The North Carolina justice system is broken, corrupted, and hijacked!

PART ONE

PART TWO

Word count: 1,112

Instead of “equal justice for all,” North Carolina follows a tenet of “selective justice based on Class and Color.” This is manifested by the fact that it is broken, corrupted, and hijacked.
That the system is broken is undeniable in lieu of the numerous incidents of innocent individuals being unjustly incarcerated for months and years, only later to be exonerated. Of few of North Carolina’s wrongly incarcerated include Erick Daniels, James Arthur Johnson, Floyd Brown, Alan Gell, Carletta Alston, and Kenneth Kagonyera.

Distinguished UNC-Chapel Hill law professor Rich Rosen, in a recent paper, cited that the Tar Heel state lagged only behind the states of Illinois and Louisiana in the number of death row inmates found later to be innocent of committing capital crimes.

Of those innocents who have been wrongfully sentenced to death or life include Darryl Hunt, Glen Edward Chapman, Levon “Bo” Jones, Gregory Taylor, and Joseph Sledge… all of whom have been deprived of precious decades of freedom… lost years in the prime of their lives for which no amount of money can compensate.

That the system is corrupted is plainly evidenced by the facts surrounding the trumped up criminal charges against Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser Crystal Mangum. Incarcerated for 689 days prior to making bond to await trial for first degree murder in the death of her boyfriend Reginald Daye, Ms. Mangum was the true victim of a vendetta prosecution as payback for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case.

The events surrounding Daye’s death clearly show that Mangum was physically assaulted in a domestic violence incident and that she stabbed Daye in self-defense. Facts point out that the prosecutors, in charging Mangum in Daye’s death, used a false and fraudulent autopsy report produced by the North Carolina Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Clay Nichols.

Discrepancies in the medical findings are readily apparent between the autopsy report and all of the other medical records, including the operative report, orthopedic consultation
report, EMS records and other documents found in prosecution discovery.

Comparisons can be made on the following directory which includes the autopsy report as well as other medical records. Clicking the “Notation” button will highlight important passages. Clicking the “Clear notes” button will return to the previous directory where another selection can be made. After completion of viewing the documents, click the “Proceed” button to continue with the flog.

Another problem with the autopsy report is its conclusion that Daye died due to “complications of a stab wound to the chest.” This is not merely misleading or disingenuous, but an outright lie… but a lie that Prosecutor Kelly Gauger required in order to charge Crystal Mangum with murder following Daye’s death. No nexus is presented by Dr. Nichols between the stab wound and Daye’s death.

All indications are that the emergency surgery, for the wound that was not considered to be life-threatening, went well with Reginald Daye’s prognosis for a full recovery.

Dr. Nichols conveniently omitted the events that contributed to Daye’s death that included delirium tremens, an esophageal intubation that precipitated cardiac arrest and brain death, a weeklong comatose state, and the elective removal from life support by the medical staff at Duke University Hospital that resulted in Daye’s demise.

The autopsy report can be compared with other medical records and documents in order to support the premise that the true cause of Daye’s death had nothing to do with the stab wound, but rather the errantly placed endotracheal tube.

That the North Carolina justice system has been hijacked is realized by the fact that the mainstream media, politicians, civil rights organization, and community leaders, despite having full knowledge of the significant problems with the autopsy report and prosecution’s case against Mangum, have elected to remain mute and idle… acting as enablers or conspirators after the fact. No one has Nifongian courage to challenge the blatant and disparate legal mistreatment of Crystal Mangum by the state.

This is the same thing that happened to then Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong six years ago when he prosecuted the Duke Lacrosse case. The state worked with the media in disparaging Mr. Nifong and raining in public contempt against a man who was merely doing his job, but in a dedicated and independent manner.

The subsequent persecution of Mr. Nifong pulled a shroud over the state’s justice system, and it is therefore no wonder that Dr. Clay Nichols would rather commit a criminal act than go against the wishes of the Powers-That-Be… those who have stolen from Tar Heelians the reins of justice.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and former Governor Bev Perdue were made aware of allegations of fraudulence in the autopsy report by Dr. Nichols. The state’s Medical Board was notified about Dr. Nichols’ fabricated autopsy report and has determined not to take action against him. The North Carolina State Bar received complaints against Durham Prosecutors Gauger and Charlene Coggins-Franks and it, likewise, decided not to proceed.

Currently North Carolina is a state where those in positions of power and those with a voice feel compromised because of the example made of Mr. Nifong. The State, the media, and even the defense attorneys for Mangum have as their number one priority to protect the medical examiner and Duke University Hospital… even if it means an unlawful felony conviction and years of imprisonment for an innocent African American mother of three… Mangum.

All avenues at the state level to rectify the injustice against Mangum have been extensive and have been exhausted. It is time for the Federal government to get involved because the state is the problem.

Consider the following for example: this state absolutely adores former Senator Jesse Helms, an unrepentant racist. The media refers to him in glowing terms while ignoring his bigoted past… Congresswoman Renee Elmers wants to name a Federal Building in downtown Raleigh after him. Not only that, but the General Assembly nearly unanimously paid tribute to him (one negative vote), however, this same body cannot drum up enough votes to grant a pardon to former Governor William Wood Holden who had the audacity to confront the Ku Klux Klan and prevent its lynching of African Americans in the 19th century.

Furthermore the state is tossing out the Racial Justice Act and rushing forward to actions necessary to commence executions of the African American majority of death row inmates.

The case against Crystal Mangum is clearly one that represents the state’s justice system of one which acts selectively based on Class and Color.

Lady Justice is demanding that the Federal government intercede on behalf of the defendant, and justice itself. 

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. 

Mainstream Media - An important cog in the Durham prosecutors' wheel of conspiracy against Crystal Mangum

PART ONE

PART TWO

Durham prosecutors need to dismiss the “larceny of chose in action” charge against Crystal Mangum

Part One

Part Two

LINK to Interactive Flog below:

http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog29/flog29.html

Transcribed Text

Word count: 2,126

On the morning of Sunday, April 3, 2011, Reginald Daye told first responder police and paramedics that he and Crystal Mangum were arguing over money prior to the stabbing incident.

Daye claimed that Mangum, who gained notoriety in the media as the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser, either took his money or refused to return his money… his story on this point not being consistent. Never once in these early interviews with police and investigators did Daye, or his nephew Carlos Wilson, ever mention that she had taken cashier’s checks or money orders… leaving the impression that she had stolen cash.

Durham police and investigators also failed to ask how much cash was allegedly taken by Ms. Mangum. According to police reports, the question is never asked by Durham’s Finest, and Daye and Wilson never voluntarily mentioned the amount of cash allegedly stolen.

Without even having the opportunity to give her statement as to what transpired leading up to the stabbing of Daye, Crystal Mangum was arrested on sight within hours of the incident and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill.

According to Durham officer Marianne Bond, Mangum wanted to make a statement, but before she could, she was informed that she had been arrested and was read her Miranda Rights which stated that anything she said could be used against her. Officer Bond then asked Mangum if she wanted to answer some questions at which time she declined, and the so-called interview was terminated.

Daye underwent successful trauma surgery hours after his admission to Duke University Hospital through its emergency department… his prognosis was for a full recovery.

According to Officer Bond’s report, during an interview with Daye the next day, Monday, April 4, 2011, he admitted that he gave two cashier’s checks to Mangum for safekeeping. The checks totaled seven hundred dollars and were to be used to cover April rent.

More importantly, he admitted that the argument early the previous day had nothing to do with money or finances, but rather with her disrespect towards him… in particular, her flirtatious ways with other men.

On the third postoperative day,Wednesday, April 6, 2011, complications from delirium tremens set in, Daye was moved to intensive care, and an endotracheal tube was accidentally placed in his esophagus instead of his airway. By the time the grave mistake was realized, Daye was brain dead and in cardiac arrest. After twenty minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, spontaneous restoration of circulation was achieved, but he remained in what was determined to be an irreversible coma.

After a week of monitoring his condition under an umbrella of media silence, Daye, having shown no signs of improvement, was electively taken off life support, and he died… the evening of April 13, 2011.

Up until the time of Reginald Daye’s death, Mangum had been charged only with assault with a deadly weapon. She had not been charged with larceny, larceny of chose in action, or any other crime.

The following Monday, April 18, 2011, Durham Prosecutor Kelly Gauger obtained a grand jury indictment against Mangum for first degree murder in the death of Reginald Daye. The prosecutor had also gotten an indictment for two counts of ‘larceny of chose in action’ against Mangum related to the two cashier’s checks that Daye admitted to have given her and which were in her possession at the time of her arrest. Both cashier’s checks were filled out with Daye as remitter and the apartment complex as the payee. Magnum had no ability to convert them for her own personal use even if she wanted, and Daye never was without the ability to redeem their cash value… provided he did so before they were cashed by the payee.

Larceny of chose in action is a loophole law in which neither of its two primary elements was met. Mangum was given the cashier’s checks… she did not steal or unlawfully take them. Furthermore, she merely held on to them per Daye’s request… making no attempt to alter or convert them for her use. There was no crime committed by Mangum.

However, Prosecutor Gauger, and her successor, Charlene Coggins-Franks, held on to the charge because it was automatically a class H felony… and the prosecution needed a felony for the “felony-murder rule” to be applicable. This problematic and controversial rule enables prosecutors to saddle criminals with first degree murder if an individual dies during the commission of a felony.

A vendetta prosecution from day one as payback against Mangum for her role in the Duke Lacrosse case, Gauger and Coggins-Franks were seeking a life sentence against her… something that a conviction on a first degree murder charge could assure. And that was the purpose for the charge of “larceny of chose in action”… to guarantee that Mangum spend the remainder of her life incarcerated.

“Larceny of chose in action” charge should be immediately dismissed as the charge lacks probable cause… the elements of the charge missing in this case. Prosecution lacks an eyewitness to the alleged taking of the documents. Not only that, but Daye admits that he gave the checks to Mangum.

The prosecution has failed to present a plausible theory or a motive for Mangum to allegedly steal two cashier’s checks that were filled out and that she could not convert. The prosecution has yet to present a consistent scenario of events involving the cashier’s checks and the stabbing incident… and it has failed to present a connection between the two that is substantiated by their discovery.

Dropping the criminal charge against Mangum definitely would not be precedent setting, as charges throughout the state and especially in Durham County have been dismissed recently… specifically charges against Stephanie Nickerson, Michael Dorman, Stephen Lavance Oates, Shielda Evelyn Harris and Sheila Moses, and Erick Daniels.

Late in October 2012, 25-year old Navy veteran Stephanie Nickerson was at a friend’s house when Durham Police arrived on a noise complaint. When the police wanted to enter the house, Ms. Nickerson advised the house owner that she did not have to allow the police in without a search warrant. This prompted the police officer to grab Nickerson’s wrists to place them behind her back to make an arrest. When she jerked her hands away, the officer threw her to the ground and began punching her in the face.

Nickerson sustained a broken nose, black eye, and swollen lip as a result of the beating and was charged with resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. These charges, of course, were without probable cause, and they were subsequently dropped a short time later by the Durham District Attorney’s Office.

In August 2011, Durham County Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson dismissed a murder charge against Michael Dorman. Prosecutors claim Dorman inadvertently killed a woman he was attempting to rape. When apprehended years later, he had her bones in his backpack.

In his order, Hudson stated that defendant Dorman was unable to receive a fair trial because of the destruction of important evidence… the woman’s skeletal remains had been released to the victim’s family and were cremated.

It is interesting to note that Judge Hudson accused the Durham County District Attorney’s Office, the Durham Police Department, and the State Medical Examiner’s office of conspiring to destroy evidence and violate Dorman’s right to a fair trial. These are the same claims made by the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong in Mangum’s current murder charge… specifically that the Durham County District Attorney’s Office, the Durham Police Department, and the State Medical Examiner’s office conspired in producing a trumped up autopsy report on Reginald Daye.

Around February 22, 2013, Durham prosecutors dropped the murder charge against Stephen Lavance Oates in the 2008 death of Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato. The Durham prosecutor, in his order requesting the dismissal, stated that the State had been unable to locate a key witness and that it had “no other available and admissible evidence.” Oates’ attorney, Mark Edwards, had been lobbying for more than a year to have the case thrown out.

Mr. Edwards stated that the Oates case illustrated a “troubling pattern in the Durham police department.” He could have easily gone further with the inclusion in that pattern of the post-Nifong Durham District Attorney’s Office.

On June 12, 2012, Durham prosecutors dropped charges against Sheilda Evelyn Harris and Sheila Moses, respectively the mother and sister of Peter Lucas Moses Jr., a cult leader who pled guilty to murders of Antoinetta Yvonne McCoy, and five year-old Jadon Higganbothan. The two had been held on charges of “accessory after the fact of murder.” No reason was given by prosecutors for their dismissal.

In September 2000, a home-invasion style armed robbery took place in Durham, and 14 year-old Erick Daniels was convicted of the crime despite the lack of evidence and not even having the appearance of the perpetrator… Erick’s hair was close cropped and the description of the robber was that he had cornrows. The chief witness in the case picked him out of a middle school yearbook based on the shape of his eyebrows. Durham police led him out of his middle school in handcuffs. He was sentenced to ten to fourteen years.

Erick Daniels always maintained his innocence and even passed a lie-detector test in 2003. In late 2004, Durham attorney Carlos Mahoney took up his case, and despite a January 2007 denial by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, he fought on for his client.

In September 2008, Durham prosecutors, knowing that they had a weak case against him, offered him an Alford plea deal in exchange for his immediate release from custody with seven years of time served. Had Erick Daniels accepted the plea deal he would have been forever labeled a felon with an armed robbery conviction. He declined… placing his faith in Attorney Mahoney.

During two days of a September 2008 hearing in which Mahoney sought a new trial for his client, the evidence he presented before Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson was so strong and convincing that the black rober took the initiative of dropping the felony charge and declaring Daniels innocent.

Judge Hudson specifically stated, “I would order a new trial if I were satisfied that this defendant committed this crime and the state could prove it. I have no confidence the defendant committed these charges.”

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue denied Erick Daniels’ petition for a Pardon of Innocence… thereby preventing him from receiving compensation as mandated by legislation for his more than seven years of wrongful incarceration.

In cases outside of Durham, a first degree murder charge was dismissed against Knightdale resident Carletta Patrice Alston. She was charged by Wake County Prosecutor Tom Ford in the June 2009 death of her stepfather Michael Donnell Smith. The weight of the case against her consisted of gunpowder residue found on her nightgown and the fact that her account of what transpired during the early morning hours of the shooting differed from that of a neighbor.

Alston’s defense attorney pointed out to the court that the residue on the nightgown could easily be due to contamination by the lab… as there was no gunpowder residue on her hands.

At the time of her arrest, Alston had been working at two jobs at nursing homes and was hoping to save enough money to move from the residence she shared with her mother and stepfather into her own apartment. Even though the charge has since been expunged from her record, she has had difficulty landing employment because of it.

She was held in jail for nearly a year before Ford dropped the charges, without explanation or comment, and she was released.

There are other examples I could recite where baseless and reckless charges resulted in many months and years of the wrongful incarceration of innocents… but that would be superfluous.

The charges against Crystal Mangum are baseless, bogus, and vendetta-driven. Both charges she now faces are without merit and malicious and a waste of taxpayer dollars. The prosecutors should have dropped charges against her or a judge dismissed them long ago.

Now that Ms. Mangum is out on bond, the prosecutors are without their bargaining chip needed to help secure a plea deal. Although neither charge is supported by probable cause, and both are deserving to be dismissed, the “larceny of chose in action” is most egregious, and was obviously utilized with malice in the State’s sadistic plot to saddle Crystal Mangum with a life sentence.

One thing you can rest assured of… these criminally cruel antics would not be taking place if Mike Nifong was still the Durham County district attorney. 

Durham prosecutors make fools of the Daye family

Word count: 613

Click on the LINK below to access the flog:
LINK:  http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog26/flog26re.html

Transcript of narrative below

The Durham Police and the Durham prosecutors have mocked Reginald Daye’s family by convincing them to play the role of aggrieved family members spewing hatred towards Crystal Mangum.

These family members, like most uninformed and unenlightened people hold Crystal Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser, responsible for the death of Reginald Daye… her boyfriend at the time.

Recently, when Mangum has appeared in court for a hearing, Daye’s family would show up in the courtroom pews and with their glares shoot daggers at this young woman who has been charged with first degree murder in his death.

According to news sources, Prosecutor Charlene Coggins-Franks has even made a point of publicly pointing out their presence to the Court… taking the extra step of suggesting that some were still so distraught as to be weeping during the hearing.

Whether or not these courtroom theatrics were orchestrated by the prosecution, which is most likely the case, or the misguided creation of the Daye family itself, is unknown… but its intent is the same. The goal being to garner animosity against Mangum.

Prosecutors in this case need every possible advantage, as their case is non-existent. Evidence has readily established that Ms. Mangum was the victim of domestic violence, assault on a female, and false imprisonment by an alcohol intoxicated Daye.

Evidence furthermore supports that she stabbed him in self-defense, and that the wound she inflicted was not life-threatening.

Intubation of the esophagus instead of the trachea by medical staff at Duke University Hospital, as a complication of delirium tremens, was responsible for Daye’s brain death and cardiac arrest.

His subsequent elective removal from life support by Duke hospital staff resulted in his death… a death in which Mangum played no role.

A fraudulent autopsy report by North Carolina Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Clay Nichols served as the underpinning for the bogus murder charge against Mangum, and with the cooperation of the mainstream media, it has served to mislead the masses into believing Mangum was directly and solely responsible for his death.

The Daye family has bought into this fantasy and has been injecting their venom at an innocent person, Ms. Mangum… who is also a victim of their kin, Reginald Daye.

Surely, the prosecutors have represented themselves to the Daye family as sympathetic and empathetic fellow mourners out to get justice for Reginald, a valued member of society… but this is where the foolery begins.

It is unreasonable for the Daye family to think that the Durham Police and/or its prosecutors give a whit about Reginald… an African American man with a criminal record.

The contempt the police and prosecutors had for Mr. Daye is evidenced in their choice of an alias for him… using the initials of his first and last name, they came up with the moniker Richard Dong.

“Dong” is a vulgar slang word that refers to male genitalia… and its use, for the so-called alleged victim who they cared so much about, was inappropriate, offensive, and racist. Totally uncalled for.

Duke University Hospital had the decency, after Reginald Daye was admitted, to change his alias from Richard Dong to Richard Douglas.

The Daye family needs to stop being a prosecution puppet in the vendetta prosecution of Mangum and come to grips with the reality that they are being used by the prosecution in carrying out an injustice against an innocent person, Mangum.

If the Daye family wants to vent its hostility about Reginald Daye’s death, they need to direct it where it belongs… at Reginald Daye himself and the Duke University Hospital.

And, they need to cease being pawns of the prejudice prosecutors. 

February 18th Hearing

 

Click on the link below to view the flog and the directory. 

They both have links to each other.

LINK to Flog:  http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog25/flog25.html

LINK to Directory:  http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog25/flog25direc.html

Transcript of the flog is below

Word count: 1,125

 At the October 24, 2012 meeting of the North Carolina State Bar’s Authorized Practices Committee meeting held in Raleigh, a decision was made to file a civil complaint against Harr enjoining him from assisting Crystal Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser who is currently facing murder charges.
 

The impetus behind the legal action stemmed from two documents Harr filed in Mangum’s case on August 7, 2012… one a petition for writ of mandamus to have the Larceny of chose in action charge against her dismissed, and the other to order her attorney, at the time, Woody Vann, to turn over all discovery which he had been withholding to her.
 

Harr drafted and signed these documents as a third party Pro Se petitioner and stated in the filings his arguments for having standing in the case.
 

 The motion for a preliminary and permanent injunction against Harr was filed in the Wake County Courthouse in downtown Raleigh on December 4, 2012.  In addition to mentioning the two petitions filed in August, the State Bar plaintiff also mentioned the previous incident addressed and resolved in the Bar’s July 17, 2012 meeting.

 

 Also the Bar included in its complaint the August 13, 2012 letter Harr had written to Judge Orlando Hudson… which it evidently considered to be the province of licensed attorneys.  This transgression was never mentioned in the Letter of Notice the Bar sent to Harr in late August.

 

 Harr responded to the civil suit on December 17, 2012, in a filing that denied that his petitions breached any law against lawyerly conduct as he was solely representing himself.

 

 He furthermore asserted that the motions he drafted and filed for Crystal Mangum had been settled earlier and that he was within his legal rights to send a letter to a judge advocating for position or cause.

 

 In addition to defending against the State Bar’s allegation, Harr filed two motions of his own… one to waive the general statutes that prohibit him from legally representing Mangum in Court, and the other to have oral arguments.

 

 The reasons given for allowing him to represent Mangum were that she could not find a defense attorney that would be willing to attack the state’s deputy chief medical examiner, Dr. Clay Nichols, and willing to place Daye’s death on Duke University Hospital.

 

 Finally, Harr requested oral arguments to better express his position to the presiding judge… something which was denied him in his discrimination lawsuit against Duke University in 2011.  Like Duke University, the Plaintiff State Bar has an exceedingly weak case against Harr and has no likelihood of prevailing in open court.

 

 To improve its odds and lessen its exposure to ridicule and embarrassment, the State Bar, relying on Rule 12(c) in the state’s Civil Procedures, filed on January 14, 2013, a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.  This is a motion Harr believes to be rarely used, and definitely one of desperation. 

 

 Such a motion, if granted, would dispense with oral arguments in open court, which Harr had specifically requested in his initial response… with the ruling being made behind closed doors of the judge’s chamber based upon the pleadings filed alone.  In essence, it would once again deprive Harr of his day in court… this time as a defendant.

 

 Harr filed his response in the Wake County Courthouse two weeks later… strenuously objecting and renewing his call for oral arguments in open court.

 

 Plaintiff State Bar had sought to schedule the hearing on Monday, February 18, 2013… Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday.  A clever move on the part of the Bar to lessen the attention the event would receive otherwise.

 

 On January 30, 2013, Harr received notice that the hearing would take place in Courtroom 10-C, before the honorable Judge Carl R. Fox.

 

 The following day, Harr researched the web for information about the black-rober and learned the following about Carl R. Fox:

1. he graduated from UNC-CH with a B.A. degree;
2. he graduated from UNC- CH School of Law with a law degree;
3. he worked as a district attorney in Orange County from 1984 until 2005; and
4. he has since been an Orange County Superior Court judge in Chapel Hill.

The significance of the above is that for more than forty years, the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s office has been at UNC-CH… moving in mid-January 2013 to its new facility in Raleigh.

 

 Therefore, throughout his more than two decades-long career as a prosecutor, Judge Fox had a close relationship with the Orange County medical examiner and its forensic team.

 

 As a result, it can be assumed that he: (a) developed a strong working relationship with those medical examiners; (b) might have fostered friendships with those medical examiners; (c) could possibly personally know Dr. Nichols and communicated with him; and (d) developed a fierce loyalty with the Orange County medical examiners secondary to his professional and collegiate ties with them and UNC-CH.

 

 The conflict of interest clearly arises when one considers that the basis of Harr’s advocacy on Mangum’s behalf is due to the fact that her first degree murder charge is based on an autopsy report on Reginald Daye by the state’s deputy chief medical examiner… Dr. Clay Nichols, the Orange County Medical Examiner at UNC-CH.

 

 The extensive fraudulence of the Nichols’ Autopsy Examination Report is widely known by the mainstream media, the Durham prosecutors, Mangum’s defense attorneys, Mangum’s defense expert witness forensic pathologist Dr. Christena Roberts, the North Carolina State Bar, the North Carolina Medical Board, politicians, civil rights leaders, and others.

 

 Unfortunately there has been a concerted effort by all to conceal the spurious nature of the autopsy report… so egregious and damaging that it, alone, should be grounds for the dismissal of the murder charge Mangum now faces.

 

 On February 1, 2013, Harr filed a Motion for Disqualification of Judge Carl R. Fox on the Claim of Partiality… for a reasonable person with full knowledge of the facts would believe that Harr could not receive an impartial ruling from Judge Fox.

 

 North Carolina General Statutes and Canon 3(C)(1)(a) state that the “due process clause imposes on the trial judge the duty of absolute impartiality,” and provides that “upon the motion of any party, a judge should disqualify him or herself in any proceeding in which his or her impartiality may be reasonably questioned…”

 

 Harr requested that the hearing to be heard by Honorable Judge Paul C. Ridgeway, a Superior Court Wake County judge with no substantial ties to Orange and Durham Counties.   

 

 The ball is now in Judge Carl R. Fox’s courtroom… the question being, will the black-rober recuse himself or fight to preside over the scheduled February 18^th hearing.

 

 Stay tuned.   nn



Bar v. Harr: Round two

 Click the LINK below to access the flog –

LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/direc/flog/flog24/flog24rid.html

 

Click the LINK below to access the accompanying Directory of Documents –

LINK: http://www.justice4nifong.com/legal/cgm/direc/direc02.htm

Note: The Directory of Documents can be accessed following the flog and the flog can be accessed from the Directory.

Narrative of the flog follows below:
Word count: 1, 673

In the wee hours of Sunday, April 3, 2011, Crystal Mangum, the Duke Lacrosse victim/accuser, stabbed Reginald Daye in the left side with a steak knife. She claims, and evidence supports, that she did so in self-defense in fear for her life.

Emergency surgery on Mr. Daye at Duke University Hospital hours later revealed injury to the colon and a minor lesion to the spleen… both of which were repaired. The operation was deemed to be successful with a postoperative prognosis for a full recovery.

On his third post-op day, Wednesday, April 6, 2011, effects of severe alcoholic withdrawal, or delirium tremens, set in and resulted Mr. Daye’s transfer to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit… he was a heavy alcoholic.

A medical mishap, the accidental intubation of the esophagus instead of the trachea, resulted in deprivation of vital oxygen flow to the lungs… which prevented oxygen from reaching the blood stream, the red blood cells, and other cells of the body.

The heart, starved of oxygen, lapsed into cardiac arrest which resulted in cardiopulmonary resuscitation during which time the mis-positioned endotracheal tube was removed and replaced with one correctly situated in the trachea.

With reestablishment of oxygenated blood flow to the cells of the body, the heart was resuscitated with spontaneous restoration of circulation. However, the brain cells had been without oxygen for too long and died leaving Daye brain dead and in a coma.

Daye remained comatose for a week during a self-imposed media blackout on his condition, after which Duke medical staff electively removed him from life support and he died shortly thereafter on Wednesday, April 13, 2011.

Duke hospital records, such as Daye’s discharge summary elected to omit crucial bits of information in order to obscure the hospital’s role in his demise… specifically that it was the initial intubation into the esophagus that began the cascade of events that ended with Daye being brain dead.

On the following day, April 14, 2011, North Carolina Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Clay Nichols, in his autopsy examination report on Reginald Daye, contained findings of injuries not indicated and/or contradicted in other medical records. For example the Nichols autopsy report observed stab wound inflicted perforations to the left lung, diaphragm, fundus of the stomach, and left kidney in addition to those injuries mentioned in other medical records to the colon and spleen.

Also, for the first and only time Dr. Nichols discloses that there were multiple scabbed over lacerations to the left upper extremity suggestive of “defensive injuries.” These alleged lesions to the left upper extremity are neither mentioned in any other medical record nor documented photographically.

Fact is that EMS assessed Daye’s left upper extremity at the scene and found it to be normal, whereas the orthopedic surgery consult preoperatively examined Daye’s extremities and found no lacerations or breaks in the skin.

In addition to the findings in the Nichols autopsy report being suspect, its conclusion that Daye’s death was due to “complications of a stab wound to the left chest” is also without merit as no nexus between the stabbing and Daye’s brain death or actual death is demonstrated.

What is even more revealing is the fact that Dr. Nichols does not mention in his report about Daye’s descent into the bowels of delirium tremens, which necessitated his move to the SICU… he does not mention that Daye’s initial intubation was esophageal… he does not mention that as a result of the improperly placed endotracheal tube Daye went into cardiac arrest… he does not mention that as a subsequence of extended oxygen deprivation Daye was left in an irreversible comatose state… he does not mention that Daye, while sustained on life support, remained in a coma for a week without sign of recovery… and he does not mention that shortly after his elective removal from life support that Reginald Daye expired.

These important facts are purposely excluded by the medical examiner from the autopsy report on Daye in order to better transfer responsibility for his death from the Duke University Hospital staff to Crystal Mangum.

In other words, Dr. Nichols’ report was fashioned specifically to implicate Ms. Mangum as being solely responsible for Daye’s death.

The mainstream media made extreme efforts to omit reporting the true factors contributing to Daye’s death… ignoring them just like the autopsy report of Dr. Nichols.

Dr. Christena L. Roberts, a forensic pathologist from Black Mountain, North Carolina, likewise does not want to put in writing the true nature of what happened during Daye’s hospitalization at Duke University Hospital… and she does not want there to be a written record by her that debunks the autopsy report of the State’s Deputy Chief Medical Examiner.

Dr. Roberts has made conflicting and contradictory verbalizations to Crystal Mangum and one of her defense attorneys, Woody Vann, about Reginald Daye’s in-house course and his autopsy report.

Mr. Vann told Ms. Mangum that Dr. Roberts related to him that the endotracheal tube was mis-positioned and that it resulted in him being deprived of oxygen, and that she could give no explanation for findings by Dr. Nichols that were contrary to other medical records. Then later, during a meeting between the three, Dr. Roberts told Mangum that the findings in the Nichols autopsy report were accurate.

When Mangum asked why the autopsy report stated that there was a lesion to the left lung, whereas no such lesion was mentioned in the other medical records, Dr. Roberts responded that the Duke University Hospital emergency room staff, radiologists, and trauma surgeons missed the laceration to the left lung which was discovered at autopsy.

None of the communications of Dr. Roberts concerning Daye were recorded and none are in writing… ergo, nothing she may have said or didn’t say about anything related to Daye and his death and autopsy is verifiable.

Despite repeated pleas for a written report by Mangum, who faces life in prison on a murder charge, and despite a court order by Honorable Judge Robert Hobgood to directly deliver a written report to Ms. Mangum, Dr. Roberts has steadfastly refused to provide her with this exculpatory evidence.

E-mail records reveal that the day following Reginald Daye’s death, Woody Vann, the court-appointed defense attorney for Mangum, was made aware of problems with a “tube” insertion by Duke hospital staff that was responsible for Daye’s untimely demise and that Duke University was heavily engaged in covering it up in order to appear that his death was the direct result of a stab wound.

Sidney B. Harr, Lay Advocate for the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, and a retired physician, was immediately aware in mid-August 2011 when Daye’s autopsy report was first made available to the public that its findings and conclusion were bogus.

First, he considered it to be anatomically impossible for a single stab wound from a steak knife to cause injury to the left lung, the diaphragm, the left kidney, the spleen, the fundus of the stomach, and the colon.

Secondly, the autopsy report was the first mention of multiple “defensive injuries” to the left upper extremity… it never being previously reported in the media.

Finally, the autopsy report provided no cause of death, and its conclusion failed to provide any support to bolster Dr. Nichols’ claim that complications secondary to the stab wound lead to Daye’s death.

Harr publicly expressed, through his blog site and available media outlets, his concerns about the veracity of the autopsy report… in particular his opinion piece titled “Autopsy report doesn’t add up” that appeared in a January 2012 edition of The Durham News, a bi-weekly supplemental community news insert in the Durham edition of The News & Observer.

In March 2012, after nearly a year of incarceration without substantive action on behalf of her legal counsel, Mangum reached out to Harr seeking his help in filing motions.

Harr drafted three motions, which were signed by Mangum, and he then filed them with the Durham County Clerk of Court’s office. These documents and filings provided the grist for the North Carolina State Bar’s first encounter with Harr.

In July 2012, the Authorized Practices Committee of the State Bar issued Harr a Letter of Caution, telling him to cease and desist from drafting motions for others and from conducting other lawyerly activities… to which Harr consented.

By August 2012, with Mangum not receiving a written report from Dr. Roberts and her attorney withholding other prosecution discovery and evidence from her, Harr filed, as a third party, two Pro Se petitions in Mangum’s criminal case.

This, along with a letter Harr wrote to a Superior Court criminal judge, resulted in the State Bar’s second encounter with the determined justice advocate… and at its quarterly meeting in October 2012, the Authorized Practices Committee decided to take civil action against Harr, seeking a permanent injunction to prevent him from filing documents in Mangum’s case.

With the Durham prosecutors, medical examiner, Mangum’s defense attorneys, the mainstream media, Mangum’s defense expert witness, and certain judges attacking Mangum, Harr was the only one staunchly defending her.

Because of Harr’s medical background and the prominence that the autopsy and hospitalization play in this case, he is an extremely valuable advocate for Mangum to have in her corner.

In trying to affect the outcome of the criminal charges against Mangum towards her detriment, the State Bar is trying to remove her most valuable asset and ally… Harr.

This is the same strategy that worked so successful in the Duke Lacrosse case when the State Bar instituted its own complaint against the Durham D.A. Mike Nifong during its early pretrial phase in order to force his removal as prosecutors of the three Duke Lacrosse defendants.

On Tuesday, December 4, 2012, the State Bar filed with the Wake County civil court a Petition for Permanent Injunction against Harr.

On Monday, December 17, 2012, Harr filed with the court his response, thereby setting the stage for a courtroom showdown.

 
A scheduled date for the hearing – Bar v. Harr – is now pending. 