Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Survivor Durham: Six Defendants gone before it starts!

It was confirmed by Tamara Gibbs of abc11 that DPD Officers Mark Gottlieb and Ben Himan have both left the force.

Duke Lacrosse investigators leave department

By Tamara Gibbs

DURHAM (WTVD) -- The lead investigators in the Duke Lacrosse case have turned in their badges, according to the Durham Police Department.

Sgt. Mark Gottlieb and Officer Ben Himan have been widely criticized for their handling of the controversial rape case.

Three former Duke Lacrosse players were charged after an exotic dancer claimed she was attacked at a party in March 2006. After a review of the case, the State Attorney General dismissed the charges and declared the players innocent.

Deputy Chief Ronald Hodge told Eyewitness News that both investigators left the department in recent weeks. Gottlieb's last day on the job was March 1 after he submitted his resignation. Himan left his post in mid-February.

Both Gottlieb and Himan are are named in three lawsuits stemming from the Duke Lacrosse case.
abc11

This now brings the total of six defendants in the Civil Lawsuits who have lost their positions of power!

The Former DA Mike Nifong

The Former SANE Nurse at DUMC Tara Levicy

The Former DA Investigator Linwood Wilson

The Former Lab Director at DNASI Brian Meehan

The Former Chief of Investigators Mark Gottlieb

The Former Lead Investigator Ben Himan

This is not a good sign for the group of Defendants in the Civil Lawsuits. We are sure the list will grow as Survivor Durham is off to a great start!

For those keeping score the Dimwit Tribe is ahead of Team Duke, 5-1.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

What position of power did Levicy have exactly? A staff nurse is only slightly higher on the scale than the ward clerk.

Anonymous said...

Levicy had the power to be the official justification for continuing the (pro/per)secution without any actual evidence that could tell the same story twice. Whether that is too much power is left as an exercise for the interested reader,

Anonymous said...

What "positions" of power have they lost? They have only "resigned" to save themselves from being charged with crimes from perjury, to conspiracy, yet they all receive paychecks and a vacation as "punishments?"

Who is the winners here? Where are the FEDS? Where are the Federal charges? Where is the outrage for these dirtbags? The "PRESS" prints what is best for their own agenda, and if not for the internet, how many would REALLY have the opportunity to research and find the TRUTHS for ourselves?

ALL of these people can still hold positions of power, with or without a job title. One must wonder what will be the next act will be?

Rhonda Fleming
ALIVE!

Anonymous said...

Rhonda actually has a good point. These people may have left their former positions, but you can hardly call that an adequate punishment. These lawsuits are absolutely necessary, since the system is determined to continue enabling this corruption.

Anonymous said...

3:20 Interesting, particularly as Wade Smith, himself, stated "Nothing was stopping Nifong." Wade made this statement, after he, Butch Williams and Thomas had a meeting with Nifong, early on in the event. At that meeting, the Fongster actually covered his ears and refused to listen or look at the evidence of team nonivolvement with rape.

Anonymous said...

Who's next? Who's next? Where can we lay bets?!? Will they have a special betting parlor in Las Vegas for this? Inquiring minds want to know!

Anonymous said...

Tara Levicy was the first to be given the boot! What position of Power did she have? She had the power to lie! So much power that an entire Lacrosse Team Season was cancelled because of her malicious & fraudlent actions. Make no mistake she was booted out of DUMC quietly & Duke's exposure to the civil lawsuits is quite real. DUMC is sitting on a scandal and it won't go away.

gak said...

DOES ANYBODY KNOW FOR SURE IF LEVICY WAS TERMINATED OR IF SHE QUIT? SHE HAS BEEN GONE SINCE JUST AFTER THE APRIL NCAG PRESS CONF. I NEVER FOUND OUT WHY

Anonymous said...

are these resignations part of the lawsuit requirements from the students? also,if not, these people just can't walk away from the lawsuits that are targeting them, can they?

Anonymous said...

are these resignations part of the lawsuit requirements from the students? also,if not, these people just can't walk away from the lawsuits that are targeting them, can they?

Anonymous said...

As Levicy had a job with DUMc for over a year after the "rape", there is no reason to believe she was fired. Or had any power. Roy Cooper never said the report was doctored, changed or falsified.

Anonymous said...

Ryan McF email was why the season was canceled and the coach fired. Although, Steel stated "we had to stop the pictures."

Anonymous said...

Levicy quit and left the state. Whether they hinted that she should leave, who knows. But let's face it, any evidence she handled as SANE nurse, a defense lawyer would have a field day questioning her integrity and professional.

She may have also hoped that being out of state would protect her from lawsuits.

Anonymous said...

"No medical evidence confirmed her stories. The SANE based her opinion that the exam was consistent with what the accusing witness was reporting largely on the accusing witness’s deameanor and complaints of pain rather than on objective evidence." NC Report

In other words Levicy was incompetent.

Anonymous said...

McFayden's E-mail was cherry picked OUT of CONTEXT from numerous E-mails that night before and after it. It was released by Judge ("Nifong's A-OKAY") Stephens to ingnite a media storm diversion from the NO LAX DNA reports that had just been released.

Anonymous said...

Levicy is only a "fact" witness - never an expert. "Did you assist Dr Manly when she collected the swabs?" - "YES" - "How did you assist"? "I held the tesst tube that the Doctor put the swab into." As Durham is described as such a h%%% hole - who could blame anyone for leaving the town or the state of NC, for that matter.

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened with McF's email, the result was the season was cancelled and Coach fired. Does it matter where the current defendents live - that does not get them out of the lawsuit - Does It?

Anonymous said...

This story just keeps getting better. Wish it was just a story. Go forward Joan!

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...

I am guessing Lopez or Judge Stephens to be "retiring" ASAP.

Anonymous said...

In the words of Greta, when Ted suggested there be a "recall of Nifong" - but he just got elected last week. Lopez just took the job. He is clearly, not performing the job, the way LS bloggers want him to do it. But retiring after six months??
Now Stephens is a true villian in this event and needs to be humiliated as much as possible. Any chance of that happening?

Anonymous said...

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-931447.cfm

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...

I have sent "proof" of my brother's beaten body, and BLUE blood to Joan Foster, Baldo, Quasimodo, Tony Soprano, abb, Jason Trumpbour, and several others, yet which of you will come forward and speak out on Jack's behalf?!

His death was a staged suicide involving shady LE, his body parts taken and SOLD, and not ONE of you gives a damn?!

You all take far too much time to dedicate to one case, when the line of crimes against many are just ignored! It is a sad statement that not only does the "legal system" not care, neither do the citizens!

Greg Baker from the FBI is a farce, Sheriff Hill is a sock puppet, Mayor Bell is a hack, and Mr Saacks is a POS just as his mentor Nifong was/is!

But I will tell you ALL this, if it was your loved one, would you FIGHT like we have for 3 needless long years to learn the TRUTH and seek JUSTICE as we have?!

My computer is being hacked, I have been threatened with DEATH, and you laugh?! You should be ashamed and Thank God that you are miles away and this is just a past time for you!

You mock our loss and pain, look the other way, and still manage to sleep at night?! Not only does our government have no conscience, neither do the "People?!"

We have had many people write on behalf of Jack to the Governor's Office, and the Sheriff's Office, to DEMAND an Internal Affair investigation, and to release to us ALL documentation of his case forthwith and without haste.

I am BEGGING for SERIOUS help from media and legal professionals to help us have JUSTICE for the life and blood of a man who made 2 grave mistakes, one is the marriage, the second is the city he called home!

Rhonda Fleming
Durham SURVIVOR
justice4all2005@yahoo.com

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" ..


Your message

To: Sheriff
Subject: Mr Croft's death
Sent: Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:14:05 -0400

did not reach the following recipient(s):

Buchanan, Ricky on Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:17:35 -0400
Could not deliver the message in the time limit specified. Please retry
or contact your administrator.
dcsnet01. DurhamSheriff. net 4.4.7

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

Anonymous said...

How long will people go on endlessly about ONE case, when there is a PLETHORA of injustices that have yet to see the light of day?! Durham is a cesspool, you have sampled a small taste of their posion, have witnessed only a sample of the corruption, and where the hell is the NATIONAL outrage?!

Nifong gets ONE day in jail, Mike Owens also gets only ONE year, Gottleib and Hinman got paid off, and Elmos is hero of the year?!

Where is the ANGER and COURAGE to protest?! Why haven't you all spent some time contacting NC state officials, and Washington?!

They watch this site EACH day, from the Pentagon on down, and have destroyed my faith in the entire judicial system!

Many more people are suffering from their dirty deeds, and we weep each day and scream for JUSTICE to deaf ears! I don't care if you people hate me or not, I am here to get RESOLUTION for my brother's murder, and for Janet Araboa, and Michelle Young!

More innocent victims, our families and the community! How many more lives are being destroyed each day?! For the love of God people, WAKE UP, and take a STAND!

Rhonda Fleming
Durham SURVIVOR!

Anonymous said...

http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-937904.cfm

Report: Easley press office ordered e-mails deleted
Mar 29, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. -- State government public information officers were instructed by Gov. Mike Easley's press office to delete e-mails to and from the governor's office, according to notes released Saturday by the governor's office.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Saturday that Andrew A. Vanore Jr., a lawyer who works for Easley, produced notes made by two public information officers. The notes showed that they and others were told at a meeting on May 29, 2007, to destroy e-mails. A third public information officer said he also recalled those instructions.

But Vanore said the notes don't mean what they say. He also said the instructions were not followed.

Easley's chief legal counsel, Reuben F. Young, has been vacationing with his family in China and could not be reached for comment. Deputy press secretary Seth Effron has been instructed by Vanore not to comment.

Questions about the way the Easley administration handles e-mails arose after publication of an N&O series, "Mental Disorder: The Failure of Reform." The series reported on an ill-conceived and poorly executed mental health reform plan on which the state has wasted at least $400 million.

Two days after the series ended, Easley ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to fire its public information officer, Debbie Crane. Later that day, Crane told The N&O that the governor's press office had directed that e-mails be deleted to bypass the state's public records law.

Young and Effron quickly denied that such instructions had been given.

Julia Jarema, public information officer at the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, recorded this note for the meeting in question: "Public records request -- increasing careful of email delete emails to/from gov. office every day."

Diana Kees, public information officer at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, recorded this note: "emails - more & more public records requests (blogs?) be careful w/emails; delete emails to and from gov office every day."

Vanore said he did not know what the notes meant.

"It could be interpreted a number of different ways, and the only way to properly interpret it would be to talk to the individual who took the note," he said. But he said he had instructed all of the employees not to talk about that issue because the newspaper may file a lawsuit.

Vanore said the e-mail messages to and from the governor's press office were clear and irrefutable proof that there was no systematic intent to destroy e-mail.

Hugh Stevens, an attorney who represents The N&O, said the notes made by Jarema and Kees confirmed Crane's allegation.

"This sounds to me as though there was a concerted and willful attempt to evade the public records law by deleting the e-mails," he said. "I don't see how you can interpret it any other way."


Guess whose e-mails were deleted? OURS! I have had numerous people write to both Easley, and the Sheriff, for our case, and after being "blacklisted" from the county website and willingly negligent, here is more PROOF of the deliberate abuse of powers in public offices to purposely deny the public RIGHTS, and to perform MORE illegal and unconstitutional tactics to prevent being "OUTED!"

WE DEMAND JUSTICE NOW!

Rhonda Fleming
Durham SURVIVOR!

Anonymous said...

Hello NC Courts, now what are YOU going to do about this little MISHAP?!?!

The TRUTHS will come forward!

Anonymous said...

204.152.2.80 (North Carolina Adminstrative Office Of The Courts)

North Carolina, Raleigh, United States, 17 returning visits

Date Time WebPage
30th March 2008 15:35:11

LieStoppers
30th March 2008 15:36:01

LieStoppers
30th March 2008 15:36:29

LieStoppers
30th March 2008 15:37:02
LieStoppers

Why don't you join the board and DO something instead of just watching! BASTARDS!

Anonymous said...

Here is my newest letter sent today to Governor Easley, let us see if this one is deleted and ignored and my other requests. I sent this though the county website.
Governor Easley
919-733-4240
governor.office@nc.mail.net

Mr. Easley,
I have, and have had numerous people contact both your office and the Sheriff's Office on behalf of my murdered brother, Allen Jackson Croft Jr, killed May 11, 2005 in Durham NC, found executed on the American Tobacco Trail. He lived on 106 Carlion Court, and and we have written COUNTLESS times to have an Internal Affair's Investigation, AND to release ALL of the documents pertaining to his death, under the Public Record's Act, FOIA, and as next of kin.

It is beyond comprehension as to what was done to, and not to my brother! The abuses of office have proved itself to be not only corrupt, but criminal and their actions, and we are DEMANDING as OUR Civil Rights, and Family to have ANSWERS and JUSTICE for my brother who was a brilliant and loved man to his family, community. and his vocation and after almost 3 years, have been denied, ridiculed, mocked, and threatened, and cannot believe the abject denial and contempt to evade his case, and our family!

What has been done in my brother's case is not just deplorable, but a deliberate cover-up, and after contacting every official in the state of NC, to Washington, am again, turning to you again to comply to our requests, and do so forthwith, and without haste as is by law.

Thank You,

Rhonda Fleming
Cleveland, Ohio
justice4all2005@yahoo.com