Six Million Reasons to Be Ashamed

By -

Durham’s Shame: A City Refuses to Pay for Its Mistake

The city of Durham has found itself at the center of a troubling legal and moral scandal. After a wrongful conviction that cost an innocent man decades of his life, the city has now refused to honor a $6 million court-ordered verdict in his favor. Instead of owning up to its responsibility, Durham has doubled down on denial and legal maneuvering. The result is a stunning display of injustice, fiscal irresponsibility, and betrayal of public trust.


The Wrongful Conviction of Darryl Howard

The case centers on Darryl Howard, a man who was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder after a Durham police officer, Darrell Dowdy, fabricated evidence to secure a conviction. Howard spent years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. On appeal, new evidence—including DNA—proved his innocence and revealed the misconduct that led to his imprisonment. This should have been a straightforward case of the system correcting itself. Instead, Durham made it worse.


Millions Spent to Avoid Accountability

Rather than accept responsibility and compensate Howard for the years stolen from him, the city spent $4 million in taxpayer money fighting the appeal. When the court ruled in Howard’s favor, awarding him $6 million, the city council met in a closed session and decided not to pay. Not only does this decision contradict the court's ruling, it also adds insult to injury. The same city that allowed the injustice to occur now refuses to make it right.

From the appeal findings:

When Howard sought DNA testing on the sperm found in Nishonda (person Howard was accused of raping and murdering) around 2003, Dowdy knew that it would be favorable to Howard and took other steps to cover up Oliver’s fabricated statement, Howard’s attorneys argued. Those steps included making up evidence about Nishonda having consensual sex before the killing, the attorneys said.


Protecting the Guilty, Ignoring the Victim

To make matters more disturbing, Durham quietly settled with the retired officer at the center of the scandal, awarding “Captain” Dowdy hundreds of thousands of dollars—presumably to cushion the blow of his personal liability in the case. Dowdy, who now risks losing his house, car, and retirement funds, is receiving support from the city that should instead be focused on making things right for the victim. This shows a gross misalignment of priorities and a clear message: Durham protects its own, no matter how deep the misconduct runs. 


Summary

The city of Durham’s refusal to pay Darryl Howard the compensation he is due is an egregious failure of justice and leadership. After fabricating evidence, fighting legitimate appeals, and shielding the guilty officer, the city now refuses to make amends. Taxpayers should be outraged. The public deserves accountability—and Darryl Howard deserves the restitution he was promised. Anything less is complicity in the wrongs already done.



The News & Observer
Indy Week
Lehto's Law YouTube video on the topic. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Your comment will be displayed after approval.
Approval depends on what you say and how you say it.

Popular posts from this blog

This Will Trigger The Weak

By -
Image
Seen on Social Media: Your Wife Is Your First Daughter—Treat Her Like a Baby, Or She’ll Break Your Home Let’s scatter the woke table: Your wife is not your equal. She’s not your therapist. And she’s definitely not your homeboy. She’s your first daughter—emotionally, mentally, and psychologically. And the moment you start expecting her to “reason like a man” or “carry half the weight,” you’ve already lost. The modern man is confused. He's told to be vulnerable, yet punished when he shows weakness. Told to be “emotionally available,” yet abandoned when he starts crying like a choirboy. Let’s get this straight: Women were designed to be nurtured. Not negotiated with. Let’s break it down like a real father would. — 1. Every Woman Is a Grown Baby Looking for Emotional Security She’ll talk tough. She’ll claim she’s independent. But when the bills land or the pressure hits? She’s curled up in your arms, needing your shoulder—and your wallet. Why? Because biologically, her system runs on h...
Read more

Polar Opposites

By -
Image
My friend, Lefty, had a darn good post a couple of days ago. Let's go into why it was such a good post.  Meeting Your Polar Opposite Polar Opposites For starters, people who cannot see past the surface might notice that Lefty is a self-described introvert. This author is a self-described extrovert. That would be "polar opposite."  Climate Change Next up, Lefty made the post, which has many references to the farce that is the claim of manmade climate change. Not only that, but Lefty's post was on March 12. That date marked 32 years since the Blizzard of '93 hit most of Tennessee. In that blizzard, Chattanooga got 18 inches of snow in 12 hours - I know because I was living there at the time. Were such an event to happen today, the Leftists would be screaming bloody-murder about manmade climate change.  Chemtrails Last part that made Lefty's post so good was he took a swing at the folks on the right who believe in chemtrails. For clarity, my conspiracy-theorist ...
Read more

The Problem With Many Modern Women

By -
Image
Seen on X, from Richard Cooper - here, pasted text in case Blogger inexplicably deletes the image as they have done so many times in the past: "In the not so distant past, she was wifey material if she was: A virgin Tattoo free  Had good family  Feminine  Under 25  Religious  Had homemaking skills  Agreeable  Could cook & clean  Wanted his children  Most brides today are none of those things." Here we will give an example of what most modern women are like in italics below Cooper's list of marriageable qualities.  Marriageable qualities vs. Reality: A virgin Been with 100+ men (whatever number they tell you, multiply it by 9, at the least.)  Tattoo free  Many tattoos.  Had good family  Comes from single mother only home where the mother did not allow the father into the children's lives.  Feminine  Feminist Under 25  Over 30, with declining fertility.  Religious  "Spiritual" (meaning wil...
Read more