Her daughter is now officially declared missing, but the mother of 8 year old Relisha Rudd doesn’t resemble a person who has lost a child to some stranger, who just may have been a pedophile that set prey upon a defenseless little girl to met out horrible sex crimes. In fact, the little girl’s mom has maintained a stoic posture throughout this entire ordeal. According to official reports, young Relisha was last seen sometime in late February of 2014. police learned of the child’s last citing after a proactive school counselor took notice of Relisha’s extended absence from the elementary school she attended. The little girl hadn’t been to school in nearly a month, when school officials went to the homeless shelter where Relisha was living with her family. That inquiry raised suspicion, and prompted a school counselor to notify police.

Once police authorities became aware of the child’s disappearance a disturbing, senseless, and unimaginable story emerged. Depending on what version you believe, the details are simply horrific, and outline what may be a bizarre tale of abandonment, abuse, and betrayal of the pretty little girl by her own mother. Media reports initially claim that Relisha was willfully given to Kalil Tatum, a janitor working at the homeless shelter where the family was staying. As the public became outraged at the very thought of a mother allowing a 52 year old grown man to have such intimate contact with her daughter, other stories began to surface that Tatum had a granddaughter around Relisha’s age, and that Tatum was allowed to take the child to his home to play with her. The mom even publicly admitted that Tatum had always brought the child back, but failed to do so when she was allowed to go with him in late February.

Her story seems plausible if you consider that Tatum was well liked by the residents at the shelter, and was known to offer gifts to Relisha and other children living at the  homeless shelter where he worked. Apparently, Tatum’s close interaction with children never raised suspicion by any of the residents, and perhaps the missing child’s parents in fact did have tremendous trust in Tatum. However, there are other very disturbing and compelling facts about this missing child case that hasn’t gone unnoticed by many associated with this investigation. Relisha’s mother hadn’t seen her little girl in nearly a month but she never notified anyone pertaining to her child’s disappearance. It almost seems as if the child wasn’t even on the mother’s radar the entire time, until school officials got involved and attempted to ascertain why Relisha hadn’t been in school.

In one instance the mother is attributed with making the statement that “he always brought her back,” and in recent t.v. interviews she is now denying ever having given her daughter to Tatum at all. Relisha’s mother is now even deflecting all responsibility for her daughter’s disappearance unto her mother and sister. Take a look at an exclusive interview she gave to NBC Washington’s Channel 4:

Exclusive Interview With The Mother Of Missing D.C. 8 Year Old Relisha Rudd

The mother’s responses to the reporter are very troubling to me for various reasons. Firstly, her composure is amazing considering her daughter is missing, and when she is presented with the possibility that Tatum may actually have killed her daughter, she only reflects momentarily on that possibility before starting to deflect responsibility to her mother and sister. She claims that she thought she could trust her mother and her sister, but even if she did in fact drop Relisha off to the home of family members, it’s simply unconscionable that she never contacted them regarding Relisha’s well being for such an extended time period. The other confusing part of this story that hasn’t been clarified, is even if Relisha was given to Tatum by the mother, a volume of questions still remain. Did he continue to come to work everyday at the shelter, and if so, did she ever inquire about the welfare of her daughter? No reports establish whether Tatum was also missing for nearly a month along with Relisha. If the later of these scenarios is true, then the mother clearly neglected and abandoned her child knowing that she was with Tatum who had disappeared with her child, and while she never bothered to notify the police.

Other comments this woman made to reporters are interesting and may possibly offer a clue to unravel this disturbing case. She tells the reporter that her mother stated that Tatum told her that if anything ever happened to him or his wife, that Relisha would be set. That statement raises suspicion as to what exactly is Tatum’s relationship to the child. Typically when a reference is made to some unexpected tragedy befalling upon someone, that another person, and more specifically in this case that Relisha would be set, kind of infers that some financial arrangement has been previously established to provide for a benefactor (Relisha), More importantly, what does that statement even have to do with the disappearance of her child? What was she trying to convey? What does the family know about Tatum and the disappearance of Relisha that they are not making known publicly? The mother’s comment was so puzzling to me that I began to look very closely at the physical appearance of Tatum and young Relisha. There appears to be a striking physical resemblance between the pair. Look for yourself:

My assertion could be entirely wrong, but I offer such a perspective on the basis of the child’s likeness to this man, coupled with her mom never demonstrating concern for her child’s welfare after she had been gone for nearly a month knowing that Relisha was left in his care. The most startling aspect of this story is the level of trust Tatum was extended pertaining to such intimacy he was granted with the child. Some followers believe that the gifts Tatum gave the child was typical grooming that known pedophiles enact upon children to gain their trust prior to striking with their perversion. The concern many people have developed pointing to Tatum possibly being a sexual predator has come largely from the age disparity between him and Relish, and the chilling surveillance video that captures him walking in and out of a Red Roof motel with her in Oxen Hills, Maryland. Once the cops became aware of where he was staying, they pounced on his rented room, and discovered the body of his wife who had been murdered from a gunshot to the head. Official reports reveal that witnesses admit having been in the room with Tatum, and one witness states that when he came by, Tatum’s wife was spread out across the bed in a similar fashion in which cops found her deceased.

These facts  diminishes the chilling image of the child and Tatum going to a motel room. It’s possible that Tatum’s wife and others were already inside the room, and just simply wasn’t captured by surveillance video. Also, at least one person reported seeing Tatum and Relisha near the motel. In short, nothing so far has pointed to Tatum having displayed predatory sexual behavior toward the child. Don’t get me wrong, Tatum may possibly be a violent murderer who killed his wife, but how were the cops able to come to such a conclusion. Tatum at the very minimum should be a person of interest related to that crime. Just because it’s his wife that was killed, he was staying in that room, and he is believed to have young Relisha with him doesn’t make him the perpetrator who shot his wife to death. In fact, I’m not sure that Tatum could even be charged with kidnapping Relisha. Hell, if the school officials hadn’t called the cops, no one would ever even know that the child was missing in the first place. The child’s family hadn’t reported her missing at all, and the story that Tatum has Relisha is simply the child’s family statements to police. After all the family admitted giving Relisha to him voluntarily. Realistically, Tatum could very well be a victim of a crime in this case as well. The public simply will not know until he is located and questioned by police.

Moreover, many followers of this story fault Relisha’s mother solely for this entire ordeal. Some even challenge her competence to even properly care for a child. Her inability to simply grasp the gravity and severity of her daughter’s disappearance during the interview gives credibility to those who question the mother’s competence. When the reporter advised her that rumors circulated accusing her of refusing to file a missing persons report for Relisha, she responded “they never asked me to file a missing persons report.” The comment clearly highlights complete detachment from concern of the overall well being of her child, because women have an inherent and innate protective system for their offspring which typically kicks in automatically, even at the mere inference of potential danger toward their children. Her demeanor is frightening considering that she has three other children. Something is amiss, and it’s widely believe from many within the public that the mother is being deceptive, and knows a lot more about her daughter’s disappearance then what she has made public.

When she was posed with a question that many people have raised, concerning why she never called police when she discovered Relisha was missing, she said “I was never under the impression that she was missing. I was under the impression that she was at my sisters house where I left her, under my mother’s care.” When the reporter asked the very same question another way, she responded “I ain’t want to lose my other three kids. That’s why I didn’t call the police,” and completely contradicting her previous claim of not having been under the impression that Relisha was missing. Additionally, the reporter asked the mother what she would say to Tatum if she could talk to him. She said “I have a lot of questions to ask you (Tatum). I want you to answer them properly, and give me the correct answers.” For a mother whose child is in fact missing, her comments for the man who suspected of unlawfully having her daughter is void of any animosity or anger at all. She doesn’t even make a plea for Tatum to bring her child back home unharmed. It seems more like she has resolved that the worst has already happened to Relisha, and is only expecting to hear what he did to her.

The more this mother speaks, the more it appears that she possibly isn’t being honest about the details pertaining to what happened to young Relisha. Her contradictory statements regarding not having knowledge that Relisha was missing, then admitting the reason she didn’t call the cops was out of fear of losing her other three children, demonstrates that her account regarding what happened is fluctuating. In the last portion of the interview she attempts to set the record straight and claims that she never gave her daughter to this man, but earlier reports and interviews revel that she admitted Tatum had always brought Relisha back home. This story stinks really bad, and the mother’s comments raise serious credibility issues for her pertaining to what happened to her beautiful little daughter. Given the lack of credibility she has displayed, is simply very difficult to even find the story that she and her family have offered as being believable. Does Kalil Tatum actually have young Relisha rudd, or is his purported involvement in this entire case the product of some fabricated story concocted by the child’s family to conceal something more sinister surrounding her whereabouts and overall well being? Maybe Tatum is the child’s biological father and the mother is deliberately concealing this information for some other distorted purpose. Which ever the case, we can’t rush to judgement when the facts given so far are so contrasting and cloudy. We pray for the safe return of Relisha Rudd, and ask that God protect this child wherever she may be.

To Be Continued

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

For some people the image of being locked up in a caged jail cell is simply a concept where the very worst of mankind are suppose to dwell for conduct intolerable throughout civilization, and in many instances such a place is justified for those who have committed the most heinous acts against society. The unfortunate reality is that the American criminal justice system is flawed. Far too many defendants who find themselves embroiled in criminal cases are being incarcerated for crimes they are in fact not responsible for having committed. The disparity of defendants placed in such an awkward position while having to fight tooth and nail to regain their freedom is disproportionately weighed heavily against young black defendants, and in many instances those charged with prosecuting criminals are well aware that culpable evidence against many defendants of color doesn’t exist.

Rather than do the right thing and set these youth free, a systemic culture of suppressing exculpatory evidence which exonerate many of these defendants has become the order of the day by prosecutors who see black defendants as subhuman, and conspire to wrongfully convict defendants of color solely on the premise of race. Also, in southern states like North Carolina, such a culture of malicious prosecution isn’t limited to just the DA’s office, but has far reaching elements of corruption that extend to the very apex of some state’ justice systems, and often include judges as well as defense lawyers. The disadvantage of being a black man facing criminal charges in American has always depicted an unwritten rule that a black man is guilty of having committed a crime for which he is charged, until otherwise proven innocent.

Although pundits may argue that my perspective isn’t accurate, I’ll offer the plethora of wrongfully convicted black men who emerge within media regularly after being set free decades later for crimes which evidence proves that they were innocent of committing all along, as a prime example to support just how justice often fails black defendants. The suppression of exculpatory evidence doesn’t simply end at the threshold of prosecutorial misconduct, but rather other methods are being utilized to pressure, ware down, and coerce black defendants into accepting some sort of plea agreement to secure conviction of defendants who are clearly innocent. Regardless of the circumstance that lands criminal defendants of color in the seat of prosecutorial scrutiny, the uneven playing field along with the rules remain the same. A tremendous upheaval to regain liberty from the American injustice systems typically follows after the onset of purported criminality.

The case of young Shannon Nyamodi who was charged with shooting a woman in the face at point blank range and robbing her of nearly $65,000.00 dollars in Youngsville, North Carolina, is a textbook case study of the unfairness of that state’s justice system. Often times criminal cases of this magnitude result in police authorities fabricating or doctoring investigative reports, to frame or direct suspicion upon defendants when they know evidence supporting their exonerance exist. Also, witness statements are frequently omitted from investigations that point to other potential suspects, but the unexplained premise for charging innocent blacks while allowing actual perpetrators to go free is simply a phenomenon. Many observers resolve to blaming racism as the ruling factor in many of these instances. However, the multi billion dollar American Prison Industrial Complex may also be a driving force behind the injustices committed against defendants of color charged with a crime.

In the Nyamodi case, the various layers of exculpability towards his innocence are frightening considering the youth has been locked up for over nineteen months without a trial. In any criminal case the typical variables necessary to obtain a conviction are the suspect’s motive, established evidence linking them to the crime, and potential supporting witness testimony which ties it all together. When any or all of these variables aren’t present in criminal cases the probability of securing a conviction diminishes drastically. Unfortunately for Shannon Nyamodi the case file at the Franklin County Courthouse is void of all of these variables, but he remains locked up charged with felony crimes, and despite the surviving victim having previously stated (according to police records) that she didn’t know who her assailant was.

TPC has brought many of the disturbing issues related to Shannon Nyamodi’s case to the world with supporting documentation that offers a glimpse into the North Carolina criminal justice system. Perhaps the most compelling evidence of a systemic problem can be seen in established documentation by North Carolina’s superior court, in which preprinted forms are being utilized to warehouse criminal defendants, or “hide people”, as the Franklin County Clerk of Courts has admitted. In Franklin County at least, it appears that a judicial climate exist where a common practice of removing criminal cases from the court’s docket system without sufficient grounds to prosecute cases, has eliminated the very principles of due process guaranteed under the law through the U.S. Constitution, and is being replaced with an adjunct culture of injustice to wrongfully convict innocent people. If the courts give prosecutors unyielded wide discretion in determining when criminal cases are to be prosecuted, while a defendant’s liberty has been taken, justice is denied, and such an action results in defendants serving a sentence of infinity without actually having ever been convicted of crimes for which they have been charged. Take a look at the subject preprinted form being utilized in North Carolina’s Superior Court below:

In what may be an unprecedented attack on the 6th and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the state of North Carolina (who has a repealed speedy trial statue) Superior Courts are utilizing a practice of allowing prosecutors wide discretion in determining when a criminal defendant has their day in court, while trampling civil rights requiring due process under the law.

While such a practice may not be solely unique to the Shannon Nyamodi case, the lack of public access to culpable evidence against him reveals how blatant illegalities within the justice system in North Carolina actual is. Assuming that prosecutors actually have very damaging evidence pointing to the guilt of Shannon Nyamodi and other accused defendants just like him, it’s confusing why the DA’s office would want to prolong justice, and not bring these defendants to trial. The general consensus in North Carolina is that the state’ criminal justice process is simply slow, as if such a reality is acceptable when the constitution has established law prohibiting states from throwing citizens in jail for an indefinite period of time without a trial. This unlawful practice is a direct infringement upon the civil rights of criminal defendants in North Carolina, and may penetrate the crust of a disturbing culture of injustice enacted primarily upon defendants of color, that predates the civil rights era.

The volume of rather peculiar circumstances compiled in the Nyamodi case undresses the injustice that has landed this young defendant in a county jail for nearly two years. A victim who survived an extremely violent attack that she initially couldn’t identify anyone as her assailant, witness accounts describing a person of another ethnicity having flee from the scene shortly after the shooting, and the purported evidence against Shannon Nyamodi which has never been made public all collectively lays the foundation for a classic frame up of an innocent black man. Additionally, the heinous injustice against this defendant is of a nature so disturbing, lawyers with knowledge of the case file have conveyed publicly that an arrest warrant for Shannon Nyamodi should have never been issued in this crime. Also, Nyamodi appears to have been linked to this crime based on mere hearsay alone  even before evidence was gathered, which all collapsed when investigators discovered that a witness had lied to police. The authorities had made such a discovery with ample time to dismiss charges against Shannon Nyamodi, but chose a destructive course to charge and indict him for the crime anyway. The establishment of exculpatory evidence and the suppression of it by police and prosecutors isn’t just a complete miscarriage of justice in the Nyamodi case, but underscores how the law of the land seems to dissipate when black people are charged with a crime.

It doesn’t require rocket science to understand that some other dynamic is at play in this young defendants case, and the manner he is being held in jail along with his family being denied access to him, exposes some of the tactics frequently used to force black defendants into admitting to having committed a crime they are in fact not responsible for. With Shannon Nyamodi being held in an isolated housing condition which limits his movement to only one hour a day and minimum access to others, serious concern has developed regarding his mental health. It’s widely believed that authorities are deliberately imposing such sanctions upon him to avoid ever having to take his criminal case to trial. A forced confession from a defendant under duress to simply get out of mentally exhausting living conditions would also alleviate the prosecutor’s burden of proving the youth actually committed this crime. Therefore, culpable or exculpatory evidence of any kind would be insignificant because a judge nor a jury would never see it.

Moreover, serious concern for the physical safety of Shannon Nyamodi’s mother has always been a major concern. Ms. Elizabeth Crudup who has been working tenaciously to secure her son’s freedom may have been targeted by police within her home town. On March 21, 2014 she experienced a violent encounter with a Dunn, North Carolina police officer where she was beaten for what amounts to a mere traffic violation. The incident was witnessed by various citizens in the town, and resulted in the mother’s clothing coming unraveled. For some strange reason, she was transported to another town outside of Dunn and booked for resisting arrest charges. While in transit to the Harnett County Sheriff Department, the arresting officer taunted the mother about her son’s criminal case. The cop asked her “do you think you are some kind of lawyer, is that it? You think your a lawyer?” Since Crudup had never had an encounter with this officer before, he apparently knew something about her, and such a statement could only have been an inference to Shannon whose case she has filed various documents. To further complicate that entire ordeal, police had Crudup’s car (which was legally parked in the parking lot of a local establishment) towed to an impound yard completely out of Harnett County.

Crudup’s vehicle had valid registration and insurance. The fact that the car was even towed at all suggest that it was an act by police to further harass her. More importantly though, where the car was actually towed to is extremely unnerving. The car was taken to Benson, North Carolina, and locals there say it’s any area within the state few blacks venture, because it’s in Johnston county, a known foothold for the United Klu Klux Klans of America. Research by TPC has discovered that the county has a famous billboard sign posted at it’s northern county line which greets commuters entering that jurisdiction. See an image of the sign below:

A disturbing sign entering the northern part of Johnston County, North Carolina.

Against the advise from many who have been working closely with Ms. Crudup pertaining to her son’s criminal case, she went to the location where her car was towed. Crudup explains that she needed to retain her purse which contains important personal items. She describes the trip there as an extremely terrifying experience. The route she took was in fact the quickest way to get there, but she says it was extremely rural with mostly swamp land. It was a place that she vowed to never return, and she very well may have a valid reason for coming to such a conclusion. Since the area appeared to have very little population, Crudup and those who drove to Benson with her believed that had they encountered an emergency they would have been stranded, and anything could have happened to them, especially in a jurisdiction which has very tensed social climate with known hostility toward people of color. Take a look at a view of where her car was towed below:

Click image to enlarge.

By virtue of the county where Ms. Crudup’s car was towed, there was concern from the very start that serious trouble could be awaiting her when she went to retrieve the vehicle. Now after having obtained knowledge of what the landscape actual looks like in that neck of the woods, concerns for her personal safety have heightened. Crupdup and her friend also told TPC that as they left the impound yard and headed back toward the town of Dunn, a state trooper went flying pass them in the direction they had just came. looking at the geography, it’s very clear that not much is going on out there. Crupdup says they believed someone may have called the state police to alert them of their presence in the area. They also conveyed that they believed the state cop had gone to the impound yard they went to because nothing else is out that way, and the trooper came directly behind them a few minutes later. They also said that he followed them for about 7-8 miles. their perception and account of this ordeal may be just inherited fear blacks manifest based on the history of the KKK, but she has justification for adopting such a mind set. Afterall, the women had recently been beat up by police and had her car towed to one of the most racist counties in the state. It the very least, the account she describes appears very coincidental.

Since no explanation for why her car was towed has never been offered, it raises concern as to whether some sort of message was being sent to her. She has been advocating her son’s case, and has exposed serious flaws in the criminal justice process along the way. Having her car towed all the way out in such a remote place, and circumventing at least other impound yards within her own county appears to have been deliberate. Anything could have happened to her out there and she could have never been heard from again. It wouldn’t have been the first time that a black person went missing in a known KKK community. Many believe that her life may be in danger and the necessary precautions must be taken to insure her personal safety. It’s an ever evolving case which points to systemic racism in North Carolina and we must continue to watch to insure that justice prevails for this family.

To be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

It’s a story with so many angles and sub plots that’s hard to image occurring in 2014, but the realization that cops can simply arrest American citizens at a whim without provocation is continuously developing into a growing problem. A North Carolina family has become the target of what can only be characterized as police corruption, and abuse of authority. Nearly two years ago a young recent high school grade name Shannon Nyamodi found himself embroiled in the criminal justice system after being charged with a violent crime, where police allege that he shot Rhonda MacClean in the face at point blank range, and robbed her of nearly $65,000.oo dollars. The youth was taken into custody when it seemed that police officials had just began their investigation. Although cops were initially told that young Shannon wasn’t the perpetrator of the shooting, witnesses telling police that a white male had fled the scene shortly after the shooting, and Shannon having never left the scene, he still somehow was subsequently charged with the crime.

The criminal case file at the Franklin County court house paints a very disturbing picture depicting how police, prosecutors, and judges have all mishandled the Nyamodi youth case, while violating state and constitutional law along the way. Mean while Shannon has had his case removed from the court’s management system docket altogether while he remains locked up in a county jail cell. Shannon has been locked up for over eighteen months now and most of that time has been spent in a segregated housing classification, which means his movement is limited, and typically only permits him to leave his cell for an hour every day. To compound his plight, jail authorities have denied Shannon access to his family by not allowing him to see his mother. His isolation and denial of contact with family has raised serious concern regarding his mental health. Research has proven that such confinement can cause permanent brain damage within days, and his family has been frantically attempting to secure his release

Ms. Elizabeth Crudup (Shannon’s mother) has been her son’s strongest advocate and has single handedly launched a campaign to bring exposure to her son’s story. Her efforts has garnered national attention from blogs, radio stations, and other media from Connecticut to Louisiana. However, her efforts have come at a price. Despite her family having lost $50,000.00 dollars to the inept law firm Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, and Bryan, who essentially have done nothing for Shannon but allow him to rot in jail, this mother has apparently become a target of the police in municipalities other than where her son was arrested. Some of the peculiar circumstances in her son’s case are so blatant, that Crudup has been constantly advised to take extra precautionary measures to insure her personal safety. She has to drive hundreds of miles within various counties to carry out business pertaining to her son’s case, and it’s widely believe that the rural backdrop in the region could prove to be hazardous when considering that police corruption is what landed her son in jail in the first place.

On Thursday March 14, 2014 at approximately 6:45 a.m. fears regarding Ms. Crudup’s personal safety manifested itself into a violent encounter with a police officer from her hometown in Dunn, North Carolina. Crudup and her boyfriend had driven to a local restaurant, legally parked their car, and were seated in the car discussing which establishment they wanted to have breakfast. Out of nowhere, a Dunn city police officer who was identified as officer Wise, suddenly emerged and began banging on the driver’s side widow with a flashlight demanding that Ms. Crudup get out of the vehicle. She inquired from the officer what was going on and asked why she needed to get out of her car. The officer continuously demanded for her to exit the car. Crudup tells TPC that she became freighten due to the agitated nature of the officer’s demands. So, she requested that the officer have a supervisor respond to the location. The officer continued to request for her to get out, and began to demand that she present her I.D. Crudup remained in the car and the officer began to threaten her and stated, “if you don’t get out of the car I will drag you out.”

Ms. Crudup says that although she was afraid of the officer, didn’t understand why he had approached her in the first place, that she complied with his request and got out of her vehicle while keeping her hands in plain sight so the officer could see them. Once she was out of the car, she says that the officer immediately grabbed her, spun her around, grabbing her by the back of her pants with one hand and by the back of her neck with the other, and began violently slamming her into the car multiple times. Ms. Crudup says that she repeatedly asked what she had done and asked why she was being beat up. The officer slammed her into the car several more times. Another Dunn police officer arrived on the scene and intervened. Ms. Crudup says that the officer was carrying a flashlight but placed it on the hood of the car and got between her and officer Wise in an effort to stop the assault that was being inflicted upon her. Crudup says Wise began to slam her against the hood of the car again, and even slammed her with the other officer’s arm and the flashlight between her and the hood of the vehicle.

Crudup says that Wise then placed her into handcuffs and escorted her to his police cruiser. She says that while going to the police car, she felt a firm object being pushed into her back. Wise placed her in the front seat of the cruiser and then got inside on top of her. Crudup says Wise was a very large man and had his knees on her lap. She turned to the side and asked one of the other officers present why he was on top of her like this because she wasn’t resisting or trying to get away. Crudup says the officer who was just observing, said nothing and just looked away from her. Crudup said that Wise began to transport her to jail, but didn’t take her to a Dunn police facility which was less than ten minutes away, but drove her to the Harnett County Sheriff Department in Lillington, North Carolina which was 45 minutes away. Crudup says that her ride was the scariest moment she has ever encountered in her life, as Wise took her down long, narrow, and whining roads. She says Wise continuously taunted her asking, “so you think your a lawyer huh?” She said that his language was so abusive toward her that she began to tuned him out, and was trying to concentrate on surviving this horrific ordeal. She admitted that she was in fear for her life because Wise appeared unpredictable and capable of doing anything to her.

Officer Wise’ comments regarding Crudup thinking that she was a lawyer perhaps may be very telling as to why he approached her, physically assaulted her, and arrested her without merit. Crudup says she believes the Lawyer comment was a reference to the legal documents that she has filed on her son’s behalf for the criminal charges he faces. On her way to the county jail Crudup asked Wise “why did you beat me up?” She said that Wise stated “because you were trying to hurt me.” Crudup then said she sarcastically asked Wise when did she do that to him because it wasn’t back at the scene where she had been arrested and beaten by him, and she said that Wise told her “I misspoke.” During the ride to the county jail Crudup also said that Wise never informed her as to why he approached her, what laws she may have broken, and never said what she was being charged with. Upon their arrival at the Harnett County jail, Crudup says that Wise ordered her out of the car, but she said she refused to get out because the jail was in a very secluded area and was afraid of what Wise might do to her. She said that Wise threatened to drag her out of the car again if she didn’t comply. She said that she requested for a female officer to come and bring her inside of the building because her pants had come loose and were down as a result of the violent way Wise had slammed her into the car, and very physical manner that he placed her into the police cruiser.

Crudup says that Wise made a radio transmission over his police radio and several Harnett County Sheriff deputies came running out of the building to the cruiser where she was. One of the female deputies came up to her and asked what was going on, and Crudup requested that she be allowed to simply pull up her pants and told the deputy that she was afraid of Wise. The female deputy got her out of the police car, pulled her pants up and fastened them for her, and remained with Ms. Crudup during her entire booking process. In fact Crudup told TPC that all of the Harnett County officials she encountered were extremely professional and treated her with courtesy and dignity. Crudup says that Wise went into the booking area and began speaking with the magistrate on duty. She was unable to hear their conversation, but once she was taken before the court official, she was finally advised that she was being charged with resisting arrest and that her bond would be $500.00 dollars. She said that Harnett County officials were kind enough to allow her to make calls to secure payment of her bond, and subsequently made bail around 4:00 p.m. that same day.

Upon the arrival of her friends Crudup learned that her car had been impounded. The male friend who was with her when the incident occurred had been ordered away from the scene, and once he was gone her vehicle was towed away even though it was lawfully parked in the lot of the Holiday Inn hotel in Dunn. When she went to the Dunn police department to inquirer where her car had been towed, she was initially told that her vehicle was at an impound lot somewhere in Dunn, but police officials checked and determined that her car had been taken to the town of Benson, North Carolina several towns away. TPC has learned that Dunn police has a rotating roster for various tow companies, and the company who towed Ms. Crudup’s car wasn’t on the list for that day. Additionally, the town of Benson North Carolina potentially poses even more problems for her. The cost to retrieve her car is $320.00 dollars, but it’s actually located in a town where blacks seldom venture. Benson is actually in Johnston County an known Klu Klux Klan strong hold. For years stories have been told about the famous billboard sign that greets motorist traveling up U.S. 401 into that county. Take a look at the billboard below:

Klu Klux Klan billboard advertisement posted on U.S. 401 entering Johnston County, North Carolina.

The billboard is a very alarming reality and speaks volumes about some parts of North Carolina’s social climate in 2014. Ms. Crudup says that she can’t ever recall anyone who has had their vehicle impounded in the town of Dunn being taken to a tow yard several towns away like her car had been. The entire incident has caused Ms. Crudup to flee her home and she is now at an unknown location. She tells TPC that she is never going back because she is afraid of what police may do to her. She has only had one personal encounter with the law in her life, and that was during a demonstration in which she participated in a protest for fair housing. The protesters were ceremoniously arrested and let go a very short time later. Baring her participation in that demonstration which only amounts to her exercising her right to free speech, Ms. Crudup has no prior criminal past.

The entire ordeal that landed this mother in a county jail after being physically assaulted and beaten by a Dunn police officer is extremely disturbing. It appears that officer Wise may have followed Ms. Crudup from her home to the location where the incident occurred. It was during the early morning hours, not very well lighted on the streets, and the manner in which Wise approached her while she was completely off guard illustrates that this may have been planned. The fact that Wise beat this woman for no reason  also demonstrates that he is a cowardice scumbag cop who is a disgrace to uniformed law enforcement officials everywhere. An unprovoked attack on this woman coupled with her having been charged with resisting arrest without a premise for her even being arrested in the first place tends to point to some sort of intimidation tactic by this police officer.

It’s also unclear why a municipal police officer would transport a prisoner charged with a crime in his jurisdiction three towns away for booking and processing at a county jail. In many rural areas the police agencies aren’t big enough for the town to have a jail and prisoners are transported to a county lockup in those instances, but the town of Dunn has it’s own jail. Officer Wise having gone into the booking area to speak to the magistrate himself personally, further creates suspicion that what happened to Ms. Crudup was not only planned, but perhaps sanctioned by some higher authority. Apparently, Wise was also behind the impound of Ms. Crudup’s vehicle. Her car was legally parked at the Holiday Inn and having it towed seems to only serve the purpose of further harassing her. Then again, sending her car to such a historically racially charged location several towns away may in fact be a message from the Klu Klux Klan. Why on earth would a police agency permit a tow company from another county take business away from tow companies in it’s own county? No one is fooled by these antics. No one is afraid, and the day of reckoning for these backwards racist North Carolinians is coming.

To Be Continued

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

Most of us still remember our youthful days when we were in high school preparing for graduation, trying to decide what we wanted to do with our lives, and enjoying the newly found freedoms of adulthood. Well, when young Shannon Nyamodi graduated in May of 2012 he had made up his mind that he wanted to serve  our country, while helping to defend democracy, and was scheduled to join the U.S. Marine Corp. The teen had scored high enough to actually enlist in the Air Force, but settled on joining his friends who already were headed toward a “jarhead” life. His mother says that Shannon wanted to be among friends in boot camp and that was the determining factor for which branch of the military he would join.

The process is slow upon passing testing, physical examination, and waiting on orders prior to being ship to a military installation to begin basic training. So, young Shannon got a job as an electrical assistant until the time came around for him to start a career in the U.S. Armed Forces. The ambitious teen was also a talented musician who had showed prowess as a bassist earlier on during his childhood. Shannon worked and played in a local band when he wasn’t working. Much of his spare time was spent between a girlfriend he’d been seeing for a number of years, and hanging out with one of his best friends (Mike young). Shannon was a regular at the Young’s home in the small quiet town of Youngsville, North Carolina. According to sources, Shannon was seen as a member of the family. An elder female in the Young home needed assistance quite frequently due to health related issues, and when a member of the family was unavailable Shannon often volunteered to look after her when he had free time.

Elizabeth Crudup (Shannon’s mother) says her son had a good heart, loved animals, and was a very trusting person. Apparently, the Young family held Shannon in the same light, as Shannon often stayed at their home over night. Shannon would sleep in a truck in the front yard when he didn’t travel back to his mom’s home all the way in Harnett County. Many people confused Shannon out in the truck with being homeless. but Shannon comes from a close knit family who raised him with strong moral ideologies. Crudup also said that her son was a trouble free kid, and she couldn’t remember him ever talking back to her, engaged in negative discourse or arguing with anyone. Needless to say, the night she received a phone call and informed that Shannon had been locked up, she was shocked, frightened, and completely unaware of the nightmare that her family would endure.

Crudup went on to say, that although Shannon never gave her any problems while she raised him, her son, and children in general are not perfect. She responded to the jail anticipating to hear the worst about her son. When she arrived she immediately asked what he was charged with and was told by a police official, “Well, we know he did something. Let him tell you what he did.” When Crudup made eye contact with her son he shouted “Mom you know I didn’t do what they say I did.” That’s when she learned that he was accused of shooting a woman in the face at point blank range. Like most mothers, Crudup says she has a knack for determining when her kids are being truthful or not, and she said her son’s demeanor didn’t reveal any deception on his part to her. She believed that it was all a misunderstanding and felt the matter would be resolved. As time went on she became suspicious of the charges filed against Shannon. She began to speak with people within the Youngsville community who were there the night of the shooting.

Information she obtained from witnesses confused her and she became concerned why police even charged her son with the crime. Several people revealed that a white male was seen fleeing the scene shortly after the shooting took place, and they told the police this that night. Crudup says that when she travels in the community, people ask her if she is Shannon’s mom. They almost always follow that question up with, “You know he didn’t do it right?” Others have informed her of who the real alleged perpetrators were that shot Rhonda MacClean in the face that night. Crudup says that people in the community have told her that Donald Chalk and his brother Steven Chalk were actually the cowards who shot her. Crudup has also continuously been advised that the two brothers have been terrorizing the community, committing violent crimes such as robbery, other shootings, and drug soliciting. When she inquired as to why no one has notified police regarding the pair, she was informed that everyone was afraid to do so because they were related to Franklin County Sheriff Jerry Jones.

Armed with this disturbing information, she began launching a campaign to free her son from the criminal charges that he faced. She created a website to garner support for Shannon’s cause (Free Shannon Nyamodi) Crudup was able to obtain support from various blogs and other media sources to help her with Shannon’s fight to regain his freedom. Once TPC obtained the criminal case file it was clear that something was drastically wrong with the entire case against this young man. One police officer appears to have honed right in on Shannon from the very start. When Youngsville police Lt. Little arrived on the scene he was told by shannon that he had seen a man running away from 109 Shearin Court (actual crime scene) with a gun. Lt. Little asked Shannon where he was and was told by Shannon that he was asleep in the truck. Little probably became suspicious of the teen without even knowing the relationship Shannon had with the Young family whose truck he often slept in while hanging out with his friend.

Little didn’t even believe Shannon was staying in the truck. He verified Shannon’s account by asking the grandmother of the Young’s home who he was and if he lived there. Shannon Nyamodi was already guilty in the eyes of a white police officer, who obviously was concerned that a black man was in a relatively white neighborhood, and at the scene of a serious violent crime. Take a look at an excerpt from Lt. little’s police report from that night below:

Notice Lt. Little hones right in on establishig who Shannon Nyamodi was.

No where in Lt. little’s report does he mention that he attempted to verify who anyone else was, or if they lived there (in other words everyone else belonged there because they were white). The victim repeatedly advised police that her daughter was involved. She told police that she heard her fifteen ear old daughter say “she’s dead, the money is upstairs, come on hurry up.” Shannon Nyamodi was still at the scene, in fact when the cops arrived it was Shannon who led them to the victim’s location. When police filed their reports that night, they all collectively determined that the suspected shooter was no longer at the scene, and the reports don’t indicate that the victim (Rhonda MacClean) ever told cops that Shannon was the person who shot her.

Strangely though, just ten hours later Shannon would be charged with the crime. Police described the shooting as a “murder for hire” scheme between Shannon and the victim’s teen daughter. They had no DNA, no finger prints, and allegedly only had a bloody shirt. We know that none of these traceable elements of forensic evidence were available to them by the time Shannon was arrested at 3:10 p.m. that same day because the DNA swabs were taken from him on August 17, 2012 a day after the crime. Shannon didn’t have a criminal past, so that meant they only got his finger print profile after he was arrested, and according to witnesses, the bloody shirt was retrieved from the truck where he slept in the Young’s family yard several weeks after the crime by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations (SBI). It’s just simply very doubtful that authorities had sufficient probable cause to arrest Shannon for the crime in a such short period of time.

Moreover, the entire he said she said, song and dance story that cops eventually would use to create the theory that Shannon had conspired with the victim’s daughter, was first made known to them at 4:30 p.m. on August 17, 2012, and over 24 hours after Shannon had already been arrested and charged with the crime. Ironically, Lt/ Little (the same cop who honed in on Shannon from the very start) is provided with a statement from a anonymous source who says he knows someone who knew about the plot to kill Rhonda MacClean, between her daughter and Shannon Nyamodi. Although Lt. Little’s entire police report is composed on a form meant to add more information to a previously written report (Supplementary Investigation report), he submits it on August 19, 2012. three days after the crime, and while Shannon was arrested. Now, it’s not advisable for police officials to submit reports in a delayed fashion (days after the crime) which typically cause personnel to forget details, but it just drives home the point that authorities didn’t have this information pertaining to the allege plot until after Shannon was locked up. Take a look at an excerpt from Lt. Little’s official report where he establishes that a confidential informant (CI) advises him of the plot  below:

A portion of Lt. Little’s report describing the plot theory by a persons name which is redacted from the report.

The interesting thing is that when cops finally caught up with the witness who supposedly knew about the plot to kill Rhonda MacClean, he lied to police about Shannon supposedly attempting to solicit the use of his shotgun to carry out the crime. In the middle of his story, somehow he was able to convince Special agent J.E. Heinrich of the State Bureau of Investigations that he had a Facebook text exchange regarding the shotgun on his phone. Donald Chalk who authorities identify as the allege witness, even showed SA Heinrich the text exchange on his cellphone, according to police records. So, following the witness’ lead regarding the plot theory, cops obtained search warrants for the Facebook accounts of the victim’s daughter and Shannon Nyamodi. The warrants were obtained and executed on August 27, 2012 by SA Heinrich, as you can see from his findings below, no records were found nor seized. However, take notice to how long it took the document to reach the county clerk’s office to be placed in the case file:

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations Special Agent J.E. Heinrich concluded After searching the Facebook accounts of Shannon Nyamodi and the victim’s daughter, who were allegedly plotting to kill her, the police official determined that ‘no records were located.

Heinrich’s Facebook search warrant findings establishes that D.J. Chalk had lied to police regarding his text exchange between Shannon Nyamodi. More importantly, what exactly did Heinrich see on D.J.’s cellphone? I have it right here. Heinrich claims in the Facebook search warrant application that D.J. Chalk accessed the text between him and Shannon, showed it to him, and that he only took note of it. His findings are so contradictory as to what he alleges to have seen, that it raises suspicion if Heinrich even wrote the search warrant application. I highly doubt it and I’ll explain why shortly. Take a look at an excerpt from the Facebook search warrant application describing Heinrich as having allegedly seen the text message exchange:

This portion of the Facebook search warrant proves that authorities even told the judge that Heinrich had seen the text exchange, and probably was a deciding factor for the issuance of the warrant.

Heinrich’s Facebook search warrant findings doesn’t  just say that no records were found between D.J. and Shannon Nyamodi, but clearly indicates that there were no records found between Shannon and his allege co defendant either. Also, where are the text messages from the cellphones allegedly made between the pair? Shannon didn’t own a phone and with D.J. story crumbling, it’s hard to image authorities even pursuing charges against Shannon Nyamodi. It’s a bizarre tail (a lie) which was fabricated by individuals whom have been accused by various people within the community as having actually been the perpetrators who shot Rhonda MacClean, and who are also rumored to be related to the Franklin County Sheriff, Jerry Jones. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t even doubt it that Jones wrote the Facebook search warrant fabricating the eyewitness account offered by Donald D.J.Chalk.

The Facebook search warrant application is even written in third person, referring to Heinrich as a third party to the document. Most authors of such documents use possessive terms to describe themselves. Just because the application states that Heinrich is reporting that he actually saw the text exchange doesn’t mean he was the affiant to the document and did in fact actually saw it. Scroll back up in this article and take a look at Heinrich’s Facebook search warrant findings document again. Notice the area used for “items seized?” Heinrich specifically drew large lines all through that area on both pages, after writing “none.” Heinrich’s deliberately obscuring that area speaks volumes for several reasons. Firstly, it establishes his level of experience, as most seasoned officer know about or have experienced previous situations where their reports were altered after they had submitted it. Secondly, it seems that Heinrich knew how significant his findings were related to the allegations that Shannon Nyamodi had communicated on social media with his allege co defendant , and Donald “D.J.” Chalk, and made certain that the record would truly reflect his findings (smart cop) and prohibit his report from being altered after he submitted it.

Furthermore, it’s very suspicious that Heinrich’s Facebook search warrant findings document was submitted to the county clerk’s office nearly three months after he had actually executed the warrant. A source familiar with the case attempted to convince me that the officer’s delayed submission of the document is simply a casualty of police bureaucracy, due to the high volume of cases they handle on a daily basis. Now had Heinrich just simply been the person who executed the search warrant, such a perspective might be plausible. However, he was very familiar with the case. He conducted the interview with the witness who provided the “plot” theory, allegedly swore out the warrant for the Facebook accounts, and actually executed the search himself. I’m not buying the bureaucrat rationalization for the document’s delay being filed at the county clerk’s office.

In fact, county clerk officials have recently established that the Facebook search warrant document wasn’t even in the case file when it was transferred from District Court to Superior Court, and a clerk official who logged the file into the record remembers someone walking the document in after the clerk’s office had already previously received the case file (no District Court time stamp indicating that it had been filed with the District Court is present on the document). The three month disparity from the time that the findings of the Facebook search warrant were recorded, and the date that it was actually sworn before a clerk official drew special attention from clerk officials. The fact that the clerk’s office confirms that the document more than likely was never filed with the District Courts, raises serious concern and fairness issues for Shannon Nyamodi related to the manner in which Shannon Nyamodi was indicted and subsequently prosecuted for this crime.

This would also mean that the Grand jury or Judicial official who authorized the indictment was never presented with this document which in part, appears to be very exculpatory for this young defendant when considering the theory police developed regarding his allege “plot” to commit this crime. Heinrich’s findings in his report dismisses the entire conspiracy or plot theory, and it’s troubling that the document was suppressed by authorities in this case. It’s highly unfair, prejudicial, and would almost certainly elicit grounds for an appeal if Shannon Nyamodi were ever convicted of these crimes. Take a look at Shannon Nyamodi’s indictment record noting the area to the right highlight with yellow. He was actually indicted on October 04, 2012, an entire week after Heinrich had established that there was no compelling evidence that Shannon Nyamodi had communicated with his allege co defendant or D.J. Chalk:

Shannon Nyamodi was indicted on October 04, 2012 a week after SA Heinrich had discovered that witness statements alleging that he communicated about the plot to commit the crime via text and Facebook were untrue. Heinrich made the discovery on August 27, 2012, plenty enough time for the document to have been presented to the court.

Now, it should be clear to everyone following this case how malicious and unfair the prosecution of Shannon Nyamodi actually is. How could any police official understanding the gravity and importance of such a document, wait so long before submitting it to the courts. Without supporting evidence detailing the conspiracy or plot, how was his arrest and indictment ever justified? Clearly there has been peculiar circumstances which appear to be deliberate to falsely convict this young defendant, but when we consider Shannon Nyamodi was willing to die for his country by serving in the military we can’t overlook just exactly how unjust this entire story really is. “It’s not the deeds of bad people, but the silence of good people” that makes this case an American tragedy. Our hearts go out to a little brown boy name Shannon Nyamodi. May God be with you now and forever! stay strong young Lion!

To Be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

The night that Rhonda McClean was shot in the face at point blank range and robbed of nearly $65,000.00 dollars has always been a very troubling story. The victim only told cops that her daughter was involved in the crime, and police reports from officers who were primary to the scene that night all indicate at the very minimum, that she didn’t know who attacked her. So, when young Shannon Nyamodi was locked up hours later and charged with the heinous crime on August 16, 2012, suspicion began to surface related to how police were able to connect the dots, concluding that the youth was the actual perpetrator during such an early stage of the investigation. More importantly. forensics (i.e. trace evidence such as DNA, finger prints, ballistics, etc.) nor eyewitness accounts from individuals from the scene that night could have linked Shannon to the crime, because official reports establish that two police agencies had determined that “the suspected shooter was no longer at the scene,” and with the youth not having a criminal past of any kind underscores the lack of probable cause police had to arrest the youth for this crime.

To highlight my argument, the police’ theory that young Shannon and the victim’s daughter had conspired to kill the woman in this robbery tale, was never thoroughly investigated, and must come under serious scrutiny. Shannon Nyamodi was arrested on August 16, 2012 at 3:10 p.m. approximately ten hours after cops had obtained a search warrant to process 109 Shearin Court, which was the actual location of the crime scene. Police weren’t made away of the allege plot and conspiracy until August 17, 2012 at approximately 4:30 p.m., when Youngsville police officer Lt. Little filed his report outlining information provided to him by an allege Confidential Informant (CI) implicating the youth in the crime (a little over 24 hours after Shannon Nyamodi had been arrested and charged with the crime). The allege CI’s hearsay statement to Youngsville police has always been the premise for suspecting Shannon Nyamodi being involved in this crime. The CI also alleges that another man had text from Facebook detailing Shannon and the victim’s daughter plotting to commit the crime. View an excerpt from Lt. Little’s report below:

Please take note that although Lt. Little’s report indicates that he became aware of this information alleging Shannon Nyamodi’s involvement in the crime, the date in which he filed his report (lower right) was actually three days after the crime on August 19, 2012.

Lt. Little’s Entire Report

Despite the peculiarity of the police’ conspiracy theory having been obtained after Shannon was arrested, Lt. Little’s official report detailing the youth’s involvement was submitted on August 19, 2012, and no explanation as to why the report was delayed. TPC has long suspected that Little’s report was problematic because it’s written on a Supplementary Investigation form. The very term “Supplementary” infers that the report was an addition to some previously written report, and the case file is void of any documentation suggesting that the ranking police official had submitted any other report related to the case (view the heading of Lt. Little’s report from the link above).

On August 21, 2012 four days after Youngsville police acquired information pertaining to Shannon Nyamodi’s alleged involvement in the crime, State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) Special Agent J.E. Heinrich, and FCSO deputy Ralph Almkuist conducted an interview with an allege associate of Shannon Nyamodi, Donald James Chalk (D.J. Chalk). Chalk allegedly told the officials that Shannon had contacted him via text on Facebook two days prior to the shooting (August 14, 2012), inquiring whether he (D.J.) still had a shotgun, and d.J. indicated that he did. Shannon was allegedly supposed to have requested to borrow the weapon because “we need it”, according to a search warrant application for seizure of Shannon’s and his allege co defendant’s (victim’s daughter) Facebook accounts. According to the same search warrant application affidavit, D.J. even showed an allege text exchange between him and Shannon Nyamodi to investigators. View an excerpt from the Facebook search warrant application investigators submitted for seizure and discovery of alleged text items evidentiary to the crime below:

Note the highlighted area describing investigator’s claim of having viewed a “snapshot” of the allege text exchange regarding the shotgun between D.J. and Shannon Nyamodi.

The Facebook search warrant document appears to be a measure that investigators took in an effort to build a case linking Shannon Nyamodi to the victim’s daughter, which would substantiate the conspiracy theory cops alleged. However, the document has strangely appeared in the case file at the county clerk’s office, and the file itself still doesn’t include separate reports by Special Agent Heinrich or FCSO deputy Ralph Almkuist detailing their investigative findings (standard procedure) to create probable cause for the Facebook search warrant in the first place. Also, investigators appear to have bought into D.J.’s story without conducting a thorough investigation into his allegations. The Facebook search warrant reveals some troubling aspects of the investigation establishing the allege conspiracy between Shannon and his co defendant:

1. The Facebook search warrant application indicates that Heinrich and Almkuist only viewed a snapshot of the allege text exchange, and states that Heinrich only noted the information without attempting to get the evidence in a more tangible fashion (i.e. obtaining a copy of the image, getting an actual screen shot of the image from D.J.’s Facebook account).

2. Investigators failed to substantiate if D.J. was even an associate of Shannon’s or another potential conspirator involved in the case. The volume of eye witness statements given to police the night of the crime, and specifically accounts of a white male having fled the scene should have made cops more hard pressed to verify D.J.’s story (no reports exist indicating such extensive investigation was ever conducted).

3. No police reports from investigators indicating that D.J.’s Facebook page was ever actually viewed to substantiate his story, and images of D.J. posing with a volume of cash the next day after the crime, and several people having stated that D.J. is actually the person who shot Rhonda McClean in the face that night creates suspicion surrounding why the police failed to delve deeper into D.J.’s conspiracy theory. View what cops indicated in the Facebook search warrant application that was supposed to have been a text exchange between D.J. and Shannon Nyamodi below:

Now view an image of Donald James “DJ” Chalk which he posted on his Facebook wall the very next day. If investigators had been more proactive investigating D.J.’s conspiracy theory, a connection could possibly have been made surrounding the volume of cash he is pictured with, and rumors circulating that he may in fact have been the actual perpetrator of this crime:

Notice the image of a screen capture from D.J.’s Facebook page (circled in yellow to the right) was posted on August 17, 2012, a day after the crime occurred.

It’s ironic that the guy various people within the community are blaming this heinous crime on, is posting pictures of himself with a volume of cash on Facebook, and while he just happens to be the source from which the conspiracy theory between Shannon Nyamodi and the victim’s daughter originated from. It’s also very strange that all of these investigative findings are taking place after Shannon had already been taken into custody. Usually, it works the other way around. The cops conduct investigations into crimes to build sufficient evidence and probable cause to arrest, and charge criminals suspected of committing a crime. Some how it seems that police had extra sensory perception, knowing that all of these allegations against Shannon Nyamodi would be surfacing, and took the kid into custody and charged him before hand. Witnesses also revealed that at the time of the shooting, D,J, Chalk was unemployed, living at home in his parent’s trailer, and had been boasting about having committed the crime.

Even local TV channel 5 (WRAL) reported that the alleged text and Facebook exchanges existed between Shannon Nyamodi and the victim’s teen daughter, plotting to kill her mother for money, according to police reports the media outlet had obtained in the case, and bolstering the conspiracy theory the Franklin County Sheriff’s office had claimed. View an actual channel 5 clip below:

WRAL Coverage of the Crime

The text messages and Facebook exchanges between the two suspects wouldn’t have been the only evidence available for investigators to make a determination as to who committed the crime. Shannon Nyamodi’s attorney Maitry “Mike” Klinkosum filed discovery motions to obtain all evidence against his client. This would have included DNA, fingerprints, clothing items, ballistic testing, and even the alleged weapon used in the crime. None of these requested documents have ever been in the case file at the county clerk’s office, and still are missing. Strangely, in recent days some items have some how found their way back in the file, but critical documents necessary to substantiate charges against Shannon Nyamodi aren’t present. The DNA testing conducted for comparison purposes which could place Shannon at the actual crime scene is missing. Also, the mysterious finger print that investigators lifted off of the sliding glass door, that one account of the victim alleges her assailant came from, also doesn’t have documentation in the file establishing if it matched Shannon’s print profile.

It’s simply unimaginable that such crucial evidence mysteriously isn’t present in either of the two files for the case at the clerk’s office. These missing documents are problematic and directly challenges why prosecutors have been hiding the case within it’s docket system (by taking it off of the docket entirely). However, the file does strangely have a continuance motion submitted by Klinkosum requesting continuance in the case. Klinkosum alleges in the document that Shannon Nyamodi “is in agreement with this Motion to Continue and does not, in anyway, make any request for speedy trial at this time.” See an excerpt from the motion below:

At the same time Klinkosum is alleging that Shannon Nyamodi doesn’t want a speedy trial, the file includes a handwritten request for a speedy trial just a little over a week prior to Klinkosum having allegedly filed for a continuance in the case. More interestingly though, Shannon’s case appeared on the January 21, 2014 docket any way and if the prosecutors were aware that Klinkosum wanted to continue the case, why on earth would prosecutors schedule the case for January 21, 2014. Take a look at Shannon Nyamodi’s handwritten request for a speedy trial with the reception from Klinkosum’s office handwriting indicating the date and time that she received it in the law firm’s office below:

Shannon Nyamodi’s handwritten request for a speedy trial.

The request for a speedy trial was done at the direction of Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood, who actually drove Shannon’s mother to the Franklin County Jail that day to make sure she got to see her son (jail officials had been denying her access to Shannon). Shannon also signed his Habeas Corpus the same day. These facts establish that he wanted his case resolved in a speedy fashion. Why on earth would he suddenly change his mind only eight days later, on January 14, 2014 the day Klinkosum allegedly filed for a contiuance, and claiming that Shannon didn’t want a speedy trial? The Nyamodi family had long suspected that Klinkosum was working against Shannon, because he has repeatedly been requesting for Shannon to take a plea deal. The Continuance motion that Klinkosum submitted also alleges that the defense and prosecution were working on a non-trial resolution of the case. That statement alone confirms Klinkosum is working against young Shannon Nyamodi because he has never considered taking a deal, continuously maintained his innocence, and exposes Klinkosum’s out right lie presented before the court in this case.

Assistant District Attorney Annette Sellers and attorney Klinkosum’ idea of a non-trial resolution is utilizing pressuring tactics (i.e. housing Shannon in segregation, harassing him in jail, denying him access to his family, etc.) in an effort to wear him down, and get him to agree to a plea deal in the case. The prosecutor has even been to the jail to solicit a plea arrangement from Shannon without his attorney present, or authorization from Shannon Nyamodi himself. Kilnkosum also threatened Shannon and members of his family by stating “if you talk to anyone about this case, your mother, or try to hire another attorney I will help the prosecution convict you, and make sure you get 30 years in prison.” A prosecutor’s office desperate for a plea from a criminal (rarely seen), a threatening defense lawyer, and the bizarre circumstance of Shannon Nyamodi’s case having bee taken off of the docket, and continued for so long underscores serious problems with the case against this young defendant.

The Bombshell

All of these peculiar circumstances in this case seem like a script straight out of a made for T.V. movie, but one document recently discovered in the case file that wasn’t present before, shreds tremendous light on this entire matter, and establishes why Shannon Nyamodi should never have been charged for this crime from the very start. All of the “mumbo jumbo” included in the Facebook search warrant application where D.J. Chalk provides cops with the conspiracy theory, which he successfully convinced Special Agent J.E. Heinrich and FCSO deputy Ralph Almkuist that Shannon Nyamodi requested to borrow a shotgun from him to commit the crime was a “freaking” lie. The document goes as for to describe these investigators as having actually viewed the text exchange between D.J. and Shannon. They apparently bought his story and applied for a search warrant to seize the Facebook Accounts of Shannon Nyamodi and the victim’s daughter, to establish communication between the pair who allegedly conspired to commit the crime.

In the Facebook warrant State Bureau of Investigations Special Agent J.E. Heinrich goes to great length detailing the alleged conspiracy theory, that Shannon Nyamodi had conspired with the victim’s daughter to commit what has been described as a “murder for hire scheme.” Alleging that the youth utilized text messages and Facebook to plot out the crime, Heinrich also attempts to establish that Shannon Nyamodi also communicated with D.J. Chalk (witness) soliciting to borrow a shotgun from him to met out the crime. Heinrich sold the story to Superior Court Judge Donald W. Stephens who authorized the Facebook warrant, without Heinrich conducting extensive investigation into what he claims to have seen on D.J.’s cell phone. Judge Stephens also apparently didn’t verify that substantial probable cause existed for the warrant either. They both were proven to be sorely mistaken, and the information investigators received from D.J. Chalk imploded in their faces.

On August 27, 2012 (only 11 days after the crime) SBI Special Agent J.E. Heinrich applied for a search warrant for the Facebook accounts of Shannon Nyamodi (“Negrito Rockmykrates Fuego”) and his alleged co defendant (victim’s daughter identified as username “Sammi Marie MacClean”) to confirm witness statements alleging communication between the pair while plotting the crime. SBI SA Heinrich concluded his search of the accounts the same day, according to the search warrant affidavit filed with the clerk’s office, and no record was discovered substantiating that Shannon Nyamodi communicate with the victim’s daughter, or D.J. Chalk for that matter as Chalk had told investigators. View the Inventory of Items Seized as Pursuant to Search Order authorized by judge Donald W. Stephens that was submitted to the county clerk’s office by Special Agent J.E. Heinrich below:

Take note of the areas circled in yellow indicating that no records were found (establishing that Shannon Nyamodi hadn’t communicated with D.J. nor the co defendant at all on Facebook) and that Heinrich actually swore to the document before a court official on November 11, 2012, nearly three months after the search was conducting, and findings were revealed to him.

Moreover, the case file doesn’t contain a search warrant for cellphone records revealing evidence that Shannon and his minor co defendant had exchanged text messages as reports of witness accounts had alleged. In fact, there will never be any such evidence presented by investigators or the prosecutor’s office, because Shannon Nyamodi didn’t own a cell at the time the crime was committed, and wasn’t friends with the girl. This document hadn’t previously been in the case file, but it’s sudden emergence establishes the most exculpatory evidence for Shannon Nyamodi so far in this case. It’s also suspected that the highly discussed finger print  from the glass door at the crime scene documentation and findings aren’t in the file because it’s not Shannon Nyamodi’s print, and the DNA comparisons of Shannon for alleged bloody clothing items at the crime scene, paperwork findings aren’t in the file either, and likely for the same reason. The test results more than likely exclude Shannon as the contributor. Why else are these documents missing? Why else would a prosecutor take a criminal case completely off the docket if they had real culpable evidence against this young man?

Upon Special Agent Heinrich’ discovery that no records existed within the searched Facebook accounts linking Shannon Nyamodi to any communication with his allege co defendant or witness D.J.’s “shotgun story”, the entire course of the investigation should have shifted. The case from the very start has always been predicated on a theory that Shannon had been hired by the victim’s daughter to kill her mother, for a $3,000.00 payment in return. Without cellphone records establishing the allege text message communications between the two, the entire conspiracy theory is destroyed because the Facebook warrant completely dismisses any notion that Shannon Nyamodi communicated with the co defendant or D.J. Chalk whatsoever.  Special Agent Heinrich’ delay in submitting his findings to the court (11/20/12 and nearly 3 months later) is not only very concerning, but could be interpreted as suppression of evidence considering the magnitude of what his discovery reveals. The Facebook search warrant findings coupled with all of the other crucial documents, related to DNA testing, fingerprints, and ballistic findings being missing from the case file, all establish serious doubt that the Franklin County sheriff’s Office had probable cause to charge Shannon Nyamodi. The prosecutor’s office was also fully aware of the Facebook warrant findings, and the other missing paperwork.

Now that sufficient evidence exist completely dispelling fabricated stories related to Shannon Nyamodi conspiring with the victim’s daughter to kill her mother, and another man (D.J. Chalk) attempting to acquire a shotgun to use in the crime, a microscope must be placed over the Franklin County Sheriff’s office entire investigation to determine how Shannon was charged. We have already revealed that some unknown person wrote a handwritten addendum on the search warrant application used to obtain Shannon’s DNA, alleging that he had confessed to the crime while admitting to his co defendant’s involvement in the crime plot. The Facebook warrant findings sheds tremendous doubt that Shannon Nyamodi ever confessed to the crime, and the person who wrote the suspicious confession addendum on the affidavit falsified an official court document. No evidence exist anywhere establishing that Shannon Nyamodi even knew this girl or D.J. Chalk. Where did the investigation go once SA Heinrich discovered no Facebook connections between to the alleged suspects?

Instead of doing the right thing by conducting a more thorough investigation into this crime or either simply releasing Shannon Nyamodi, those in control of this entire matter chose to subvert, suppress, and maliciously prosecute this young man without sufficient evidence to support their charges. Let’s face it, the Facebook search warrant application derived from a lie provided to investigators by a witness (D.J. Chalk). When Heinrich made his discoveries related to that warrant, further investigation should have transpired, and primarily determining why D.J. had lied to police. Interestingly though, how did Heinrich see the allege text exchange between D.J. and Shannon on a cellphone as the Facebook warrant application he submitted described. Either D.J. or Heinrich are telling a lie. Who is telling the truth? What’s known for certain is that a lie (regardless of who created it) was utilized to obtain a search warrant, and the warrant’s findings didn’t support investigators’ premise for the obtaining it.

Serious questions arise now, like why didn’t investigators obtain a warrant for D.J.’s Facebook account after determining that he lied to police? Why wasn’t a warrant obtained for the allege shotgun that D.J. said Shannon Nyamodi wanted to borrow for the crime? Hell, that actually could have been the weapon used in the shooting. Why wasn’t a search warrant obtained for D.J.’s cellphone records? If he had an allege text message exchange with Shannon Nyamodi, wouldn’t investigator’s want to know what they actual saw on his cellphone, or what other evidence might be on their? All of these question have strong merit considering D.J. admits to having a discussion with Shannon regarding a weapon to use in a serious violent crime. Investigators had probable cause to pursue these investigations solely on the lie D.J. told them about having exchanged text messages with Shannon. In most jurisdictions in america it’s against the law to lie to police investigators, but for some reason no “bones” were apparently ever made with D.J. by the cops regarding the false information he provided to them. Now it makes since why Special Agent J.E. Heinrich perhaps was delayed in submitting his findings to the court. I personally would feel like an idiot if I presented such a warrant application before a judge, only for the evidence to come back dismissing my entire theory pertaining to my sworn statement before the court. Heinrich probably submitted the findings at a period of time when no one would be asking questions. It was nearly three months after the actual crime, all of the local buzz regarding the case had died down, and by the time it was submitted everyone probably had forgotten about the lie D.J. told the cops.

The Facebook warrant findings document some how showed up in the case file at the clerk’s office, and who ever put it there probably intended for it to get the exposure that will most certainly derive from such a discovery. Investigators knew a little over a week after this crime that a conspiracy between Shannon Nyamodi and the victim’s daughter more than likely never occurred, and the document was suppressed by all involved, solely for the purpose of prosecuting an innocent man. To do this to anyone is a very serious miscarriage of justice, but to snatch the life, liberty, and pursuant of happiness away from a young man willing to die for his country, is simply one of the most saddest commentaries I’ve ever composed. Free  Shannon Nyamodi! An army is forming!!

To Be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

The tears have all dried up now, with no more lights from news cameras, and the story of young Phylicia Simone Barnes seems to have been so long ago. The memory of a pretty book smart kid from the rural south lives on through those who knew and loved her, but the story line which tells of her tragic ending is a constant reminder why we must never forget how she came to such a horrific demise. For many, tomorrow’s start of the second trial of Michael Johnson for allegedly killing the Barnes teen, seems insignificant because so many others who the public believes were involved in her death have already walked free. The state’ mishandling of the first trial which resulted in Johnson having been convicted, leaves much skepticism as to whether anyone will ever be brought to justice for killing young Phylicia.

So much appears to have been over looked during the investigation into her killing, and nothing could ever fill the void which now lingers in the hearts and minds of her family and friends, who mourn the lost of such a promising kid now gone forever. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of this case is the trust that her family instilled in state prosecutors, who failed miserably to bring her killer(s) to justice, and little faith is held that they’ll finally get it right the second time around. The loss of the state’ star witness hinders their theory that Michael Johnson alone murdered the child, and makes a case with only circumstantial evidence an even more difficult upheaval to convict Johnson for this crime. The lead investigator of the Barnes murder was removed from the case, subsequently charged with misconduct in an unrelated case involving his own daughter, and the state’ failure to disclose documents which could have been viewed as exculpatory evidence for Johnson have all created serious suspicion regarding the prosecutor’s case against Michael Johnson.

Some believe that the state weighed too heavily upon the testimony of a known petty criminal, and instilled hope that a sex tape which captured Johnson, the Barnes teen, and others completely nude would convince a jury into coming back with a conviction. Those tactics seemingly prevailed until prosecutors failed to disclose that James McCrae (star witness) had lied on the stand about his involvement as a witness for a criminal case in Montgomery County. That revelation almost certainly would have caused Johnson’s conviction to be overturned, and if the state had turned such discovery over in a timely fashion, there would be no lingering thoughts of prosecutors attempting to “railroad” an innocent man. Now potential jurors for the second trial may serve with some form of prejudice, thinking that Johnson is being falsely charged with her killing. It’s an unfortunate reality, but prosecutors should have known better, and especially considering the history of Baltimore juries having suspicion, and anti police sentiments returning questionable verdicts even in cases where the evidence clearly points to guilt of the defendant.

Followers of this case must be mindful that police never produced any forensics which actually linked Johnson to the crime, and although many believe that he was at the very least involved in the disposal of the teen’s body, the cops never followed other leads which potentially implicate others in this crime, and as a result Michael Johnson could actually walk from these charges. As outrageous as my perspective may seem, the story of young Phylicia Barnes’ murder trial is a typical saga played out in Maryland courts when prosecutors attempt to gain a tactical advantage in criminal cases while prosecuting defendants of color. In Baltimore city alone, the issue of failing to turn over discovery evidence continues to plague the criminal justice process, and this unexpected element of the Phylicia Barnes murder case makes her story even more tragic. However, Johnson’s previous attorney has already announced that he will no longer be representing Johnson in his pending trial, because Michael Johnson can no longer afford legal expenses for his defense. Johnson who remains detained at the Baltimore City Detention Center awaiting his retrial will be represented by a public defender.

Also, despite Johnson being the only person on the hook for the Barnes teen murder, others suspected by an outraged public, will play a crucial role in how this case finally plays out. Deena Barnes who is the half sibling of Phylicia was an important element of the state’ case during the first trial. The older Barnes female testified in court that Johnson had attempted to fondle her young sibling in front of her. That testimony coincided with the state’ theory that Johnson had sexual desires for the teen. It’s not certain that Barnes will even testify in this trial considering that she no longer lives in the Baltimore area. Deena is believed to have struck a deal with prosecutors for her testimony, to avoid charges surrounding what many believe amount to child endangerment. Barnes testified in court that she allowed her minor sibling to drink alcohol and smoke pot during Phylicia’s visits to Baltimore. Deena had previously lied on podcast, to the media, and Phylicia’s mother about what was actually occurring at her apartment while the teen stayed there. Drugs, alcohol, and a volume of young men seemed to fuel a party like atmosphere which included a sex game called “joinking.”

It’s that very culture and environment she was exposed to, coupled with the older Barnes’ failure to protect young Phylica that many believe is the actual cause of the child’s demise. Now over three years later, there only appears to be a glimmer of hope that anyone will be held responsible for her killing. Phylicia Barnes was an innocent, naïve, silly, but book smart kid who fell victim to a gang of monsters who manipulated her, cornered her, and meted out sexual desires before discarding of her body in a river. To her mother Janice Mustafa, Phylicia was like a precious flower, and it’s just unfair that her daughter has been taken away from her, while the cowardice monsters who took her life remain free. May justice prevail in this senseless and tragic case. Rest now pretty flower, for you are remembered, and loved.,

To Be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

A Commentary Based On My Coverage Into The Shannon Nyamodi Human Rights Case

This article is dedicated to young Shannon Zacharia Nyamodi who is being unlawfully held captive in a Franklin County, North Carolina jail for crimes he didn’t commit. Happy 20th Birthday young lion. Stay strong, an army is forming!

— The People’s Champion

Franklin County North Carolina Sheriff Jerry Jones and Assistant District Attorney Annette Sellers both probably retire to the comforts of their homes every night, while criminal defendants they are charged with bringing to justice live in caged jail cells, without liberties enjoyed by free citizens within the American society. They are tasked with the difficulties that come with a winless, thankless job, and there can be no dispute that their obligation benefits the people in the name of public safety. They are also entrusted with such authority that must be executed with the highest degree of integrity, but when such powerful public officials betray the people’s trust through corruption, conspiracy, and criminal behavior more heinous than for which they have tried and convicted criminal defendants, they must also be dealt a severe swift hand of justice as well.

When I was initially requested to assist young Shannon Nyamodi in his quest to gain his freedom from criminal charges alleging that he shot a woman in the face at point blank range and robbed her of tens of thousands of dollars from her home, I had no idea that I would actually be embarking upon perhaps one of the greatest human rights cases, and miscarriages of justice that I have ever encountered. The official record in the case made public are both shocking, and extremely disturbing as a man’s life has essentially been snatched from under his feet while he languishes in a jail cell for a crime where a volume of evidence exist indicating that he is innocent. In fact, there is sufficient information obtained by TPC establishing that Shannon Nyamodi has actually been framed in this criminal case.

False charges, suppression of exculpatory evidence, and forgery of official court documents all establish as a matter of fact that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Assistant DA in the case, have extorted, subverted, and covered up the truth to wrongfully convict an innocent man. Rarely do I offer such a perspective on a case which hasn’t been resolved, or hasn’t reached a final disposition, but the case against Shannon Nyamodi is so weak, that I will go on record to disclose details about this criminal case that are very appalling and sickening.

The Frame Up

TPC has already disclosed actual police records and official court documents about the case in previously published articles, but there is more to this story than the police and news media has made the public aware of. The case file has increasingly grown suspicious in the sixteen months since the crime actually occurred. Police reports depicting witness accounts are missing, or never existed, and other material have some how simply vanished from the Franklin County courthouse. For instance, after police secured the scene on Shearin Court the night of the crime, they took several statements from witnesses who described a white male fleeing from the scene. Also, members of the Young family who came to the victim’s aid when she ran to their home after being shot, gave police statements that may exonerate Shannon Nyamodi from being the assailant in the crime. Shannon, the victim’s minor daughter, and other residents on Shearin Court all describe a white man running from the scene.

Police officials from the Youngsville Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriffs Office interviewed several people who were there that night. One resident’s description of what he saw was so detailed that he even showed police the direction and path the assailant actually ran. Assuming that officers from both agencies utilize the common practice of taking notes while conducting field interviews of potential witnesses in a crime, this documentation which supports their actual reports should exist some where, and unfortunately nothing in the case file indicates who the cops talk to during their investigation. In fact, no reports from sheriff deputy Barrett or any other officer from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office are found in either of the two files created for the Shannon Nyamodi case at the county clerk’s office. More troubling, this strange element of the case raises concern as to how the prosecutor’s office was able to obtain a warrant for Shannon Nyamodi or anyone else for that matter, in this crime without such crucial evidence.

Typically, when police agencies conclude their investigations of a crime, identify a suspect, and seek warrants to bring the individual into custody to face charges they usually provide supporting documentation outlining the evidence compile against the accused (statement of charges). It’s very hard to imagine that any sitting judge would actually issue a warrant for a person’s arrest without compelling or culpable evidence to justify charges against a suspect (that’s just unheard of). Where are these documents? Elizabeth Crudup (Shannon’s mother) has been through both files thoroughly at the county clerk’s office and none of the kind of documentation supporting criminal charges against her son, as I have described are present. Perhaps the strongest indication that something was completely funky in the Shannon Nyamodi case occurred when his mother attempted to obtain the Franklin County sheriff’s office reports related to the case in August of 2012 after her son was taken into custody. The mother was told that the case was an ongoing investigation and no information about the case could be disclosed publicly at that time.

Months later in July of 2013 she made a second inquiry regarding police reports and other documents related to the case, and was simply told she wouldn’t be provided with any records at all. It’s not clear why she was denied the requested documentation considering that such information is public record in the state of North Carolina. We see here, that the wheels of concealment by the sheriff’s office began, and coupled with the mysterious manner by which reports from the FCSO related to this case  apparently having never been made public, signals something is fishy with the agency’s handling of this case. I have even considered that officials were simply being spiteful toward the mother because her son is charged with such a heinous crime, but the reports and supporting documents of the prosecutor’s case aren’t even in the case file at the county clerk’s office. Even more disturbingly though, the clerk’s office doesn’t have a system of accountability which monitors who, when, and why individuals access the clerk’s file system. Anyone with access to the department, like a DA, deputy, or some other unsuspecting court official could have simply worked in, and taken vital records from the file without clerk officials ever even knowing.

Additionally, local news station WRAL broadcasted the bizarre story that Shannon Nyamodi had told a young man “if anything happens, just say I was with you all night.” The funny part about that entire news clip, is that Shannon never hung out with the young man who made those statements on the news, and Sheriff Jones just happened to be standing right next to the young man when he gave the interview to WRAL. This young man also just happens to be the source of of Youngsville police Lt. Little’s CI (confidential informant) report, which allegedly outlined the murder for hire plot.  He is also the brother of the man citizens within the community are saying actually committed the crime. WRAL also broadcast that cops had discovery evidence containing text messages between the victim’s daughter and Shannon Nyamodi discussing their plot to commit the crime. Shannon didn’t own a cell phone, and those alleged text cops say they discovered are also not included in the case file.

Now if the District Attorney’s office has such a strong case against Shannon Nyamodi, why on earth would any one knowingly remove crucial documents from a criminal case file, and all why knowing they could potentially lose their job or be charged with a crime? Did the sheriff’s office ever possess police reports outlining investigative findings sufficiently strong enough to justify criminal charges against this youth? I mean the prosecutor even indicted this young man for the crime. Obviously compelling arguments were made by the prosecutor before a judge during a preliminary hearing or an arraignment on the charges for the case to have reached the heights of an actual indictment before a superior court. How did the prosecutor accomplish this without evidence from the cops? Also, why did sheriff Jerry Jones seek criminal charges against Shannon Nyamodi when no supporting reports, documentation, or even a synopsis of the evidence against him aren’t available anywhere publicly, when such documentation is so rudimentary during a criminal process of this magnitude? It appears that someone associated with this case has gone through great lengths to suppress critical records pertaining to this case, while attempting to create the illusion that Shannon Nyamodi is the guilty party of this crime.

Dirty Sheriff Office

The fact that Sheriff Jerry Jones is even in office is simply incredulous. He was actually voted out of office by the county during the last election. Described by some within Franklin County with adjectives I personally care not to mention in this article, Jones was reinstated on an interim basis by the county commissioners, and for some strange reason the planned special election to name a permanent county sheriff was postponed until this year, an event which hasn’t materialized. Sheriff Jones has been a rather peculiar element of the case against Shannon Nyamodi. Rumors have been circulating that the person who actually shot Rhonda McClean in the face is one of his relatives, and it’s believed that he may have quarter backed a conspiracy against an innocent man to save his on relatives from being pinched for the crime and from facing justice in this horrible case. Whether these accusations are correct or not, an objective observer of this case can’t ignore the rather peculiarity of his department’s missing records from the case file at the county clerk’s office.

Common sense tells us that at some point sheriff Jones was made privy to reports by officers in his agency who actually worked the crime scene. Additionally, Jones would have complete knowledge of what discovery evidence had been obtained in the crime. The findings in any testing of potential forensic evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, etc., would have also been brought to his attention, since he is the agency’s highest ranking official, and would have personally sought or authorized the arrest of Shannon Nyamodi. In short, Jones should reasonably have a complete picture to the extent of what culpable or exculpatory evidence exist pertaining to the case of Shannon Nyamodi. His office obviously compelled the DA to charge the youth, which means that Jones believes that Shannon is in fact guilty. So, where are the records his agency submitted to the DA in this case?

It’s quite possible that evidence and reports obtained by deputy Barrett who was the affiant for the FCSO in this case, and that of other FCSO officers who worked the crime scene and investigation, may have contained a volume of exculpatory evidence pointing to Shannon Nyamodi’s innocence, and the files could have been removed from the county clerk’s office for the purpose of concealing the truth about the case, while explaining why the documentation doesn’t exist in the official record. This may also explain why no FCSO deputy was tasked with the actual arrest of Shannon Nyamodi, and a deputy from several towns over was directed by management to unknowingly swear out a false warrant for the youth’s arrest. This can be the only rationalization why FCSO deputies who actually worked the case didn’t swear to Shannon Nyamodi’s Arrest Warrant Application, because doing so may have completely contradicted established reports already submitted by them, causing the officers to knowingly making false statements before a court official which is an act that could have potentially ruined their entire career in law enforcement, and those who orchestrated this conspiracy to convict an innocent man were more than likely mindful that veteran officers would never have agreed to involvement in such a scheme.

So, how did the FCSO sell Shannon Nyamodi’s allege guilt to the District Attorney’s office? With no documentation supporting charges against the youth, why did the DA even pursue the case? The actual statement of charges that usually accompanies an Arrest Warrant Application is even missing from the case file. I can’t even picture FCSO deputy Ralph Almkuist (the arrest warrant complainant) who actually brought Shannon Nyamodi into custody, standing before a judge or court official without any documentation outlining probable cause for his arrest, and walking away with a warrant. Furthermore, sources tell TPC that sheriff Jerry Jones is so unpopular within the FCSO agency, that he doesn’t have enough power of persuasion to compel veteran deputies who actually worked the crime scene, to alter their investigative findings, fabricate their reports, or lie in court to obtain fictitious warrants for some one’s arrest. It just makes sense that an inexperience officer would be used for this kind of dirty work. Either the prosecutors and the judges practice an ill advised policy of authorizing criminal charges against people by word of mouth alone, without supporting documents, or some law enforcement official has severely manipulated this entire process.

The fact of the matter is that the FCSO would have been the agency who notified the DA of their investigation determining that Shannon Nyamodi was the perpetrator who committed the crime in the first place. The FCSO is ground zero where the plot to convict young Shannon Nyamodi began. Shannon was charged with a violent crime, a shooting, and the cowardice act of shooting a woman in the face none the less. Police officials are usually fanatical about bringing these kinds of criminals to justice, especially when considering the victim was a white woman, and the assailant was a black man in the south. One would hope that police dotted every “I” and crossed every “T” to insure Shannon was taken off the streets of Franklin County. The youth has continuously maintained and professed his innocence to police authorities. Shannon Nyamodi even volunteered to submit to GSR (gun powder residue) testing, and the FCSO declined to take the youth up on the offer. How crazy is that? What more compelling evidence could police obtain to nail the coffin shut on a cowardice criminal who shoots a woman in the face. No GSR testing has ever been done on this youth. Such a process is standard for most police agencies and it’s simply unbelievable that the FCSO didn’t conduct such testing to determine as fact that Shannon Nyamodi fired a gun that night.

Then of course there is the issue of probable cause for Shannon Nyamodi’s arrest for the crime. The kid never left the scene that night. He even directed the cops to the victim’s location upon their arrival. This hardly seems like somebody who had actually just committed a violent felony crime. Once the scene was secured, police from both agencies had determined that the suspected shooter was no longer at the scene. The search warrant for the home where the crime occurred was executed at 5:48 a.m. the morning the crime occurred. The primary officers on the scene all describe the victim as having stated “some one” (indicating that the person was unknown to her) struck her in the head with a pole. When cops began processing the crime scene, any traditional forensic evidence that they may have obtained could never be linked to Shannon Nyamodi by the time deputy Almkuist had taken him into custody at 3:10 p.m. the same day. Shannon had no prior criminal history which means his fingerprint profile wasn’t in a local or national database used to link known criminal defendants to potential recent crimes. He couldn’t have been linked by DNA either, because it’s highly doubtful that the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) would have been able to produce testing results in such a short turn around by 3:10 p.m.

Besides, the cops wouldn’t have even been able to compare the youth’s finger prints or DNA to any trace evidence that they may have found from the crime scene until after he was actually locked up, booked, and had such testing conducted on him. When they finger printed the kid it would have been his initial profile of any kind, and DNA samples from Shannon Nyamodi was ordered in a warrant after his arrest. With the victim having communicated to police that her assailant was unknown to her, other witness statements identifying a white mail fleeing the scene, and the obvious lack of potential trace evidence linking Shannon Nyamodi to the crime establishes that the FCSO in fact had no probable cause to arrest him at the time he was taken into custody. Some jurisdictions have enacted laws enabling police to detain potential suspects for 48-72 hours as a person of interest in a case, and the argument may be made that police had obtained culpable discovery evidence against the youth in that time frame. If that’s the case, then where on earth is this evidence?

All of these elements I describe in this case are dynamic and kind of elicits thoughts pertaining to rumors circulating about the possible involvement of sheriff Jerry Jones’ relatives, or either the FCSO is compiled of the most bumbling bunch of idiots that the “Key Stone Cops” have ever produced. I personally believe that sheriff Jones himself is the driving force behind this case that has caused Shannon Nyamodi to lose his freedom for a crime he didn’t commit, and I believe that he should sit in a jail cell just like this kid has been made to do unjustly for such a long time.

Grimey Assistant District Attorney

The night I spoke with Ms. Rhonda McClean (the victim) she told me that Shannon Nyamodi had in fact shot her in the face on the night in question. Her comments hit me like a ton of bricks because I had already thoroughly viewed incident reports from police officers of the Youngsville police department, and realized that I was actually getting a third version of what she had described related to the events of the night she was shot. Confused by what she was saying, I began to challenge her on statements that she had previously made to cops that night. For some unknown reason Ms. McClean began to advise me about a conversation she had with Assistant DA, Annette Sellers (prosecutor handling the Shannon Nyamodi criminal case). According to McClean,  ADA Sellers told her that Elizabeth Crudup wasn’t Shannon Nyamodi’s biological mother, that they had different last names, and that Crudup had actually adopted him from a royal family in Africa. McClean went on to say that the royal family was financing Shannon’s legal expenses because the family wanted to preserve the reputation of the family name, and not have their royal name smeared. I could never determine what bearing this information, truthful or otherwise, had on this criminal case. Why should it even matter who is funding his legal fees when his guilt or innocence should be the focus of the case.

Knowing that the Nyamodi family are indigenous to Kenya, Africa, and that the sovereign nation doesn’t have a monarch government, I hesitated to even mention the bizarre statements to Shannon’s mother. When Elizabeth Crudup and I eventually did have that discussion, I learned that ADA Sellers is quite capable of making such fabricated comments, and I’ll get into that in more detail later in the article. The other weird statement that McClean made during our conversation, is implicating Michael Young as an accomplice to the shooting that night. McClean told me that Michael had entered her home and accosted her 13 year old daughter who has down syndrome, in her room while covering her mouth with his hand, and placing a screwdriver/flashlight in her back. When McClean fled her home the night she got shot and ran to 116 Shearin Court where Michael lives with his family, she actually passed several other homes on the way, and it’s simply amazing that she has developed such a detailed memory after all this time.

My dialogue with Rhonda McClean became even more bizarre (if you can even imagine that) as she went on to say that she had forgiven Shannon for what he did, wanted him to be able to go on with his life, and has asked the prosecutor to make a deal with him. That’s when the warning lights came on and allowed me to see through her story. The woman apparently was completely unaware that I had already obtained a volume of information pertaining to her troubled home. The fact that her own daughter was involved in such a violent act against her speaks volumes related to the level of dysfunction within her family. I wasn’t buying the “I am a forgiving christian” song and dance story she had told me. TPC has been advised that police reports once existed (unconfirmed) outlining her statements conveying that Shannon Nyamodi wasn’t the person who shot her. It doesn’t take “rocket science” to conclude that there is probably tremendous credibility in the belief that such reports were written, because the report of YPO Lt. Little, and the search warrant affidavit submitted by FCSO Captain Mitchell both indicate that McClean didn’t know who had shot her that night.

McClean’s ability to remember the events of that night and can now name the perpetrator is very puzzling to say the least. However, I believe there is a method to all of this madness. ADA Sellers probably did pitch the bogus “royal family” story to Rhonda McClean with hopes she would take the bait and go after Shannon Nyamodi also, for monetary gain that she could acquire from a civil suit if the youth was convicted of the crime. McClean’s strange implication of Michael Young also raises suspicion that she may have brokered some kind of deal with the DA’s office as a trade off on her daughter’s (who was allegedly convicted for her role in the shooting crime) case. The psychology of lawyer tactics are a sure bet that Sellers already knows that McClean will draw sympathy from jurors at trial, and if she can be utilized to testify in court implicating Michael Young, then she has created potential credibility issues for Michael at trial. Michael Young and his family support Shannon Nyamodi’s innocence, and McClean may have been manipulated by ADA Sellers to change her story to customize a theory which would negate Shannon Nyamodi and his strongest alli at trial. Why else would McClean go on record with police officers who are professionally trained to observe and report, giving statements of Shannon Nyamodi’s innocence, and then turn around and implicate him later. Also, the police are very familiar with McClean’s home because of the criminal history some of her own children have. Who knows what else the cops found other than what they reported, and ADA Sellers may have used that leverage to scare the bejesus out of her, and threatened her with jail time if she doesn’t cooperate.

Far fetched? I think not, and I’ve only just began to get started with this prosecutor. Why on earth does the District Attorney even have a case file against Shannon Nyamodi when no documents supporting criminal charges against him even exist within the official record at the county clerk’s office? The documents on file only show what has been done to get to this point in the case. No real evidence supporting their case exist in the file, if it does exist where is it or who has it? The documents in the Shannon Nyamodi case file couldn’t convict a person who was guilty as sin, because no evidence is in the file record. I keep saying that over and over again, and it’s just insane that Shannon Nyamodi has been locked up all this time over these trumped up charges. Now we know why ADA Sellers has been relentlessly making certain this defendant’s case doesn’t go to trial. The arrest warrant statement of charges, trace evidence findings, and supporting police investigative reports are all missing from the file allegedly justifying charges against Shannon Nyamodi.

The talk around Franklin County is that ADA Sellers is a cocky, arrogant prosecutor, with strong ambition to move up the ladder in North Carolina’s political arena. Her hanging prosecutor style some say, make her capable of doing anything to achieve her objectives. Her ability to keep a man locked up when she is well aware and knows for a fact that critical documents and other evidence necessary to assist her in successfully prosecuting her case doesn’t exist, in my mind makes her a despicable person, and a heartless sub human being. I am not being cynical or harsh for the purpose of bashing the prosecutors office, but the DA’s office has been in control the entire time. ADA sellers or DA Sam Currin could have demanded the records be turned over, or could have dropped the case altogether. The failure of prosecutors to take any action whatsoever, points to their possible direct complicity in the suppression of evidence in the criminal case against young Shannon Nyamodi. Between the sheriff’s office and the DA, they have had over sixteen months to come up with supporting documentation that indicates they were justified in charging this young defendant. Clearly, what ever evidence that was retrieved from the investigation into this crime, some official between the two agencies has hindered the records from being made public. I believe that the tax paying citizens of Franklin County would agree that they are entitled to more efficient representation than this from their public officials.

The Funny Paperwork In The Case

ADA Sellers has requested continuance after continuance in Shannon Nyamodi’s case. Surprisingly, the court has repeatedly granted these request despite any real authentic cause for the case being classified as exceptional having been placed on the record. Sellers has given frivolous justification for constantly continuing the case, all along while spewing absolute venum about Shannon Nyamodi, calling him “a vagabond on the streets,” and making other off color comments all for the purpose of developing a harsh outlook on the defendant within the legal community,when in fact Shannon Nyamodi has never had any prior brushes with the law. ADA Sellers actions have not gone unnoticed, which brings me to my perspective on some of the rather peculiar paperwork that is available within the case file. I’m no forensic document examiner, but my practical experience of verifying credentials in my professional career makes me qualified to call into question the manner in which official documents were composed. In this case there are two documents in particular that jumps right out at me. Firstly, the “special letter” as it has been dubbed by the legal community in Franklin County, that Judge Hight allegedly signed granting a motion to classify Shannon Nyamodi’s case as exceptional, and allowing it to be taken completely off of the court’s management system docket altogether, “until such time as it is place back on the docket by the District Attorney.” Why a superior court judge would give a prosecutor such broad discretion regarding the expediency of a criminal case with out establishing good cause on the record, is incomprehensible.

The root of my issue with the document is the manner in which it was composed. It contains typed print and handwriting, a characteristic seldomly seen in an official document before the courts. It’s just unprofessional, appear to have been composed in a haste, and I question whether the document is even an authentic order issued by judge Hight, solely because of the abnormality of an official document of this nature for a criminal case containing handwritten and printed composition. Obviously, it appears to be a preprinted form of some kind that was simply filled out by the author of the document. My perspective is supported by the fact that Hight apparently even entered his name in handwriting under his signature. Judges have secretaries and clerical assistants for these task. Maybe Hight did or didn’t compose this motion order, but it’s strange that none of the orders or decisions by other judges associated with this case have submitted official documents which contain such unprofessional composition traits. See for yourself below:

Unless judge Hight just simply had a bad day when he signed this order, he is experienced enough to know he shouldn’t give the prosecutor such leverage or a tactical advantage of this extent to a prosecutor. He should reasonably know that such an order is unfair to a criminal defendant, and at some level his order will almost certainly be overturned on an appeal by a higher court. I doubt that Hight achieved his current position in public service without knowing a continuance of any kind in a criminal case must contain some timetable establishing when the case would be prosecuted, if for no other reason but to protect a defendant’s right to fairness, due process under the law, and their constitutional right to a speedy trial. That’s why there is growing suspicion questioning whether Hight even issued the order taking the case off the docket in the first place. Taking a court case off the docket while the defendant is remanded to custody without pending charges is so irregular and unheard of, that lawyers consulting TPC related to this case have repeatedly asked if the charges were actually dropped against Shannon Nyamodi (hell even the FBI asked Elizabeth Crudup if the charges were dropped), which is typically the disposition when a case is removed from a court docket. It’s just a no brainer that judge Hight more than likely wouldn’t have preprinted forms in his chambers for the purpose of taken criminal cases off the docket. This is a prosecutor’s practice and may lift the cover completely off of a disturbing culture which reveals officials from the DA’s office, habitually attempting to conceal court cases they knowingly are aware of that sufficient evidence doesn’t exist to prosecute a defendant, like in the Shannon Nyamodi case. Why hasn’t the DA resolved this case when no actual evidence against Shannon Nyamodi has been made public.

The other “funny paperwork” that drew my immediate scrutiny is the Search Warrant Affidavit that FCSO Captain Mitchell submitted seeking a warrant to gather evidence from Shannon’s home and his person. Knowing the basic common knowledge cops possess pertaining to this kind of affidavit really creates suspicion that a crime may have actually occurred in Shannon Nyamodi’s case while viewing this particular document. On the search warrant application, Captain Mitchell list 7  Probable Causes to Search Shannon Nyamodis home and to obtain DNA for comparison purposes. Items #5 and #8 are very disturbing to me. Mitchell states in item #5 five that “items of evidentiary value were located and seized. Mitchell also indicates that the items “represent a small sample of the evidence seized which will contain valuable DNA evidence.” This supports my earlier arguments that supporting documents must exist somewhere. Well, where are the DNA testing results, and what did the test disclose? But any way, item #8 is the meat and guts of this entire case.

Item #8 was actually handwritten on the affidavit, and indicates that Shannon Nyamodi has confessed to the crime and admitted to the involvement of his allege codefendant (victim’s daughter). The addendum is also another rare instance seen where an official court document has this kind of composition format (handwriting), and is very problematic for the prosecution for several reasons:

1. Captain Mitchell never included this alteration on the document which indicates that he didn’t have any knowledge that Shannon Nyamodi had confessed to the crime. If Mitchell in fact believed that the youth had admitted to the crime, how is it possible that he omitted such culpable evidence on the affidavit?

2. The author of the handwriting initialed the addendum as what appears to be judge Donald W. Stephens. Why would judge Stephens alter the affidavit when he isn’t seeking the warrant and probably didn’t hear Shannon Nyamodi’s allege confession?

Look at judge Stephens actual signature:

Now look at the handwriting in item #8 as an addendum to the document while noticing the initials to the right:

A very strong argument could be made that the judge’s actual signature and his allege initials are two separate authors, in fact I believe that they are. This would mean that the judge’s initials were forged and cause the entire search warrant, along with evidence acquired, to be thrown out.

3. The handwriting on the application for Shannon Nyamodi’s search warrant and the “strange letter” (motion) ordering the case be taken off the docket, however appear to have been composed by the same author.

4. The addendum with judge Stephens’ allege initials doesn’t have a date imputed on the document and is undetermined when the alteration was actually made. Anyone with access to the file could have simply wrote the addendum on the document after it had already been validated by the clerk’s office.

5. The prosecution’s inability to establish exactly when the addendum was entered, or when the actual confession was made could cause the search warrant obtained to gather DNA from the defendant rendered invalid, and any such evidence acquired as a result of the issuance of the warrant could be thrown out by the courts.

6. The addendum handwriting on the affidavit appears to be composed by the exact same author who composed the motion order removing Shannon Nyamodi’s case off of the docket system.

So what does this all mean as it relate to the funny paperwork? What’s obvious is that we have documents which originated out of two separate judge’s chambers, but appear to have the same handwriting on them, they both are composed in irregular format containing print and written composition, and also critical documents that directly impact the due process rights of the defendant as well as his potential plea to the charges before the court. Very little intelligence is required here to understand that if Shannon Nyamodi has actually confessed to this crime, that the case more than likely would have been resolved and disposed of a long time ago.  When we understand and fully digest the fact that the state has repeatedly conveyed in court that it wants a plea deal, we learn that they are in essence actually showing their hand that they have no confidence in their ability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Shannon Nyamodi actually committed this crime. The DA’s office has even visited Shannon Nyamodi at the Franklin County jail attempting to elicit a plea deal from him without the presence of his attorney. That’s unheard of and indicates a clear sign of desperation on the DA’s part. So, it makes you wonder who wrote this addendum indicating that he confessed? Where did that information come from? Was it placed on the search warrant application to bolster their case to obtain his DNA samples? If so, where are the testing results from those samples?

Do you see where I’m going here? The prosecutor and the police can say they have this evidence or that evidence all day long, but they will never convict anyone until it’s produced in a court of law by professionals who can testify with certainty what the test results disclose. Captain Mitchell’s entire premise for obtaining the warrant in the first place was for the purpose of comparing the youth’s DNA to what they believe was discovery items evidentiary to the case, and now they want to perpetuate the theory that Shannon Nyamodi committed this crime without any indication that culpable evidence even exist, while court officials were led to believe that evidentiary findings implicating this defendant had been obtained from the crime scene. No one has seen the Franklin County sheriff’s office reports or any other compelling evidence when discovery in the case has already concluded. The handwriting suggesting that a confession had been made in this case compounds the case and is contradictory to the defendant’s consistent position that he hasn’t confess to anything, along with his refusal to admit to something in which he isn’t involved in. The Addendum writing opens a can of worms that underscores some of the shady, illegal, and unlawful tactics that have been utilized by the the DA’s office to wrongfully convict an innocent man. the lack of supporting evidence coupled with the DA’s apparent desperation to acquire a plea deal from this defendant’s, and the handwriting citing the allege confession on an affidavit matching the motion to take the case off the docket points to ADA Sellers being the culprit attempting to manipulate the record in this case.

The funny paperwork with identical handwriting from separate judges, the prosecutor’s strange desire to shelve the case, and the missing supporting documentation justifying probable cause to even arrest this young man, all seemingly establish that covert efforts have been made by those handling the case to obtain a conviction against Shannon Nyamodi at all cost. At the end of the day, ADA Annette Sellers knows what evidence has been obtained, but has refused to met out justice in this case by either taking the case to trial or acknowledging Shannon Nyamodi’s exculpability in this crime. No one is fooled by the missing documents. It’s a clear case of suppression of evidence and I want those responsible sent to prison. Prove me wrong, by giving this young man his day in court, or set him free so he can go on with his life in peace.

To Be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

(Readership objection to the image of Resident Superior Court Judge Hobgood’s image being associated with this article has been taken into consideration by TPC, and has been removed. The image wasn’t intended to draw concern, or challenge this official’s record as a public servant, but rather only to depict his association with the case. Apologies are extended to those whom this matter may have adversely impacted).

His story is reminiscent of the a time when America was at the heights of social discord and civil rights struggles were the greatest challenge to the American people, when states disobeyed established constitutional law by enacting their own set of rules related to the criminal justice system. The life of young Shannon Nyamodi is a clear indication that some states with allegiance to the confederacy remain indignant, defiant, and determined to met out it’s own brand of justice where people of color are concerned, and are simply doing what ever they want pertaining to black defendants in cases of criminal law. The standards in this country dictate that criminal cases should be brought before the courts in the most expedient manner possible, while constitutional law acts as a safeguard holding states accountable through the 6th and 14th amendments, and measuring the manner by which states pay respect to a citizen’s right to due process under the law. The state of North Carolina is a glaring example of a political climate vexed with ideology on government which contrast with the American society from a platform of unfairness and injustice. A more critical observation of the state’s current division from U.S. constitutional allegiance can be seen through it’s pledge, along with other red states, who have threatened to Succeed from the Union over their rejection of the Affordable Health Care Act (“Obama Care”). Many of the arguments publicly offered for such a radical posture appear to stem from the bitterness of some southerners over the country having arrived to the existence of the first sitting black president in the nation’s history. Not to get of topic, but I offer such dissident politics by states like North Carolina to underscore the political climate in old confederate states that willfully circumvent long established constitutional law. Any criminal defendant who is held in detention in this country for over a year without their criminal case having been brought to trial signals a red flag triggering a presumption that the 6th amendment has been violated, and Shannon Nyamodi’s case out of Franklin County, North Carolina is textbook on such a constitutional infringement. Besides a clear violation of federal law in his case, sitting judges have even ignored North Carolina’s own General Statue when making rulings in the Nyamodi case. A “writ of habeas corpus has been filed in superior court twice on the youth’s behalf. On January 6, 2014 his mother Elizabeth Crudup filed the motion before Resident Judge Robert Hobgood, and on February 3, 2014 she filed another habeas at Hobgood’s direction before Honorable Judge R.F. Johnson to challenge the legality of his detention.. Both officials denied the habeas request while citing among other reasons, that the mother doesn’t have any standing to file legal documents on behalf of her son. Their decisions are very perplexing when considering North Carolina’s General Statue which clearly indicates that anyone can legally file such a document on a detained criminal defendant’s behalf. North Carolina General Statue § 17-5.  By whom application is made. Application for the writ may be made either by the party for whose relief it is intended or by any person in his behalf. (1868-9, c. 116, s. 3; Code, s. 1625; Rev., s. 1823; C.S., s. 2207.) Perhaps such a ruling highlighted in both official’s “statements of facts” may simply have been an oversight in one instance, but the law establishes as a matter of fact that the rulings were both inaccurate while interpreting the law when they ruled to dismiss the habeas on separate occasions. NCGS 17-5 even allows for the criminal defendant themselves to file such a document before the courts without the presence of an attorney. So, it’s just rather peculiar that the judges would make the same error interpreting cause for the habeas’ dismissal. The other arguments presented in the decisions are all frivolous on their face, as no statue, case law, or other established legal standing were documented in the dismissals to justify both officials decisions. The officials also cite court dates which Shannon Nyamodi was purportedly suppose to have had, but he was never even transported to the courthouse, and his attorney has never appeared on these dates.  In each instance, at the very least the judges should have raised issue with the premise for such an extended continuance in the case and the absence of the defense counsel. The failure of both judges to pay respect to the defendant’s right to a speedy trial under federal law aids the continuing unlawful detention of Shannon Nyamodi while violating his constitutional rights. NCGS also outlines when a habeas shall be denied, and clearly nothing in the law is applicable in this case prohibiting the mother of the defendant from prosecuting the habeas on Shannon Nyamodi’s behalf: § 17-4.  When application denied. Application to prosecute the writ shall be denied in the following cases: (1)  Where the persons are committed or detained by virtue of process issued by a court of the United States, or a judge thereof, in cases where such courts or judges have exclusive jurisdiction under the laws of the United States, or have acquired exclusive jurisdiction by the commencement of suits in such courts. (2)  Where persons are committed or detained by virtue of the final order, judgment or decree of a competent tribunal of civil or criminal jurisdiction, or by virtue of an execution issued upon such final order, judgment or decree. (3)  Where any person has willfully neglected, for the space of two whole sessions after his imprisonment, to apply for the writ to the superior court of the county in which he may be imprisoned, such person shall not have a habeas corpus in vacation time for his enlargement. (4)  Where no probable ground for relief is shown in the application. (1868-9, c. 116, s. 2; Code, s. 1624; Rev., s. 1822; C.S., s. 2206; 1971, c. 528, s. 1.) Additionally, state law establishes sanctions for court officials who knowingly and willfully deny a writ of habeas corpus without cause. The judge’s “statements of fact” in their decisions notes that the defendant has been indicted by a grand jury, that the courts has legal authority in the mater, and that the motion was being prosecuted without the consent of the defendant’s attorney. All of these factors have no bearing on the legality of Shannon Nyamodi’s detention, when considering the court has failed to prosecute the case within a year prescribed by constitutional law, and the absence of a timetable on record establishing when the case would be prosecuted. Both superior court judges are now each subject to a monetary penalty of $2,500 dollars to the defendant, because they should reasonably have known that the defendant’s constitutional rights were being violated. § 17-10.  Penalty for refusal to grant. If any judge authorized by this Chapter to grant writs of habeas corpus refuses to grant such writ when legally applied for, every such judge shall forfeit to the party aggrieved two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500). (1868-9, c. 116, s. 9; Code, s. 1631; Rev., s. 1828; C.S., s. 2212.) Also, court officials should have been mindful of state law requiring the person for whom the writ application is for, be presented to the courts without delay. Neither judge should have held a hearing or ruled on the habeas without Shannon Nyamodi present before the courts. As a former Corrections Official, I can’t ever recall having witnessed a writ of habeas hearing without the defendant present. It’s just common sense to secure the body of the detainee before the court, if for no other provocation but to determine the actual detention of a criminal defendant. Chapter 17 of North Carolina’s General Statue goes to great length outlining various penalties for non compliance of producing a party entitled in a writ, which even allows for the physical attachment of officers or persons charged with producing the party before the courts. The judges are either incompetent (highly doubtful) or have conveyed a blatant willful disregard for state law, in this case at least, and it’s simply unconscionable that they displayed such ignorance for state law which they are charged to uphold. Furthermore, on January 6, 2014 Judge Robert Hobgood came to the Franklin County courthouse at 8:25 am., filed his decision denying Shannon Nyamodi’s habeas, and left three minutes later at 8:28 a.m. the same day. When the defendant’s mother caught up with him later that morning and met with him in his chambers, he conveyed to her that he agreed with the habeas, encouraged her to have the document brought before another judge on the same matter, and in essence punting the document to one of his colleagues. Hobgood could have reconsidered and changed his ruling. The fact that he didn’t take such course of action demonstrates that he may have been shedding the responsibility because of the controversial nature of the Nyamodi case. Read judge Hobgood’s Habeas Decision below: Please take special note of the allege confession of Shannon Nyamodi that Judge Hobgood refers to in his decision which is indicated on a search warrant affidavit for the home where the crime occurred. The allege confession is listed as the 8th item in a handwritten addendum format, and the initials appear to be that of the judge who granted the warrant. This draws suspicion for the following reasons. 1. The judge’s alteration of the document is improper if he in fact wrote the addendum, and this would have had to mean that he actually heard the confession. Totally improper if a judge with the potential of being assigned to hear the case of a criminal defendant was present during police investigative interviews with the defendant. 2. It would mean that Captain Mitchell actually forgot to include the most compelling evidence establishing guilt of the defendant in his affidavit (highly doubtful), meaning someone decided to include the 8th item after Captain Mitchell had already composed the warrant affidavit. 3. Captain Mitchell wouldn’t have had to list the defendant’s allege confession in The Facts to Support a Search warrant affidavit, because the crime scene, statements from the victim, the victim’s severe injury, and witnesses were already probable cause to establish a serious crime had occurred sufficient to obtain a search warrant. 4. The defendant (Shannon Nyamodi) has always maintained his innocence and denies ever making a confession to police. View the mysterious hand written addendum with the judges allege initials below:

The suspicious handwritten addendum which alleges that Shannon Nyamodi confessed to the crime. The alteration was obviously made after the document was created, and it mistakenly has the judge’s initials listed as the author of the addendum. The document should have actually had Captain Mitchell’s initials because he was the police official seeking the warrant. Something very funky occurred with this document’s alteration.

On February 3, 2014 the habeas was presented before judge R.F. Johnson, another superior court judge, and consistent with judge Hobgood’s direction encouraging the defendant’s mother to have another judge hear the motion. The mother went before judge Johnson with the knowledge of state law not requiring an attorney be present, and attempted once again to have the habeas heard on behalf of her son.. Johnson conducted himself in such a fashion that appeared unfit for him to serve as a court official, let alone a sitting judge. The second denial of the habeas has set the ground work for the matter to be taken to a higher court for adjudication. However, judge Johnson’s antics while refusing to even read the document fuels an advantage for the defense toward obtaining the freedom of Shannon Nyamodi. Read judge Johnson’s Habeas Decision below:   The judges decisions pertaining to Shannon Nyamodi’s habeas request appear to be generic and fail to address serious infringements on the defendant’s constitutional rights. The North Carolina superior courts are not an umbrella of the federal court system, but they are bound by constitutional law just the same. The court’s failure to pay respect to a defendant’s federal speedy trial rights (6th amendment) only heightens earlier discussion in this article related to some state’ judicial practice of ignoring a criminal defendant’s constitutional rights when a clear violation exist, despite the heinous nature of a crime for which a defendant may be charged and subsequently detained, a defendant is entitled to have his day in court as soon as possible. The bizarre ruling which accepted the State’s Attorney motion to have the case of Shannon Nyamodi taken off the court docket system was characterized by the court as being exceptional, but clearly the only exceptionality in this case is the manner in which the North Carolina superior court in Franklin County has handled the case of this young defendant. In addition to the irregular handling of Shannon Nyamodi’s criminal case by court officials, state attorney general Roy Cooper’s office has shown the same degree of disrepute pertaining to fairness, equal justice, and due process under the law for the Nyamodi youth. Weeks ago Elizabeth Crudup contacted the AG’s office soliciting assistance from the top law enforcement official in North Carolina, and on February 7, 2014 she received a call from the agency’s Public Safety Department. According to Crudup, an official identifying himself as Mr. Tom Jones stated to her “I don’t believe that a person has been held for such a long time in this state without a court date. There is nothing I can do for you.” Crudup admits the apathy of the official got the best of her, and she says she rebuffed him stating “Sir be glad that you were born as a white man, because you could never endure the kinds of things that black people suffer in this country everyday.” Mr. Jones’ comment was so off color that TPC contacted his office directly to solicit a statement on the record, but calls went to his voice mail. It’s very difficult to accept that a state official of Mr. Jones’ capacity  could make such a broad generalization concluding that Elizabeth Crudup’s complaint was unfounded solely on his personal belief that such a matter could never occur in the state of North Carolina. Obviously the official never conducted any investigation into Shannon Nyamodi’s case, because if had made an inquiry, he would have discovered that the youth has been detained for over sixteen months in the Franklin County jail. Both superior court judges Hobgood and Johnson list in their “findings of fact” that Shannon Nyamodi had court dates. The dates are described as being on December 16, 2013 and January 21, 2014. On these dates the judge presiding did in fact call the defendant’s case, but on both occasions the state attorney continued the case without the defendant or his lawyer present. That can’t possibly be considered as a court date. The case was taken off of the court’s docket system on February 2o, 2013, which means that the defendant’s purported court date on December 16, 2013 would have been his only appearance before the court in nearly 10 months. There is nothing on record in this case which reveals that judge Hight established a timetable for when the case would be placed back in the system for prosecution, and for nearly a year Shannon Nyamodi was held in custody without any charges against him within the entire court docket system. At some point a judge should have questioned judge Hight’s “strange ruling” and ordered that the case be heard before the court. All of these bizarre rulings by state judicial officials, coupled with the state wanting to continue the case for as long as possible, creates serious suspicion pertaining to the state’s case, and the charges filed against Shannon Nyamodi. Something is drastically wrong with the judicial process in the state of North Carolina and the case of Shannon Nyamodi may have exposed a horrible culture of misconduct by court officials who have knowingly and willfully denied this youth due process under North Carolina state law, and constitutional liberties for which all Americans fall heir. The bottom line is that the state knows the extent of culpable evidence that exist in the case, if any, and has failed the people of the state of North Carolina by not seeking justice prosecuting the case, and the defendant held in custody whose liberty and right to have his day in court taken away. It’s an obvious and blatant display of prejudice for some unknown reason, and every official with the power to take the necessary action to correct this matter should be held accountable criminally and civilly. To Be Continued     The People’s Champion I’m David Adams

There are rulings entered by judges in courts of law throughout the nation everyday in this country. Usually, such judicial authority typically is accompanied by supporting facts derived from evidence, decisions from jurors, and case law previously adjudicated based on similar merits. Rarely are cases resolved based on opinionated rhetoric or frivolous unsupported findings by the court’s highest officials. That’s of course if an official is mindful of established law, while avoiding having their rulings overturned by higher courts. In the state of North Carolina it appears, in it’s Superior Court at least, judges are making rulings in court cases based on personal bias, spontaneous ill advised decisions, and irrelevant  arguments not pertinent to the merits of court cases.

Just weeks ago the mother of Shannon Nyamodi filed a Habeas Corpus on his behalf challenging whether her son’s detention for over a year at a Franklin County jail was in fact lawful, while citing serious infringements upon his 6th and 14th amendment constitutional rights. The judge who ruled on that document (Hobgood) came in at 8:25 that day and left at 8:28 after having denied the habeas. It’s important to note that the official never even granted the mother a hearing, while outlining in his decision that she nor Action for Justice (a criminal justice advocacy group who assisted in developing the habeas) weren’t parties to the case, and expressed his apprehension in even accepting the document from the mother because she wasn’t an attorney. I’m not certain whether the judge is incompetent or whether his actions were nothing more than a smoke screen to dismiss the mother’s efforts, but an attorney isn’t required during a habeas proceeding.

In fact the entire process was designed to prevent unlawful detention of criminal defendants, permitting anyone to present a habeas to the courts, to make certain that states are not violating citizens constitutional rights, and Hobgood (the most senior Superior Court judge) should have known this. Fortunately the mother was resilient, never left the court house that day, and ran into the judge in the hallway. Hobgood was presented with the habeas’ supporting documentation and said he agreed with it, directing the mother to get the habeas back in front of a judge with an attorney. Despite his admission to possible constitutional rights violations, Hobgood didn’t alter his ruling at that time which which was entirely his discretion, rather punting the issue off to another colleague for adjudication. The judge did indicate in writing that she should present the document before another judge again.

Today Ms. Crudup did just late, presenting the habeas before Superior Court judge Johnson. Johnson was completely unprofessional, yelling, refusing to read the document, and even threatened the woman with jail time if she spoke again. All of her arguments were refuted while he continuously talked over her. She repeatedly requested to be heard unsuccessfully, and the only rationalization Johnson gave for his action and ruling was that, “I’m not going to overrule judge Hobgood’s decision.” She implored him to simply read the document for him to take note of Hobgood’s instructions. Johnson continuously refused to read it stating “there is an indictment in here somewhere.” The judge’s belligerent and unprofessional behavior regarding such a critical document during court didn’t go unnoticed. A court official who witnessed the entire incident followed Ms. Crudup outside of the courthouse and encouraged her to find help from an attorney. The official expressed complete outrage in the manner in which the judge spoke to her, and said “what judge Johnson did was wrong.”

Furthermore, Johnson’s actions in my opinion is simply detestable considering he is a sitting judge entrusted with upholding the law for the people of the state. Since the case of Shannon Nyamodi developed, there have been a volume of instances where rulings, motions, and other peculiar movement in the case have originated from nasty, incompetent, and simply despicable officials who more than likely operate from a position of racism. It’s unconscionable that these are the kinds of people that the citizens of North Carolina have elected into public office. Fortunately, this arrogant bastard will more than likely be compelled to revisit this matter again in a civil court of law. State law outlines sanctions for this kind of official misconduct related to a Habeas corpus matter, and it might serve judge Johnson well to read North Carolina General statue on judicial responsibility. Additionally, Johnson’s actions opens the door for the habeas to be presented to the state court of appeals, a separate branch of the state’s judicial process, and a higher court which could rule against the Habeas’ rejection from the state’s kangaroo superior court.

A state appeals court may hear the habeas on the grounds that a judge’s decision to deny the request was based on frivolous reasons or arguments unrelated to the case. It appears that this is exactly what happened when the the habeas was presented to both judge Hobgood and Johnson, as their decisions were void of any supporting facts or case law to justify not granting the habeas. When judge Hight ruled to have the case taken off the court’s management docket system, he erred by not establishing a timetable for which the case’ prosecution would resume, and Shannon Nyamodi still languishes in a county jail with no court date. This is clearly a violation of his constitutional rights, and whether the state of North Carolina courts corrects this injustice, his charges will more than likely be ordered dismissed by a Federal Court down the road.

Moreover, it has always been suspected that Shannon Nyamodi landed in jail because of trumped up charges after the Franklin County Sheriff Office tried to frame the youth. Strange things have happened since the youth was taken into custody, like his having been placed on some sort of Administrative segregation for his protection. Sources familiar with the way things are done in North Carolina, advised TPC that it’s a tactic utilized to wear a detainee down to get him to cop out with a deal (plead guilty for lesser sentence in return). Shannon has been denied access to his family on multiple occasions, and in one instance, Ms. Crudup was told by Captain Gill at the Franklin County jail that her son didn’t want to talk to her or anyone else when she tried to visit him. Today she found out that statement was a complete lie. A law firm working in stealth mode in the background actually notified the sheriff today directly, and advised that the mother was coming to the jail to see her son. She was granted acces to Shannon for the first time in weeks.

Ms. Crudup while visiting her son learned that he never told anyone that he refused to see his mother. Shannon even communicated to his mother that jail officials never even notified him that she had attempted to visit him. These revelations establish as a matter of fact that jail officials are also involved in some of the very bizarre and strange occurrences related to this case. Denying Shannon visitation is at the jail’s discretion, but there must be a valid justification for not allowing him visits when he hasn’t violated any jail rules and other detainees similarly situated are being afforded such privileges. Why did Captain Gill lie to Ms. Crudup when Shannon never conveyed to him that he didn’t want to see his mother? The youth expressed to his mother that they (jail officials) were giving him “a really hard time.” He told his mother that the state prosecutor has been to visit him and has been pressuring him into taking a deal.

The fact that a state counsel prosecuting a criminal case has actually visited a defendant in jail who is a party to a criminal case without the presence of the defendant’s legal counsel is not only unheard of, but completely improper, and may even result in sanctions from the state bar and the Attorney General’s office. That’s taken a hell of a risk, putting a license to practice law on the line, and clearly shows the desperation of the district attorney’s office related to this case. Since day one, Shannon Nyamodi’s own attorney has been pressuring the teen to take a deal, and because he has repeatedly refused to cop out to a crime for which he didn’t commit, his attorney has abandoned him, threatened him, and has been a complete non factor in aiding his defense or securing his release from jail. Now the pressure is coming from both sides, and there is no justification why a state attorney would actually seek a deal from a criminal defendant with out first obtaining consent from his attorney.

If it’s proven that Klinkosum (Shannon’s current lawyer) in fact had knowledge that a prosecutor visited his client, without his client’s consent, he also could be sanctioned by the North Carolina state bar. So, what is really going on here? I have never seen a case where a prosecutor was more bent on obtaining a plea deal from a criminal defendant juxtapose to going to trial and getting a conviction. The state is desperate, don’t have a case, and explains exactly why they wanted this case hidden from the public and taken off the court dockets. When it’s all said in done, I believe there will be some criminal charges filed and they won’t be against young Shannon Nyamodi.

To Be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

When young Shannon Nyamodi was charged with larceny and attempted murder on August 16, 2012 his family believed that he would be exonerated from charges they felt were simply a case where police officials had made a rush to judgement by charging the teen who had no prior brushes with the law. Little did they know that Shannon would eventually languish in a Franklin County North Carolina jail for nearly two years, while the man they hired to defend him would take $50,000.00 dollars as a retainer, and then turn to subsequently agree with state prosecutors efforts to conceal the case from the public by having it removed from the court docket system while young Shannon remained in custody. The circumstances surrounding his case has drawn attention from criminal justice advocacy groups, bloggers, and other human rights organizations around the country.

Now that his case has sparked outrage from a concerned public outside of North Carolina, the youth has been housed in segregation, denied access to the outside world, and placed on a gag order probably implemented without consent from state courts. Although a small minority exist who believe in his guilt, none of those pundits can explain nor rationalize the countless peculiar circumstances pertaining to the manner in which the state has handled his case. The state motioned for the case to be taken off the court management docket system back in February of 2013, which is an action rarely, if ever, seen in a criminal case while the defendant remains locked up in a jail cell. Also, the state’s failure to bring his case before the courts for trial within a one year period, triggers the presumption that the defendants 6th amendment constitutional rights have been violated.

In short, young Shannon Nyamodi is being held hostage, unlawfully detained, and held in captivity at the very least, and without any pending charges against him within the state’s court docket system. The youth’s family, advocates, and a growing concerned public, all ponder why the state apparently has no desire to pursue the case in a trial before a court of law. If evidence exist which can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Shannon Nyamodi committed such a horrible crime, then why hasn’t the case gained any momentum in over a year? The combined peculiarity of his hired legal counsel having sided with the state to archive the case file, threats made against Shannon by his attorney prohibiting him from talking to his mother or anyone else about the case with threats of aiding the state in convicting him, the unexplained reasons for his isolation while in jail , and Shannon having been denied access to his family all collectively point to a conspiracy of some kind to wrongfully convict an innocent man.

We now live in a global society where the rights of the people are continuously dissipating, and those of us who care about justice, fairness, and a man’s right to due process under the law can not stand by idle while such atrocities occur. Give Shannon Nyamodi his day in court or set the youth free. This perspective is essentially the basis from which many followers of this case have developed complete outrage. While many cite the premise for such a judicial debacle as having derived from racism widely believed to be indigenous to North Carolina courts, the family of Shannon Nyamodi advocate racism as being a non factor pertaining to the youth’s case, and while continuously articulating that white people have been their strongest supporters aiding their plight to set Shannon free while historical African American Civil Rights groups have turned a blind eye to his case.

Despite the tremendous upheaval the Nyamodi family face obtaining Shannon’s freedom, real help has arrived from attorneys now working behind the scenes developing a plan to fight for the youth. The family have depleted their funds, essentially when they gave Maitry “Mike” Klinkosum $50,000.00 dollars to defend Shannon. Klinkosum’s complete ineptness while responsible for his defense, has turned out to be a nightmare, and efforts are being made to solicit funding through a booster campaign to raise additional funds for the legal representation of Shannon Nyamodi. The law firm working the case has committed to Shannon’s defense, and have conveyed to the family to raise what they can while they will continue to work for the youth’s eventual release. The family and TPC pleads to readers around the world who believe in justice for all people, to support this effort by purchasing a “Free Shannon Nyamodi” T-Shirt to help his legal funding, and show support of this horrible human rights story. The T-Shirts are priced at $25.00 dollars and are for a good cause. An innocent man’s life is in the balance, so please help us set him free. T-Shirts can be purchased at: Free Shannon Nyamodi 

The official supporting T-Shirt for the Shannon Nyamodi Legal Fund.

Additionally, Shannon has been placed on segregated housing at the Franklin County jail, which means he is only allowed out of his jail cell for one hour a day, while being confined for 23 hours. This young man has no prior criminal history and completely unfamiliar with the correctional system what so ever. There is growing concern for his mental health and psychological well being. The confinement of any human being in such a fashion will eventually take it’s toll of a person’s mental state. It’s widely believed by many associated with the case, that officials responsible for Shannon’s incarceration are manipulating his jailers into housing Shannon in such a way, to wear him down in an effort to get him to accept a plea deal in this case for a crime he did not commit. Ms. Elizabeth Crudup (Shannon’s mother) continues to request that the public write letters of encouragement to her son as a measure of support to help him hold on, and not give up hope.

Letters of encouragement can be sent to: Shannon Nyamodi, 285 T. Kemp Road, Louisburg, NC 27549. Also, those who want to send donations of a lesser/greater amount and not interested in purchasing a T-Shirt may offer a monetary donation at: The Shannon Nyamodi Legal Fund. May God be with Shannon Nyamodi during his plight to gain his freedom, and may God bless us all. On behalf of the Nyamodi family The People’s Champion thanks all supporters in advance for their contributions. God speed!

To Be Continued ..

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams