Showing posts with label Duke Hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duke Hospital. Show all posts
Monday, February 10, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Bar v. Harr: Round two
LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog24/flog24rid.html
Click the LINK below to access the accompanying Directory of Documents –
LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/direc/direc02.htmNote: The Directory of Documents can be accessed following the flog and the flog can be accessed from the Directory.
Narrative of the flog follows below:
Word count: 1, 673
In the wee hours of Sunday, April 3, 2011, Crystal Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser, stabbed Reginald Daye in the left side with a steak knife. She claims, and evidence supports, that she did so in self-defense in fear for her life.
Emergency surgery on Mr. Daye at Duke University Hospital hours later revealed injury to the colon and a minor lesion to the spleen… both of which were repaired. The operation was deemed to be successful with a postoperative prognosis for a full recovery.
On his third post-op day, Wednesday, April 6, 2011, effects of severe alcoholic withdrawal, or delirium tremens, set in and resulted Mr. Daye’s transfer to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit… he was a heavy alcoholic.
A medical mishap, the accidental intubation of the esophagus instead of the trachea, resulted in deprivation of vital oxygen flow to the lungs… which prevented oxygen from reaching the blood stream, the red blood cells, and other cells of the body.
The heart, starved of oxygen, lapsed into cardiac arrest which resulted in cardiopulmonary resuscitation during which time the mis-positioned endotracheal tube was removed and replaced with one correctly situated in the trachea.
With reestablishment of oxygenated blood flow to the cells of the body, the heart was resuscitated with spontaneous restoration of circulation. However, the brain cells had been without oxygen for too long and died leaving Daye brain dead and in a coma.
Daye remained comatose for a week during a self-imposed media blackout on his condition, after which Duke medical staff electively removed him from life support and he died shortly thereafter on Wednesday, April 13, 2011.
Duke hospital records, such as Daye’s discharge summary elected to omit crucial bits of information in order to obscure the hospital’s role in his demise… specifically that it was the initial intubation into the esophagus that began the cascade of events that ended with Daye being brain dead.
On the following day, April 14, 2011, North Carolina Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Clay Nichols, in his autopsy examination report on Reginald Daye, contained findings of injuries not indicated and/or contradicted in other medical records. For example the Nichols autopsy report observed stab wound inflicted perforations to the left lung, diaphragm, fundus of the stomach, and left kidney in addition to those injuries mentioned in other medical records to the colon and spleen.
Also, for the first and only time Dr. Nichols discloses that there were multiple scabbed over lacerations to the left upper extremity suggestive of “defensive injuries.” These alleged lesions to the left upper extremity are neither mentioned in any other medical record nor documented photographically.
Fact is that EMS assessed Daye’s left upper extremity at the scene and found it to be normal, whereas the orthopedic surgery consult preoperatively examined Daye’s extremities and found no lacerations or breaks in the skin.
In addition to the findings in the Nichols autopsy report being suspect, its conclusion that Daye’s death was due to “complications of a stab wound to the left chest” is also without merit as no nexus between the stabbing and Daye’s brain death or actual death is demonstrated.
What is even more revealing is the fact that Dr. Nichols does not mention in his report about Daye’s descent into the bowels of delirium tremens, which necessitated his move to the SICU… he does not mention that Daye’s initial intubation was esophageal… he does not mention that as a result of the improperly placed endotracheal tube Daye went into cardiac arrest… he does not mention that as a subsequence of extended oxygen deprivation Daye was left in an irreversible comatose state… he does not mention that Daye, while sustained on life support, remained in a coma for a week without sign of recovery… and he does not mention that shortly after his elective removal from life support that Reginald Daye expired.
These important facts are purposely excluded by the medical examiner from the autopsy report on Daye in order to better transfer responsibility for his death from the Duke University Hospital staff to Crystal Mangum.
In other words, Dr. Nichols’ report was fashioned specifically to implicate Ms. Mangum as being solely responsible for Daye’s death.
The mainstream media made extreme efforts to omit reporting the true factors contributing to Daye’s death… ignoring them just like the autopsy report of Dr. Nichols.
Dr. Christena L. Roberts, a forensic pathologist from Black Mountain, North Carolina, likewise does not want to put in writing the true nature of what happened during Daye’s hospitalization at Duke University Hospital… and she does not want there to be a written record by her that debunks the autopsy report of the State’s Deputy Chief Medical Examiner.
Dr. Roberts has made conflicting and contradictory verbalizations to Crystal Mangum and one of her defense attorneys, Woody Vann, about Reginald Daye’s in-house course and his autopsy report.
Mr. Vann told Ms. Mangum that Dr. Roberts related to him that the endotracheal tube was mis-positioned and that it resulted in him being deprived of oxygen, and that she could give no explanation for findings by Dr. Nichols that were contrary to other medical records. Then later, during a meeting between the three, Dr. Roberts told Mangum that the findings in the Nichols autopsy report were accurate.
When Mangum asked why the autopsy report stated that there was a lesion to the left lung, whereas no such lesion was mentioned in the other medical records, Dr. Roberts responded that the Duke University Hospital emergency room staff, radiologists, and trauma surgeons missed the laceration to the left lung which was discovered at autopsy.
None of the communications of Dr. Roberts concerning Daye were recorded and none are in writing… ergo, nothing she may have said or didn’t say about anything related to Daye and his death and autopsy is verifiable.
Despite repeated pleas for a written report by Mangum, who faces life in prison on a murder charge, and despite a court order by Honorable Judge Robert Hobgood to directly deliver a written report to Ms. Mangum, Dr. Roberts has steadfastly refused to provide her with this exculpatory evidence.
E-mail records reveal that the day following Reginald Daye’s death, Woody Vann, the court-appointed defense attorney for Mangum, was made aware of problems with a “tube” insertion by Duke hospital staff that was responsible for Daye’s untimely demise and that Duke University was heavily engaged in covering it up in order to appear that his death was the direct result of a stab wound.
Sidney B. Harr, Lay Advocate for the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, and a retired physician, was immediately aware in mid-August 2011 when Daye’s autopsy report was first made available to the public that its findings and conclusion were bogus.
First, he considered it to be anatomically impossible for a single stab wound from a steak knife to cause injury to the left lung, the diaphragm, the left kidney, the spleen, the fundus of the stomach, and the colon.
Secondly, the autopsy report was the first mention of multiple “defensive injuries” to the left upper extremity… it never being previously reported in the media.
Finally, the autopsy report provided no cause of death, and its conclusion failed to provide any support to bolster Dr. Nichols’ claim that complications secondary to the stab wound lead to Daye’s death.
Harr publicly expressed, through his blog site and available media outlets, his concerns about the veracity of the autopsy report… in particular his opinion piece titled “Autopsy report doesn’t add up” that appeared in a January 2012 edition of The Durham News, a bi-weekly supplemental community news insert in the Durham edition of The News & Observer.
In March 2012, after nearly a year of incarceration without substantive action on behalf of her legal counsel, Mangum reached out to Harr seeking his help in filing motions.
Harr drafted three motions, which were signed by Mangum, and he then filed them with the Durham County Clerk of Court’s office. These documents and filings provided the grist for the North Carolina State Bar’s first encounter with Harr.
In July 2012, the Authorized Practices Committee of the State Bar issued Harr a Letter of Caution, telling him to cease and desist from drafting motions for others and from conducting other lawyerly activities… to which Harr consented.
By August 2012, with Mangum not receiving a written report from Dr. Roberts and her attorney withholding other prosecution discovery and evidence from her, Harr filed, as a third party, two Pro Se petitions in Mangum’s criminal case.
This, along with a letter Harr wrote to a Superior Court criminal judge, resulted in the State Bar’s second encounter with the determined justice advocate… and at its quarterly meeting in October 2012, the Authorized Practices Committee decided to take civil action against Harr, seeking a permanent injunction to prevent him from filing documents in Mangum’s case.
With the Durham prosecutors, medical examiner, Mangum’s defense attorneys, the mainstream media, Mangum’s defense expert witness, and certain judges attacking Mangum, Harr was the only one staunchly defending her.
Because of Harr’s medical background and the prominence that the autopsy and hospitalization play in this case, he is an extremely valuable advocate for Mangum to have in her corner.
In trying to affect the outcome of the criminal charges against Mangum towards her detriment, the State Bar is trying to remove her most valuable asset and ally… Harr.
This is the same strategy that worked so successful in the Duke Lacrosse case when the State Bar instituted its own complaint against the Durham D.A. Mike Nifong during its early pretrial phase in order to force his removal as prosecutors of the three Duke Lacrosse defendants.
On Tuesday, December 4, 2012, the State Bar filed with the Wake County civil court a Petition for Permanent Injunction against Harr.
On Monday, December 17, 2012, Harr filed with the court his response, thereby setting the stage for a courtroom showdown.
A scheduled date for the hearing – Bar v. Harr – is now pending.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Anniversary of “Day of Infamy” a day of disappointment in Court
Word count: 1,357
Note: This blog was written prior to seeing
The Herald-Sun article of December 7, 2012
On Friday, December 7, 2012, the 71st anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it is only fitting that a few bombs were dropped on Crystal Mangum’s second court appearance in which she was representing herself. Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser who now faces trumped up murder and larceny charges as part of a vendetta prosecution, was expecting to have her Motion to Dismiss the Larceny of Chose in Action charge heard before the Court… however, that did not happen. The exact actions that took place in the courtroom are unknown as none of the members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong were in attendance… this due to them being misled by a scheduled appearance of Ms. Mangum on the Court docket which was for twelve noon, whereas her hearing was actually conducted two hours earlier at ten AM.
So without any firsthand information about what transpired at the hearing, the following is based upon what I have been able to piece together about the courtroom events. Honorable Judge Michael O’Foghludha, a Superior Court Judge from Durham presided over the hearing, and he made the determination not to address Mangum’s Motion to Dismiss. My understanding is that Judge O’Foghludha decided not to hear the case because a Certificate of Service had not been filed, and Durham Assistant District Attorney Charlene Coggins-Franks complained to the judge that she had just received a copy of the motion. The fact is that Mangum’s motion was filed exactly one week earlier on Friday, November 30, 2012, at 10:17 AM, along with my Petition for writ of mandamus seeking Mangum’ release from custody on her own recognizance. After filing both documents with the Clerk of Court’s office, I went up one flight to the sixth floor and handed the stamped motion and petition to the receptionist in the District Attorney’s office. Six days later, in the mid-afternoon of Thursday, December 6, 2012, the Durham D.A.’s office had the courtesy to inform me that Mangum’s motion would be turned over to Ms. Coggins-Franks. I am unaware as to when the prosecutor actually did take possession of Mangum’s motion.
That said, Judge O’Foghludha could have heard Mangum’s Motion to Dismiss; the lack of a Certificate of Service shouldn’t’ve represented any impediment to his bringing her motion before the court and ruling on it. Fact is that he elected not to hear the motion, and I can fully understand why. Bottom line is that it takes courage to make a ruling that is favorable to Crystal Mangum, even when completely backed by law and morality. Mangum’s case is so politically charged that not only attorneys, but judges cower at the prospect of having to choose between doing the right thing or carrying out the wishes of the avengers of the Duke Lacrosse defendants and their Carpetbagger families. The absence of a Certificate of Service was the tiny porous opening that the honorable judge needed in order to jettison responsibility for acting on a motion that would undoubtedly force him to do the right thing… and grant Mangum’s Motion to Dismiss the Larceny of Chose in Action charge. Courage is a commodity that is in extremely short supply in our society, and the one person who did possess it and stood up in defiance of the Powers-That-Be in order to try and see that justice was done, was himself done in by the justice system with the assistance of the mainstream media… that man of uncommon courage and integrity is former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong.
Paragraph of enlightenment: It is not only Mangum’s defense attorneys, but anyone and everyone connected with the vile and vendetta-driven prosecution of Mangum, who is subsequently under pressure and duress to act in accordance with the wishes of the Powers-That-Be. There was a purpose in making an example of Mike Nifong… and that was to discourage any similar acts of independent legal valor. With this in mind, it is easy to understand why Judge O’Foghludha, in using any excuse at hand, chose to pass on a hearing of Crystal Mangum’s motion to dismiss… kicking the can further down the road another six and a half weeks when the next court appearance for Mangum is scheduled on January 22, 2013. If the prosecution was so thoroughly disadvantaged by not being given notice of the defendant’s motion to dismiss and time to prepare, then the next court date should have been set within a week or two at which time the motion could be heard.
Another development, from what sources have told me, is that Dr. Christena L. Roberts is supposedly planning to visit Ms. Mangum on Monday, December 10, 2012. Dr. Roberts is a forensic pathologist hired with State funds to evaluate Reginald Daye’s death and his autopsy report. The Court authorized payment to her in an order by Judge Henry Hight signed on June 18, 2012, however, according to Woody Vann, who is supposed to be Mangum’s back-up assistant, he told the court approximately two weeks ago that the written report by Roberts had not yet been completed. A written report by Roberts for a ten hour investigation not completed after more than five months? It doesn’t make sense. What does make since is her desire not to produce a written report about Reginald Daye’s death or the autopsy report by North Carolina Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Clay Nichols. Dr. Roberts is well aware that any report she drafts will directly implicate Duke University Hospital in Daye’s death, and it will support my contention, all along, that Medical Examiner Nichols’ autopsy report of April 14, 2011, contains false findings and an unsupported conclusion regarding Daye’s death. In addition, the report will sink the prosecution’s claim that Mangum’s stabbing of Daye (which was in self-defense) was the direct and proximate cause of his death.
Why travel all the way from Black Mountain, NC, to Durham just in order to give Crystal Mangum a verbal report only… which is what I am expecting. My expectation is that after five months with no written report at hand, Dr. Christena Roberts has no intention of putting in writing the sins of Dr. Nichols, Duke University Hospital, and the City of Durham. This trip, I believe, is part of an intricate ploy to attempt to address Judge Robert Hobgood’s order to provide Ms. Mangum with a written report and yet still not put anything in writing. It’s time for the gamesmanship by Durham prosecutors and turncoat defense attorneys to stop and for Dr. Roberts to immediately provide Mangum with a written report as directed by Judge Hobgood.
If a written report from Dr. Roberts is forthcoming on the possible Monday visit, I will be shocked. However you can bet that it will be watered down like the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy… all punches will be pulled.
Also, you can rest assured that if I get my hands on a copy of the report, I will make it assessable to view of people worldwide on this blog site… the true source of enlightenment on all things related to the Duke Lacrosse case and beyond.
Finally, on this last Friday, the 7th, I received a notice that certified mail was awaiting me at the post office. I attempted to retrieve it Friday morning, but it had not yet been delivered to the post office. Now, I do not know the identity of the sender, but using Sherlockian deduction, I have reason to believe that it is from the Authorized Practices Committee of the State Bar. I will collect it on Monday, and if it is the motion by the Bar, I will upload it on this blog site along with my response, once completed.
Although many bombs have been dropped Friday, as the dust settles, I will try to parse out the truth from the innuendo and shine light where the shadow of darkness now conceals the truth about the bogus charges against Crystal Mangum… a victim of domestic violence by Reginald Daye and a victim of vendetta justice by the State.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The jig is up on the widespread corrupt 2011 conspiracy against Mangum
Word count 2,720
The pieces have been in place for some time… the puzzle is complete and it exposes a conspiracy so broad in scope as to be mind-boggling… a scenario that is acceptable to all reasonable individuals, even those who are not bona fide conspiracy theorists. This 2011 murder/larceny conspiracy is much broader and more serious than the 2010 arson intrigue that put the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser Crystal Mangum in jail for three months… but they are both similar in motive and structure.
The first degree murder charge and the “larceny of chose in action” charge against Crystal Mangum related to Reginald Daye’s death on April 13, 2011, are without doubt bogus and baseless… charges which should never have been brought against Mangum, and charges that were inspired by an unquenchable thirst by prosecutors and the misguided to exact payback for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case. The ability to bring these charges was due to complicity of many actors sharing a common desire to inflict severe grief upon Mangum. However, the lynchpin holding the conspiracy against Mangum together was the mainstream media, both local and national… for their job was most important. The media was charged with keeping the public ignorant of the misdeeds and malfeasances being perpetrated by the prosecutors, the medical examiner, and the defense attorneys. The media was also in position to try and discredit supporters of Mangum as being unstable, lawless, and irresponsible.
Since 2007, media-types prepared for this 2011 conspiracy by pulling a Jedi mind-trick on the masses of Durhamians, cultivating an irrational antipathy towards Crystal Mangum while lionizing the three Duke Lacrosse defendants (who never spent a day in jail, shook down Duke University for $20 million each, and are avariciously seeking $10 million more from the cash-strapped city of Durham). So, the culture in the Bull City is one which adores the privileged party-going student athletes from Duke, and despises the African American single mother of three who was enrolled in a graduate program at North Carolina Central University before the city took, without provocation, the liberty of trumping up a series of charges against he in 2010.
In the 2011, as in the 2010 case, Mangum was the victim of domestic physical abuse, and Durham Police and prosecutors in both cases ignored the abusers and arrested the victim. Specifically in 2011, Mangum’s abuse at the had of Daye was documented by photos showing her with a swollen lower lip, cuts around her eye, a lesion to the back of her left hand, clumps of her hair at the scene, and a bathroom door that had been kicked in by Daye as he attempted to get at her. According to Mangum, it was only after Daye was choking her with both hands that she stabbed him with a steak knife that was lying nearby… inflicting a nonfatal wound, and one that most probably saved her life. After Daye sustained the injury, Mangum as able to escape his grasp, grab her purse and flee.
Prosecutors and Durham Police need to be held accountable as to why they refused to arrest Reginald Daye and charge him with domestic violence, assault on a female, and false imprisonment, especially in lieu of the fact that Daye was intoxicated and an alcoholic, and that he had a past history of violence toward women. Instead they elect to arrest and charge Mangum for assault with intent to kill, when it is reasonable to conclude that she was physically beaten, her hair pulled out, and the bathroom door kicked in prior to Daye being stabbed. It is clearly a case of self-defense.
Even had Daye died as a direct result of the stab wound, Mangum should not have been charged with his murder due to the fact that she acted in self-defense. However, facts show that Daye’s postoperative prognosis was for a full recovery, and it is without doubt that Daye died secondary to complications of a misplaced endotracheal tube used to treat Daye for delirium tremens.
The most critical and inflammatory part of the 2011 conspiracy against Mangum is the fraudulent Autopsy Examination Report of April 14, 2011, by Orange County Medical Examiner Clay Nichols, M.D. His report contains findings not corroborated by other medical records, but some that are even contradicted. Furthermore, the conclusion reached by Dr. Nichols that Daye died due to “complications of a stab wound to the chest” is unsubstantiated and there is no nexus established with Daye’s demise.
Without doubt, Durham Prosecutor Kelly Gauger, and her replacement, Charlene Coggins-Franks, knew or should have known that the autopsy report was corrupt and not a reliable document. Abandoning their roles as “ministers of justice” these prosecutors used the fraudulent autopsy document as the basis for charging Mangum with murder. Prosecutors were driven by two motives in charging her with Daye’s death… first, to inflict severe punishment upon Mangum as a vendetta for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case, and second, to protect the reputation of Duke University Hospital whose staff was truly responsible for Daye’s death.
Prosecutor Gauger, when bringing the indictment for murder against Mangum, also were granted indictments on two counts of “larceny of chose in action,” one for each cashier’s check allegedly “stolen” by Mangum. Truth be told, Reginald Daye gave both cashier’s checks to Mangum, and they were both filled out so that she could not convert them for her profit. In addition, she made no attempt and there was no intent for her to illegally convert them… both requisites for the “larceny of chose in action” being absent. This charge was blatantly trumped up, but was necessary in order to impose the “felony-murder rule” to upgrade the charge to first degree murder. When Prosecutor Gauger got the grand jury indictments on April 18, 2011, her ambitious goal was to convict Mangum, who she knew to be innocent of any crime, and have her sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In order for the prosecution team to pull off such a flagrant injustice, it needed not only the cooperation of the medical examiner, which it had, but even more importantly, the cooperation of Mangum’s defense attorney. They needed an unscrupulous lawyer who would pretend to make an effort to represent his client while selling Mangum down the river at the same time. There is no doubt in my mind that the defense attorneys had assurances from the Powers-That-Be that they would have immunity from the ineffective representation they provided… that such a complaint would never even see the light of an appeal. H. Wood Vann was initially selected to represent Mangum, and I strongly believe that there was a reason for his selection… that it wasn’t purely arbitrary. Then for circumstances unknown to me, Ms. Mangum replaced Mr. Vann with defense attorney Chris Shella. To my knowledge, Mr. Shella conducted no investigation, withheld prosecution discovery photographs from Mangum, and only filed several motions for bail reduction. One was heard by Duke Lacrosse Judge Osmond Smith III who should have recused himself due to conflict of interest… but he didn’t in swiftly denying bail in March 2012. Mr. Shella never challenged Smith’s being on the bench for that hearing.
Mr. Shella’s abrupt departure came after nearly a year with him sitting on the case and accomplishing nothing as his client remained in jail. It was provoked because of action taken by members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong who exposed problems with the prosecution’s case. Mr. Shella wisely removed himself from the case after complaining that Mangum compromised her case by giving some prosecution discovery to me, which I posted online and used to backup my claims of prosecutorial misconduct… in other words, for enlightening the public about problems with the case. The court then re-installed its initial choice to represent Ms. Mangum, Woody Vann.
Mr. Vann followed the same playbook as the prosecution, which was to keep everything about Mangum’s case hidden from the public. The reason for that is simply to conceal the great injustices that were taking place to deprive Mangum of justice. Like Shella, Vann kept important discovery away from his client Mangum… including photographs which visually support that Crystal Mangum was abused, the report by Dr. Christena L. Roberts that evaluates the autopsy report of April 14, 2011 by Clay Nichols, and the mysterious yearlong SBI wound entry trajectory study pertaining to Daye’s wound. Unlike Shella, Vann did not file any motions with the court, and he refused to even consider the possibility of filing a motion to dismiss the charge of “larceny of chose in action.” The few times that Mr. Vann came to visit Mangum was just prior to her giving interviews to the media. (Although the media is markedly prejudiced against her, having the forum to get her story out to the public outweighed the risks of the probable skewed reporting that was to follow.)
One thing that has always been consistent about Mangum’s representation is that it moves at the pace of cooled molasses flowing uphill. There never has seemed to be any urgency, with defense attorneys taking their sweet time while Mangum, under a ridiculously high bail, serves out a sentence… an acceptable practice for use against African American defendants… consider the cases of James Arthur Johnson and Carletta Patrice Alston just to name a few.
Joining the ranks of the conspirators, which includes the Durham prosecution, the Orange County Medical Examiner Nichols, and Mangum’s defense attorneys, is the largest conspirator, the mainstream media. The media’s involvement is a vital one, and necessary for the prosecution to get away with its charges against Mangum. Acting to conceal important information, the media has adroitly acted to cover-up the gross unfairness and bias in the charges and court proceedings against Mangum. It has also played a diversionary role by placing its focus on Mangum supporters. For example, “more than one journalist” was responsible for prodding the North Carolina State Bar into investigating me for the unlawful practice of law. To hide the identities of these activist media-types, the Bar elected to own the complaint and listed itself as the complainant. The “investigation into this Mangum supporter” was given more coverage that the important issues about Mangum’s unjust charges and her ineffective defense.
The media definitely excelled in keeping the people ignorant of the truth about Mangum’s case and spinning it to her disadvantage. Specifically, the media barely mentioned that Daye was heavily intoxicated, that he was an alcoholic, and that he had a past history of abusing women. The media was quick to erroneously state that Daye was stabbed repeatedly, and kept quiet about any alleged “motive” for Mangum to stab Daye… not giving credence to self-defense. A self-imposed media blackout on Daye occurred during his weeklong coma, and his unconscious state was only mentioned after his death. In reporting his death, I only found one source that said he was on life-support and that its removal precipitated his death. The local media, which has been consumed with obtaining copies of former UNC football coach Butch Davis and uncovering the names of the UNC football players whose parking tickets were forgiven, have shown no interest when it comes to problems with the autopsy report and its significant discrepancies with other medical records. A media apathy also swirls around issues concerning Daye’s death and its real cause which was medical malpractice (although a hospital homicide cannot be ruled out).
To an objective and reasonable observer with full knowledge of the facts of the media coverage of Crystal Mangum’s case, it is obvious that its goal was to shift blame for Daye’s death from Duke University Hospital to Mangum, and to work with their co-conspirators by keeping crucial information from the people… a grand large scale nationwide cover-up. Let there be no doubt that the orders dictating how this case was to be handled came from the higher echelons of the media sources as they had an understanding that their reporting was to help determine the case’s outcome.
Now that you have the major conspirators revealed (Durham prosecutor, Orange County Medical Examiner, Mangum’s attorneys, and the mainstream media – both local and national), the final ingredient for this perfect recipe of injustice is the enablers. The enablers are individuals and organizations with the clout, prestige, influence and power to make a difference, but remain idly by and say nothing. This group I find most frustrating… but to an extent, I understand their reluctance to get involved. Simply put, they lack courage. After witnessing what happened to former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong when he followed his conscience and proceeded with an unpopular prosecution of the three Duke Lacrosse players in 2006, politicians learned of the harsh consequences that oft-times accompany supporting a politically incorrect position. Siding with Mangum is a taboo proposition that is analogous to juggling vials of unstable nitroglycerin… do so at your own risk, and may politicians, attorneys and other professionals are not willing to sacrifice their reputations and careers in an attempt to seek justice for a media maligned African American single mother who is held in contempt by an overwhelming number of Durhamians and Tar Heelians.
Members of the Durham City Council and the North Carolina General Assembly were made aware of the injustices and ignored pleas to get involved… even those in Durham who represented her, such as Senator Floyd McKissick, and Representatives Larry Hall and Mickey Michaux, and Congressman David Price. The NAACP, likewise, has remained silent as a dormouse about Crystal Mangum being deprived of her civil rights, as has the ACLU. The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence has once again refused to lift a finger or utter a word about Mangum’s double mistreatment by her abuser and the justice system (this group had previously failed to take any action about the 2010 domestic violence against Mangum).
Had these individuals and organizations gotten involved, the broad 2011 conspiracy against Mangum would not have become so entrenched. Because of their silence and inactivity, the enablers share the culpability of the great injustice against Crystal Mangum.
Yes, the jig of injustice against Mangum is up, and the Durham prosecution should drop all criminal charges related to the 2011 incident and release Mangum from jail. Failing that, the following steps, at a minimum, should be taken:
(1) dismiss the “larceny of chose in action” charge as it lacks credible evidence and probable cause;
(2) force Mr. Vann to turn over all prosecution discovery and evidence to Mangum;
(3) remove Mr. Vann as the defense attorney for Mangum;
(4) release Mangum on her own recognizance;
(5) investigate the discrepancies in the autopsy report and other medical records and police reports; and
(6) investigate circumstances of Daye’s death to rule out hospital homicide.
The above actions will not only accrue to the benefit of justice, but help reduce the city of Durham’s running tab for the prosecutorial civil liability for the malicious prosecution and unjust incarceration of Mangum. As it is, the county has already wasted taxpayer dollars to pay for the sham prosecution on bogus charges, and for Mangum to be held at the Durham County Detention Center.
Today marks the five hundredth day of Mangum’s wrongful incarceration on bogus and trumped up charges. Consider that the Duke Lacrosse defendants are suing the city of Durham for $10 million each, and they never spent a single day in jail… plus they have no credible evidence that they were maliciously charged by the state. The Duke Lacrosse players have no explanation for their demands for money from the city other than an overblown sense of entitlement that often accompanies those who come from families of wealth, power, and privilege… such as their carpetbagger families. If anyone is deserving of ten million dollars from the city, it is Crystal Mangum.
Conspirators need to give it up and cut their losses. The jig is up, and although the media continues to try to keep the truth about Mangum’s prosecution hidden from all, with the help of the courageous members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, the truth will see the light of day, sooner rather than later, and at long last justice will prevail.
The pieces have been in place for some time… the puzzle is complete and it exposes a conspiracy so broad in scope as to be mind-boggling… a scenario that is acceptable to all reasonable individuals, even those who are not bona fide conspiracy theorists. This 2011 murder/larceny conspiracy is much broader and more serious than the 2010 arson intrigue that put the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser Crystal Mangum in jail for three months… but they are both similar in motive and structure.
The first degree murder charge and the “larceny of chose in action” charge against Crystal Mangum related to Reginald Daye’s death on April 13, 2011, are without doubt bogus and baseless… charges which should never have been brought against Mangum, and charges that were inspired by an unquenchable thirst by prosecutors and the misguided to exact payback for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case. The ability to bring these charges was due to complicity of many actors sharing a common desire to inflict severe grief upon Mangum. However, the lynchpin holding the conspiracy against Mangum together was the mainstream media, both local and national… for their job was most important. The media was charged with keeping the public ignorant of the misdeeds and malfeasances being perpetrated by the prosecutors, the medical examiner, and the defense attorneys. The media was also in position to try and discredit supporters of Mangum as being unstable, lawless, and irresponsible.
Since 2007, media-types prepared for this 2011 conspiracy by pulling a Jedi mind-trick on the masses of Durhamians, cultivating an irrational antipathy towards Crystal Mangum while lionizing the three Duke Lacrosse defendants (who never spent a day in jail, shook down Duke University for $20 million each, and are avariciously seeking $10 million more from the cash-strapped city of Durham). So, the culture in the Bull City is one which adores the privileged party-going student athletes from Duke, and despises the African American single mother of three who was enrolled in a graduate program at North Carolina Central University before the city took, without provocation, the liberty of trumping up a series of charges against he in 2010.
In the 2011, as in the 2010 case, Mangum was the victim of domestic physical abuse, and Durham Police and prosecutors in both cases ignored the abusers and arrested the victim. Specifically in 2011, Mangum’s abuse at the had of Daye was documented by photos showing her with a swollen lower lip, cuts around her eye, a lesion to the back of her left hand, clumps of her hair at the scene, and a bathroom door that had been kicked in by Daye as he attempted to get at her. According to Mangum, it was only after Daye was choking her with both hands that she stabbed him with a steak knife that was lying nearby… inflicting a nonfatal wound, and one that most probably saved her life. After Daye sustained the injury, Mangum as able to escape his grasp, grab her purse and flee.
Prosecutors and Durham Police need to be held accountable as to why they refused to arrest Reginald Daye and charge him with domestic violence, assault on a female, and false imprisonment, especially in lieu of the fact that Daye was intoxicated and an alcoholic, and that he had a past history of violence toward women. Instead they elect to arrest and charge Mangum for assault with intent to kill, when it is reasonable to conclude that she was physically beaten, her hair pulled out, and the bathroom door kicked in prior to Daye being stabbed. It is clearly a case of self-defense.
Even had Daye died as a direct result of the stab wound, Mangum should not have been charged with his murder due to the fact that she acted in self-defense. However, facts show that Daye’s postoperative prognosis was for a full recovery, and it is without doubt that Daye died secondary to complications of a misplaced endotracheal tube used to treat Daye for delirium tremens.
The most critical and inflammatory part of the 2011 conspiracy against Mangum is the fraudulent Autopsy Examination Report of April 14, 2011, by Orange County Medical Examiner Clay Nichols, M.D. His report contains findings not corroborated by other medical records, but some that are even contradicted. Furthermore, the conclusion reached by Dr. Nichols that Daye died due to “complications of a stab wound to the chest” is unsubstantiated and there is no nexus established with Daye’s demise.
Without doubt, Durham Prosecutor Kelly Gauger, and her replacement, Charlene Coggins-Franks, knew or should have known that the autopsy report was corrupt and not a reliable document. Abandoning their roles as “ministers of justice” these prosecutors used the fraudulent autopsy document as the basis for charging Mangum with murder. Prosecutors were driven by two motives in charging her with Daye’s death… first, to inflict severe punishment upon Mangum as a vendetta for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case, and second, to protect the reputation of Duke University Hospital whose staff was truly responsible for Daye’s death.
Prosecutor Gauger, when bringing the indictment for murder against Mangum, also were granted indictments on two counts of “larceny of chose in action,” one for each cashier’s check allegedly “stolen” by Mangum. Truth be told, Reginald Daye gave both cashier’s checks to Mangum, and they were both filled out so that she could not convert them for her profit. In addition, she made no attempt and there was no intent for her to illegally convert them… both requisites for the “larceny of chose in action” being absent. This charge was blatantly trumped up, but was necessary in order to impose the “felony-murder rule” to upgrade the charge to first degree murder. When Prosecutor Gauger got the grand jury indictments on April 18, 2011, her ambitious goal was to convict Mangum, who she knew to be innocent of any crime, and have her sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In order for the prosecution team to pull off such a flagrant injustice, it needed not only the cooperation of the medical examiner, which it had, but even more importantly, the cooperation of Mangum’s defense attorney. They needed an unscrupulous lawyer who would pretend to make an effort to represent his client while selling Mangum down the river at the same time. There is no doubt in my mind that the defense attorneys had assurances from the Powers-That-Be that they would have immunity from the ineffective representation they provided… that such a complaint would never even see the light of an appeal. H. Wood Vann was initially selected to represent Mangum, and I strongly believe that there was a reason for his selection… that it wasn’t purely arbitrary. Then for circumstances unknown to me, Ms. Mangum replaced Mr. Vann with defense attorney Chris Shella. To my knowledge, Mr. Shella conducted no investigation, withheld prosecution discovery photographs from Mangum, and only filed several motions for bail reduction. One was heard by Duke Lacrosse Judge Osmond Smith III who should have recused himself due to conflict of interest… but he didn’t in swiftly denying bail in March 2012. Mr. Shella never challenged Smith’s being on the bench for that hearing.
Mr. Shella’s abrupt departure came after nearly a year with him sitting on the case and accomplishing nothing as his client remained in jail. It was provoked because of action taken by members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong who exposed problems with the prosecution’s case. Mr. Shella wisely removed himself from the case after complaining that Mangum compromised her case by giving some prosecution discovery to me, which I posted online and used to backup my claims of prosecutorial misconduct… in other words, for enlightening the public about problems with the case. The court then re-installed its initial choice to represent Ms. Mangum, Woody Vann.
Mr. Vann followed the same playbook as the prosecution, which was to keep everything about Mangum’s case hidden from the public. The reason for that is simply to conceal the great injustices that were taking place to deprive Mangum of justice. Like Shella, Vann kept important discovery away from his client Mangum… including photographs which visually support that Crystal Mangum was abused, the report by Dr. Christena L. Roberts that evaluates the autopsy report of April 14, 2011 by Clay Nichols, and the mysterious yearlong SBI wound entry trajectory study pertaining to Daye’s wound. Unlike Shella, Vann did not file any motions with the court, and he refused to even consider the possibility of filing a motion to dismiss the charge of “larceny of chose in action.” The few times that Mr. Vann came to visit Mangum was just prior to her giving interviews to the media. (Although the media is markedly prejudiced against her, having the forum to get her story out to the public outweighed the risks of the probable skewed reporting that was to follow.)
One thing that has always been consistent about Mangum’s representation is that it moves at the pace of cooled molasses flowing uphill. There never has seemed to be any urgency, with defense attorneys taking their sweet time while Mangum, under a ridiculously high bail, serves out a sentence… an acceptable practice for use against African American defendants… consider the cases of James Arthur Johnson and Carletta Patrice Alston just to name a few.
Joining the ranks of the conspirators, which includes the Durham prosecution, the Orange County Medical Examiner Nichols, and Mangum’s defense attorneys, is the largest conspirator, the mainstream media. The media’s involvement is a vital one, and necessary for the prosecution to get away with its charges against Mangum. Acting to conceal important information, the media has adroitly acted to cover-up the gross unfairness and bias in the charges and court proceedings against Mangum. It has also played a diversionary role by placing its focus on Mangum supporters. For example, “more than one journalist” was responsible for prodding the North Carolina State Bar into investigating me for the unlawful practice of law. To hide the identities of these activist media-types, the Bar elected to own the complaint and listed itself as the complainant. The “investigation into this Mangum supporter” was given more coverage that the important issues about Mangum’s unjust charges and her ineffective defense.
The media definitely excelled in keeping the people ignorant of the truth about Mangum’s case and spinning it to her disadvantage. Specifically, the media barely mentioned that Daye was heavily intoxicated, that he was an alcoholic, and that he had a past history of abusing women. The media was quick to erroneously state that Daye was stabbed repeatedly, and kept quiet about any alleged “motive” for Mangum to stab Daye… not giving credence to self-defense. A self-imposed media blackout on Daye occurred during his weeklong coma, and his unconscious state was only mentioned after his death. In reporting his death, I only found one source that said he was on life-support and that its removal precipitated his death. The local media, which has been consumed with obtaining copies of former UNC football coach Butch Davis and uncovering the names of the UNC football players whose parking tickets were forgiven, have shown no interest when it comes to problems with the autopsy report and its significant discrepancies with other medical records. A media apathy also swirls around issues concerning Daye’s death and its real cause which was medical malpractice (although a hospital homicide cannot be ruled out).
To an objective and reasonable observer with full knowledge of the facts of the media coverage of Crystal Mangum’s case, it is obvious that its goal was to shift blame for Daye’s death from Duke University Hospital to Mangum, and to work with their co-conspirators by keeping crucial information from the people… a grand large scale nationwide cover-up. Let there be no doubt that the orders dictating how this case was to be handled came from the higher echelons of the media sources as they had an understanding that their reporting was to help determine the case’s outcome.
Now that you have the major conspirators revealed (Durham prosecutor, Orange County Medical Examiner, Mangum’s attorneys, and the mainstream media – both local and national), the final ingredient for this perfect recipe of injustice is the enablers. The enablers are individuals and organizations with the clout, prestige, influence and power to make a difference, but remain idly by and say nothing. This group I find most frustrating… but to an extent, I understand their reluctance to get involved. Simply put, they lack courage. After witnessing what happened to former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong when he followed his conscience and proceeded with an unpopular prosecution of the three Duke Lacrosse players in 2006, politicians learned of the harsh consequences that oft-times accompany supporting a politically incorrect position. Siding with Mangum is a taboo proposition that is analogous to juggling vials of unstable nitroglycerin… do so at your own risk, and may politicians, attorneys and other professionals are not willing to sacrifice their reputations and careers in an attempt to seek justice for a media maligned African American single mother who is held in contempt by an overwhelming number of Durhamians and Tar Heelians.
Members of the Durham City Council and the North Carolina General Assembly were made aware of the injustices and ignored pleas to get involved… even those in Durham who represented her, such as Senator Floyd McKissick, and Representatives Larry Hall and Mickey Michaux, and Congressman David Price. The NAACP, likewise, has remained silent as a dormouse about Crystal Mangum being deprived of her civil rights, as has the ACLU. The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence has once again refused to lift a finger or utter a word about Mangum’s double mistreatment by her abuser and the justice system (this group had previously failed to take any action about the 2010 domestic violence against Mangum).
Had these individuals and organizations gotten involved, the broad 2011 conspiracy against Mangum would not have become so entrenched. Because of their silence and inactivity, the enablers share the culpability of the great injustice against Crystal Mangum.
Yes, the jig of injustice against Mangum is up, and the Durham prosecution should drop all criminal charges related to the 2011 incident and release Mangum from jail. Failing that, the following steps, at a minimum, should be taken:
(1) dismiss the “larceny of chose in action” charge as it lacks credible evidence and probable cause;
(2) force Mr. Vann to turn over all prosecution discovery and evidence to Mangum;
(3) remove Mr. Vann as the defense attorney for Mangum;
(4) release Mangum on her own recognizance;
(5) investigate the discrepancies in the autopsy report and other medical records and police reports; and
(6) investigate circumstances of Daye’s death to rule out hospital homicide.
The above actions will not only accrue to the benefit of justice, but help reduce the city of Durham’s running tab for the prosecutorial civil liability for the malicious prosecution and unjust incarceration of Mangum. As it is, the county has already wasted taxpayer dollars to pay for the sham prosecution on bogus charges, and for Mangum to be held at the Durham County Detention Center.
Today marks the five hundredth day of Mangum’s wrongful incarceration on bogus and trumped up charges. Consider that the Duke Lacrosse defendants are suing the city of Durham for $10 million each, and they never spent a single day in jail… plus they have no credible evidence that they were maliciously charged by the state. The Duke Lacrosse players have no explanation for their demands for money from the city other than an overblown sense of entitlement that often accompanies those who come from families of wealth, power, and privilege… such as their carpetbagger families. If anyone is deserving of ten million dollars from the city, it is Crystal Mangum.
Conspirators need to give it up and cut their losses. The jig is up, and although the media continues to try to keep the truth about Mangum’s prosecution hidden from all, with the help of the courageous members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, the truth will see the light of day, sooner rather than later, and at long last justice will prevail.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
What really happened in the wee hours of April 3, 2011
The biased mainstream media has unfortunately flooded the newsprint and airwaves with false declarations that the stab wound inflicted by Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser Crystal Mangum during the early morning hours of Sunday, April 3, 2011, resulted in the death of Reginald Daye. This myth has been adequately debunked by the previously posted blog which has gone into depth with medical records about how and why Daye died. The short version is that an intubation tube was misplaced by the staff at Duke University Hospital, resulting in lack of oxygen to the lungs, bloodstream, and eventually the brain cells. The brain cells died and Daye lapsed into a comatose state… and unlike brain damaged inmates Joshua Wrenn and Timothy Helms, who both regained consciousness after months in a coma, Daye was removed from life support after only a week. He died shortly thereafter and as a proximate cause of its removal.
The medical examiner reached the conclusion that Reginald Daye died “secondary to complications of a stab wound to the chest” in order to provide Durham Prosecutor Kelly Gauger with a basis for charging Crystal Mangum with murder. He did so with full knowledge that the stab wound had nothing to do with Daye’s death, and made no attempt to develop a nexus between the stabbing and Daye’s brain death or actual death. The mainstream media, however, attributes Daye’s death to the stabbing, and does its best to keep hidden from the public the fact that a Duke University Hospital staff member is the one who should take the blame for Daye’s demise… not Crystal Mangum.
But, even if the stab wound was directly responsible for Daye’s death, there is plenty within the prosecutor’s discovery to support the fact that Crystal Mangum acted in self defense when she stabbed Daye. The two, who had been in a brief relationship at the time, were living together in Daye’s apartment along with Crystal’s three children. She contributed financially to help pay the rent for the apartment which had fallen into arrears due to a recent layoff at his job. However, he was now back at his job, and Daye purchased a money order on March 25, 2011, and one on April 1, 2011, both totaling $700.00 – rent for the month of April. Daye was scheduled to work on Monday, April 4, 2011, leaving at six in the morning and returning home after five in the afternoon. Because he would not be at home during the office hours of the rental company, he gave both cashier’s checks to Crystal prior to April 3rd with instructions to drop them off at the rental office the following Monday. Mangum placed both checks in her purse for safekeeping.
On Saturday, April 2, 2011, Crystal Mangum had a couple of drinks whereas Reginald Daye imbibed quite a bit of alcohol… enough to the point that he became heavily intoxicated. Daye became upset with Crystal because she was not totally attentive to him, and this led to an argument. Although Daye’s nephew stated that the two were fussing over rent and money, this was definitely not the case according to Ms. Mangum. The argument between the two was strictly due to personal relationship issues.
Early in the morning of Sunday, April 3, 2011, the argument became physical as Reginald Daye started punching Crystal in the face and pulling her by the hair. To escape him, she sought refuge in the bathroom and she locked the door behind her. An out of control Daye proceeded to kick in the bathroom door, then grabbed Crystal by her hair and took her to the bedroom. Sometime during this horrific altercation, Daye brought a bunch of steak knives from the kitchen and started throwing them, using Ms. Mangum as a target. These knives ended up being scattered all over the bedroom, as was noted in a later police report. The struggle came to an end as Daye was astride Mangum with both of his hands on her throat choking her. She managed to grab one of the steak knives that was lying around and stabbed him once in the left torso. No “defensive wounds” were sustained by Daye to his left upper extremity as was stated in the April 14, 2011 Autopsy Examination report.
Prosecution discovery documents scattered knives throughout the house, the damage to the bathroom door, notes clumps of Crystal’s hair by the bathroom door and in the bedroom, in addition to physical signs of injury she sustained which included a cut below her left eye, a swollen lower lip, a lesion to the back of her left hand, torn clothing, and blood on clothing (most likely from Daye when she stabbed him while he was atop her).
After stabbing Daye in self defense, Crystal grabbed her purse, which happened to contain the two cashier’s checks, and made her escape from Daye’s apartment and went to her aunt’s house. There she was later apprehended after calling 9-1-1, and the two cashier’s checks confiscated. The presence of these two cashier’s checks in Crystal Mangum’s possession would be the basis for Prosecutor Kelly Gauger to file two counts (one for each check) of larceny even though Daye gave them to Crystal, she did not take them from him, and she could not convert them to cash for her own personal use because she was not listed as the payee or remitter.
Daye’s blood alcohol was 296 mg/dL, a level which would put a non-alcoholic adult into a stupor. No alcohol, toxicology, or blood testing was conducted on Ms. Mangum, most likely due to lack of suspicion of her possibly being intoxicated.
That the stabbing was self defense is a logical conclusion from the evidence and investigation provided by the prosecution alone. Chris Shella, Mangum’s defense attorney, who claims to be working Pro Bono on her behalf, had not conducted any investigation into the incident, and the only thing he did was weaken the self-defense argument by seeking a mental health evaluation for his client.
The link below will connect to a directory of prosecution documents supporting the veracity of events as described above. When taken in conjunction with the previously posted blog and its link to the medical records, one cannot help but come to the following conclusions regarding the incident that occurred in the early morning of April 3, 2011:
(1) Crystal Mangum was the victim of domestic abuse at Reginald Daye’s hands;
(2) Crystal Mangum stabbed Reginald Daye in self-defense;
(3) the stab wound to Daye was non-life threatening;
(4) Duke University Hospital staff’s misplacement of the endotracheal tube was responsible for Daye’s brain death;
(5) Reginald Daye’s death was due to his elective removal from life support by Duke University Hospital staff with the consent of Daye’s family;
(6) the Autopsy Examination Report of April 14, 2011, in listing injuries to Daye that were fabricated and not inflicted by the stab wound, did so to make the stab wound appear more serious than it actually was;
(7) the autopsy reports, in listing “complications due to a stab wound to the chest” as the cause of Daye’s death, did so fraudulently and for the purpose of providing a basis for first degree murder charge against Ms. Mangum;
(8) Daye gave the two cashier’s checks to Mangum with the intention that she would drop them off at the rental office while he was at work on Monday, April 4, 2011;
(9) Mangum could not have converted the checks to cash even if she wanted as she was not listed as the payee or remitter; and
(10) Crystal Mangum is innocent of the murder of Reginald Daye and both counts of larceny, and both charges against her should be dropped and she should be immediately released from custody.
The date of this blog posting, April 22, 2012, is day 385 of Crystal Mangum’s wrongful incarceration. This, more than any colorful language used by former Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline in her public feud with Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, is what puts the Durham County and Tar Heel state’s justice system in disrepute. It is apparent to anyone with a modicum of knowledge about recent Durham history that the actions against Ms. Mangum are motivated by her role in the Duke Lacrosse case. Because this African American woman made accusations of sexual abuse against three student/athletes from families of wealth, power, and privilege, destroying her life and keeping her behind bars is the retribution being sought by these Carpetbagger families in their Jihadist agenda against those they deemed to be on the wrong end of the Duke Lacrosse case.
In order to carry out the diabolical plot against Mangum, many individuals had to collude in a grand conspiracy… some of the conspirators being as follows:
(1) Durham prosecutor Kelly Gauger who had Ms. Mangum indicted for murder on a fraudulently false autopsy report;
(2) Medical examiner Clay Nichols, M.D. who provided the April 14, 2011 Autopsy Examination Report that contained erroneous findings and conclusions;
(3) Dr. Andrew W. Buck who authorized the flawed autopsy report of April 14, 2011;
(4) the doctor who authored the April 13, 2011 Autopsy Investigative Report whose name was not typed on the report and whose signature was not legible. The conclusions he/she reached were misleading and in agreement with those of Dr. Nichols in supporting the prosecutor’s bogus murder charge against Mangum;
(5) defense attorney Chris Shella, who volunteered his Pro Bono services to Crystal Mangum, is an enabler who allowed Prosecutor Gauger to proceed with her prosecution of Ms. Mangum. Representation of Mangum by a capable and dedicated defense attorney would have been enough to prevent Gauger from pursuing the murder and larceny indictments, and would’ve brought the prosecution of Mangum to a halt;
(6) Judge Osmond Smith III, who should have recused and disqualified himself from hearing a motion by Shella for a bail reduction from $200,000 to $100,000, was predisposed to maintain Mangum’s bail at a high enough level to prevent her from satisfying bond; and
(7) the media, mainstream and otherwise, by heavily reporting the false conclusions of the autopsy-related documents that attributed Daye’s demise to the stab wound, and by fiercely keeping from the public the fact that the autopsy reports and their conclusions are spurious.
However, the media’s role is quite insidious and represents one of Prosecutor Gauger’s most powerful allies in the malicious, vindictive, and unfair war against Crystal Mangum. The media kept quiet for the entire week that Reginald Daye was in a coma, only mentioning it after he had died. The media showed absolutely no curiosity about the unexpected and unusual etiology of Daye’s lapse into a comatose state. The media even kept the fact that Daye was on life support hidden from the public and that it was only after he was electively removed from it that he died. The media has downplayed Reginald Daye’s state of intoxication the morning of the incident and has suppressed informing the masses of the injuries sustained by Mangum at Daye’s hand. The media did not attempt to find the basis for the charge of larceny. Because the case against Mangum was so weak, many of the media-types restricted reporting on the case in order to keep its weaknesses concealed. This accounts for a disproportionately large part of articles about Mangum/Daye being devoted to rehashing the Duke Lacrosse case… and reminding the people of Mangum’s role as the “false” accuser.
Although anti-Mangum media reporting is punitive in large measure to retaliate for her part in the Duke Lacrosse case, another significant motive is likely due to financial reasons. By blaming Daye’s death on Crystal Mangum’s actions, it takes away the real responsibility from Duke University Hospital for malpractice that led to the loss of Daye’s life… and Duke University advertises heavily in state’s media markets (with the exception of African American newspapers).
Politicians and so-called “civil rights organizations” which possess knowledge of the injustice against Ms. Mangum and elect to remain quiet and do nothing out of fear and/or apathy, are culpable in this conspiracy of enormous size and intensity. As long as the conspirators keep rank and their deeds remain secreted away, minorities will continue to suffer throughout North Carolina. As long as those with the knowledge of the injustices stay on the sidelines and apart from the struggle for equal justice for all, the unholy persecution of Crystal Mangum will continue, Erick Daniels and Shawn Massey will be deprived of the pardons they deserve, Duke University will continue to discriminate with impunity against Nifong supporters and African Americans, and the GOP will proceed with its onslaught against the Racial Justice Act.
In the post Duke Lacrosse era, Crystal Mangum has emerged the true victim of a broken North Carolina criminal justice system. Innocent of any crime and a victim of domestic abuse, she approaches 400 days in jail with a bail that is higher than Sanford, Florida’s George Zimmerman, who targeted, stalked, and killed 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. The media is generously providing its contribution by vilifying and demonizing Crystal Mangum while holding this revenge-driven grand conspiracy against her together.
LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/pddirec.htm
Saturday, April 7, 2012
How Daye died… What the media doesn’t want you to know
Note: At end of blog is link to Mangum’s motions
In the January 29, 2012 issue of The Durham News, I contributed a guest column titled “Autopsy reports don’t add up.” It expressed why I felt that the April 13 and 14, 2011 autopsy reports on Reginald Daye were flawed. Mr. Daye was the man who was stabbed on April 3, 2011 by Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser Crystal Mangum, and who, three days following this incident and emergency surgery, lapsed into an unexplained coma at Duke University Hospital. After an unpublicized week in a deep comatose state, Mr. Daye was electively removed from life support and died. Shortly thereafter Ms. Mangum was charged in his death with first degree murder.
Recently I have had the fortune to examine many of Daye’s medical records, including his operative report, EMS reports, and physical examinations. To support the veracity of the facts presented and conclusions drawn, I have presented redacted and highlighted copies, with notations, of key medical records about Reginald Daye to some of the mainstream media-types.
It should be remembered that the April 13 and 14, 2011 autopsy reports concluded that Reginald Daye’s death was due to “complications secondary to a stab wound to the chest.” Both reports were vague, incomplete, misleading, factually incorrect, and gave no real inkling as to the true cause of Daye’s coma and death. My review of Daye’s hospitalization has removed from my mind the shroud of mystery covering Daye’s demise, and I will forthwith explain with 99.9% certainty the most likely scenario of what led to Reginald Daye’s comatose state and death.
The morning of April 3, 2011, within hours after being stabbed by Ms. Mangum, Mr. Daye had been transported to Duke University Hospital where he was evaluated and found to have a blood alcohol of 296 mg/dL… a stupor causing level in an average non-alcoholic individual. In order to deal with alcohol withdrawal complications, upon admission Daye was immediately begun on a sedative drug regimen to keep delirium tremens at bay. His condition was stable enough to permit the luxury of performing a preoperative radiological examination regarding his wound to the left torso which confirmed a lesion in the colon (large intestine). Daye underwent emergency abdominal surgery during which only a lesion to the splenic flexure of the colon and a minor lesion to the spleen were identified and repaired.
In the evening of April 4, 2011, the third postoperative day, Daye began experiencing respiratory problems and doctors ordered a diagnostic procedure requiring contrast dye. A tube was placed in his stomach through his nose, and the contrast agent was introduced through it. The contrast agent in the stomach most likely induced vomiting, and healthcare staff concern about possible aspiration and need for protecting the airway led to the decision to intubate him. The 8.0 mm diameter endotracheal tube, which was supposed to be inserted into the trachea to allow oxygen to flow into the lungs, was mispositioned, and instead of oxygen-enriched air gushing into his lungs, his lungs were being deprived of oxygen. Lack of oxygen to the lungs meant that the blood was being deprived of oxygen as well. The brain cells, which are extremely oxygen sensitive, die within a relatively short time once being starved of oxygen. Heart muscle cells are hardier than ones in the brain, but they, too, require oxygen. After a critical point, the heart muscles, working without sufficient oxygen, began to dysfunction, which led to a cardiac arrest. CPR was instituted which included the removal of the misplaced endotracheal tube and the reinsertion of a 7.5mm diameter endotracheal tube which was properly positioned and allowed effective ventilation of the lungs. With restoration of oxygen to the lungs, the blood, and eventually the tissues, the heart muscles received much needed oxygen and were able to recover. However, the brain cells had been without oxygen too long and could not be revived... thus accounting for his coma. Daye’s irreversible comatose state, as determined by the neurological specialists, led to the eventual decision to electively remove Daye, with his family’s consent, from life support… the proximate cause of his death.
Discrepancies exist between the April 13 and 14 Daye autopsy reports themselves and Daye’s medical records. The operative report specifically stated, “The stomach, pancreas was without injury.” This contradicts the autopsy report of April 14, 2011 that documented a lesion to the “fundus of the stomach.” In addition, no where in the operative report is there mention of any lesion or repair to the left lung or diaphragm which further contravenes the April 14th report. The left kidney and its immediate environs were found to be intact and without lesions according to the operative report. One inch gauze used to pack the incision wound at the time of surgery would help explain its post-mortem appearance of being open. Daye’s operative report coincides and validates in the April 14, 2011 autopsy examination report only the lesions to the splenic flexure of the colon and the spleen. The operative report rules out lesions to the left lung, diaphragm, left kidney, and fundus of the stomach as averred in the April 14th autopsy document.
The 14th report also reads: “.. multiple minor scabbed over lesions and minor contusions which may represent defensive injuries are found running from essentially the left biceps to the left wrist. These measuring up to 5 inches in greatest [length].” A Durham County EMS Patient care report on Daye of April 3, 2011 relates different findings, reading, “Left Arm/Hand: Assessed with No Abnormalities.” Also at odds with the April 14, 2011 autopsy report’s declaration of left upper extremity wounds is the consultation report of April 3, 2011 by orthopedic surgeon Christopher R. Jones which states under physical examination: “There are no appreciable lacerations or skin breaks in the visualized areas of his four extremities.”
Discrepancies in the autopsy reports, in conjunction with the convenient omission in Daye’s discharge summary and the April 13, 2011 autopsy investigative report that entubation followed emesis but preceded cardiac arrest is troublesome and would lead a reasonable person with knowledge of pertinent facts to conclude that the autopsy reports were bogus and used solely to support the prosecutor’s charge.
Medical examiners should be independent and objective in their autopsy examinations and should not be a part of the prosecution team, as it definitely is in the case against Crystal Mangum. Dr. Clayton Nichols, the author of the phony autopsy examination report, should not be held liable for the substandard and false document for two specific reasons. First, he did not take it upon himself to produce a false and misleading document for no reason whatsoever. Undoubtedly he received instructions from higher up to produce a document that would enable the prosecutor to charge Crystal Mangum with murder. Second, Dr. Nichols felt compelled to “go along with the plan” after seeing what happened to Duke Lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong. Dr. Nichols learned well from the example the state made of Mr. Nifong, and not wanting to put his personal and professional life at risk, producing the desired deceptive document was a no-brainer.
Unfortunately in the twenty-first century, the mainstream media is not as independent and objective as it should be. But the media’s actions and attitudes are often based on financial incentives. For example, Duke University, which harbors unbounded animosity and misdirected hostility toward Mike Nifong, Crystal Mangum, and Nifong supporters, is one of the state’s largest conglomerations. Duke University and its healthcare system advertise heavily in print and broadcast media… this cannot help but make an influence on how the media covers stories, who it demonizes, and who it places on pedestals. You can bet that when a story involves Duke University, the media, in bringing it before the public treads with the most extreme care.
In short, the media is trying to keep hidden from the public the following facts:
(1) Reginald Daye’s brain death was due to the misplacement of an endotracheal tube by Duke University Hospital staff;
(2) Reginald Daye was electively removed from life support by Duke University Hospital staff with the consent of Daye’s family;
(3) Crystal Mangum had nothing to due with events that transpired in Duke University Hospital and she is therefore not responsible for Daye’s death;
(4) the Autopsy Reports of April 13 and 14, 2011 are totally bogus and purposely reach the false conclusion that Daye’s death was “due to complications of a stab wound to the chest;”
(5) the Autopsy Reports of April 13 and 14, 2011 made their false conclusion for the purpose of making a foundation upon which to build a murder case against Crystal Mangum;
(6) Crystal Mangum sustained physical injuries at the hands of Daye and there is additional evidence to support her self-defense claim in the stabbing; and
(7) prosecutors lack any credible evidence to support the two counts of larceny against Crystal Mangum.
That the authors of the Autopsy Reports are working with the prosecution is evident. However, what is most troubling is that the media is heavily involved in this conspiracy as can be seen by its selective and skewed reporting about Mangum, Daye, and others involved in the case.
LINK to Mangum’s Motions:
http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/cgmMo.htm
In the January 29, 2012 issue of The Durham News, I contributed a guest column titled “Autopsy reports don’t add up.” It expressed why I felt that the April 13 and 14, 2011 autopsy reports on Reginald Daye were flawed. Mr. Daye was the man who was stabbed on April 3, 2011 by Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser Crystal Mangum, and who, three days following this incident and emergency surgery, lapsed into an unexplained coma at Duke University Hospital. After an unpublicized week in a deep comatose state, Mr. Daye was electively removed from life support and died. Shortly thereafter Ms. Mangum was charged in his death with first degree murder.
Recently I have had the fortune to examine many of Daye’s medical records, including his operative report, EMS reports, and physical examinations. To support the veracity of the facts presented and conclusions drawn, I have presented redacted and highlighted copies, with notations, of key medical records about Reginald Daye to some of the mainstream media-types.
It should be remembered that the April 13 and 14, 2011 autopsy reports concluded that Reginald Daye’s death was due to “complications secondary to a stab wound to the chest.” Both reports were vague, incomplete, misleading, factually incorrect, and gave no real inkling as to the true cause of Daye’s coma and death. My review of Daye’s hospitalization has removed from my mind the shroud of mystery covering Daye’s demise, and I will forthwith explain with 99.9% certainty the most likely scenario of what led to Reginald Daye’s comatose state and death.
The morning of April 3, 2011, within hours after being stabbed by Ms. Mangum, Mr. Daye had been transported to Duke University Hospital where he was evaluated and found to have a blood alcohol of 296 mg/dL… a stupor causing level in an average non-alcoholic individual. In order to deal with alcohol withdrawal complications, upon admission Daye was immediately begun on a sedative drug regimen to keep delirium tremens at bay. His condition was stable enough to permit the luxury of performing a preoperative radiological examination regarding his wound to the left torso which confirmed a lesion in the colon (large intestine). Daye underwent emergency abdominal surgery during which only a lesion to the splenic flexure of the colon and a minor lesion to the spleen were identified and repaired.
In the evening of April 4, 2011, the third postoperative day, Daye began experiencing respiratory problems and doctors ordered a diagnostic procedure requiring contrast dye. A tube was placed in his stomach through his nose, and the contrast agent was introduced through it. The contrast agent in the stomach most likely induced vomiting, and healthcare staff concern about possible aspiration and need for protecting the airway led to the decision to intubate him. The 8.0 mm diameter endotracheal tube, which was supposed to be inserted into the trachea to allow oxygen to flow into the lungs, was mispositioned, and instead of oxygen-enriched air gushing into his lungs, his lungs were being deprived of oxygen. Lack of oxygen to the lungs meant that the blood was being deprived of oxygen as well. The brain cells, which are extremely oxygen sensitive, die within a relatively short time once being starved of oxygen. Heart muscle cells are hardier than ones in the brain, but they, too, require oxygen. After a critical point, the heart muscles, working without sufficient oxygen, began to dysfunction, which led to a cardiac arrest. CPR was instituted which included the removal of the misplaced endotracheal tube and the reinsertion of a 7.5mm diameter endotracheal tube which was properly positioned and allowed effective ventilation of the lungs. With restoration of oxygen to the lungs, the blood, and eventually the tissues, the heart muscles received much needed oxygen and were able to recover. However, the brain cells had been without oxygen too long and could not be revived... thus accounting for his coma. Daye’s irreversible comatose state, as determined by the neurological specialists, led to the eventual decision to electively remove Daye, with his family’s consent, from life support… the proximate cause of his death.
Discrepancies exist between the April 13 and 14 Daye autopsy reports themselves and Daye’s medical records. The operative report specifically stated, “The stomach, pancreas was without injury.” This contradicts the autopsy report of April 14, 2011 that documented a lesion to the “fundus of the stomach.” In addition, no where in the operative report is there mention of any lesion or repair to the left lung or diaphragm which further contravenes the April 14th report. The left kidney and its immediate environs were found to be intact and without lesions according to the operative report. One inch gauze used to pack the incision wound at the time of surgery would help explain its post-mortem appearance of being open. Daye’s operative report coincides and validates in the April 14, 2011 autopsy examination report only the lesions to the splenic flexure of the colon and the spleen. The operative report rules out lesions to the left lung, diaphragm, left kidney, and fundus of the stomach as averred in the April 14th autopsy document.
The 14th report also reads: “.. multiple minor scabbed over lesions and minor contusions which may represent defensive injuries are found running from essentially the left biceps to the left wrist. These measuring up to 5 inches in greatest [length].” A Durham County EMS Patient care report on Daye of April 3, 2011 relates different findings, reading, “Left Arm/Hand: Assessed with No Abnormalities.” Also at odds with the April 14, 2011 autopsy report’s declaration of left upper extremity wounds is the consultation report of April 3, 2011 by orthopedic surgeon Christopher R. Jones which states under physical examination: “There are no appreciable lacerations or skin breaks in the visualized areas of his four extremities.”
Discrepancies in the autopsy reports, in conjunction with the convenient omission in Daye’s discharge summary and the April 13, 2011 autopsy investigative report that entubation followed emesis but preceded cardiac arrest is troublesome and would lead a reasonable person with knowledge of pertinent facts to conclude that the autopsy reports were bogus and used solely to support the prosecutor’s charge.
Medical examiners should be independent and objective in their autopsy examinations and should not be a part of the prosecution team, as it definitely is in the case against Crystal Mangum. Dr. Clayton Nichols, the author of the phony autopsy examination report, should not be held liable for the substandard and false document for two specific reasons. First, he did not take it upon himself to produce a false and misleading document for no reason whatsoever. Undoubtedly he received instructions from higher up to produce a document that would enable the prosecutor to charge Crystal Mangum with murder. Second, Dr. Nichols felt compelled to “go along with the plan” after seeing what happened to Duke Lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong. Dr. Nichols learned well from the example the state made of Mr. Nifong, and not wanting to put his personal and professional life at risk, producing the desired deceptive document was a no-brainer.
Unfortunately in the twenty-first century, the mainstream media is not as independent and objective as it should be. But the media’s actions and attitudes are often based on financial incentives. For example, Duke University, which harbors unbounded animosity and misdirected hostility toward Mike Nifong, Crystal Mangum, and Nifong supporters, is one of the state’s largest conglomerations. Duke University and its healthcare system advertise heavily in print and broadcast media… this cannot help but make an influence on how the media covers stories, who it demonizes, and who it places on pedestals. You can bet that when a story involves Duke University, the media, in bringing it before the public treads with the most extreme care.
In short, the media is trying to keep hidden from the public the following facts:
(1) Reginald Daye’s brain death was due to the misplacement of an endotracheal tube by Duke University Hospital staff;
(2) Reginald Daye was electively removed from life support by Duke University Hospital staff with the consent of Daye’s family;
(3) Crystal Mangum had nothing to due with events that transpired in Duke University Hospital and she is therefore not responsible for Daye’s death;
(4) the Autopsy Reports of April 13 and 14, 2011 are totally bogus and purposely reach the false conclusion that Daye’s death was “due to complications of a stab wound to the chest;”
(5) the Autopsy Reports of April 13 and 14, 2011 made their false conclusion for the purpose of making a foundation upon which to build a murder case against Crystal Mangum;
(6) Crystal Mangum sustained physical injuries at the hands of Daye and there is additional evidence to support her self-defense claim in the stabbing; and
(7) prosecutors lack any credible evidence to support the two counts of larceny against Crystal Mangum.
That the authors of the Autopsy Reports are working with the prosecution is evident. However, what is most troubling is that the media is heavily involved in this conspiracy as can be seen by its selective and skewed reporting about Mangum, Daye, and others involved in the case.
LINK to Mangum’s Motions:
http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/cgmMo.htm
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Reginald Daye’s autopsy report is nothing more than a disgraceful shame…
LINK to flog: http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog7.html
The above flog is interactive to allow you to view documents at will.
Script for the flog is below.
Recently I examined two autopsy reports related to Reginald Daye, the early morning April 3, 2011 stabbing victim of Crystal Mangum… the Duke Lacrosse case victim and accuser. Documents included the Report of Investigation by Medical Examiner conducted on April 13, 2011 by someone whose signature I cannot decipher, and the Report of Autopsy Examination of April 14, 2011 performed by the Orange County medical examiner, Clay Nichols, M.D.
Beginning with the investigative report, it clearly shows that at the time of the stabbing he was intoxicated, as he had a blood alcohol level of 296 mg/dl. However, what I find highly curious is that of all media accounts I am aware of regarding the Daye stabbing and subsequent course of events, there was no mention of Daye’s drunken state. A prime example of media bias.
Supporting the intoxicated state of Daye is a passage from an article in the Newsweek’s “The Daily Beast.” It reads as follows: “A neighbor told The Daily Beast that Mangum and Daye had returned to Daye’s apartment after drinking at a cookout and began quarreling about money, eventually leading to the stabbing…”
Under Probable cause of death, the box “Pending” is checked. Lines are left blank where it states that death was “Due to...” No where is “stab wound” or “stabbing” indicated.
In the section “Manner of Death” the pending box is checked. Notice that the homicide box is not marked.
In the Medical History portion of the form, the box for smoking is checked, but notice that the one for alcoholism is left unmarked. It is my understanding from my sources that Reginald Daye was an alcoholic. He had a high blood alcohol level when medical personnel first obtained blood samples following the incident. Furthermore, I believe that the argument proceeding the stabbing had to do with Reginald Daye wanting to use money contributed by Crystal and intended to go towards rent, to purchase beer.
Under “Means of Death,” a sharp instrument is indicated as being utilized, however under description it reads only “knife per report.” There is no mention of what type of knife was used or the dimensions of the blade. My sources told me that a paring knife was used. However, the media again has elected to be as vague as possible by stating only that a kitchen knife had inflicted the damage. Had it been a butcher knife you can bet that the news reports would have said so… and not just said “kitchen knife.”
I looked below in the report’s “Narrative Summary of Circumstances Surrounding Death,” and not only was there no description of a knife, but there was no mention of a knife… the report reading “Mr. Daye… was reportedly stabbed in the flank at 3:15 am…”
The sections titled “Description of Body” and “Body Diagrams” were both left empty with a notice to “Defer to Orange County Medical Examiner.” Now, I do not know if this is standard procedure or not, but it strikes me as being baffling and quite curious.
The “Narrative Summary of Circumstances Surrounding Death” is where things really get mystifying. First it states that the incision wound is in the left 7th intercostals space of the chest… and that the CAT scan examination shows a laceration of the spleen and a small laceration at the superior pole of the left kidney. The exploratory laparotomy does not confirm any lesions to the left kidney or spleen… the only injury noted is to the splenic flexure of the colon.
The narrative of the operation Mr. Daye underwent states the following: “He underwent exploratory laparotomy, mobilization of splenic flexure, repair of splenic flexure lesion, and lysis of adhesions, and was admitted.” Notice that no where in this report is there any mention of a laceration to the left lower lobe of the lung. No mention of a perforation of the diaphragm. And no mention of an injury or repair to the fundus of the stomach.
Based on this report, what I believe the stab wound injuries to Reginald Daye consisted of is a laceration to the splenic flexure of the colon… period. The CT scan confirmed injury there, and the description of the operative procedures listed attention to the colon only. There was no mention of repair of a stomach laceration. There is no mention of repairs to the diaphragm, left kidney, left lung, or spleen.
You will also notice there is no mention of any lacerations, bruises or other lesions to the left upper extremity. This is in sync with media reports in which I did not find any mention of any defensive-type wounds to the left arm.
WRAL reported that Daye underwent surgery and was expected to make a full recovery. With Daye being at Duke Hospital, with its stellar reputation, I would expect nothing less. Newsweek commented that “a friend told ‘The Daily Beast’ on April 5 that he, Daye, was recovering.” This was one day before Reginald Daye unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest.
However, it appears that Daye’s problems began on the evening of Wednesday, the third post-op day, when the report implies that Daye vomited, and aspirated – vomitus entering his airway – which led to respiratory distress and his cardiac arrest.
Then, according to the report, after 20 minutes of CPR, his heart and lungs were functioning, but he was brain dead. So, on the evening August 6, 2011, Reginald Daye was in a deep coma, and remained in a coma for a week until he died the following Wednesday evening of April 13, 2011… and the media never mentioned it once. Remember, Daye was expected to make a full recovery.
There is no mention of how Daye died, but I have been told that he passed away after he was taken off life support.
This report is deficient in explaining what procedures Mr. Daye underwent, other than the emergency exploratory laparotomy. It is my understanding that he underwent some major procedures which may have contributed to his cardiac arrest.
Finally, on July 28, 2011, a reviewer lists “Stab wound to chest” as the cause of death. A vague and totally inadequate finding. There is no nexus between the stab wound and the cardiac arrest. The cardiac arrest which allegedly occurred on April 6th obviously contributed to his grave neurological condition. And, was he removed from life support?
As problematic as this report is, I believe it to be, by far, more accurate and reliable than the Report of Autopsy Examination which was conducted the following morning, on Thursday, April 14, 2011.
It lists the cause of death as “Complications of stab wound to chest.” However, it fails to list what any of those complications were, or how they were related to the stab wound.
Then, under diagnoses, the fantasy begins with the following entry:
“Stab wound to chest with: Perforation of left lower lung lobes; Perforation of diaphragm; Perforation of stomach; Perforation of colon; Perforation of left kidney; and Perforation of spleen (clinical).”
I’m assuming that a clinical perforation of the spleen is a phantom lesion that somehow produces a laceration within the organ without interrupting its capsule. Actually, I’ve never heard of such.
The paragraphs under “Injuries” I find most curious… especially involving the stab wound itself which the medical examiner described as “gaping.” I would hardly call an incision less than three quarters of an inch in length gaping, but if it were open, more than a quarter of an inch wide, then why was it not sutured closed at the time of surgery to prevent infection? Surgical intervention was well within time for primary closure… and if the wound was not closed at the time of the operation, it would have been well on its way to healing itself by granulation. There is no explanation I can see for the stab wound to be “gaping.”
It then claims that there are sutures on all of the following sites: left lower lung lobe, diaphragm, stomach, colon, and kidney. No mention of surgical intervention on the spleen.
Now if there were sutures to the left lower lung, would they have been performed by a thoracic surgeon, or would a trauma surgeon have been charged with its repair?
Regarding the stab wounds to the left arm, which first appear in this report, there is no mention as to the number of wounds. They are stated to run from the biceps to the wrist with 5 inches the greatest in length.
Under Internal Examination, the left lung does not mention any suture material, as stated was present earlier in the report. The tracheobronchial tree is described as having no abnormalities, which would contradict an aspiration. There is no sign of pulmonary embolism, either. These findings beg the question of what caused the cardiac arrest.
The Gastrointestinal System claims to show sutures in the fundus of the stomach and in the splenic flexure of the colon… sigmoid flexure being an obvious mistake.
The spleen does not show any signs of sutures or disruption of the organ’s capsule.
The left kidney supposedly shows signs of hemorrhage under the upper pole of the left kidney, which the medical examiner attributes to a stab wound… but there is no gross lesion observed on the organ’s capsule or any suturing. Also the adrenal gland which sits like a cap over the upper pole of the kidney is intact and normal in appearance.
The diaphragm is not specifically mentioned in this report… so there is no confirmation by report of the gross exam that sutures are present.
The examination of the brain exhibited no signs of pathology to help explain why Reginald Daye went into a comatose state. Most likely, the brain was deprived of oxygen for an extended time prior to the cardiac arrest, but the reason is unknown. Many people who are successfully resuscitated with CPR lasting twenty minute or longer, usually do not end up brain dead. The cause of his brain death is at the crux of his death, and I can find no nexus with the stab wound.
This leads to the “Summary and Interpretation.” The summary is inconclusive and there is no interpretation. The medical examiner explains that Reginald Daye sustained a single puncture laceration that penetrated a slew of organs in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, with hemorrhaging into them. It is evident that Daye did not die due to shock or blood loss. If there was a hemothorax, or bleeding into the chest cavity, or pneumothorax, air in the thoracic cavity, a chest tube would have been inserted. Repairs to lacerated organs should have put an end to the bleeding into the abdominal cavity. There is no mention as to why Daye was brain dead, why he went into cardiac arrest, which preceded which, and whether or not the patient was taken off life support. These questions are all the more baffling when it was reported post-operatively that he was expected to make a full recovery.
From the type of trauma he sustained, he should have made a full recovery. I believe that only the colon at the splenic flexure was penetrated by the stab wound, and that the Autopsy report embellished the injuries to make a better case for a death secondary to complications of the stab wound. The investigative report of April 13, 2011 is by far the more factual report.
The autopsy report of April 14, 2011 does nothing to shed light on why Reginald Daye died. The only thing that is obvious is that he did not die due to the stab wound he received… which penetrated his colon only.
The media, of course, is in cahoots with the police and prosecutors, and the medical examiner, Dr. Clay Nichols. This was evident from the very beginning when ABC-11 News stated that the warrants read that Mangum repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend. The online video of that news report titled: “Warrants: Mangum repeatedly stabbed boyfriend.” Posted the day following the incident, ABC-11 News went on to state that Daye was stabbed seven times. By misleading the public about the number of times Daye was stabbed, the ABC-11 was trying to make a self-defense scenario seem less likely.
The media also attempted to make the damage from the single stab wound seem more severe than it actually was. Whereas only the colon was penetrated by the knife, in my opinion based on the initial investigative report of April 13, 2011, the media wants the public to believe that six organs were penetrated… and to help do that, they refer to the diaphragm, which is nothing more than a very large muscle, as an organ. And the left kidney and spleen show no indication on gross examination that they were lacerated or repaired.
In short, the Autopsy report of April 14, 2011 is a sham, and does not even list any complications of the stab wound or surgery other than a cardiac arrest which mysteriously appeared and which, upon resuscitation left the patient brain dead… it is not even clear if Mr. Daye was brain dead prior to the cardiac arrest.
The media has done such a terrific job of sowing a culture of hatred against former District Attorney Mike Nifong, Crystal Mangum, and those who are considered by the Powers-That-Be to be on the wrong end of the Duke Lacrosse case, that I would not be surprised if a sinister hand at the hospital was responsible for the death of Reginald Daye. And although this is a very real possibility, the Durham Police never treated Mr. Daye’s death as a possible homicide. Instead the prosecutor was quick to upgrade the charge against Crystal Mangum to include first degree murder… months before the medical examiner even determined a cause of death.
Anatomically there are reasons to doubt the April 14, 2011 Report of Autopsy Examination. According to both reports, the stab wound would have been in the left seventh intercostal space… here. It is very likely that a puncture could have easily penetrated the colon and/or stomach. The April 13, 2011 investigative report well documents that the colon at the splenic flexure was injured.
However, the April 14th report states that the fundus of the stomach had a sutured lesion. This is fundamentally impossible as the fundus of the stomach, which is the part most superiorly positioned, is no where near the colon. Both organs could not be penetrated with a single stab wound.
The April 14th autopsy report is also flawed when it suggests that the knife traveled in a downward direction after penetrating the skin. Notice the position of the diaphragm… and the lungs are sitting atop them. In order to pierce the diaphragm and the lung from the 7th intercostal space, a knife would have to proceed in an upward direction.
The left kidney is located along the back wall of the abdominal cavity, and would require a strenuous thrust up to the hilt of a paring knife to possibly reach the left kidney, and I do not believe it could be reached without first going through the spleen.
And it could not be reached if the blade followed a downward course as determined by the medical examiner.
It is not only the discrepancies between the two reports that makes me doubt the April 14th report’s accuracy, but issues involving human anatomy. The April 14, 2011 autopsy report is nothing more than fiction designed to garner Crystal Mangum a first degree murder charge. The medical examiner is not at fault in the fabrication of this false report. Fault lies with the state and the media, working in conjunction with the Carpetbagger families of the Duke Lacrosse defendants in carrying out their vendetta against Mike Nifong, Crystal Mangum, and those whom they consider to be on the wrong end of the Duke Lacrosse case.
In the pursuit of justice, serious problems with reports by the medical examiners in the autopsy of Reginald Daye demands that the first degree murder charge against Crystal Mangum be dropped.
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