KEITH LAMONT SCOTT'S MURDER vs CHARLOTTE'S FAKE RACIST PROTESTS (2016 POLITICS)

KEITH LAMONT SCOTT'S MURDER vs CHARLOTTE'S FAKE RACIST PROTESTS:

RACIALLY MOTIVATED RIOTS ARE SMOKESCREENS FOR WHAT ELITE ARE REALLY DOING.

DEMOCRATS' CONTINUED AGENDA TO DIVIDE POLICE AND BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA.


Sources: Charlotte Observer, Alex Jones, Wall Street Journal, WSOC, Russia Today, YouTube


In September 2016 a 43-yr old Black Man was shot and killed in Charlotte, NC by a Black
Police Officer.

Charlotte Police Officials and Charlotte-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, state forensic video evidence shows Keith Lamont Scott brandishing a firearm prior to being shot and killed by CMPD.

However Mr Scott's widow and other witnesses state he was not holding a gun.

Nevertheless there will be no charges filed against the CMPD Officer who shot Mr Scott.

So do I believe the CMPD Officer who shot Mr Scott should be reprimanded because perhaps he acted too quickly in using DEADLY FORCE towards Mr Scott?

Yes!

Do I believe DEMOCRAT Leaders who are still angry DONALD TRUMP defeated HILLARY CLINTON on Nov 8th, election night are using RACISM to keep BLACK Voters stirred up and divided so that more BLACK people will be shot by the Police as a means of covering up something more sinister at the hands of ELITE DEMOCRAT Government leaders?

Yes!

It's time for BLACK America to wake up and realize we are being Bamboozled with Political RACE WARS while the ELITE are stealing more MONEY from BLACK American communities.

It's time for BLACK America to wake up and realize we are being Fooled with Political RACE WARS while ELITE Leaders are putting more BLACK Men in PRISON and giving all the JOBS to people from other countries.

Wake Up BLACK People!

Stop Being So Gullible!
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***** Attorneys for Keith Lamont Scott family own some blame for shooting protests

From Jerry Sennett, a retired deputy chief for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department who now lives in Stanley, N.C.:

The fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott was certainly tragic for both the Scott family and the police officers involved. No police officer who I ever worked with in my 30-year career with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department ever wanted to be in a position to have to use deadly force or take a life. Unfortunately those situations do occur and I am glad that the SBI investigation and the presentation to the public by District Attorney Andrew Murray cleared up the facts of this case. I hope CMPD and the citizens of Charlotte can move forward and repair some of the damage caused by this situation.

I do believe the Scott family attorneys bear some responsibility for the unrest that occurred following the shooting. They knew or should have known that the information being put out on social media by the family was incorrect. Mr. Scott was never shot with his hands up or while holding a book, did indeed purchase a stolen gun and was a convicted felon.

The attorneys consistently criticized CMPD and the City of Charlotte for not being transparent with the community. As officers of the court, they did nothing to diminish or to correct the misinformation that caused injuries and senseless destruction in the aftermath of the Scott shooting.

Police officers are held to higher standard. Maybe it is time the Scott family attorneys stop placing the blame on others and take responsibility for their actions and the outcome of this tragic situation.


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***** Charlotte police chief weighs in DA’s Keith Lamont Scott decision

Charlotte’s Police Chief Kerr Putney says the ordeal surrounding the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott this summer has been tough on his department and its officers.

Wednesday morning, the district attorney announced the officer involved in the shooting, Brentley Vinson, will not face criminal charges in the incident. Since then, there's been a hint of tension in the air. Protesters were already angry at the shooting. Now, some are furious at the decision not to charge the officer.

In a recent interview with WBTV, Putney addressed issues ranging from Officer Vinson’s return to work to the department’s pledge of more transparency.

“My focus is on this organization, this community and moving forward. We have a lot of healing to do. A lot of people are hurting," Putney said. "We have at least two families that have been devastated. We’re trying to pick up the pieces with our community and move forward.”

Putney said he has spoken with Vinson. He said the shooting hasn't been easy for the officer, despite being cleared.

"I wouldn’t categorize it as relief," Putney said. "Nobody puts on this uniform and comes to work any day of the week expecting to take a life. That’s not what we’re here for. It’s not what we’re about."

The chief said Vinson isn't back on the job yet.

"The internal investigation has to run its course then we can talk about how he returns to work."

JOHN CORNYN LEADS GOP CONGRESS ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM (2nd CHANCES)

JOHN CORNYN LEADS GOP CONGRESS ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM:


GOP TAKES ACTION TO GRANT EX-OFFENDERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2ND CHANCE.


**** Senator John Cornyn Aims To Sway Fellow Republicans On Criminal Justice

Senator John Cornyn, a former Texas judge and attorney general, is a devoted believer in the criminal justice overhaulawaiting its moment in the Senate. Now, he just has to convert doubting Republican colleagues.

Mr. Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican and a main author of the criminal justice legislation, which would cut some sentences and ease re-entry after prison, is working to address fears from fellow Republicans that passage of the bill could set loose some dangerous offenders and diminish the party’s law-and-order image.

Acknowledging the deep skepticism, Mr. Cornyn said in an interview that his job was to educate Republicans who were only beginning to focus on the legislation and to make clear that it would not throw open the gates of federal prisons.

“Nobody is getting out of jail free, which is some of the characterization that is out there,” said Mr. Cornyn, who describes himself “as conservative as they come.”

For months, momentum has been building for a comprehensive criminal justice package aimed at easing mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders. The effort has been driven by an unusual right-left alliance that includes the conservatives Charles G. and David H. Koch and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved its plan on a strong bipartisan vote in October, and companion legislation is moving in the House. But Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, has not committed to bringing the legislation to the floor. Mr. McConnell has been cautious on the issue, and other Republicans have expressed increasingly vocal opposition, with the latest resistance coming from Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas.

Mr. Cornyn’s primary role in writing the legislation, combined with his spot near the top of the Republican leadership ladder, has made him a critical player in determining whether the legislation advances this year.

“He is the reason it is happening, in my opinion,” said Mark Holden, the general counsel for Koch Industries and the company’s point man on criminal justice issues. “He is the driving force.”

But it is unclear how far that drive will go. In a development first reported by Politico, opposition to the legislation boiled up at a closed party lunch last week, with Mr. Cotton taking a strong position against the bill. Mr. McConnell, one attendee said, reminded senators of the case of Willie Horton, the Massachusetts felon who committed violent crimes while on furlough and became an issue in the 1988 presidential race.

“I don’t believe we should allow thousands of violent felons to be released early from prison, nor do I believe we should reduce sentences for violent offenders in the future,” Mr. Cotton said in an interview. He said that the criminal justice legislation was being driven by a “myth” of mass incarceration of low-level, nonviolent offenders in federal prisons, and that most prisoners had already cut their sentences under plea bargains.

Some senators said Mr. Cornyn and other Republican backers of the legislation may have misread the willingness of their colleagues to embrace the criminal justice movement and had too much faith that others would be swayed by the support of conservatives such as Senators Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Mike Lee of Utah.

“John has some work to do, big-time work,” to secure enough support to persuade Mr. McConnell to go forward, said one Republican senator who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters.

Mr. Cornyn, who became enthusiastic about the issue after successful changes to the criminal justice system in Texas, where he was a judge for 13 years, said discussions had begun on the staff and senator-to-senator levels to clear up misconceptions. 

He noted that sentencing provisions in the measure would apply to about 5,000 offenders — far fewer than in earlier sentencing proposals — and that those now serving time would have to reappear before the same judge and prosecutor to win a reduction in time served.

“Some people are now realizing for the first time that they may have to vote on this thing, so they need more information,” said Mr. Cornyn, who added that he would be asking colleagues what changes might be needed to win their backing.

He said that Mr. McConnell would like to lessen the party divisions before deciding to devote weeks of scarce Senate floor time to the criminal justice proposition.

“This is all part of his calculation, and we are trying to work with him and all my colleagues and figure a way to get this done,” Mr. Cornyn said. “It is not the kiss of death if you don’t do this in 2016, but I would like to. I think we have a window here.”

Another part of the calculation is the 2016 battle for the Senate and the vulnerability of some Republican incumbents in swing states.

Some analysts have suggested that it could help Republicans by broadening their appeal to independents, Democrats and minorities who believe that the criminal justice system is unfairly tilted.

Mr. Cornyn said he agreed. “It doesn’t hurt to show that you actually care,” he said. “This is a statement that is not just symbolic, but actually shows that you care about people. It doesn’t hurt to show some empathy.”

Sources:  NY Times,  Politico,  Youtube

OBAMA'S TEARFUL GUN CONTROL LAWS COMPLETES HIS LEGACY, WON'T REDUCE DEATHS (CHICAGO)

OBAMA'S TEARFUL GUN CONTROL LAWS COMPLETES HIS LEGACY, WON'T REDUCE DEATHS:

MORE UNEMPLOYED, FRUSTRATED BLACK MEN WILL BE INCARCERATED OR THROWN INTO MENTAL INSTITUTIONS.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016 while delivering a Tearful Press Conference, Pres OBAMA announced his enactment of new GUN CONTROL laws in the United States via Fiat i.e., Executive Action.

During his new Gun Control laws press conference, Pres OBAMA mentioned several Communities adversely impacted by Gun Violence: Aurora, Colorado.......Sandy Hook, Connecticut......San Bernandino, California and CHICAGO.

***By the way Pres OBAMA only mentioned CHICAGO for one second.

Under OBAMA'S Administration thousands of BLACK Boys & Men in CHICAGO have died via Gun Violence yet he barely mentions CHICAGO.

OBAMA mentioned three Initiatives for his new Gun Control laws.

1). To stop Straw Buyers and Straw Sellers from putting Guns into the hands of Customers who can't pass a Background Check.

2). To ensure everyone who purchases a Gun is in fact subject to a Background Check and can clear a Background Check.

3). To help people who are MENTALLY ILL.

Now let's analyze these Initiatives.

Straw Buyers & Straw Sellers will continue to make Money selling Guns. Moving forward they will just have to do it completely LEGAL.

WHITE People and Middle Eastern citizens with Criminal Records and FELONIES will continue to purchase Guns LEGALLY just as they did before OBAMA enacted new Gun Control laws.

Citizens with NO Civilian Criminal Record and NO apparent signs of MENTAL INSTABILITY/ MENTAL ILLNESS but are actually Psychological walking time bombs, will continue to LEGALLY purchase Guns and KILL innocent people once their Psychological inner time bombs explode.

I perceive MORE Unemployed, Frustrated BLACK Men some of them with prior Criminal Records, will be thrown into Mental Health Institutions and Prisons.

Thus I don't quite see how Pres OBAMA'S new Gun Control laws will help curb Gun Violence in the United States.

Especially in WHITE Communities.

However I do see the number of Unemployed, Frustrated BLACK Men being thrown into Prisons and Mental Institutions increasing.

Dear GOD We Really Need To PRAY & VOTE In November 2016!

~ President Obama Cries During Gun Control Speech

For a man who's rarely rattled, this was a powerful display of emotion.

President Barack Obama has been recorded crying only a handful of times while in office, and this may very well have been the most poignant.

The president took executive action on gun reform Tuesday in a move that he seemed to feel was long overdue.

When discussing the deaths of shooting victims – particularly the first-graders murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 – the president was overcome with emotion.

"Our unalienable right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness – those rights were stripped from college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara, and from high schoolers at Columbine, and from first-graders in Newtown. First-graders," he said, pausing and tearing up.

"Every time I think about those kids it gets me mad.

And, by the way, it happens on the streets of Chicago every day."

Sources: France24, ABC News, US News, Youtube

Private Prison Corporations Offering State Officials CA$H To Manage State Prisons

Private Prison Corporation Offers Cash In Exchange For State Prisons

As state governments wrestle with massive budget shortfalls, a Wall Street giant is offering a solution: cash in exchange for state property. Prisons, to be exact.

Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons as a remedy for "challenging corrections budgets." In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Huffington Post.

The move reflects a significant shift in strategy for the private prison industry, which until now has expanded by building prisons of its own or managing state-controlled prisons. It also represents an unprecedented bid for more control of state prison systems.

Corrections Corporation has been a swiftly growing business, with revenues expanding more than fivefold since the mid-1990s. The company capitalized on the expansion of state prison systems in the '80s and '90s at the height of the so-called 'war on drugs,' contracting with state governments to build or manage new prisons to house an influx of drug offenders. During the past 10 years, it has found new opportunity in the business of locking up undocumented immigrants, as the federal government has contracted with private companies in an aggressive immigrant-detention campaign.

And Corrections Corporation's offer of $250 million toward purchasing existing state prisons is yet another avenue for potential growth. The company has billed the "corrections investment initiative" as a convenient option for states in need of fresh revenue streams: The state benefits from a one-time infusion of cash, while the prison corporation wins a new long-term contract. In addition, supporters of prison privatization have argued that states can achieve cost savings through outsourcing, as prison corporations give fewer benefits to employees.

"We believe this comes at a timely and helpful juncture and hope you will share our belief in the benefits of the purchase-and-manage model," reads the letter from Harley Lappin, CCA's chief corrections officer, who was a former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Ohio sold off one of its largest prisons to Corrections Corporation last year as a way to plug holes in its budget, and government officials estimate that outsourcing the prison could save the state $3 million annually. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) proposed putting three state prisons on the block last year to generate one-time revenue, but he failed to persuade state lawmakers to endorse the plan.

Others have raised serious doubts about the wisdom of selling off and privatizing state prisons, which could give private corporations substantially more bargaining power in long-term contracts with states. Prison management contracts can be canceled or re-bid frequently, with the state still retaining ownership of the prison as an asset. But if a private company owns the prison, the state would have fewer options if it wanted to cut ties. Any alternatives for housing prisoners would likely cost more, such as building a new prison from scratch or finding another company to take in its inmates.

A series of studies has also cast doubt on the private prison industry's main selling point: efficiency. Research across numerous states has shown that the promised savings from private prisons can be illusory at best. Cost comparisons often fail to account for extra administrative expenses borne by the state, or differences in health care costs for sickly inmates who normally remain in state supervision.

What's more, many civil liberties advocates question why a profit motive should be tied to incarceration policies, raising concerns that cutting costs could have an adverse effect on public safety. In 1998, six prisoners, including five convicted murderers, escaped from a Corrections Corporation prison in Youngstown, Ohio, putting the company in the national spotlight amid findings of inept supervision by guards and poor training by prison officials.

"It's a real gamble for states to say, 'Gee, we're going to save a lot of money this way,'" said Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters Ohio, which did several studies analyzing Ohio's sale of a state prison to Corrections Corporation of America. "The idea that we should do this because we need money on a one-time basis seems like awfully short-term thinking. If we want to talk about what our needs are for the budget, and what our needs are for housing prisoners, let's look at those on a long-term basis and see what the best decisions are."

A spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, Steve Owen, said the company's contracts with any government agency are completely transparent. He pointed out that in many states, including Ohio, governments require demonstrated cost savings of 5 percent or more to enter into a contract with a private operator.

"There has to be a cost savings, and they have to monitor that over time, so I think that speaks for itself," Owen said. "At the end of the day, if we can't provide the scope of services and the quality of services and do it at whatever the cost savings that are required, they're not going to continue to do business with us."

But estimated savings often come down to how those calculations are made, and outside researchers have questioned the numbers. In Arizona, for example, a 2010 report from the state's auditor general showed that it cost the state more to house prisoners in private facilities than public prisons after factoring in administrative costs and adjusting for the types of medical care provided to less healthy inmates who tended to be housed in public facilities. And in Florida, where lawmakers this week could decide whether to privatize more than two dozen state prisons, reports about private prisons from the state's legislative research office note, "cost savings estimates are subject to caveats and should be evaluated cautiously."

EXPANDING IN TIGHT TIMES

In recent years, Corrections Corporation of America has made it clear that it sees opportunity in the new era of state budget crises. During earnings calls with investors, company executives have pointed out that the Great Recession has brought renewed interest in privatization.

"We continue to believe we are very well-positioned in a market that, despite the economic pressures faced by our customers, has provided healthy financial performance," Corrections Corporation chief executive Damon Hininger said in the company earnings call last November. "Indeed, it is because of these pressures, which lead to severe capital constraints and the need to avoid increasing their pension liabilities, that we believe our value proposition to customers is getting stronger."

The letter sent last month to 48 states was billed on the example of Ohio, which last year sold a prison near the shore of Lake Erie to Corrections Corporation for $72.7 million.

"We want to build on that success and provide our existing or prospective government partners with access to the same opportunity," the letter said.

Those who follow the private corrections industry said the purchasing approach gives prison companies a new option for growth. Although U.S. prison populations have swelled to enormous proportions, growing more than sevenfold since the mid-1970s, growth has slowed and populations are expected to decline in many states.

"You've not seen inmate populations at the state level grow for the last two years," said Kevin Campbell, a senior research analyst who follows the corrections industry at Avondale Partners, an investment firm. "So if you as an industry are going to continue to grow, then you have to think, 'How do we take shares away from the public sector to the private sector?'"

The outright ownership of a prison generally makes state contracts more beneficial to a private operator such as Corrections Corporation of America, Campbell said. If a state owns a prison and contracts it out, the pricing tends to be more competitive, as numerous companies would be jockeying for the management job.

"That just keeps a lid on how profitable a management contract can be," Campbell said. "That's why their preference would be to own versus just straight-out manage a contract."

Yet critics point to inherent problems in such long-term contracts, particularly provisions that require a prison to be 90 percent full throughout the life of an agreement. In Ohio, for example, contractors are guaranteed payment at the 90 percent rate "regardless of the actual number of inmates at the institution at that time."

The mandate to keep prisons full raises questions about cost efficiency -- what if there aren't enough inmates? -- but it also presents a moral question about maintaining a constant supply of new prisoners.

"It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Shakyra Diaz, policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. "In order to have it at 90 percent, you need to be able to make criminals to fill it at 90 percent."

Corrections Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission clearly point out that business success is tied to a status quo in criminal justice policy.

"The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws," the company's most recent annual filing noted. "For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them."

QUESTIONS ABOUT EFFICIENCY

Up until last year, the sale of a state prison to a private company was unprecedented. State and local governments have considered auctioning off all sorts of public property during the economic downturn, including even the state capitol building in Arizona.

Last year, the idea of selling prisons gained traction in both Louisiana and Ohio, as states became hungry for quick fixes to budget shortfalls. Gov. Jindal's plan in Louisiana came up short.

Legislators and state bureaucrats did not buy the idea of balancing a budget with one-time revenues from a prison sale. Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy compared the strategy to "a junkie selling the television set and radio to generate money for his next fix."

When Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) took office last year, he proposed selling off five state prisons as part of a broader plan to privatize state government.

By the time Ohio received proposals last summer from private prison companies, only one offer was deemed worthy: the $72.7 million sale of the Lake Erie Correctional Facility. In a conference call with investors last fall, Hininger, the Corrections Corporation CEO, trumpeted the Ohio deal, noting, "Ohio has been a targeted state for CCA for several years."

Kasich's appointed chief for state prisons, Gary Mohr, previously served as a managing director at Corrections Corporation of America before assuming his government position last year. And Kasich's former chief of staff when he was a congressman, Donald Thibaut, now works as a lobbyist in Ohio for Corrections Corporation of America.

The state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has pointed out that Mohr took the "extraordinary step of completely removing himself from this process," and did not have any part in examining the proposals for prison privatization last year.

State public policy groups have questioned how the sale of the Lake Erie prison shook out for taxpayers.

State officials have argued that selling and outsourcing the prison will generate $3 million in cost savings each year. But a report from Policy Matters Ohio calculated that selling the Lake Erie prison would actually cost more in the long term than if the state continued to own the property and pay off the construction bonds. That's because the state has to pay Corrections Corporation of America a $3.8 million annual ownership fee for housing state prisoners, in addition to the prisoner per-diem costs laid out in the contract.

According to the report, the prison sale would cost taxpayers $11 million more over the next 20 years than if the state would have continued to own the prison.

"A closer look shows that this deal has the potential to be a net loser for taxpayers right off the bat," the report notes.

Annette Chambers-Smith, the deputy director of administration at Ohio's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said the calculations in the group's report were "rudimentary." She said the calculation did not account for costs the state might have for capital improvements at the prison, and did not note the additional property taxes that will come from private ownership of the facility.

"In our case we were able to not only plug the hole in the budget, but then turn around and have property taxes," she said.

Just as cost concerns were raised in other states, groups in Ohio have questioned how much money is actually being saved by privatizing prison operations. Policy Matters Ohio said it found significant problems with the way the state calculated private prison "savings" in its report.

For example, to compare the costs at a privately run prison to a state prison, the state's department of corrections had to create a hypothetical state-run prison that would be the same size as a privately managed prison. The hypothetical example, however, contained central office and administrative staff costs that were not figured in for the private prison, making the state prison appear more costly, Policy Matters Ohio found.

In reality, the state is tasked with overseeing and administering private prisons in the correctional system -- creating an additional cost -- even if state employees aren't staffing the prisons.

Chambers-Smith, of the Ohio corrections department, acknowledged there had been inconsistencies with the state's cost calculations in the past. But beginning in 2010, she said the department has revised calculations to directly compare each area of service -- health care, utility costs, staffing.

"They don't get to cherry-pick their inmates," she said. "They have the exact same inmates there who were there when it was publicly operated."

At this point, it's unclear how many states will be interested in selling off prisons. Arizona, New Hampshire and Florida are considering privatizing the management of state prisons, but so far none have specifically broached the topic of a sale.

State corrections officials who were contacted in California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Montana, Georgia, Texas, Illinois and New York all said they were not considering such prison sales at this time. In Illinois and New York, laws prohibit state inmates from being housed in private prisons, according to corrections officials.


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Sources: AOL, Huffington Post, PBS, Youtube, Google Maps

Marcus Robinson vs NC's All WHITE Juries & Judge Greg Weeks: Racial Justice vs Death Penalty

Judge rejects delays as first hearing opens under N.C.'s Racial Justice Act

Change is coming to North Carolina through a new law that lets death row prisoners challenge their sentences if race was a significant factor at sentencing, a defense attorney said Monday of the first case involving the state's Racial Justice Act.

The hearing involving death row prisoner Marcus Robinson opened Monday afternoon in Cumberland County Superior Court after Judge Greg Weeks handled motions earlier in the day and turned down prosecutors' request for extra time.

They wanted a break of eight weeks to finish a statewide survey of prosecutors about their capital cases because not all district attorneys have responded to their requests for help.

Weeks refused, saying he had continued the case in September and November. "The fault in the incomplete study ... is in the prosecutors who have not complied with your request to do what you asked them to do," the judge said.

"It has been a long time coming, but finally change is coming," defense attorney James Ferguson of Charlotte told the judge, who will decide the case without a jury.

In 2009, the Legislature approved the act, which allows death row prisoners and defendants facing the death penalty to use statistics and other evidence to show racial bias played a significant role in either their sentences or prosecutors' decision to pursue the death penalty.

The law says that the prisoner's sentence is reduced to life in prison without parole if the claim is successful.

This hearing, expected to last about two weeks, addresses Robinson's claim that race was a factor in prosecutors' decisions to reject potential jurors who were black. Robinson also claims that race was a factor in the prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty against accused murderers and that the victims' race was a factor in whether juries issued death sentences.

Robinson is black. His victim, 17-year-old Erik Tornblom who was killed in a robbery in 1991, was white. A co-defendant, Roderick Williams, is serving a life sentence.

Ferguson showed a statewide map of North Carolina's prosecutorial districts at he said showed race was significant factor in prosecutors' decisions to use peremptory challenges to eliminate black jurors in almost every district.

Black jurors were at least 1.2 times more likely to be rejected than non-white jurors in counties that had applicable death row cases, he said. The range went to more than 3.1 percent, he said, basing his numbers on a study by researchers at Michigan State University.

The study by two law professors also showed that of almost 160 people on death row at the time of the study, 31 had all-white juries and 38 had only one person of color.

"This case is important because it provides an opportunity for all of us to recognize that race far too often has been a significant factor in jury selection in capital cases," Ferguson said.

One of the researchers, Barbara O'Brien, was the first witness, testifying about the methodology of the study.

During a break, Tornblom's stepmother said it was Robinson who brought race into the case because he said he was looking for a white person to target. "The racial part was on his side," said Patricia Tornblom of Hope Mills.

Tornblom gave Robinson and Williams Jr. a ride from a Fayetteville convenience store. Tornblom was forced to drive to a field where he was shot with a sawed-off shotgun.

Robinson is attending the hearing with restraints after Weeks ruled Monday that he should be unshackled in the courtroom. Members of Robinson's family, including his mother, also were in the courtroom.









NC judge weighs death row inmate Marcus Robinson's racial claims


The first Appeal under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, which allows death row prisoners a chance to argue that race was a significant factor in their case, went before a judge in Fayetteville Monday.

Marcus Robinson was sentenced to death in Cumberland County for the 1991 murder of Erik Tornblom, but his attorneys say race was a factor in jury selection.

Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks has set up to two weeks aside to hear Robinson's case.

Prosecutors filed a motion Monday to delay the hearing so they could have more time to prepare, but Weeks denied the motion, saying the case will move forward.

Defense attorneys then filed a motion to ban any gruesome crime scene photos from being shown in court.

Death penalty opponents say the prosecutors who won Robinson's conviction in 1994 dismissed qualified black jurors more than three times the rate of white jurors.

Almost all of the 157 inmates on North Carolina's death row have filed appeals under the two-year-old law. Winning an appeal under the law commutes a death sentence to one of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

It was unclear in the fall if Weeks would be allowed to preside over the case after prosecutors attempted to call him as a witness. They said it would help refute the statistics and evidence showing racial bias during jury selection.

Robinson's lawyers believe it was a power play prosecutors used to try and remove Weeks, who is black, from the case.

In November, Superior Court Judge Quentin Sumner ruled that prosecutors failed to show that Weeks was a necessary witness for their case, quashing a subpoena to have him testify.

Gov. Bev Perdue vetoed a bill in December that would have essentially repealed the Racial Justice Act, saying it is essential the legal process isn't tarnished by prejudice.

Perdue signed the Racial Justice Act into law shortly after taking office in 2009. North Carolina and Kentucky are the only states in the country with these types of laws.


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Sources: ABC News, McClatchy Newspapers, Newsobserver, WRAL, Google Maps

Marcus Robinson (BLACK NC Death Row Inmate) Revised Racial Justice Act Guinea Pig

NC judge weighs death row inmate Marcus Robinson's racial claims


The first Appeal under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, which allows death row prisoners a chance to argue that race was a significant factor in their case, went before a judge in Fayetteville Monday.

Marcus Robinson was sentenced to death in Cumberland County for the 1991 murder of Erik Tornblom, but his attorneys say race was a factor in jury selection.

Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks has set up to two weeks aside to hear Robinson's case.

Prosecutors filed a motion Monday to delay the hearing so they could have more time to prepare, but Weeks denied the motion, saying the case will move forward.

Defense attorneys then filed a motion to ban any gruesome crime scene photos from being shown in court.

Death penalty opponents say the prosecutors who won Robinson's conviction in 1994 dismissed qualified black jurors more than three times the rate of white jurors.

Almost all of the 157 inmates on North Carolina's death row have filed appeals under the two-year-old law. Winning an appeal under the law commutes a death sentence to one of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

It was unclear in the fall if Weeks would be allowed to preside over the case after prosecutors attempted to call him as a witness. They said it would help refute the statistics and evidence showing racial bias during jury selection.

Robinson's lawyers believe it was a power play prosecutors used to try and remove Weeks, who is black, from the case.

In November, Superior Court Judge Quentin Sumner ruled that prosecutors failed to show that Weeks was a necessary witness for their case, quashing a subpoena to have him testify.

Gov. Bev Perdue vetoed a bill in December that would have essentially repealed the Racial Justice Act, saying it is essential the legal process isn't tarnished by prejudice.

Perdue signed the Racial Justice Act into law shortly after taking office in 2009. North Carolina and Kentucky are the only states in the country with these types of laws.


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Sources: ABC News, McClatchy Newspapers, Newsobserver, WRAL, Google Maps

North Carolina's Corrupt SBI Lab & Death Row Moratoriums (Imprisoning BLACK Men)

SBI review renews call for death penalty moratorium


Two groups called for more investigation Monday following last week's scathing report on the investigative work done by the SBI's state crime labs.

The audit revealed flawed laboratory work performed by SBI analysts in criminal cases. According to the findings, the SBI withheld evidence, which may have tainted as many as 190 cases over a 16-year time span.

Eighty of the people convicted in those cases are still in prison, four are on death row, three were executed and five died in prison.

The NAACP and the People of Faith Against the Death Penalty are just two of the organizations that participated in a joint news conference Monday in Raleigh.

The groups say the SBI review should lead to more actions by state leaders.

Backed by several death penalty opponents, NC NAACP President Reverend William Barber spoke bluntly.

He says state authorities should go beyond the SBI lab report that shows sloppy SBI lab work may have led to wrong capital crime convictions.

"We have watched several African-American men, at the last minute, be released from death row and sent out of prison doors without a dime for their time, without so much as an official apology, a collective apology, from our elected officials," Barber said Monday.

Also in attendance at Monday's news conference was Pat McCoy, the brother of murder victim Kathy McCoy. He is upset because NC Attorney General Roy Cooper announced a re-investigation of several convictions based on the lab investigation results.

"My heart goes out to victims and their families who will now have to hear that justice wasn't done, and that the case they thought was closed must be reopened," McCoy said.

He's especially worried about findings that show omission of key crime lab work during murder investigations.

McCoy says families and victims suffer as a result. "Please don't dishonor their memory by building cases based on pseudo-science, sloppy work and misconduct," he added.

FBI agents, who examined more than 15,000 cases between 1987 and 2003, found that the SBI withheld blood evidence that may have kept convicted defendants out of prison.

"The full case files of each of these cases should be reviewed by both prosecutors and appropriate defense counsel," AG Cooper said.

Barber says the findings in the report are only the beginning.

"We believe that in some ways because it's preliminary, this is only the tip of the iceberg -- he and his co-investigator audited only one of five of the SBI labs, and so there's still much more work to be done," Barber said.

Baber says he wants NC to end its death penalty policy.

"We're calling the state to reflect, to repent and then to begin a movement toward repeal and a movement toward reform," he added.

Barber and supporters of a moratorium want all six of the SBI's crime labs investigated, not only the ones that were investigated in the report.

They also want Governor Bev. Perdue to commute all death penalty sentences to life sentences while lab work for those convictions is reviewed.

Finally, the group wants does not want any additional death penalty sentences during the expanded investigation.




Questions about SBI lab free Durham man

A judge ordered the release Friday of a Durham man convicted in 1998 in the sexual assault and murder of a 2-year-old girl.

According to ABC11 archived stories, Derrick M. Allen, 31, was 19 when Durham police charged him in the death of Adesha Sikia Artis. According to the transcript of a 911 call made by Allen, he claimed the child passed out while he was getting her dressed in a home they shared off Garrett Road.

An autopsy later revealed she'd been sexually assaulted.

Allen has always maintained he was innocent, and family members said in interviews with ABC11 in 1998 that they believed someone else in the home hurt the child.

Now, an audit of SBI crime lab cases has revealed that a key piece of evidence in the case against Allen - bloody undergarments - actually tested negative for blood.

Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson ordered Allen released without bond on Friday. A date for his new trial has not been set.





Under Fire, NC SBI Blood Analyst Suspended


Duane Deaver, a veteran SBI analyst at the center of a growing controversy on how the agency reported blood evidence, has been suspended pending further investigation.

The move came Wednesday afternoon, hours after Attorney General Roy Cooper revealed an audit of the crime lab's serology unit calling into question convictions in 230 criminal cases, involving 269 people.

Deaver performed the work in the five cases an independent auditor deemed most troubling.

Deaver's work - and the practices of the NC SBI - came under fire in February when Greg Taylor, a Wake County man, was exonerated after 17 years in prison. Deaver withheld results of more sophisticated blood tests that yielded negative results. He reported to prosecutors that Taylor's SUV gave chemical indications for the presence of blood.

Deaver testified in February that supervisors told him to report his findings that way. According to the audit released Wednesday, the practice was widespread. Eight analysts completed their reports in a similar fashion.

"This is a damning indictment of the entire serology section," said Mary Pollard, executive director of Prisoner Legal Services. Her agency will begin reviewing the cases of 80 defendants who are currently in prison. "It is absolutely horrifying."

The criminal convictions or sentences of three people who have since been executed in North Carolina, and four more cases in which the defendants are now on death row, are may be in doubt because of flawed reports.

Chris Swecker, a former FBI agent who audited serology work from 1987 to 2003 said in the report that the questionable work is the result of "poorly crafted policy; lack of objectivity; the absence of clear report writing guidance; inattention to reporting methods that left too much discretion to the individual Analyst; lack of transparency; and ineffective management and oversight..."

According to the review, the cases involved SBI lab reports that were overstated, misleading or omitted important information about negative test results that would have been favorable to the defendants.

The SBI's lab work is often powerful evidence in criminal cases, shaping decisions at the heart of a defense that include decisions about plea bargaining or how to cross examine witnesses.

The SBI has followed more updated procedures on blood analysis since 2003, and more recent work is not under scrutiny. "The tests that are examined in the bulk of this report are no longer in use," the agents wrote.

The serology unit has been under intense scrutiny since February when, in the case of Taylor, it was shown that SBI agent Duane Deaver reported to prosecutors that the fender of Taylor's SUV gave chemical indications for the presence of blood.

But according to lab notes discovered in 2009, Deaver had performed more specific tests, which registered negative results for the presence of blood. He never mentioned those results or the additional tests; at Taylor's hearing in February, Deaver testified that his superiors taught him to write his reports like that.

The new report says that Deaver gave "inaccurate" testimony before the Innocence Commission in the hearings that resulted in Taylor's exoneration when he testified that he was following policies. There were no such policies then, the report says, though it was the SBI's practice at the time to omit negative results in some cases. It became the agency's actual policy in 1997.

One of the defendants who has been executed is Desmond Keith Carter, who had confessed to a March 1992 murder. The report says Deaver in that case "confirmed the presence of blood despite a negative confirmatory test." The questionable evidence wasn't introduced at the trial, according to the report.

Preliminary, or presumptive, blood tests can give false reads; those tests often give positive results for substances such as metals, plants and animal matter. More sensitive tests are seen as confirmatory.

Swecker and Wolf examined more than 15,000 old cases involving serology work to identify the cases similar to the Taylor case.

The former agents said they could not conclude that each case has a wrongful conviction, but said each will need to be reviewed by defendants, prosecutors and, in some cases, the courts.

"This will require an in depth review of investigative case ... files that are located in the records of law enforcement departments across the state, court records, trial transcripts, laboratory files, appellate records, records of the Administrative Office of the Courts and any other relevant material," they wrote.






Ex-SBI agent Deaver's testimony could lead to reviews


Duane Deaver's work paved the path for Michael Peterson's new trial. His testimony also could force another look at the sentences of several other convicted murderers.

Judge Orlando Hudson ruled last month that the former State Bureau of Investigation agent delivered "perjured testimony" in Peterson's 2003 murder trial, where he was qualified as an expert and testified about why he believed Kathleen Peterson died from a beating. Peterson, the former novelist convicted of killing his wife, is out of prison and headed for a new trial, pending the state's appeal.

Three cases examined by The News & Observer show conduct by Deaver similar to that presented during Peterson's hearing in December: Deaver exaggerating his experience as a bloodstain pattern analyst and using methods that experts deemed unacceptable.

In one Wake County capital murder case, Deaver testified that he discarded the measurements and notes that formed the basis for his expert opinion - conduct an expert called "totally insane."

The cases, two of them involving inmates on North Carolina's death row, do not involve questions of innocence. But Deaver's testimony was important in helping convince jurors that the defendants committed first-degree murder - which requires proof that the crime was deliberate and planned - or that their crime was brutal enough to deserve the death penalty.

Lawyers for the killers likely will file challenges.

David Rudolf, Peterson's lawyer, investigated some of Deaver's work and methods in preparing for Peterson's hearing. He has written to state Attorney General Roy Cooper, asking Cooper to open an independent investigation into bloodstain pattern analysis cases worked by Deaver and the SBI agents he trained.

Rudolf noted that in 2010 Cooper suspended the work of the SBI's bloodstain pattern analysts and confirmed that there were no written policies or procedures to govern them. The SBI eventually ended its bloodstain pattern analysis.

"All of this occurred before the evidence introduced during the Peterson hearings this month, which indicate the problems with Deaver and bloodstain analysis by the SBI are far deeper than was previously known," Rudolf wrote.

Cooper responded late last week in a letter to Rudolf, saying the internal investigation into Deaver has not stopped.

"The SBI director has informed me that the SBI is continuing this investigation into Agent Deaver's other cases and blood spatter cases in general and the SBI would be glad to accept any information which you believe would be helpful to them," Cooper wrote. "In the past, I have not hesitated to utilize outside expertise when it is warranted and I will continue to monitor these matters to determine if it is necessary."

Deaver, 52, worked for the SBI for more than 20 years before being fired last January. He has a degree in zoology, and had two outside courses in bloodstain pattern analysis. He had never joined major associations of professionals who worked in that field.

Over the past two years, a barrage of damaging information has emerged about Deaver. A Wake County man, Greg Taylor, was exonerated of murder based in large part on Deaver's work in the case. Taylor's exoneration led Cooper to contract an independent review of the lab's reporting of blood test results.

That review by former senior FBI officials found more than 200 cases where official SBI lab reports did not reflect the results obtained in the lab. It singled out Deaver as the analyst in the most troubling cases.

In August 2010, as The News & Observer was about to publish a series about problems with Deaver and other SBI agents, Cooper ended the work of SBI bloodstain pattern analysts who were trained and led by Deaver.

Deaver's attorney, Philip Isley, said his client has done nothing wrong and deserves his job back. "I disagree with Judge Hudson's decision" in the Peterson case, Isley said.

Untested science

Rudolf identified at least seven capital cases where Deaver testified about bloodstains. One was George Goode, whose death sentence was commuted to life by a federal judge who in 2009 found Deaver gave false and misleading testimony in 1993.

A review of the transcripts of three murder cases shows similarities to Deaver's conduct in the Peterson case. In each of the cases, Deaver repeated his claims about his bloodstain experience - numbers discredited by an internal SBI investigation.

In 2001, Deaver testified in the Wake County death penalty case of Sharoid Wright, who was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a friend to death.

Wright testified at trial that he was drinking malt liquor and smoking marijuana in a Raleigh park with his friend, Roshaun Floyd. They began arguing over who should accept blame for robberies they committed the day before in Orange and Chatham counties, and started fighting. Wright testified that he was losing the fight and pulled out a knife and stabbed Floyd repeatedly.

Wright said he began driving Floyd to WakeMed hospital but panicked and dumped him on the side of Interstate 40 instead.

Deaver's expert testimony contradicted Wright. Deaver testified that he found a pattern of six droplets on the inside roof of a car, above the driver's seat. Deaver said he was able to measure the droplets and identify the precise "point of origin" of the spatter, where the weapon came into contact with the blood: "four inches forward of the back of the door, three inches inside of the automobile, and two and a half inches down from the top of automobile."

That led Deaver to conclude that at least two blows were struck in the driver's seat. That indicated Floyd was stabbed in his car, contradicting Wright's account of a fight in the park and supporting a verdict of first-degree murder.

The concept of "point of origin" has long been unacceptable in bloodstain pattern analysis, said national expert Tom Bevel, who testified at Peterson's hearing. There is no way to look at bloodstains and arrive at a precise point in space, he said. The accepted term is an area in space - for example, a sphere-shaped area with a diameter of 12 inches.

On cross-examination, Wright's lawyer, John Britt, asked Deaver for the measurements he used to calculate that precise point of origin.

Deaver didn't have the measurements and couldn't remember them.

"Our policy is that we take our notes and when our - when our report comes back, we throw our notes away, and they were destroyed."

Britt was skeptical: "You make a report and destroy the data that you use to generate the report?"

"Yes sir."

"And that's your policy?"

"Well, they were notes," Deaver said. "I mean, yeah."

SBI Director Greg McLeod backed that up last week.

"From 1999-2004, Agents were authorized to destroy handwritten notes only after they verified that their final reports accurately reflected the notes, including all exculpatory information," McLeod said in a written statement.

Stuart James, one of the country's foremost bloodstain pattern experts, said he was appalled when he read Deaver's testimony.

"It's totally insane," James said. "He's throwing away scientific data so no one can go back and replicate his work."

At trial, Wright's lawyers questioned whether Deaver could be certain that the tiny stains were indeed blood.

"Based on my experience, they're blood, and I've looked thousands and thousands and thousands of stains," Deaver said.

But Deaver acknowledged he could not be certain. He had never tested the stains.

Inflated experience

Deaver's testimony at Wright's trial caught the attention of other Wake County prosecutors, who called on him to do some last-minute work during the death-penalty phase of the trial of Fernando Garcia, who beat a Raleigh woman to death in a North Raleigh apartment complex.

"It was only after seeing you testify in State vs. Sharoid Wright days earlier that we determined that the evidence missing in our presentation could be overcome with your knowledge and your ability to educate a jury on blood spatter," prosecutor Susan Spurlin wrote later in a letter. "We thank you and credit you with the presentation at sentencing that gave us the evidence to convince a jury that Fernando Garcia is not worthy of another chance in society."

Garcia did not deny killing Juliann Bolt, a stranger who was exercising in the apartment clubhouse. Garcia told police he forced her at gunpoint into a bathroom and tried to rape her. When she fought back, kicking him, Garcia told police that he lost control.

He beat her so badly that first responders thought she had been shot.

Deaver testified in the sentencing phase, when the jury chose to sentence Garcia to death instead of life in prison. After inflating his credentials and being qualified as an expert, Deaver testified that the blood stains showed the attack was sustained and that Bolt was conscious through much of it.

Superior Court Judge Howard Manning, who presided at the trial, said he thought Deaver's testimony in the Garcia case was probably not that important to the jury, given the viciousness of the assault.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said it was unlikely that he would reinvestigate the Wright or Garcia cases unless a defense attorney files a challenge.

'It is like Voodoo'

Deaver also testified at the 1996 trial of Angel Guevara, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of Paul West, a Johnston County sheriff's deputy.

Thomas Manning, Guevara's defense attorney, objected to Deaver testifying as an expert, calling him a "purported expert" with a "purported opinion" whose scientific conclusions were based on obscure and vague foundations. "It is like voodoo," Manning said. His objections were overruled.

Guevara testified that he shot West and beat him with a rifle butt and the deputy's pistol after the deputy entered his home without a warrant. Guevara testified that the second and fatal shot occurred when he and West were struggling over the rifle.

Deaver testified again about the "points of origin" of two bloodstains. The first, 27 inches off the floor and eight inches from a wall, was consistent with a beating. The second, a fine mist low on the wall, indicated West was shot at close range while lying on his back, Deaver said.

Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle said the case against Guevara was overwhelming, including ballistics, hair and fiber evidence, eyewitness testimony by a second deputy and Guevara's testimony. "The testimony of SBI Agent Duane Deaver was not critical to the prosecution," Doyle said.

But SBI agent David McDougal praised Deaver's work in a 1995 letter put into Deaver's personnel file: "Duane took time last Wednesday to do a bloodstain examination which will be an important part of the evidence entered in this case as it proves one deputy was beaten while he was on his hands and knees prior to being shot execution style."


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