Friday, June 10, 2011

Lock ‘em all up, and sort out the facts later… Durham Police Department Policy regarding the Not-So-Privileged?

A recent article in The News & Observer, titled “Accused stepdaughter wants her life back,” recounts how Carletta Alston, was arrested and charged with the murder of Michael Donnell Smith in June 2009. Although Wake County Prosecutor Tom Ford (who also wrongly prosecuted Gregory Taylor in the 1991 death of Jacquetta Thomas) had no credible evidence or even a motive against Ms. Alston, he held her in jail for a year before finally releasing her. It seems that in North Carolina’s justice system this practice of arresting an individual first and then working up a case against the person is not all that rare… especially amongst the poor, disenfranchised, people of color and those considered Not-So-Privileged.

This kind of arrest first, investigate later policy would not be tolerated if it was applied to the privileged, or those who were deemed to be professionals or educated. For example, Jason Young, who is currently on trial for the murder of his wife Michelle Young, was not scooped up and dumped in the slammer as soon as suspicions about him arose. Heck, no. The police and their investigators conducted a thorough investigation before making the arrest and bringing charges against him.

That is the way the justice system should work when it comes to making an arrest and bringing charges. Justice definitely was not served in the Carletta Alston case… more of which will be presented in the flog which is soon to follow.

In the past few days evidence has been unearthed, literally, which has brought media attention to yet another sad chapter of crime in the cash-strapped city of Durham. Specifically, the case of the so-called “Black Hebrews” religious cult with its leader Pete Moses Jr., who along with a half dozen others, has been charged with the murder of 28 year-old Antoinette McKoy and a five year-old boy, Jadon Higginbothan. According to media sources, a witness stated that cult leader Moses killed the little boy and ordered a follower, Vania Sisk, mother of the murdered boy, to shoot McKoy. It is believed that the deaths occurred sometime in December 2010.

Let me preface my following remarks by stating that neither Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez nor any of his investigators have shared any information about the case with me. All that I have gleaned about the case has come from the mainstream media… which is not the most reliable source. But it is the only source available to me.

I do not question the arrest and murder charges leveled against Pete Moses Jr. and Vania Sisk. From what I have read and viewed on television news, those charges seem to be warranted. Charges against five other individuals seems to be somewhat more suspect. Although Moses’s mother Sheilda Evelyn Harris rented the house nearly a year ago on Ashe Street where the bodies were found, I have seen no evidence that she was involved or had knowledge of the murders. On the television news broadcasts however, relatives of Ms. Harris claimed that she had no involvement in Moses’s religious cult or his crimes. Others arrested included Sheila Falisha Moses, 20; P. Leonard Moses, 20; Larhonda Renee Smith,40; and Lavada Quinzetta Harris, 40. Sheila and Leonard Moses are children of Ms. Harris, and siblings of cult leader Pete Moses Jr. Other than living in the house on Ashe Street, there was no information linking Sheila and Leonard in the crimes.

A newspaper article in today’s The News & Observer titled, “Site of woman’s body yields remains of child,” conveyed that Durham Police Chief Lopez stated that prior to discovery of the bodies on the Ashe Street property, Ms. Harris was not a suspect. The mere discovery of the bodies on the property does not in-and-of itself implicate Ms. Harris in the murder.

Although the five charged with murder (outside of Pete Moses and Vania Sisk), are being held without bail, the real possibility exists that they may be totally innocent… that they could have had no knowledge of the crime. It is possible that one or more may have aided or abetted Pete Moses, and possibly deserved a lesser charge of “accessory after the fact.” And, although I believe that it is highly unlikely, the five could have all taken part in the murders and be guilty as charged.

It just seems to me that when it comes to making arrests amid those who are of the Not-So-Privileged class, police and prosecutors in Durham and Wake Counties, as well as other counties within the state, have no qualms about making arrests first and investigating second. I believe that it should be the other way around.

If I were a bettin’ man, I would be inclined to believe that before the dust settles, of the five presently in custody and facing murder charges (excluding Pete Moses Jr. and Vania Sisk), most, if not all of them will have the murder charges against them reduced or dropped. Although arresting the Not-So-Privileged may be popular with conservative law and order Republicans, arresting and charging people without credible evidence is an unjust policy that results in unnecessary misery and hardship, and drains the county coffers that are maintained with taxpayer dollars.

Arrest first and investigate second policies in Durham, Wake County and throughout North Carolina should be abandoned immediately, and in its place there should be a principle that requires an investigation that yields credible evidence before an arrest takes place… in other words, the same policy that is currently in place for the Privileged class should be applied to the Not-So-Privileged.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the Duke case the so-called privileged lacrosse players were arrested and charged after Nifong had evidence that proved beyond all doubt that they were innocent so at least in that case your theory doesn't apply.After being exconerated Reade Seligmann said he couldn't imagine what they would do to a person who did not have the resources to defend himself.

Nifong Supporter said...


Anonymous said...
"In the Duke case the so-called privileged lacrosse players were arrested and charged after Nifong had evidence that proved beyond all doubt that they were innocent so at least in that case your theory doesn't apply.After being exconerated Reade Seligmann said he couldn't imagine what they would do to a person who did not have the resources to defend himself."


In our state's system of selective justice there are two standards that are applied. One for the "Privileged" and another set of standards for the "Not-So-Privileged." Mr. Seligmann, and others who fall into the former category are usually treated with kid gloves... instead of being arrested they are usually handed a fine, for example.

What happened in the Duke Lacrosse case is that Mike Nifong dared to charge a member of the "Privileged" class. That is what led to the state, with assistance of the biased mainstream media, attacking him so viciously. They wanted to send a message to other prosecutors to give careful consideration before prosecuting a "Privileged."

The flog which I am about to post goes into depth about the differences in treatment of the two classes by the state's justice system.

For those who prefer to read, a script will also be available.

Thereby, go and be enlightened.

Walt said...

Sid, you wrote: "What happened in the Duke Lacrosse case is that Mike Nifong dared to charge a member of the "Privileged" class. That is what led to the state, with assistance of the biased mainstream media, attacking him so viciously."

Be serious, Nifong was the media darling until the truth finally came out in the AG's report. Up to that moment, the media had reported his every utterance as the whole truth as if he had it engraved on tablets of stone. If the media had any bias it was in favor of Nifong and his lies.

Walt-in-Durham

Anonymous said...

"arresting the Not-So-Privileged may be popular with conservative law and order Republicans..."

Are you claiming now that Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez and Durham DA Tracey Cline are Republicans?

Anonymous said...

Funny reading, Sid. Hilarious. Now, the same people who caved to pressure from the whacked out liberal 88, 54 of whom were black, are now conservative (translated, evil racist) Republicans? Really, Sid?? Wow.
Sometime you might want to spend a few minutes reading a freshman law text about probable cause, Sid. I know it has big words in it, but give it a shot.
Misconduct in Durham law enforcement? City Government screw-upss? Poor leadership? Wow, now that's news, Sid. Geeeeez, none of us had any idea just how corrupt Nifong, Brother Linwoodwood, and company really were till you came along and enlightened us.
Keep it up, Sid. You get funnier by the day.

Anonymous said...

I suggest to you, Sid, that you might want to take a little closer look at the race of some of those villians in the Durham police department who you so freely accuse of treating people differently based on their race. Seems to me I recall that significant numbers of senior police dept. officials just happen to be black. So, does this mean that these individuals are oreos, toms, or whatever nasty term you use? Or, are they mind-tricked into behaving badly against their brothers and sisters by evil white people? or, perhaps your whole worldview is essentially flawed by your own racism so that you cannot see the how and why of what happens except through the prism of your own warped glasses.
I say again, and I will keep saying, that there ARE bad cops, bad prosecutors, bad judges and bad government officials who operate in Durham.........BOTH black and white. And, there are good cops, good prosecutors, good judges and (even) good government officials who operate in Durham.....BOTH black and white. You miss the mark, over and over, because your own bitterness and bias make you unable to see the character of individuals, rather than their color. Nifong and Wilson were and are a disgrace to the legal/law profession and to Durham. They are white. Victoria and Jackie are a disgrace to their community. They are black. You always defend yourself against accusations of your own racism by waving your Token White Flag for Nifong. Anybody with a brain sees through it, Sid.
By the way, I just read a demographic summary of the population on Texas Death Row for the past ten years. As divided by race: 54% white, 31% black, balance hispanic and mixed. As Lucy would say to Ricky, "'splain"!!