Word count: 1904
The truth will set Crystal Mangum free. That is a proposition of which I have been a proponent for some time. Durhamians and Tar Heelians would put a kibosh on the baseless and vendetta-driven criminal charges against Crystal Mangum (the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser) if they only knew the truth about events of April 3, 2011, that were responsible for Mangum’s current entanglement with the law. But the masses are ignorant of the truth… in the dark, left standing amidst the shadows of a moonless night. The reason for the misguided opinions and sentiments surrounding this injustice is due to actions and inactions of the mainstream media… all acting in concert with one another and their fellow co-conspirators. Media’s main contribution to the conspiracy against Mangum is to keep the truth hidden… buried deep beneath diversions, misstatements, selective omissions, misinterpretations, and outright lies. Instead of acting as a torch of enlightenment in the Mangum case, it has been functioning as a shroud to strike the death knell for justice.
For the prosecution to be able to bring such bogus and baseless charges against Ms. Mangum, with a straight face, requires the devoted participation of four additional center-stage actors: (1) the medical examiner (to provide the fraudulent autopsy report upon which to base the prosecution); (2) extremely pliable turncoat defense attorneys (to look the other way, pull punches, and advise against Mangum’s best self-interests); (3) enablers (individuals and organizations [NAACP, ACLU, etc.] who are in a position to do or say something to positively impact the situation, but elect to remain silent… mostly out of fear, having learned their lessons from the persecution of former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong); and (4) the mainstream media. Of the aforementioned four, the media is one of the crooked prosecution’s most valued allies because of the influence it has over the public… a public that for the most part places a great deal of trust in the media to provide honest and accurate reporting.
Although the mainstream media has been charged with being a public watchdog, to expose corruption in government and business that adversely affects the civilian citizens, when it comes to the Duke Lacrosse case or any of its participants, all bets are off. The driving force behind the remarkable unity of all media outlets stems from the fact that Rae Evans, mother of one of the Duke Lacrosse defendants, was an executive at CBS News for more than a decade. Afterward, she founded a highly successful Washington DC public relations firm of which she is president and CEO. In addition, her husband is an attorney in a prestigious DC law firm. As strong as her ties are to the other media outlets, there is no doubt that she possesses sway as to how stories are spun, and she has not kept her feelings hidden. During an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” show, Ms. Evans stated that she wanted Mr. Nifong to “pay every day for the rest of his life” (as retribution for his having the audacity to prosecute her son and the other lacrosse players). Defying journalistic codes of good standards, CBS never disclosed Ms. Evans’ ties to the station during any of its programs which featured its biased stories about the Duke Lacrosse case.
Another factor which drives the selective, skewed, and one-sided reporting of the Crystal Mangum case is the media’s desire to protect Duke University’s reputation and to mitigate the civil liability which Durham has self-inflicted upon itself with its unjust treatment of Mangum. The quandary at the root of the murder charge against Mangum is the fact that Reginald Daye’s death was not caused by the stab wound inflicted by Mangum. An unrelated botched intubation by Duke University Hospital staff, which resulted in brain death, led to Daye’s elective removal from life support… the proximate cause of his death. The media, through the prosecution’s charge against Mangum, has done its best to shift blame for Daye’s death from the Duke hospital, where it truly belongs, to Crystal Mangum.
Shortly after the stabbing of Reginald Daye by his live-in companion Mangum, the mainstream media flourished with articles about the stabbing, ABC-11 even falsely stating that Daye was repeatedly stabbed by Mangum. Lacking a lot of specifics, especially Mangum’s side of the story, the media devoted little attention to the incident itself, and focused much on the so-called “2010 arson” incident involving Mangum, and her role in the Duke Lacrosse case… never failing to misleadingly mention that the Duke Lacrosse defendants were declared “innocent.” Mangum was represented by media as emotionally unstable, mentally ill, and a perpetual prevaricator with a penchant for being physically violent with her boyfriends… none of which is true. On the other hand, the media hid from the public Reginald Daye’s criminal history (which included assault on a female), the fact that he was an alcoholic, and that he was highly intoxicated at the time of the incident. The media never bothered to mention that Mangum sustained physical injuries, including a swollen lower lip and a cut around her left eye. Nor did the media report findings at the scene of the incident which included clumps of Mangum’s hair, and a bathroom door that had been kicked in by Daye. In fact, the media, at all times, painted Mr. Daye in the most positive light.
As the media became more aware of the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case, its coverage of the case markedly diminished. On the third postoperative night, after Duke University Hospital staff intubated the esophagus rather than the trachea which resulted in Daye’s comatose state, the media went into a self-imposed news embargo on the subject. For a week, while Daye lay in a coma, the media kept the public in the dark as to the serious and significant turn of events in Daye’s medical condition. It was not until after Daye died a week later that the people were even informed about the fact that Daye had been in a weeklong coma. A suddenly apathetic media all of a sudden had no curiosity as to how Daye’s condition dramatically evolved from “expected to make a full recovery” to “irreversible brain-damaged induced coma.” Instead, the media placed the blame for Daye’s death on Mangum… never mentioning the botched intubation and, with the exception of only one media source, not mentioning that Daye was even on life support and that his elective removal from it preceded his death.
There was a flurry of media activity when the autopsy report was released to the public four months after it was written by Medical Examiner Clay Nichols. The media falsely proclaimed to the people that the stab wound inflicted by Mangum perforated “six” organs… the left lung, the diaphragm (not an organ, but a muscle), the left kidney, the stomach, the spleen, and the colon. As I revealed online in the operative report I procured from prosecution discovery, only the spleen and colon were damaged by the knife wound. In addition, other medical reports from prosecution discovery contradicted that Daye sustained any lesions to his left upper extremity which Dr. Nichols interpreted as being “defensive injuries.” Although the lack of credibility of the autopsy report by Nichols was brought to the attention of the mainstream media, they never attempted to question its accuracy or to set the record straight. Instead, the media chose to let their readers and viewers continue to believe that Daye’s death was due to the perforation of six organs by a single stab wound to the torso with a steak knife.
Specifically, I made contact with WRAL and its investigative team (including manager Randall Kerr), and ABC-11 at its downtown Raleigh studio, to enlighten them about the problems with the Daye autopsy report by Dr. Nichols. I even hand-delivered a letter to Jim Goodmon, the president and CEO of Capital Broadcasting Company which owns WRAL and FOX 50 among other media holdings. Per the usual response I have received from the media, I was ignored. As I was aware, the problem was not that the media did not know that what they reported regarding the autopsy report was incorrect and misleading, but that they did not want the general public to know. Such is still the case as the media continues to ignore the injustices in Mangum’s plight.
Another tactic utilized by the media is to not so subtly defile supporters of Mangum by presenting them as being lawless, unstable, and irresponsible. The headlines may blare that “Mangum supporter is being investigated by the State Bar,” but it is that which is underlying that story that is concealed. When approaching her one year anniversary of incarceration with no activity by her attorney of record, Mangum requested my assistance in drafting motions for her. I innocently drafted three motions based upon prosecution discovery that she sent me. She signed the motions and I filed them with the court. According to the State Bar, more than one journalist complained about me practicing law without a license… which propelled the Bar to investigate me. In order to conceal the identities of the journalists, the Bar itself assumed the role of the complainant in the action against me. Although the alleged wrongdoing against me was trivial and petty, the media, and the State Bar both made a mountain out of this tiny molehill. Diversion ruled the day, as the media brought attention to the alleged unauthorized practice of filing the motions (even questioning whether or not Mangum knowledge or consent for their filings), while disregarding the issues addressed by contents of the motions.
The selective and biased reporting by the media is not without severe consequences with respect to the administration of justice. Its role in the conspiracy against Mangum has helped keep a person innocent of committing a crime (and actually being a victim of crimes against her by Daye) incarcerated for 505 days as of today’s posting… and counting. The media is doing a disservice to Ms. Mangum, to Lady Justice, to the cause of “equal justice for all,” and to the public which reads its reports and views its broadcasts. In all fairness I do not fault reporters, news anchors, managers, and editors on the lower rungs of the media business, as the policies regarding how stories about Mangum are to be presented are determined by those at the top. Mr. Goodmon, as president and CEO is to be held accountable, rather than anchor David Crabtree, for example. Presidents and CEOs of ABC-11 and NBC-17 are guilty of failing in their duty to the public, as well. The media conspiracy in this Mangum criminal issue is long on fidelity and ubiquitous throughout the country.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help persuade the mainstream media to do the right thing when enablers, such as politicians, retired judges, the governor, the Attorney General’s Office, civil rights leaders and organizations, including the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, sit on their hands and allow their mouths to be muzzled. Only the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong is speaking out against the injustice towards Crystal Mangum… and as would be expected, the media has gone out of its way to minimize the group and discredit it whenever possible.
The media’s handling of the Crystal Mangum case has been disgraceful, and its subscribers and the public at large deserve better.
Monday, August 20, 2012
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.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
While the Tar Heel justice system burns, the courts, politicians, and the media fiddles
The defendant, Crystal Mangum, was not present for her hearing, which lasted (I have been told) about three minutes, at most. To date, Mr. Vann has been twiddling his thumbs, without any sign of urgency, while his client continues to languish in jail… this posting date being day 494 of her unjust incarceration.
Since the March 2012 hearing before Duke Lacrosse Judge Osmond Smith III, in which he quickly denied Chris Shella’s request for Mangum’s bond to be lowered from a ridiculously high $200,000.00, there has been no further motion for bail reduction. This is problematic in light of the fact that Judge Osmond Smith, who a reasonable person with full knowledge of the facts, would not consider him capable of being impartial when it comes to Crystal Mangum. Since Mr. Vann has taken over Mangum’s case, he has done essentially nothing for his client. His inaction is making his predecessor Shella look like Perry Mason in comparison.
Also, on Tuesday, August 7th, I filed two petitions with the court in Mangum’s case, but as a Pro Se petitioner… therefore, not lawyering. One was a Petition for Writ of Mandamus for petitioners Durham District Attorney Leon Stanback and Durham prosecutor Charlene Coggins-Franks, requesting that the Courts issue a writ of mandamus instructing the respondents to dismiss the Larceny of Chose in Action charge against Crystal Mangum due to lack of credible evidence and lack of probable cause. To begin with the two cashier’s checks at the heart of the issue were given to Mangum, having been filled out by Reginald Daye, and she was listed as neither the payee nor remitter. Secondly, she made no attempt or showed any intent to illegally convert them for her benefit. Thirdly, no where in the police reports that I had access to did Reginald Daye or his nephew Carlos Wilson claim that Mangum took cashier’s checks… they only referred to money, or rent money. For example, Wilson did not say to officers that he heard Daye shout, “Give me back my cashier’s checks” or “Give me back my money orders.” The Larceny of Chose in Action requires that cashier’s checks, money orders, bank notes and other certificates other than money or currency be stolen… and this did not happen.
Finally, a look at the timeline will confirm that had the larceny charge been serious, Mangum would have been indicted for it a day or two following the self-defense stabbing incident… it would not have taken prosecutors a couple of weeks later before making the charge against her. The fact that the larceny of chose in action charge was attained by a grand jury at the same time as the first degree murder charge makes it plain that the charge was trumped up in order to kick in the “felony-murder rule” to upgrade the murder charge to first degree. (Note: this is the same tactic that Andrew Curliss of The News & Observer criticized former Durham D.A. Tracey Cline of employing in his biased and scathing series about her just months ago… yet when it comes to Prosecutor Coggins-Franks using them on Mangum, the newspaper is conveniently muzzled… no complaints… no outrage.)
I believe that prosecutors initially planned to use the first degree murder charge to railroad through a life sentence for Mangum. However, due to the backlash of Mangum supporters, including members of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, the prosecution is now going to try and use it to eventually wring out a plea deal for “time served in order to let the prosecutors and the city of Durham off the liability hook for malicious prosecution and unjust incarceration.” (Similar to what happened in the James Arthur Johnson case.)
In order for the prosecutors to force a plea deal from Mangum, it will be necessary for them to have the cooperation of her defense attorney, and they are counting on Mr. Vann to come through for them, in my opinion. There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Vann’s priorities are in the following order: (1) Protect the reputation of Duke University Hospital, which was responsible for Daye’s death – not Mangum; (2) Protect the city of Durham from any civil liability for its malicious prosecution of Mangum; and lagging a distance behind (3) Possibly trying to see that Mangum doesn’t spend too long in jail.
The second petition filed on Tuesday was against respondent H. Wood Vann, requesting the Court to issue a writ of mandamus for him to turn over the entire prosecution discovery and all evidence to his client Mangum. Since her incarceration on April 3, 2011, she has never seen photographs from prosecution discovery, despite repeatedly asking her attorneys for them. Ms. Mangum has also not seen the report from Dr. Christena L. Roberts who reviewed the autopsy report of Reginald Daye that was submitted by Orange County Medical Examiner. By depriving Ms. Mangum of access to discovery and evidence, she is being denied the ability to best help in her own defense. It is bad enough when prosecutors withhold evidence from the defense, but when the defense attorney withholds it from his client, that is the height of professional misconduct.
Because of the aforementioned acts of withholding evidence from Ms. Mangum and his propensity to ignore Mangum’s request to see him, I filed a complaint with the North Carolina State Bar against Mr. Vann on Wednesday, August 8, 2012. Needless to say, I do not expect it to take any action.
I can understand why politicians, such as Congressman David Price, State Senator Floyd McKissick, Jr., and State Representatives Mickey Michaux and Larry Hall are mum on this great injustice… it is because they learned from the example that was made of Mike Nifong by the state and the media. They saw what happened when a man of integrity took a stand on principles and acted independently on moral conscientiousness regarding a justice issue that was contrary to the position held by the Powers-That-Be… Mr. Nifong was horrendously persecuted by the state and crucified in the media. For the same reason, civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and the ACLU have shied away from the injustice towards Ms. Mangum… it’s certainly not due to ignorance of what has been sadly transpiring.
It takes courage to take a stand against an unpopular position, and even though the cause in support of Mangum is one of justice and is sound morally, community leaders, members of the North Carolina General Assembly, and clergy, are afraid to take a stand. It is a rare courage that only Mangum and Nifong supporters are bringing against a justice system that is selectively and overtly bias, racist, cruel, and inhumane in its treatment of Ms. Mangum… Joan of Arc received better treatment by the British courts.
What I find most disheartening about all of this injustice towards Crystal Mangum is the fact that the mainstream media is actively involved in the corruption and conspiracy swirling around this case. The media’s priorities are not unlike Vann’s… to first protect Duke University (which heavily advertises, especially on WRAL and The News & Observer), secondly to protect the city of Durham from civil liability due to its misdeeds and malfeasance, and finally, to carry out the Carpetbagger Jihad agenda to destroy everyone considered by the Powers-That-Be to be on the wrong end of the Duke Lacrosse case (that includes Mangum, Nifong, and their supporters… and yours truly).
Despite the best efforts of the media (using its selective, skewed and one sided reporting) to keep the gross wrongdoings against Mangum hidden from the public, the stench is starting to leak out… and the cover-up in this case can not go on in perpetuity. It’s time for the media to start questioning and investigating the following:
(1) the problems with the autopsy report by Dr. Clay Nichols;
(2) what grounds does Durham prosecutors have for their larceny charge against Mangum;
(3) why is Mr. Vann keeping discovery and evidence from his client Mangum;
(4) why has a judge not been assigned to Mangum’s case;
(5) what role did Duke University have in Reginald Daye’s death; and
(6) why is Governor Bev Perdue and Attorney General Roy Cooper standing on the sidelines.
I believe that if Durhamians and Tar Heelians knew the truth about the injustices against Crystal Mangum, they would not allow it to continue… the truth will set Crystal Mangum free. The question I have is how long will the mainstream media attempt to keep it hidden from the people.
LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/manusAB/masMen.htm
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Crystal Mangum's handwritten motions of June 28, 2012
Word count: 494
Ever since I filed the handwritten motions by Crystal Mangum with the Clerk of Court’s office on June 28, 2012, anonymi commenters and the Intern, in particular, have been inundating me with challenges to put these documents online. No doubt, they felt my failure to take the initiative to do so was an indication of some sort of smoking gun. Undoubtedly they believed that I had some major hand in their preparation and construction. These ill-willers, without doubt, had hoped that I, in some way, had violated my pledge to the North Carolina State Bar to refrain from acting in the future as an attorney.
Despite my assurances that the handwritten motions by Mangum revealed very little, and their importance lied in the fact that they requested the Court to step in and rule on the extremely important issues of dismissing charges and reducing bail, Intern and his comrades persisted in trying to provoke me into posting the motions online. As I explained time and again, the precious time necessary to put them on the blog site was better spent on blogs and flogs that I was working on that dealt specifically with Crystal Mangum’s case. For example, trying to respond to the negative publicity generated by the media that a “Mangum supporter was being investigated by the State Bar” and composing an formal complaint for submission to the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, I believe, held priority. (As an aside, I have not as of yet received a response from my formal complaint to the Attorney General’s Office.)
Alas, I have given in to the demands of Intern et al in hopes of silencing them on the topic and not giving them false hopes as to the possibility of something being amiss. All three motions are presented on the link at the end of this blog.
Reinvigorated and refreshed after my little respite, I am ready jump into the NC criminal justice scene with both feet. I have begun work on a super-secret project, the likes of which Nifong and Mangum detractors cannot even begin to conceive… something original and unlike anything that has ever been seen on a blog site in history… ergo, something you’d never see on Durham-in-Wonderland or Liestoppers or any of the other boring blogs.
I have received a notice that a certified letter-return receipt from the NC State Bar is awaiting me, and I will retrieve it first thing tomorrow. Then I’ll post it on my blog site at my earliest convenience. There is a lot going on, and with Mangum’s case scheduled on the Court docket for August 6, 2012, I would expect significant activity to take place as a result. So, buckle your seat belt and press the peddle to the metal if you have any hopes of keeping up with this wild ride.
Click on the link below to access a directory which contains all three handwritten motions .
LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/blink0729direc.htm
Monday, July 16, 2012
Complaint filed with A.G.O. against Durham prosecutors
Word count: 984
Within hours of posting this blog, Sidney B. Harr, the Lay Advocate for the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, filed a formal complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office against Durham County prosecutors Kelly Gauger, Charlene Coggins-Franks, and Orange County Medical Examiner Dr. Clay Nichols. Dr. Nichols authored the April 14, 2011 Autopsy Examination Report on Reginald Daye which contained may discrepancies in its findings when compared with operative and consultative reports. Furthermore, the conclusion arrived at by Dr. Nichols – that Daye’s death was due to complications of a stab wound to the chest – is without support or documentation. No nexus is established by the medical examiner between the stab wound and Daye’s death.
Filing of this complaint was made with great sadness and reluctance, and unfortunately deemed necessary in the pursuit of justice for Crystal Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser who is wrongfully charged with Daye’s death. Many communications were made with prosecutors Kelly Gauger and Charlene Coggins-Franks, beseeching them to dismiss the baseless charges against Mangum. Letter upon letter was hand delivered to the office of the Durham County District Attorney’s office requesting him to prevent reputations from needlessly being smeared and lives destroyed… but to no avail. Even reaching out to the state’s highest elected executive official, Governor Bev Perdue, went for naught as she ignored the frequent communications pleading for the innocent victim of a vendetta prosecution to be cleared of frivolous charges and granted precious freedom so that she could finally be reunited with her three children.
Problems abound with not only the first degree murder charge, but with the little known/rarely used “larceny of chose in action” charge, as well. Prosecutors provide no credible evidence that Mangum took two cashier’s checks and lack credible evidence that she had intent or made any effort to unlawfully convert the checks for her benefit. In addition, both charges lack motive. Fact is, that like the 2010 arson case, on April 3, 2011, Crystal Mangum was the victim of an assault by an intoxicated Daye. Mangum was noted to have small lacerations around her left eye and a swollen lower lip. In addition, clumps of her hair were found at the scene, and the bathroom door she locked behind her in seeking refuge from Daye, was kicked in by him. What more is necessary to suggest physical abuse? Instead of charging Reginald Daye with domestic violence, assault on a female, false imprisonment, and placing him under arrest, Daye is not charged with a crime and is determined to be a victim of domestic violence.
What happened to Crystal Mangum should bode ill for advocacy groups such as the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. However, despite attempts to get the Durham-based activists involved in the injustice, they, like so many others, have elected to remain on the sidelines as spectators. They are ignoring the message being sent by prosecutors that if a spouse is being physically abused and he/she fights back in self-defense, they run the risk of being labeled the aggressor. I am betting that the people at the Coalition believe, however, that the treatment of Crystal Mangum is singular and not a widespread likelihood… something that they can live with as most Durhamians possess animosity towards Mangum as it is.
Attorney General Roy Cooper dismissed charges against the Duke Lacrosse defendants claiming that there was no credible evidence. The question with the prosecution of Crystal Mangum for murder and larceny is where is the credible evidence against her? Regarding the larceny charge, the prosecutors would be hard pressed at best to even prove that a crime was committed.
In dismissing the charges against the Duke Lacrosse defendants, A.G. Cooper questioned the credibility of Mangum, the accuser. In the current murder case against Mangum, there is no doubt that the Autopsy Examination Report of April 14, 2011 by Dr. Clay Nichols is false, misleading, and fraudulent in its findings and conclusion. Mr. Cooper should be questioning how the prosecutors could bring such a charge based on an autopsy report that is totally lacking in credibility… grounds for immediate dismissal.
The number of 106 fatal victims of 2011 North Carolina domestic violence probably erroneously included Reginald Daye. Truth is that Daye’s death should be categorized under “deaths due to medical malpractice.” Mangum prevented herself from being a statistic of domestic violence fatalities when she fought back against her attacker by stabbing him… a non-life threatening wound. The attorney general’s concern about the high incident of deaths due to domestic violence should encourage him to protect all victims of physical abuse, including those who fight back in self-defense.
Although the Duke Lacrosse defendants never spent a day in jail, the day of the filing of the complaint with the A.G.O. marks the 470th wrongful day of incarceration of Crystal Mangum, a true victim of domestic violence and a victim of a vendetta prosecution by Durham prosecutors bent on carrying out a misguided mission to exact retribution against Mangum for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case. It is needless to say that such a perversion and miscarriage of justice against Mangum would not be occurring if Mike Nifong were still the Durham district attorney.
Whether Attorney General Cooper will allow the Durham prosecutors to continue to throw away precious taxpayer dollars on a Carpetbagger jihadist inspired vendetta against Mangum remains to be seen. Hopefully the state will be able to resolve this problem of imperfect justice without interference from the federal government and the national attention that accompanies it. For the sake of Crystal Mangum, victims of domestic abuse, Lady Justice, and all Tar Heelians, A.G. Roy Cooper will do the right thing and see that all criminal charges against Crystal Mangum are dismissed.
Click on the link below to view the Formal Complaint filed as well as related documents:
LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/agoCOdirec.htm
Sunday, July 8, 2012
The only thing Crystal Mangum took from Reginald Daye was a beating
Click on Link below to view the Flog:
http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog19/flog19.html
Word count: 3,273
As problematic as the first degree murder charge is against Crystal Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser, the two count charge of larceny that she also faces stretches the already excessive bounds of incredulity even further by using a little known, rarely used law… North Carolina General Statute § 14-75 Larceny in chose of action.
First, to review the abject flaws in the first degree murder charge… Crystal Mangum was arrested on the morning of Sunday, April 3, 2011, hours after Reginald Daye, a man in his mid-forties with whom she had cohabitated for approximately one month, sustained a non-fatal stab wound to his left torso.
Durham Police, whose investigation into the stabbing resulted solely from accounts given by Mr. Daye and his nephew Carlos Wilson, suggested that Daye and Mangum were arguing over money, that Mangum stabbed Daye with a kitchen knife, grabbed his money, and then fled.
Investigators did note at Daye’s apartment, where the incident took place, that clumps of hair most likely belonging to Mangum were deposited at two sites, and that the bathroom door was kicked in.
Objective information readily accessible also included the fact that Daye had a stuporous alcohol blood level of 296 mg/dL, and a background check would have yielded that he had a lengthy past criminal record that included assault of a female.
Review of the EMS evaluation of Mangum would have brought forth the fact that she had a swollen lower lip, a small laceration around her left eye, and a lesion to the back of her left hand.
Investigators never interviewed Mangum for her side of the story before placing her under arrest for assault with intent to kill Reginald Daye.
Had authorities bothered, they would have learned from Ms. Mangum the truth behind the incident of April 3, 2011… events unfolding as follows:
Reginald Daye was a heavy alcoholic, who according to Crystal would drink up to a case of beer during a weekday, and consume a gallon of whiskey on weekends. He had been drinking the evening of Saturday, April 2, 2011, when they attended a birthday party arriving about an hour before midnight. Daye drank at the party, and then after a couple of hours, he drove himself and Crystal back to the apartment they shared.
In the parking lot nearby the apartment, Crystal saw a police officer she knew and began a conversation with him. Reginald Daye became jealous over the attention she gave to him and demanded that she accompany him to the apartment. When she lingered, Daye became enraged and began shouting at her, which led to an argument. Money, rent, and finances were not discussed or the subject of the argument.
Frightened and concerned about Daye’s outburst, Mangum asked the officer to give her a ride to a friend’s residence, whereupon the officer instructed Mangum and Daye to take their argument inside. Mangum complied and went with Daye to the second floor apartment… sustaining a cut to her knee when being dragged up some stairs.
Once inside the apartment, the intoxicated Daye punched her, spit on her, and pulled out her hair. When she retreated to the bathroom and locked the door behind her in seeking refuge from her abuser, Daye kicked in the door, knocking it off its hinges. The terror inside the apartment, which Mangum estimates at lasting an hour, included Daye bringing in steak knives from the kitchen and throwing them at her. Finally, when Daye was atop Mangum with both of his hand around her neck choking her, she desperately grabbed a knife that was lying within reach, and stabbed Daye once in the left side.
Daye got up off of Mangum after the stabbing and she jumped to her feet, grabbed her purse, which contained two cashier’s checks, and fled the apartment… with Daye giving short pursuit.
Mangum walked to a friend’s apartment close by, and was given shelter for the remainder of the morning… until police arrived and immediately handcuffed and arrested her. A statement given by the woman, Ms. Howard, to police recorded that upon answering the door, a sobbing Mangum said, “He beat me.”
Two days later, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011, police returned to Ms. Howard’s apartment and retrieved the two cashier’s checks that had been in Mangum’s purse. These two cashier’s checks would be the basis for the larceny charge against Mangum.
Reginald Daye’s condition on arrival to the emergency department at Duke University Hospital was stable enough to undergo a diagnostic CAT scan prior to emergency surgery. Findings at surgery revealed a laceration to the colon, which was repaired with sutures, and a small lesion to the spleen which was treated with electrocautery and Surgi-cel. Daye tolerated the successful surgery and had a prognosis for a full recovery.
Although Daye had received treatment for alcohol withdrawal, his signs and symptoms worsened with agitation, tachycardia, and high blood pressure to the point where he was transferred to the surgical intensive care unit.
On the third postoperative day, in preparation for a diagnostic study, contrast agent was introduced into Daye’s stomach via an n-g tube. Sometime shortly thereafter he vomited.
Concerns about protecting the airway from aspiration and to administer high concentrations of oxygen, the decision was made to intubate Daye. After receiving paralytic medication to facilitate the process, Daye was intubated with an 8 mm tube. However, the end tidal CO2 value, which indicates proper placement, was negative and tube placement was then reassessed visually and deemed to be correctly positioned.
Sometime thereafter, Daye went into a cardiac arrest, at which time cardiopulmonary resuscitation was begun. The endotracheal tube was removed and Daye was re-intubated with a smaller 7.5 mm tube. This placement gave a positive value for the EtCO2.
According to records, CPR lasted twenty minutes before the heart was resuscitated and began pumping oxygenated blood throughout the body. Unfortunately, the brain is extremely sensitive to oxygen deprivation and the brain cells died leaving Daye in what doctors considered to be an irreversible coma. After a week without any neurological improvement, the medical staff, with approval of Daye’s family, removed Reginald from life support after which he shortly succumbed.
Dr. Clay Nichols, the medical examiner, later produced an autopsy report which included findings not substantiated and contradicted by other medical records and logic… such as injuries and repairs to organs and tissues not mentioned in the operative report. Also Dr. Nichols concluded that the cause of death was due to complications of a stab wound to the chest… omitting mention that the proximate cause of Daye’s death was his elective removal from life support, not mentioning that Daye was removed from life support due to a diagnosis of irreversible brain death, not mentioning that esophageal intubation led to a cardiac arrest and brain death, and producing no nexus between Daye’s stab wound and his brain death or actual death.
Using this fraudulent and faulty autopsy report of April 14, 2011 as its basis, Prosecutor Kelly Gauger charged Crystal Mangum with first degree murder.
The first degree murder charge has a sentence that includes the death penalty and life in prison… and a life of imprisonment for Crystal Mangum would be the goal of the Durham prosecutor’s office. A requirement for charging a defendant with murder in the first degree is that the act be premeditated… something that would be impossible for the prosecutors to prove, so they get around this by using an insidious and draconian statute called the “felony-murder rule.”
The felony-murder rule enables prosecutors to upgrade charges of second degree murder where they cannot prove premeditation to first degree if they can show that the murder was linked to the commission of another felonious criminal act… such as robbery, rape, or burglary.
So the Durham District Attorney Leon Stanback and assistant D.A.s Kelly Gauger and Charlene Coggins-Franks are counting on their two count larceny charge to represent the related felonious action that would advance the murder charge from second to first degree.
However, the larceny charge is totally bogus on all accounts, and to charge Ms. Mangum with it is deceitful, malicious, and unethical. The relevant issues and facts regarding the basis of that charge are as follows:
Around the beginning of March 2011, Crystal Mangum and her three children moved into Reginald Daye’s apartment at his invitation. Within weeks, Mangum and Daye were involved in an intimate relationship. Reginald Daye worked as a house painter on weekdays during the hours when the apartment office was open. On Friday, March 25, 2011, Daye obtained a cashier’s check for $300.00 made out to Country Scene Apartments… the amount a little less than half of the monthly rent. That day he gave the check to Crystal so that she could drop it off at the rental office while he was at work on Monday, April 4, 2011. Crystal put the check in her purse for safekeeping.
The following Friday, April 1, 2011, Daye procured another cashier’s check listing Country Scene Apartments as the payee in the amount of $400.00. That day he also handed the check over to Mangum so that she could deliver it, along with the check for $300, which would cover the rent of $700, to the rental office the following Monday, April 4, 2011. As before, Crystal put the check in her purse, and gave it no further thought.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, April 3, 2011, an intoxicated Daye began arguing with Mangum because he perceived her to be flirting with a police officer. The argument had absolutely nothing to do with money, cashier’s checks or rent. Inside Daye’s apartment the argument turned violent and after approximately an hour of torment and terror, Mangum stabbed Daye in self defense, and before fleeing she grabbed her purse, which contained the two cashier’s checks.
Without obtaining her version of the events that transpired early that morning, Mangum was immediately arrested and charged with assault with intent to kill Reginald Daye. Two days later, police returned to Ms. Howard’s apartment to retrieve the two cashier’s checks.
Prosecutors charged Mangum with two counts of larceny (one count for each check) even though Daye gave both of the cashier’s checks to Crystal Mangum, Daye never asked for Crystal to return them, Crystal never took them from Daye, Crystal could not have converted them for her use as she was neither the payee nor the remitter, and that Daye always had the ability to redeem the value of the cashier’s checks as long as they were not claimed by the payee.
The fact that a cashier’s check can only be converted by the payee or remitter is so universally understood, that the State Employees Credit Union, upon which the cashier’s checks were drawn, have no written policy that explains what happens when a remitter loses a cashier’s check or has it stolen. It is understood by everyone that if unclaimed by the payee, a cashier’s check can be redeemed by the remitter without problem.
Therefore, although Daye may not have been in physical contact with the cashier’s checks, he always retained the value of them… they were of no fiscal value to Crystal Mangum. Consequently, it would make absolutely no sense for him to argue to take possession of the checks, for him to fret over not having physical possession of the checks, or for Mangum to covet the physical possession of them and refuse to turn them over to Daye upon his request. The case made by prosecutors for larceny involving the two cashier’s checks is absurd and defies not only the facts and evidence, but common sense and logic.
Prosecutor Charlene Coggins-Franks is using a little known – rarely used law in charging Mangum… North Carolina General Statute § 14-75 Larceny of chose in action. It begins as follows: “If any person shall feloniously steal, take and carry away, or take by robbery, any bank note, check or other order for the payment of money issued by or drawn on any bank or other society or corporation within this State or within any of the United States, or any treasury warrant, debenture, certificate of stock or other public security, or certificate of stock in any corporation, or any order, bill of exchange, bond, promissory note or other obligation”… This does not apply to Crystal’s case as the cashier’s checks were voluntarily given to her by Daye with the intention of her handing them over to the manager in the rental office.
It concludes: .. “either for the payment of money or for the delivery of specific articles, being the property of any other person, or of any corporation (notwithstanding any of the said particulars may be termed in law a chose in action), that person is guilty of a Class H felony.” This part of the rule is not applicable either because Mangum was in possession of one cashier’s check for nine days and the second one for two days, and she made no attempt to alter or convert them for her own use.
The importance of saddling Mangum with this larceny charge is for the purpose of bringing the felony-murder rule into play in order to upgrade the murder charge to first degree, as the prosecution is planning to try and have Mangum sentenced to life in prison.
The felony-murder rule in North Carolina’s homicide law reads as follows: “A murder which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a deadly weapon shall be deemed to be murder in the first degree, a Class A felony, and any person who commits such murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment in the State's prison for life without parole.”
The first degree murder charge is without basis on many aspects. First and foremost, Daye did not die as a result of the stab wound… he was electively removed from life support after a botched intubation by Duke University staff left him brain dead.
More importantly, Crystal Mangum stabbed Reginald Daye in self-defense.
Secondly, the underlying “larceny of chose in action” is bogus itself, as the cashier’s checks were given to Mangum by Daye and because she made no effort and had no intent to convert them to cash.
District Attorney Leon Stanback is wasting taxpayer money by allowing Prosecutor Charlene Coggins-Franks to proceed with this vendetta prosecution against Mangum as payback for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case. Taxpayer dollars are also going down the drain for her unjust incarceration in the Durham County Detention Center which is well over a year now.
The corruption and widespread conspiracy surrounding the cruel prosecution has claimed as conspirators and conspirators-after-the-fact: Governor Bev Perdue, Durham District Attorney Stanback, Prosecutor Coggins-Franks, and all of those who are aware of the injustice while being in positions to do something about it and yet refraining. The criminal justice system in the state is broken, especially in Durham County.
The problems that are currently plaguing Durham’s justice system would not be present if Mike Nifong were still in position as the Durham D.A. Mike Nifong is a man of integrity who represented himself in the truest sense as a “minister of justice”… meting out justice equally and in accordance with the law. A district attorney possessing integrity would not allow an innocent person to remain in custody on bogus charges based on a vendetta prosecution.
Durham District Attorney Leon Stanback knows that the murder and larceny charges against Ms. Mangum are fraudulent, but after witnessing the public crucifixion of Nifong by the state and the media when he dared to stand up and do the right thing by prosecuting the Duke Lacrosse case, the present D.A. has learned his lesson and will not challenge the Powers-That-Be… even when justice is on his side.
To recap, prosecutors wanted to have Crystal Mangum sentenced to life in prison for Reginald Daye’s death, which in actuality had nothing to do with the stab wound she inflicted in self-defense. Sentencing guidelines required that a Class A murder, punishable by death or life in prison without the possibility of parole, be premeditated. Because the stabbing of Daye was definitely not premeditated, prosecutors decided to use the “Felony-Murder rule” to bring the charge of murder in the first degree.
The felony-murder rule allows a murder to be classified as first degree if the victim’s death is linked to the commission of another felony crime. Because larceny in the amount of $700 is only a misdemeanor crime as it is less than the thousand dollar threshold needed for a felony, it would not be helpful in bringing the felony-murder rule into play.
The Larceny of Chose in Action charge is a little known-rarely used law that specifically addresses the theft of checks, money orders, and bank notes for their unlawful conversion. This crime is a felony irrespective of the value of the checks or bank notes… and so prosecutors elected to use it to meet prerequisites of the murder-felony rule.
The Larceny of Chose in Action charge is so rarely used that Attorney Woody Vann, who currently represents Ms. Mangum, told me that he couldn’t even recall hearing of such a charge being brought to court.
As a comparison, take the case of Daniel Edward Atkinson, in the Wake County Court for larceny of five checks. The arrest warrant stated that he used the checks to get $936… This would amount to a misdemeanor under the larceny of property NCGS statute § 14-72 …. However, under a charge of Larceny of Chose in Action, this crime would be a felony. This is a case that specifically applies to the crime committed by Mr. Atkinson, yet he was not charged with Larceny of Chose in Action… and he was not charged with five counts, one for each check unlawfully taken.
Ms. Mangum, on the other hand, never stole the checks… they were given to her by Reginald Daye. Unlike Mr. Atkinson, she never altered or attempted to convert the checks for her use. The basic requirements for the charge of Larceny of Chose in Action are never met in the prosecutor’s case against Mangum.
Keeping things in perspective, the value of both cashier’s checks to Mangum was nil. Theft of a roll of bathroom tissue would represent a more legitimate case for larceny than two cashier’s checks that are worthless to her.
Likewise, Reginald Daye, by not having physical possession of the cashier’s checks, always retained their value, and theft of a roll of bathroom tissue would represent a more substantial loss for Daye than the cashier’s checks.
If the larceny charge based on the two cashier’s checks was made in good faith, Mangum would have been charged with it shortly after her arrest on April 3, 2011. As it is, the Larceny of Chose in Action charge was filed on the same day as the murder charge, April 18, 2011, and was used to boost the murder to first degree… all for the purpose of keeping Crystal Mangum behind bars for life without the possibility of parole… a victim of domestic violence who inflicted a non-fatal stab wound to Daye in order to save her life.
D.A. Stanback and prosecutor Coggins-Franks are dearly holding on to the trumped up Larceny of Chose in Action charge for the cruel and inhumane purpose of keeping Crystal Mangum behind bars for the rest of her life.
I repeat… this travesty of justice would not be happening if Mike Nifong was still the Durham district attorney.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Media continues to Protect All Prosecutors Except Nifong
As the one year anniversary of the self-defense stabbing of Reginald Daye by Duke Lacrosse case victim/accuser Crystal Mangum rolled around, Ms. Mangum was concerned about the lack of movement on her case. She had been incarcerated since the incident and asked Sidney B. Harr, a layperson, for assistance. After sending Harr some of the prosecution discovery, the Lay Advocate for the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong drafted three Pro Se motions on behalf of Mangum which she signed. Harr physically took these motions to the court where they were filed, and he then notified the media. More than one journalist, in turn, contacted the North Carolina State Bar and asked what action it might take in response to the motions. With the State Bar named as the complainant, the Authorized Practice Committee launched an investigation into Harr’s actions.
On Thursday, April 5, 2012, Harr filed the motions he drafted for Mangum, and by the following Tuesday, April 10th, the State Bar had sent to Harr a Letter of Notice, which informed him of its investigation into his actions and the fifteen day deadline by which an answer to the complaint was to be filed. On April 19, 2012, Harr mailed to the State Bar his answer to the action taken against him. The case against Harr will be heard by the Authorized Practice Committee on July 17, 2012 at its quarterly meeting in Pinehurst.
In the June 30, 2012 issue of The News & Observer there is an article by the Associated Press titled “Murder convict free after 17 years.” It tells about a Greensboro man, LaMonte Armstrong, who was given a life sentence in 1995 for the 1988 killing of Ernestine Compton, one of Armstrong’s former college professors. He was freed on June 29, 2012 by Superior Court Judge Joe Turner after another man was linked to the crime and it was learned that the police and prosecutors hid important evidence from defense attorneys. One of the keys to LaMonte Armstrong’s conviction was the perjured testimony from a convicted felon who later admitted that police pressured him to accuse Armstrong. It should be of note that although fingerprints at the crime scene could be traced to others, there were no fingerprints or other forensic evidence to tie Mr. Armstrong to the murder.
Prosecutors’ star witnesses against Armstrong included three convicted felons who claimed that Armstrong made jailhouse confessions to them, and a fourth convicted felon who claimed to have witnessed the crime. This witness later stated that he was told by police officers that he would be charged with the killing of Ms. Compton unless he fingered Armstrong.
Theresa Newman, co-director of the Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic, stated, “I really hope that nobody was intentionally framing (Armstrong), but this is so close to the line, it raises questions.
Greensboro prosecutors, without any credible evidence and who withheld vital evidence from defense attorneys, using perjured testimony of their star witnesses who are all convicted felons, won a life sentence against LaMonte Armstrong. This most definitely was a frame by prosecutors, but again, the media protects them by adhering to the PAPEN (Protect All Prosecutors Except Nifong) Policy and refusing to list the names of any of these so-called “ministers of justice.” Did the journalists go to the NC State Bar with the Armstrong story and ask if it will seek any action against these prosecutors who effectively stole 17 years from the life of an innocent man? No! Instead the media is more concerned about the State Bar focusing its efforts on a non-attorney civilian whose crime was that he helped to draft three motions on behalf of Crystal Mangum.
There is no doubt that when the Authorized Practice Committee of the North Carolina State Bar convenes on July 17, 2012 it will dispense the most lenient option at its disposal and give Harr a warning to cease and desist from such activity in the future. It is just unfortunate that the State Bar will have been forced to expend time, money, and effort to investigate such a trivial matter involving a non-attorney. I believe that the State Bar’s resources could have been much better spent on investigating the activities of the prosecutors who framed an innocent man for a murder he did not commit.
Link to companion documents: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/genl/blinkdirec.htm
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