Prosecutor Garcia-Lamarca leads DPD down wrong path at taxpayer expense

In her bid to do the bidding of the Carpetbagger families of the Duke Lacrosse defendants by prosecuting Duke Lacrosse victim Crystal Mangum, Durham Assistant D.A. Angela Garcia-Lamarca is leading the Durham Police Department down the slippery, slimy path of disgrace, mayhem, and degradation. She is doing this while Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez Sr. watches, his mouth closed and hands in his pockets. She is doing this while The Herald-Sun, The News & Observer, and the local news outlets, which have a duty to use their investigative powers and op-ed forums to protect the masses from corruption and waste, ignore the full scale malfeasance that envelops Ms. Mangum with the trumped up criminal charges which emanated from events the night of February 17, 2010. She is doing this while hardworking taxpayers are unaware that their hard earned tax dollars are being wasted to fulfill the malicious and vindictive agenda called for by the Carpetbagger Jihad.

The taxpayers’ tab is only going to grow as long as Ms. Garcia-Lamarca allows the so-called “criminal case” against Ms. Mangum to proceed. The Durham Police Department will continue to be dragged deeper into a quagmire of deception, which, if the case should miraculously go to trial, will end in the inevitable perjured testimony of many of Durham’s Finest. There is only one way out of this self-inflicted criminal justice cesspool, and that road to recovery, redemption, and restoration lies clearly in the hands of Prosecutor Angela Garcia-Lamarca. The way is clear... no GPS is required. All Ms. Garcia-Lamarca need do is to unilaterally and unconditionally drop all charges against Crystal Mangum. It is the morally right thing to do. It is the legally just thing to do.

There is no hope for a “Hail Mary” salvation in the form of a plea deal akin to what happened in the tragic fiasco known as the James Arthur Johnson case. Ms. Garcia-Lamarca cannot rely on Ms. Mangum’s legal counselor to do her in by pressuring her to accept a plea deal and admit to a crime which she did not commit. Although James Arthur Johnson, with the NAACP in his corner, caved in to Special Prosecutor W. David McFadyen’s last desperate plea deal, Crystal Mangum has the full support of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong behind her. What the courts shamefully did to James Arthur Johnson will not be visited upon Crystal Mangum. The sooner Ms. Garcia-Lamarca comes to the reality that a last-minute plea deal will not materialize, the better. She can then proceed to drop charges, implement the principles of restorative justice, and begin the healing process… one which will lead to public confidence and credibility in the Durham Police Department.

For Ms. Garcia-Lamarca to proceed against a headwind of logic, reason, and common sense by taking the case to trial will result in the same disastrous consequences suffered by the state when it decided to contest the innocence of Gregory F. Taylor in court before a three judge panel. Not only was Mr. Taylor (who wrongfully served 17 years in prison) vindicated in the murder ascribed to him by Wake County Prosecutor Tom Ford, but to the state’s dismay, the State Bureau of Investigation was shaken to its core and has come under media scrutiny and criticism for its handling of the case. Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby was ill-advised to proceed against Mr. Taylor. The upside for trying to keep a clearly innocent man behind bars the rest of his life were nil, and the downside was potentially huge and unpredictable… as Mr.Willoughby and Ford learned in time. Ms. Angela Garcia-Lamarca needs to weigh her options with the Mangum case very carefully, and understand that in going forward to trial that the risks are potentially great, whereas the benefits, if any exist, are miniscule.

Elected politicians (such as U.S. Congressman David Price, State Senator Floyd McKissick, Representative Mickey Michaux, and others of whom Ms. Mangum is a constituent) can distance themselves from Ms. Mangum (who is being blatantly mistreated by the state because of her role in the Duke Lacrosse case) and say that their hands are tied due to protocol. The NAACP, the Durham Committee On the Affairs of Black People, and other civil rights organizations can remain silent as dormice when it comes to the injustices against Ms. Mangum (like they were during the persecution of former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong). But the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong will be ever present to see that justice prevails with regards to the trumped up charges against Crystal Mangum. There will be no plea deal. The tragedy of James Arthur Johnson will not be visited upon her.

Prosecutor Garcia-Lamarca needs to clearly understand that regarding Ms. Mangum, there is no plea deal in the cards… it is not even on the table.