According to the contract for the audit of missing guns, drugs, and money from the Asheville Police Department’s evidence room, the city of Asheville should have received a copy when the $175,000 audit was completed in January.
The June 2011 contract with Blueline systems, part of a trove of documents released by Carolina Public Press today detailing the scope of the audit, declares that the city will receive a copy of the evidence room audit, though it notes the District Attorney can redact some sections.
Upon completion of the forensic inventory, Contractor shall provide the District Attorney with a copy of the final report consisting of the results of the inventory and any recommendations, if applicable. Contractor shall provide the City with a copy of the final report unless the release of the information provided in the final report, as determined by the District Attorney is: 1) Likely to jeopardize the State’s ability to prosecute a defendant; or 2) is likely to undermine an ongoing or future criminal investigation. In the event the above-stated conditions apply, Contractor, in consultation with the District Attorney, shall redact or remove from the final report such confidential information and provide the City with a copy of the remaining information contained in the final report.
District Attorney Ron Moore has not delivered a copy to the city, or responded to open records requests over the course of the last few months for its public release. City manager Gary Jackson confirms the city still hasn’t received the report, but says he has no plans to press for its delivery.
“I’ve asked the district attorney when it might be made available and received periodic updates,” Jackson tells Xpress. “I’m quite comfortable that he’s working with the [State Bureau of Investigation] to accomplish the ultimate completion of the report and its release.”
“I’m very satisfied with the District Attorney’s handling of the matter,” he adds.
Moore has not also not responded to multiple open records requests for the audit’s release. According to attorneys from the North Carolina Press Association, the audit should be a matter of public record.
It would be funny if it weren’t so very stupid.
This will certainly put to rest all those crazy rumors about Ron Moore. Finally. whew!
Yet more lack of oversight by Gary Jackson?????
City of Asheville has experienced a number of troubling issues in the past few years. The Human Resource scandal and what appears to be gross mismanagement, the Sexual Harassment lawsuit, that could have been nipped in the bud, when the young woman went through channels and then was forced to seek legal action. Amounting to $48,000 to settle a lawsuit that should have been effectively dealt with internally. The Human Resources Dept convictions regarding falsifying medical claims. The Pack Place overruns, Momentum
Sounds like you need an audit of that office.
Whoa! What does Asheville’s City Manager have to do with the two men exonerated by the Innocence Commission? Why not blame him for Judge Crater, too?
Hmmm… scandals, corruption and cover-up in sin city government. Is anyone really surprised??? Pretty much par for the course. Maybe that’s why there is always such a push for Asheville to be beer city. Keep everyone drunk enough they will forget about the scandals, corruptions and cover-ups. So… drink up and let’s make a toast to complete lack of public confidence in APD, DA’s office and city government/management.
Barry,
The DA actively has tried to stop the facts found bythe Innocence Inquiry Commission, from coming out.That SHOULD have raised a red flag to anyone paying attention or who gave a damn. I believe that is something a City Manager should be opposed to. Anytime Citizens are wrongly convicted we all are wronged.
The City Managers duties are to oversee the law is adhered to …among other responsibilities.
http://www.ashevillenc.gov/Departments/CityManagersOffice.aspx
Davyne
I agree that a lot of what you list there are issues that should concern us. But when you throw in something that’s completely outside the City Manager’s purview, it diminishes your point, IMO.
The City Manager has nothing to do with criminal prosecutions, especially for Gods sake, capital cases, and besides, this case was prosecuted over a decade ago. The conduct of the Buncombe County District Attorney is a State and/or Federal matter, and the City has absolutely no authority there.
I think when you take an “everything including the kitchen sink” approach, you risk losing credibility.
Signed, “the bony finger of accusation“.
Barry, also, given the long list of issues swirling around the lax leadership as mentioned above…why would you hone in on something I said, that you appear to be dismissing….instead of wondering why so much has gone awry under the City Managers
purview????
I’m not the issue here.
Cecil Bothwell I’m calling you out.
“IF there is pressure to be applied, it ought to be directed at the SBI, where, in my experience, is where investigations of law enforcement misconduct go to die.”
Your argument that this is none of the media’s concern and is a job for SBI is ad hoc to protect the good ole’ boys that you share power with over the city. Where investigations go to die is no place for truth to echo. The people have the right and the power to demand accountability of those in possitions of athority and to challenge those who oppress and manipulate them.
SBI has continually failed to provide justice or even answers in high profile and local law enforcemnet misconduct cases. Jacob Plemmons was shot five times with his hands up by a local deputy and we aren’t even granted the name of the deputy.
“How can the public trust the validity of an investigation conducted by the SBI when just last year it was exposed that 230 cases across the state were in question because of the SBI falsifying evidence” ~Noah Young 2011 MountainX
Are you really running on the campaign that the people shouldn’t be concerned about the man behind the curtain?
We love you Cecil, and Barry, and D. Dial. If we don’t stand up for something we will fall for everything. We so desperately need the FBI to investigate this entire constellation of corruption as described above. I thank my lucky stars that bulwarks of thought and action, such as the three individuals named above, are here among us to advocate for Truth, Justice, and The American Way; each of these individuals should wear capes snd white hats. WHO can call in the FBI to investigate this sleezy cover up? ASAP!
Thanks neighbor. <;-)
“I think when you take an “everything including the kitchen sink” approach, you risk losing credibility.
Signed, “the bony finger of accusation”.
And I think zeroing in on my credability instead of looking at all the issues swirling around our City Manager brings YOUR credibility into question. So, we’re even.
That said, let’s get back to the business at hand…holding our officials feet to the fire and demanding oversight.
Ease up, Davyne. I just pointed out that you threw in a charge against the City Manager’s Office that doesn’t hold water. At all. The City Manager has absolutely nothing to do with prosecuting murder cases, and yet you suggest that two innocent men sat in prison “due to a lack of oversight by the City Managers office.”
I stated that I agreed that a lot of the other things you cited are matters of concern, just not that one. Why are you so freaked out by a simple fact-check?
A DA CAN be removed; NC statute 7A-66 lists (among others) this reason for removal
7A-66 (6) Conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the office into disrepute;
I’d say illegally convicting an innocent man and the taxpayers having to shell out over half a million to pay for that wrongful conviction is enough to remove Moore.
It’s happened just recently in Durham…and it could happen here if enough people give a damn about justice.
http://www.indyweek.com/triangulator/archives/2012/03/02/tracy-cline-is-out-as-durham-da
Again Barry…this is not about me. This is about our officials. They are the ones with the power, not me.
Surely I am not alone in the observation that lack of oversight by our officials, sets up the community for gross abuse of authority?????
Sure, I’m just sayin’ to aim your protest at the right people. No municipal City employee, not even the City Manager, has “oversight” over the District Attorney. He is a County-wide elected official, accountable to the State, the Courts, and the electorate.
Pressure from the City Manager, and City elected officials, can have a positive effect on Moore’s sense of accountability.
Did we learn nothing from the Medford fiasco?
You want to talk about moral leadership, fine – and I agree there’s quite often a vacuum there in this town. But that’s not oversight, is all I’m saying. And the City Manager’s job is as a technocrat, a traffic cop keeping all the pieces of City govt. working, and he has his hands full. I’ll criticize him on the Human Resources debacle, or the ABC Board, or the rest, but not on something he has no hands-on responsibility for.
I’m familiar with Cecil’s book on Medford.” Pure Buncumb”
He sights all officials in the community who knew of Medford’s abuse of office…he’s right in calling them out. I’m doing the same here.
The innocence commission endeavors to get to the truth were opposed by Moore…that was last year. He tried hard to stop this commission in looking into the convictions. I believe close oversight would have made his attempts to avoid responsibility in sending innocent men up for ten years, would have been less tempting for him had he known our local (highly paid) City Manager was on top of this travesty.
Additionally the people mentioned who knew of Medfords misdeeds, would most likely say the same thing you’re saying…it’s not my responsibility…they sheriff only answers to the voters. But they were complicit, by looking the other way and fostering an atmosphere of acceptance.
We are in disagreement Barry…..true this was a peripheral issue, but the lack of oversight going on is abominable…and sets the community up for more abuse….especially for a well paid City employee.
I’m just begging you to stop conflating “moral leadership” with “oversight”, which you are still doing. The City Manager has absolutely no authority over the District Attorney. The prosecution and jailing, even execution of innocent persons is too important an issue for you to be muddying the waters over it, just to ramp up outrage over purely local issues which the City Manager does have authority over.
Part of the reason people don’t get involved, IMO, is because the workings of govt. are sometimes byzantine, and people throw up their hands because they don’t know where to apply pressure. Don’t add confusion to the Innocence Commission & surrounding issues by implying that it’s somehow the City Manager’s job to prevent prosecutorial abuse. And that’s what you’re doing by continually referring to some “lack of oversight…”.
Barry, my opinions are simply not so very powerful as to confuse or discourage the public’s understanding of simple oversight. Much as it would be advantageous to wield that type of power…I just don’t have it.
Now stop hijacking this thread. This is not about me or my opinions.