe punishment. I recall Lane Williamson placing a lot of weight on the fact that Nifong's lies and other deceptions were self-serving. Nifong was not trying to be a victim's advocate; rather, he was trying:

(a) to build his pension;

(b) to win an election;

(c) to pay off campaign debt;

(d) etc....
_________________

"Italy's boot-shape is only surprising if you don't know K.C.'s reasons behind it." MOO! Gregory