Letter to Congressman G. K. Butterfield

Word count: 578

On Thursday, March 28, 2013, I went to United States Congressman G. K. Butterfield’s Durham Office to deliver a letter to him about one of his constituents, Crystal Mangum.
Although his main office is in Wilson County, because of creative redistricting by the Republican-majority North Carolina General Assembly, he also represents individuals in Durham County… replacing David Price.

His office was closed, so I slipped the three paged letter under the door.

The following Monday, I called Congressman Butterfield’s Durham office and spoke with a gentleman named Reginald Speight. He confirmed receipt of the letter, which he did not open, and he told me it would be turned over to Mr. Butterfield’s regional director.

The following day, Tuesday, April 2, 3013, I received a phone call from Ray Rogers, the congressman’s regional director in Wilson County. He had read the contents of the letter which focused on the fraudulent autopsy report that was used as the basis to charge his constituent, Crystal Mangum, with first degree murder.

Mr. Rogers asked me what I wanted the congressman to do about the situation. I told him that I wanted Mr. Butterfield to do something… to write a letter to me, to the newspaper, to the Durham district attorney…. to call for an investigation. I told him that I wanted the congressman to do something.

I explained that I was not a politician and that Ms. Mangum was not my constituent, but that I was not going to sit by and do nothing in the face of such an injustice. Mr. Rogers told me that he would discuss the letter with others on his staff and make a determination about forwarding the letter to Congressman Butterfield.

After not hearing from the congressman or his staff, I placed a call to the Wilson office two weeks later on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Mr. Rogers was unavailable… in a meeting, and would not return that day.

The following day, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, I called again and spoke with Mr. Rogers. He told me that the congressman would be taking no action on this issue because it was in the courts. This is not an uncommon response, as many politicians use this as an excuse to refrain from getting involved in political quagmires.

I then asked if Congressman Butterfield had even seen the letter, and Mr. Rogers told me, “No.” By not seeing the letter, the congressman automatically has deniability… he’s out of the loop, so to speak.

I can’t speak for Congressman Butterfield, but I believe it is a serious breech of justice and ethics when a medical examiner provides a fraudulent autopsy report in order to snare an innocent individual. That is what has happened in the case against Crystal Mangum.

Congressman Butterfield’s constituent, Ms. Mangum, potentially faces a life sentence based on bogus charges in a vendetta prosecution within the congressman’s district, and it appears that he is not going to do anything about it.

The congressman can’t act on an issue about which he has no knowledge. That is the purpose of this flog. To see that he learns about the tragic injustice that is going on in his district… although it is many miles away.

To viewers of this flog, I request that you contact G. K. Butterfield at one of his many offices and let him know that he’s got mail. And he can find it posted on this blog site. 