Thursday, July 8, 2010

Lessons learned from James Arthur Johnson

James Arthur Johnson served a sentence of 39 months in jail. Because Special Prosecutor W. David McFadyen, Judge Milton Fitch and others applied sufficient pressure, Johnson accepted an Alford plea to a “misprision of felony” charge. Despite pleading guilty to the charge, Johnson was not technically or legally guilty of the charge. The misprision charge is rarely employed by the prosecution for a person who withholds his/her knowledge of a crime. James Arthur Johnson did not withhold knowledge of a crime because he was the one who told police the true identity of the person he believed to be responsible. The prosecutors were quick to point out that Mr. Johnson waited three days before going to the police with the evidence, but the charge of misprision of felony does not specify a time limit. Johnson didn’t wait three years, three months, or even three weeks before going to the police with his knowledge of the crime, yet he spent more than three years in jail because he did not go to the police within three hours or so of learning about the crime.

The plea deal in Johnson’s case is very chilling, because the misprision of felony can be leveled against anyone who does not report knowledge of a crime immediately. Most people want to at least think about the consequences to themselves and their families if they go to the police with information of a crime. As things stand with the James Arthur Johnson plea deal, as the clock ticks, people will be less inclined to come forward to help solve a crime out of fear of being incarcerated for misprision of felony… especially people of color and in the lower socio-economic strata.

Wilson Prosecutor Bill Wolfe had full knowledge that James Arthur Johnson was not involved in the crimes against Brittany Willis, but because the confessed killer was an African American male, Wolfe transferred his hostility of the killer to all African American men. Wolfe wanted to punish Johnson because he was an African American, not because he felt he had any involvement in the crime. And, Wolfe, along with Wilson District Attorney Howard S. Boney Jr. were able to obtain an unreachable bail and drag out pre-trial proceedings for 39 months before a trial could no longer be delayed. Wolfe never had a case against Johnson, as the only witness, the confessed killer, later admitted he implicated Johnson out of anger because he had “snitched” on him. That didn’t deter Wolfe, as he lined up two other “eyewitnesses,” both with connections with the Wilson Police Department. However, when Reverend William Barber of the NAACP took interest in the case, the increased scrutiny forced Wolfe to silently jettison his witnesses.


Up until the day of the trial, Wolfe tried to wrangle a plea deal out of Johnson, who had languished in jail more than three years. Johnson refused, and in calling the prosecution’s bluff, the Wolfe and Boney folded like an accordion and announced they were turning the case over to a special prosecutor so there would be no doubt about the fairness of the proceedings.

The truth is that Wolfe, after releasing his two phony witnesses, had no plan of taking his case to trial because he had no case. All his marbles were on Johnson agreeing to a plea deal, which, fortunately, did not happen. However, because Johnson had stated during his initial interview with police investigators that he had helped wipe fingerprints off the victim's car (an event that had no bearing on the confession of the admitted killer), Forsyth Prosecutor Belinda Foster was forced to charge Johnson with “accessory after the fact” while dropping charges of murder, rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery against him. It was the threat of being convicted on the “accessory” charge (though remote) and the possibility of being sentenced to more jail time, along with unbearable pressure from others that made Johnson accept the Alford plea. The Alford plea allows the defendant to maintain his/her innocence while forcing him/her to admit that the prosecution has enough evidence to prevail in obtaining a conviction.

Like James Arthur Johnson unjustly served a sentence of 39 months without being convicted of a crime, it was the intent of the Durham prosecution, under Assistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-Lamarca, to have Crystal Gail Mangum serve a two year sentence… minimum. That was the first plea deal the prosecution made after Ms. Mangum’s arrest on charges which included felony attempted first degree murder, and felony first degree arson. The prosecution never had any intention of taking the case against Ms. Mangum to trial. Their intent was to follow the pattern of Bill Wolfe, which is: 1) levy a serious charge (felony attempted first degree murder); 2) use the charge to bolster a high bail ($ 1 million); 3) have the prosecution (which controls the pace of court proceedings) move at a snail’s pace; and 4) after sufficient time has been deemed to have been served, offer a plea deal in exchange for “time served.” This was the way things were supposed to go.

Unexpectedly, after Mangum had served 90 days behind bars, angelic bail bondsmen with courage, kindness, and generosity, satisfied the bond needed to release her from the Durham Detention Center, although a condition of her release was that she be placed under house arrest. The house arrest is the last vestige of leverage the prosecutors have on forcing Ms. Mangum to accept a plea deal, and so they offered it to Ms. Mangum in order to extricate themselves from the sticky mess that they had gotten into. The prosecution is not now, and has never been preparing to take this case to trial. It was a plea deal from the beginning, and the District Attorney’s office was counting on the other state employees from the Public Defender’s office, to encourage Ms. Mangum to accept a plea deal.

Again, unexpectedly, members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong enveloped Ms. Mangum in their protective arms, and encouraged her not to plead guilty for a crime that she did not commit. Ms. Mangum needs to be restored, as best as possible, to the same condition that she was on the day of her arrest: living independently and supporting her three children in an apartment, employed full-time, and taking a full load in a graduate program at NCCU where she is pursuing a Master’s Degree in psychology. The Durham Police Department and Durham District Attorney’s office have a duty to restore in Crystal and her children faith in law enforcement, so that when the need arises they can feel comfort in calling 9-1-1 instead of consternation.

James Arthur Johnson pleaded guilty to a crime he did not commit. We, members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, do not want history to repeat in Crystal Mangum’s case.

Link follows to News & Observer article about Ms. Mangum and her attorney:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/08/570257/crystal-mangums-attorney-quits.html

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

you people are such pathetic loosers

Anonymous said...

First 5 paragraphs: cogent, intelligent arguement about prosecutorial misconduct (despite reaching a bit far for Mr Wolfe's hatred of ALL black men). Then the wheel fall off. It's not that I'm a fan of the Durham prosecutors or prosecutors in general, I'm not, but CGM's past behavior and the wild and wonderful circumstances that must happpen for one to believe her just leave me flat. I'm a firm believer in Occam's Razor-the simplest theory is usually the correct one...

Anonymous said...

members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong enveloped Ms. Mangum in their protective arms

What's she charging for that these days, Sidney? Or does she give freebies to the J4N guys?

Anonymous said...

Dissension in the ranks?

This from the comments section in the latest N&O article:

Dear Mr. DeConto:

Sidney Harr (alias, "lay advocate") does not speak for the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong. Opinions he has expressed are his own. All media contact is to be made to the publicist for Crystal Mangum, Vincent Edward Clark. His contact email address is: [....@....].

Thank you.

Brod Dickhead said...

Sidney,

The CoJfMN has reached the big time:


.....Jones also suggested that Mangum was now taking legal counsel from a handful of pro-Nifong cranks (a group including former Nifong citizens’ committee chair Victoria Peterson) who hold up the disgraced former prosecutor as a paragon of ethics. These are also about the only people (apart, of course, from the Group of 88) who are still on record as saying something “happened” to Mangum."

kenhyderal said...

Anonymous said... In the previous thread
"He advised her to accept a plea bargain for a crime she did commit" Which of the six remaining indictments, in your opinion, did she supposedly commit?

kenhyderal said...

Anonymous said "This from the comments section in the latest N&O article" Can you post that link?

Anonymous said...

LOL, this just in from the N&O:

"By phone today, [Asst Public Defender] Jones said Mangum has not been following his legal advice. He pulled her aside after the hearing Wednesday when he saw her talking with members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, who say the public defender's office can't adequately represent her because they work for the state, which they say is out to punish her because of the Duke lacrosse case.

"[Committee member] Sidney Harr has absolutely no clue what's going on with this case," Jones said. "I have told him a number of times to stay away from my office."

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/08/571111/attorney-remains-on-mangums-team.html

Anonymous said...

Well the lacrosse whorehouse
is sure jumping today. Where is
the line to butt-f*ck Dave Evans?
Oh, I see, behind Roy Cooper and
Joe Cheshire.

Anonymous said...

@ kenhyderal:

It is the 2nd comment, posted by Cicero02 on July, 7 7:33 PM:

Lance the Intern said...

Sid -- I'm kinda confused here...CGM will be asking to relocate her house arrest on Monday, correct?

One of the articles linked here (anonymous at 3:27pm) states that the relocation is because her father died and her mother has taken ill...But the article goes on to state that she is currently confined to her parent's house....Why does she need to relocate to take care of her parents, when she's already in their house?

kenhyderal said...

The report that Crystale is confined to her parents home is incorrect Crystal is staying with a friend.

Anonymous said...

How do YOU know this, kenhyderal? I can only find references to a "Savannah Street" residence, with no indication of who the residence belongs to....Who is the "friend" CGM is staying with?

kenhyderal said...

That information is, of course, confidential.

Anonymous said...

Where's Dave Evans livin these days?
Got a great party photo of him and his
mustache. Love to send him a copy.

Free Tillie!!! She hates living w/ Nifong! said...

kenhyderal - That information is, of course, confidential.

Not really, since the full address was published earlier.

But look at the big brain on ken, all knowin' shit and everthang! Got the 411 all the way over in da Dubai, huh?

Brod Dickhead said...

@ Free Tillie:

You will have to

t..y..p..e..
s..l..o..w..l..y
u..s..i.n..g
s..m..a..l..l
w..o..r..d..s


for kenhyderal - after all he is a

C..a..n..a..d..i..a..n

Anonymous said...

Anonymous @ July 8, 2010 8:51 PM:

Consider this from a comment on a previous post:

"Blogger kenhyderal said...

Those who are unable to effectively debate a question and then resort to ad hominen attacks are the ones who display ignorance.

July 7, 2010 2:19 PM"

Anonymous @ July 8, 2010 8:51 PM:

If you have such a photo, send it to Sidney Harr so he can post it.

I suspect this, like any evidence of a crime against Ms. Mangum, does niot exist.

Prove to us it does exist.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous @ July 8, 2010 8:51 PM has the style of someone named Kilgo who has disappeared from this blog.

Kilgo used to proclaim he had very extensive knowledge about the false rape case. When challenged to tell what he knew, he responded with rather vulgar ad hominem attacks against those who questioned him.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous July 8, 2010 8:51 PM --

Before, during and after party pics of David Evans were made public -- no mustache. It would be interesting to see what you have -- along with the camera data for the pic (proving when it was taken and that it had not been photo shopped).

You can post a link to the pic here....

Anonymous said...

Kilgo was actually a founding member
of the Liestoppers. And yes, they had to
boot him because he knew too much.

Sidney, have you seen this so called
party photo? Has Mike Nifong ever seen it?

guiowen said...

If a photo of Evans with a mustache existed, don't you think it would have surfaced long ago?

Anonymous said...

The victim's missing white shoe never surfaced either.
Perhaps Dave Evans keeps the missing white shoe
on his living room mantle.

Anonymous said...

Of course, a great party photo of Dave
and his "party mustache", does not mean
he's a rapist. It does prove his lawyers
and parents are god damn liars.

And being god damn liars does not mean
he's a rapist either. But it sure makes
the "victim" look more credible.

What do you say Sid?

We really want to know
if we got our $21 million worth.

Free Tillie!!! She hates living w/ Nifong! said...

Anonymous @ 8:25 PM - But it [a mythical party pic of Evans] sure makes the "victim" look more credible.

Hardly. She's still just a lying whore.

Anonymous said...

...





THE

SILENCE

IS

SICKENING




...

Anonymous said...

I feel a lawsuit coming on:

Sidney slanders Rae Evans in a radio interview:

http://ondemand.wbt.com/media/episodes/WBT16201007081600.mp3

To save time - interview timeline 27:10 to 35:00 minutes.

I think Sidney has seriously lost his marbles.

Free Tillie!!! She hates living w/ Nifong! said...

Anonymous 8:03 AM - I think Sidney has seriously lost his marbles.

It is funny to watch J4N in action. Buncha clowns giving legal advice to Crystal, and they don't even play attorneys on TV.

Their involvement has already caused Crystal problems, and it probably won't stop.

Anonymous said...

Which law school did you flunk out of?

Anonymous said...

When challenged to reveal what he knew, kilgo never could.

Anonymous said...

Considering kilgo's performance on the justice4nifong blog, it is unlikely he knows or ever has known anything about the Duke Rape Hoax,

Anonymous said...

Kilgo is the name of a Duke dorm.
Do you suppose he may have attended
the stripper party?

Anonymous said...

"I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred -- and I never will. … In all honesty, I think they're guilty. … Somebody did something besides underage drinking. That's my honest-to-God impression."

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"I feel a lawsuit coming on:

Sidney slanders Rae Evans in a radio interview:

http://ondemand.wbt.com/media/episodes/WBT16201007081600.mp3

To save time - interview timeline 27:10 to 35:00 minutes.

I think Sidney has seriously lost his marbles."


As a matter of fact, Ms. Tara Servatius, the gracious host of her conservative talk show, did give me some air time during our brief congenial conversation. And I also remember stating that Rae Evans was an executive at CBS News for ten years. Well, that is the truth... and truth is a defense against slander allegations.

Anonymous goes on to say that I have lost my marbles, but does not explain how he came to that conclusion. If you can come up with a reason for such a statement about my mental state, I would be interested in hearing it.

Nifong Supporter said...


Free Tillie!!! She hates living w/ Nifong! said...
"Anonymous 8:03 AM - I think Sidney has seriously lost his marbles.

It is funny to watch J4N in action. Buncha clowns giving legal advice to Crystal, and they don't even play attorneys on TV.

Their involvement has already caused Crystal problems, and it probably won't stop."


What I do not find funny is the fact that Ms. Mangum languished 90 days in jail, and is currently under house arrest despite the fact that she is no flight risk, is not a danger to society, has a $100,000 bond in place and is not guilty of any of the charges lodged against her stemming from the February 17, 2010 incident. It is obvious the prosecution is the one without a case because they are desperately trying to wrangle a plea deal from Ms. Mangum. Unfortunately, the public defender is in the employ of the state, and that's where his primary loyalties lie. Committee members may not have attended law school, but we cannot do any worse than the counsel she's received so far.

Anonymous said...

..

Anonymous said...

The point is that the zeal you exhibit in going after Mr. Nifong is not balanced by your seeming non-interest you have to giving any thought to whole subject of exonerations in North Carolina period.

You are a historian. You would not start a study of current Middle Eastern history from the most recent Gaza War. To have context, you have to go back at least to rupture of the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th Century and the emergence of Zionism and build forward.

Go ask Joe Cheshire why it was so important to change the legislation in North Carolina over discovery rules. Within days of the dismissal of the charges, a law sponsored by the trial lawyers passed the legislature. Pay attention people. That was so they could get poor black men and red necks you people would not let in your houses out of jail. Talk about irony!

Know your North Carolina history. Know that Governor Easley and AG Roy Cooper have some very suspect convection in their past and the Democratic Party contributors at the bar would never go after them.

Be consistent and call for the legislature to pay all exonerate men an amount proportional to what you are asking for the crybabies and see how much support you get for that. Call for the bar, run by Cheshire, to go after DA's that they have already won against in court. It will never happen. They do not have an interest in that. Guess what, you will never see that because the cat will be out of the bag.

KC, admit you are a shill for the players families to misdirect and to try to influence public opinion. What have you been promised? What do you benefit? How do you have so much inside dope on the case? Does the judge need to slap you on the wrists for helping Bork and his crew try to get around the order for everyone to keep silent? Seems to me that someone needs to look into how close you are to certain people. To be sure this isn’t just your hobby.

From my reading of things, you seem to be a very well respected fellow. Why taint your reputation by getting in bed with people like Howowitz and Gaynor? Even if you are not pals with them, they sure do carry a heavy odor. The stench they carry is hard to wash off. Gaynor even sounds like an anti-Semite to me. Horowitz just hates himself. What about you KC are you feeling unfulfilled or do you covet something the chattering class has? You want to be invited on Hannity or Fox and Friends?

Won’t all of you feel so silly when the cases are dismissed? The few counts that might make it to court will not stand either because somebody will have to try to explain the convoluted story about a conspiracy to harm the choirboys.

Go ahead and accuse me of being stupid. You are the patsy on this one. Too bad your legacy will be your obsession with this case. Pathetic and sad is it not when you thought you would be considered a hero and now you are just a dope. Yes, I called you a name. Since most of this has reverted to childish rants, I figured I would beat you to the punch. My skin is thicker than anyone on here so have at it. Call me whatever you want.

3/29/09 12:27 AM

..

Anonymous said...

..

Anonymous said...

The point is that the zeal you exhibit in going after Mr. Nifong is not balanced by your seeming non-interest you have to giving any thought to whole subject of exonerations in North Carolina period.

Go ask Joe Cheshire why it was so important to change the legislation in North Carolina over discovery rules. Within days of the dismissal of the charges, a law sponsored by the trial lawyers passed the legislature. Pay attention people. That was so they could get poor black men and red necks you people would not let in your houses out of jail. Talk about irony!

Know your North Carolina history. Know that Governor Easley and AG Roy Cooper have some very suspect convection in their past and the Democratic Party contributors at the bar would never go after them.

Be consistent and call for the legislature to pay all exonerate men an amount proportional to what you are asking for the crybabies and see how much support you get for that. Call for the bar, run by Cheshire, to go after DA's that they have already won against in court. It will never happen. They do not have an interest in that. Guess what, you will never see that because the cat will be out of the bag.

KC, admit you are a shill for the players families to misdirect and to try to influence public opinion. What have you been promised? What do you benefit? How do you have so much inside dope on the case? Does the judge need to slap you on the wrists for helping Bork and his crew try to get around the order for everyone to keep silent? Seems to me that someone needs to look into how close you are to certain people. To be sure this isn’t just your hobby.

From my reading of things, you seem to be a very well respected fellow. Why taint your reputation by getting in bed with people like Howowitz and Gaynor? Even if you are not pals with them, they sure do carry a heavy odor. The stench they carry is hard to wash off. Gaynor even sounds like an anti-Semite to me. Horowitz just hates himself. What about you KC are you feeling unfulfilled or do you covet something the chattering class has? You want to be invited on Hannity or Fox and Friends?

Won’t all of you feel so silly when the cases are dismissed? The few counts that might make it to court will not stand either because somebody will have to try to explain the convoluted story about a conspiracy to harm the choirboys.

Go ahead and accuse me of being stupid. You are the patsy on this one. Too bad your legacy will be your obsession with this case. Pathetic and sad is it not when you thought you would be considered a hero and now you are just a dope. Yes, I called you a name. Since most of this has reverted to childish rants, I figured I would beat you to the punch. My skin is thicker than anyone on here so have at it. Call me whatever you want.

3/29/09 12:27 AM

..

Anonymous said...

..

unbekannte said...

Anonymous at 3/29/09 12:27 AM posts on the justice4nifong blog as kilgo. I have referred to him as silly Donald Duck killy. I offer my apologies to Mr. Duck but kilgo's responses to some of my posts on that blog were like a Donald Duck cartoon tantrum.

Kilgo has claimed to have extensive knowledge of the cgm case, at one point claiming to know more than all the Liestoppers put together. When challenged to reveal his knowledge, he responds with name calling and invective. Recently he offered as evidence of his extensive knowledge his ability to know the weather in Durham better than someone in Brooklyn.

He, in my opinion, is one of many examples of why the Lacrosse players would havr never received a fair trial in Durham. He "knew" the LAX players were guilty and no facts or evidence would show otherwise.

3/29/09 5:26 PM

unbekannte said...

Here is silly killy's latest post on justice4nifong:


"Doctor Ubes"

QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK

QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK

QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK

QUACK QUACK

March 29, 2009 7:31 PM"

I think his Donald Duck tantrums are rather amusing. They show how much he actually knows.

3/30/09 7:05 AM

..

kenhyderal said...

Crystal gave a very good interview on http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=ifyoumissedit.

The Louvre of DNA is a nasty-ass hoor said...

kenhyerdal - Crystal gave a very good interview

Lord willing we won't have Ol' Nasty Gash to kick around any more. She said she might move from NC and change her name.

'Din't do it', 'it's not my fault', ad infinitum ad nauseum. Is this slut ever going to accept responsibility for her actions and life?

Nifong Supporter said...


I had a very interesting conversation with conservative radio talk show host Tara Servatius the other day. I believe a commenter even posted a link. The next blog also provides a link through our website, and discusses the conversation.

Anonymous said...

Tawana Brawley left New York State and changed her name. She refused to testify at to a grand jury investigating her claims of abduction and rape. When sued for falsely accusing a man of raping her, she defaulted.

Ms. Mangum may be following this pattern.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Finnerty Louvre DNA, so nice of you to
come visit the Lacrosse Whorehouse.
There is your pal KC Johnson over in the corner.
Collin and him make such a sweet couple.