Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Thank You, Steve Monks!

Herald-Sun editor Bob Ashley no doubt got a chuckle at the returns, as his pro-Monks effort paid dividends. Though Mike Nifong failed to obtain a majority of the vote--despite the Democratic Party line and the endorsement of two of Durham's three political action committees--the Monks spoiler effort worked perfectly from Ashley's perspective, siphoning off enough votes from the Cheek line to allow Nifong to prevail.

A couple of quick reactions:
  • A majority of the county's electorate (and jury poll) expressed a lack of confidence in the D.A.
  • Some choice comments from several posters at TalkLeft:
    • "[Monks] will go down as the most stupid, incompetent, delusional man in local political history. Nifong should reward him now with some nice pleas on his court appointments for indigent defendants. In a just world, there would be some consequence to Monks for doing what he did. I hope he finds justice.
    • "Monks should not only be banned from polite society, but trailed by any journalist worth the pixels he writes in. his decision to stay on the ballot stinks to high heaven."
    • "Steve Monks will be anathema to decent, intelligent people in Durham. He is a fool. Without him, Nifong loses. His motives will be suspect from this day forward, with the best possible light showing him to be a vainglorious, prideful fool."
    • "Well, way to go Steve Monks. You have almost single-handedly sabotaged the very thing you alleged was most important to you and for Durham - to replace acting DA Mike Nifong. What kind of deal did you work out with him for you to refuse to drop out and support the ABN-VC campaign? Or was it vanity? Or an opportunistic quest for power If yours had been a sincere campaign, I would offer condolensces. Instead, I offer condemnation. You deserve what Nifong brought and brings to Durham."
    • "I believe he knew exactly what he was doing to. I can't imagine he believed he was going to be elected-that's nonsense. He did not campaign against Nifong. All he did was campaign against Cheek. And sure enough, that got Nifong elected in the end."
    • "Monks lied. He said that if it could be proven he had no chance to win, he would drop out to give Cheek his votes. It was proven in the last poll. He didn't drop out. He deserves the blame for Nifong's win, clearly and poignantly. I hope it reverberates back to him in untold ways."
Monks and advisors Charlotte Woods and Cliff Brandt deserve the strongest possible censure; they can spend the next several months, or at least until the entire case comes crashing down, knowing that their actions helped the county's "minister of injustice" to slip through.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

KC Johnson:

Excellent comments once again.

Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

K.C.,

As I said in my email to you, I am restricted on what language I can use to describe my feelings toward Monks right now. But, that does not mean this battle ends. I pledge to continue to write about this injustice and Liefong or no Liefong, I am in it for the duration.

William L. Anderson

Anonymous said...

Lets hope that the national media will pick up on some of Nifong's comments and recent revelations in the case once the election takes a back seat.

We know the Bar won't do anything since the head of Durham County wants her son to move up in the DA's office... The Democratic governor will leave a fellow democrat in office... And Nifong will continue to grow his ego and arrogance (Typical Tar Heel).

His actions today are unbelievable. I can't wait until he has to face the Feds.

Oh and since you read the blogs. Hi Mike. Enjoy your 'victory'

Anonymous said...

I would like to say what I really think of Steve Monks here but am afraid I might offend someone or have children read it. So I will just say I hope the people of Durham treat him like a leper.

Anonymous said...

Nifong won this skanky election but he now faces a choice: Does he look for a way out of this or does he press on and double the bet he is undertaking?
I am a bit of a history buff. Forgive my lapse into melodrama but I detect in Nifong the same sort of narciccistic madness of a Hitler. So I think he will proceed to a trial convinced of his own ability to scam everybody, or at least enough people.
I cannot get out of my head the grim fact that he knows that his case is bogus. He is doing this knowing that we know he is lying. This became obvious as soon as he stopped looking for more evidence and refused to listen to exculpatory facts. Res ipsa loquitor.
OTOH, he is not especially smart and he clearly has no idea of the type people has decided to take on.
One strong lesson of this affair (to me) is that there are a lot of smart people in this country but few indeed work in journalism or the Durham DAs office.
The LAX guys will win in the end. Nifong will be disgraced, or worse. But race relations in Durham will not get off so lightly. That part sucks and I cannot see a happy ending to it.

Anonymous said...

Monks should be "tarred and feathered" !

Anonymous said...

Re the 11:26 post--and a question to those who are familiar with the Durham legal community: Finesse Couch is the head of the voluntary bar association in Durham, but she is not the head of the mandatory bar, i.e., the one that presumably credentials lawyers to practice there. It seems likely this mandatory bar would be in charge of disciplinary proceedings, but I am not from North Carolina, and I don't know. Does anyone else reading know the answer to this question?

Anonymous said...

The Feds need to go in and clean house in Durham. The level of corruption is mind boggeling. The people of this country who stand for truth and justice will not sit back quietly and let Nifong and NC corrupt public officials to get away with this. I am also in it until these young men are vindicated. I think the Federal government must step in as it is apparant to the world that NC has no system of checks and balances.

Blue Devil Knight said...

Monks is either an idiot or Nifong's lackey. This sucks.

Anonymous said...

Regarding your article on Monks:

THis is from 11/8 "Chronicle":

Monks is quoted as saying "Cheek should have not alowed his name to be used. He isn't 'A' material. He is not a prosecutor and has never done any significant defense work."

Right. Let's see Monks' resume.

Anonymous said...

It seems that had Freda Black run as the independent candidate, she would have won. If she had run, Monks probably would not have run since the voters would have had the choice of an experienced prosecutor willing to serve. Does anyone know what prevented her from running?

Anonymous said...

Since Freda lost in the primary she was not allowed on the ballot in the general election. Something like a 'sore loser rule'. Has anyone asked Monks how many work in his 5 law offices? Any other lawyers, staff, secretaries? The number for all 5 offices is his personal cell phone. Was it all about politics or was there a deal. KC - please keep your eye on Monks cases to see if he's getting deals from the DA....

Nifong's day will come... sadly it just didn't happen on 11/7

Anonymous said...

8:21: The North Carolina State Bar is the agency which would be responsible for disciplining attorneys.

Anonymous said...

Freda couldn't run. There is a sore loser clause, so she was forbidden to run, unfortunately.

Anonymous said...

My name is Rhonda Fleming and here is a brief account of what I have had to go through to seek justice for my beloved brother........Feel Free to contact me!
Here is my latest attempt at JUSTICE, only to have Chief Crabtree tell me "It's been handled!" As in, THROWN IN THE GARBAGE!
Durham County Sheriff's Office
Complaint Form for Citizens
Nature: MISCONDUCT OCA #:
Citizen's Name: Rhonda Fleming Race & Sex:W/F
Home Address:
City: Cleveland State: Ohio Zip:
If applicable, please list other complaints and/or witnesses: Paul Martin and TJ Mellown


Officer/Employee involved: TJ Mellown Division: Sheriff Dept
Officer/Employee involved: Paul Martin Division: Sheriff Dept
Location of incident: Durham Sheriff's Dept
Date & Time of incident: May 11, 2005-July 16, 2005 3PM
Complaint received by: Date:
Forwarded for resolution to: From:
Re-Forwarded for resolution to: From:
Summary of Incident (__ Additional information attached.)
From the moment my brother was found executed, we, as in my mother and I have been lied to, threatened with legal action for calling about details of his death, and for calls to make a report of fraud on behalf of my brother's wife to obtain his body, and estate. Mr Mellown lied about there being an autopsy, failed to do an investigation to protocol, and he and Mr Martin have been insulting, abusive, and hang up on us when we call. I have tried NUMEROUS times to file a complaint, my letters go in the garbage, and my calls get hung up on! The conduct of these two "officers" are unethical, and have been verbally abusive to us, and about my brothers death. It took Mr Mellown over a year to send us a single report, after my mother and I both sent by certified mail our requests for documents under the FOIA, and the now Public Records Act. We have been told there were numerous pictures and video of the crime scene on a computer disk, but they refuse to comply or admit the existence of them. I consider the actions of these 2 to be criminal acts, such as threatening me, lies about the crime, and the manner of investigation that was botched and shoddy to say the least! I wish these men to be held accountable, and am forwarding this document to the media and other public officials for resolution.

Resolution: (__ Additional information attached.)
Citizen notified by Phone _____ Mail _____
Officer submitting form to Chief Deputy: Date:

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