Tuesday, March 04, 2008

DPD Sergeant Gottlieb bids Farewell to Durham


The News-Observer is reporting that Sergeant Gottlieb who was in charge of the Duke Lacrosse Investigation has left the building.

Duke lacrosse investigator quits Durham P.D
By Stanley B. Chambers Jr., Staff writer

DURHAM - Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, who has faced criticism for his role as an investigator in the Duke lacrosse case, has left the Durham Police Department, Chief Jose L. Lopez confirmed Tuesday.

Gottlieb, who joined the department in 1992, served his last day on Sunday, said Lopez, who added that he left for personal reasons.

"I did not ask him to leave," Lopez said. "I wasn't looking for his resignation."

Gottlieb, along with Investigator Benjamin Himan, faced scrutiny for failing to question discrepancies in the accusations of Crystal Gail Mangum, the escort service dancer who said she was gang-raped at a lacrosse team party in March 2006 -- accusations that were eventually determined to be false.

Gottlieb is among a number of city and police officials listed as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by the three exonerated defendants.
N & O

Heard around Town

Word of Gottlieb's departure has been circulating the last few days. Despite the denial from the Chief, it is rumoured that his options were either take early medical retirement or the ax.

Also it is rumoured that "With What" Investigator Himan has been gone since Feb. 19th.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

So is this a kind of clever new "answer" to the lawsuits facing Durham?

Instead of holding people accountable for their actions and inactions, as officers of the law, we just permit a "No-Fault Divorce", and they ride quietly out of town.

It may get the rats out of the cellar, but it still doesn't plug the holes, does it?

I hope that the plaintiffs are not dissuaded by this latest sly tactic. So far NOBODY has admitted to any fault. Until they do, we have no assurance that it won't happen again.

It is only that admission, restitution, and assurance that will satisfy justice.

dsl

Anonymous said...

With Gottlieb and possibly Himen no longer part of the DPD, one has to wonder how that changes the group defense to the lawsuit.


GS

Anonymous said...

Separation of defendants is never a good sign. I suspect the City Defense is falling apart. This isn't good for Duke either. Frankly I have a hunch Himan is singing like a little bird. Maybe he was the guy talking about what was happening in meetings with the City Mangaer, Chief, & Duke?

Anonymous said...

Still as professionals (they weren't rookies), you have to wonder what they were thinking?

They had to know she was lying and that the Lax players had good lawyers, the truth would come out. Did they think no one would wonder why they never asked her about the different stories?

Their careers were ended by this case.

Anonymous said...

The Mousetrap has been playing in London for over 51 years. Literally hundreds of actors have played each part. The play is the same.

Sadly, the understudies of Himan and Gottleib are countless. Police men and women ready and willing to lie, cheat, and attempt to destroy others' lives. The only solution is to change or eliminate the system.

OL

Anonymous said...

They did it because it was routine. Under normal circumstances involving defendents with fewer resources they would have ignored evidence and trampled due process in exactly the same way. The only difference in this case is that they were busted.

The system doesn't work. Many police and prosecutors feel that they're doing what is expected of them when they violate the law. There are no functional safeguards in place to ensure that innocent people aren't railroaded.

Anonymous said...

The rats are just leaving the sinking ship, and taking plenty of booty with them, Survivor Durham Style!

"Playing Southern Ignorance, And I Don't Know" 24/7 And if not for freeedom of speech, there would be nothing heard but a pin drop. The PAYROLL to these deviants is not only a slap in the face, it is a reward?! STRATEGY PERHAPS?!

Rhonda Fleming
Durham Survivor
For "Liberty, And JUSTICE for ALL!"

Anonymous said...

What difference does it make to the lawsuits if Gottlieb no longer works for DPD? Does that mean you can't put him in public stocks??

Anonymous said...

Sure, the SAME system that gave Nifong ONE day in jail?!

JUSTICE in Durm?! There is NONE, and UNLESS there is involvement from the "PEOPLE" the Powers That Be are just going to roll on, and only get worse.

Rhonda Fleming
Justice4Jack

Anonymous said...

The rats that jump ship first are the ones who can swim.

Anonymous said...

Behind on the news - What happened with Gottlieb?

Anonymous said...

The SURVIVORS of this "hoax" are ALL of the families directly affected by the same cast of characters. What is unfolding is only the beginning of what the "Bull City" has to worry about. They KNOW the lawsuits are forthcoming, and think by "retiring" the posse they will somehow go unscathed, and everything is "A-OKAY, Southern style."

Everybody is passing off responsibility from one agency to the next, in a city where the history of corruption runs as deep as it's roots. Where is accountability from the Mayor, and all the way up the ladder? It is all a CLEAR cut case of conspiracy, and why the "FEDS" do not intervene is the BIG question!

The politics, companies, colleges, individuals with position, ALL run the city. The media again uses censorship, and even when they do make a "statement" are as brief as Crystal's thong the night the whole charade began. It is way past time for the PEOPLE to make a VERY loud noise, and INSIST on disclosure, and hold each person accountable for their sins!

It is a TREMENDOUS list, and as we have seen, one by one they slink off with pay?! My head spins from the complete lack of not just ethics, but total adherence to the laws these people took OATHS for, and not just BLATANTLY abused their trust and position, they have committed CRIMINAL acts, and WHY are they being paid to leave the place they should be under Federal indictment for?!

I PERSONALLY KNOW just how CORRUPT, and VILE the "System" is, and am here until the END to shout from my soul for immediate ACTION to be taken! This FARCE has to be exposed, and the long chain of conspirators be charged for the perjuries, and cover-ups that are all clearly visible to those of us who are WATCHING!

How many lawyers does it take to take to screw in a light bulb into our GOVERNMENT'S patootie to MAKE them see WTF is happening, we know they know, and again, DEMAND immediate ACTION!

My family has yet to see any civility to my brother's murder, have been VEHEMENTLY denied not just basic rights that are SUPPOSED to be given, and have instead been laughed at, lied to, threatened, and is WHY I went public 3 years ago, and have not stopped until there is JUSTICE for Jack, and many other families whose lives have been DESTROYED by a "SYSTEM" that is not simply "incompetent" but is CORRUPT!

I have been "slyly" threatened with death on this forum, and I have proof of my computer being hacked, and by more than one entity! I have sent these to Mr. Ekstrand, AGAIN, for the SAFETY of me and my family! This is NOT a small matter, and one in which we take extremely seriously! The things I have learned I NEVER would have imagined, and at this point have faith only in God, and know in my heart this will all come to the light of day, and some goodness come from so much horror and unimaginable suffering!

For those of you who have mocked me, and told me no blood whatsoever at the exit which took a one inch chunk out of his skull, and exited twice, and BLUE blood at the entrance to the right side of a left handed man who had just went 4 days prior to the hospital for what he thought was a heart attack, and was instead carpel tunnel and sent home in SPLINTS, is all NORMAL, then you must also think the moon is made of cheese, and that aliens shot Kennedy.

I would NEVER have come before the world to make false accusations, and BEG for help if I was not telling the TRUTH! I NEVER would have imagined what has happened, and still we cannot understand why all of this is STILL happening EACH day and NOTHING is being done?!

My mother, who is 67 and so very frail she would die herself if she has seen what I have, and is for her and love, is why I am a SURVIVOR. My brother was the BEST man I have ever known in my life next to the Lord, and what they did to him is NOT going to go without being brought before the world to see, and sadly our family not alone in wanting our loved ones murders solved!

You have all dedicated so much time into just ONE case, which I completely have supported from the beginning and screamed about Nifong and corruption and fell on deaf ears from it's inception. Many of you just watch and wait to see what is next. While you wait on the media and locals to fill us all in, the nefariously wicked system still runs full steam ahead, and shows no sign of acceptance. Which, if you all wish to be so politically and scientifically correct, has been knee deep in historical facts of being controlled by banks, companies, universities, lots of money, and POWER.

Durham is akin to that "little town in the Twilight Zone." Only this is REAL, and TRUE! Truth truly is stranger than fiction, and when finally exposed will be more than mind boggling. So, to end in this post, asking as one SURVIVOR, to help save MANY others who are in the same pain we are, and are long overdue what our country we pledge allegiance to, to DO!

Hello Pentagon, Administration Of The US Courts, NASA, NNIC, Department of Health And Human Services, Veteran Affairs, Library Of Congress, and scores more who are watching and laying in wait like a lion. But my question to ALL of you is, "Are you here to attack, or here to take control of the pride?"

Rhonda Fleming
"Durham Survivor"

Anonymous said...

Psychotic.

Anonymous said...

Jail suicide prompts no policy changes
BY BRIANNE DOPART : The Herald-Sun
bdopart@heraldsun.com
Mar 8, 2008

DURHAM -- Despite claims by inmates that a Durham County Jail prisoner spoke openly of suicidal tendencies and a discovery of suicide notes, officials say they received no such indications before the 27-year-old man ended his life.

And there are no plans for policy or structural changes at the jail, where fellow inmates found assault suspect Brian Lashand Rollins hanging from part of a window frame in his cell about 4 p.m. on Feb. 9. That was about 30 minutes after he'd last been seen alive, according to the report of his autopsy.

Days after the hanging death of Rollins, county leaders told The Herald-Sun they'd await the outcome of the Sheriff's Office investigation to determine if additional safety precautions were needed to ensure the jail was a safe place for its inmates.

According to Deputy County Manager Carolyn Titus, it is routine procedure for the Sheriff's Office to investigate a jailhouse death, ensure no foul play was involved and then recommend any adjustments that need to be made to the facility.

Titus said that the Sheriff's Office made no such recommendations and expressed confidence in the safety of inmates housed at the jail.

Rollins, a father of eight, was without a pulse when he was discovered. He was taken to Duke University Hospital, where he was declared brain dead the next morning and died a short time later.

He was found hanging from a window frame in his cell. But the Sheriff's Office says there is no need to adjust cells by removing items from which an inmate could be hanged. Sheriff's Office Investigator Tom Mellown, who investigated the case, said suicidal individuals can hang themselves from anything, so long as they can apply enough pressure to the neck to block the passage of air.

Yet in the past, the Sheriff's Office has requested money from the county to rid cells of vents based on the argument that the vents present a safety threat and an opportunity for hanging. Mellown, who as investigator has no part in budgeting, could not comment on those past requests, he said.

Mellown's criminal investigation into Rollins' death determined there was no foul play. From conversations with guards, jail employees and four or five inmates, Mellown determined there were no indications that the 27-year-old inmate was suicidal, he said.

One inmate did tell the investigator that Rollins never responded to him when he tried to chat with him from an adjacent cell. Another inmate told the investigator Rollins talked to him about wanting to end his life. But according to Mellown, the inmate said he never told any jail guards or officials of Rollins' intentions.

One inmate who was in the jail at the same time as Rollins told The Herald-Sun that, contrary to the Sheriff's Office's investigation, the troubled inmate told anyone who would listen that he wanted to end his life. But the guards, he claimed, were either too busy or didn't care and ignored Rollins' repeated pleas for help.

Rollins was distraught, the source said, over relationship issues involving a woman. Rollins was being held in the jail on a charge of assault on a female. His bond was $50,000. It was unclear whether the assault victim was the same woman with whom he was romantically involved.

According to the Sheriff's Office, no red flags arose during a 10-question psychological assessment that Rollins, like all inmates entering the jail, was subject to when he arrived at the facility Feb. 6.

Jail procedure calls for inmates to be administered the test only upon arrival, regardless of how long they are to be held in the jail. But if an inmate reaches out for help or if jail employees notice an inmate acting in a way that demonstrates his or her psychological state has changed, they will be referred for reassessment.

Rollins was not referred for any such assessment.

THIS is the SAME man who "INVESTIGATED" my brother's death, and you all still think HE and LE are to be trusted at all?!?!

AND, again, NO autopsy was done for my brother, AND we were LIED to and told one was done, plus threatened!!!!!

For the love of God people, DO SOMETHING!!!!

Rhonda Fleming
Durham SURVIVOR

Anonymous said...

MORE proof of the denial of the Sheriff's Office to take our complaints and requests! My God, they CANNOT get away with this!!!
Undeliverable: Mr Croft's death
"System Administrator" ..


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Where is our civil rights?!?!
Rhonda Fleming
Durham SURVIVOR