N.C. Criminal Justice System Failed Eve Carson: Killer and Defendant were

Repeatedly Arrested, Even Convicted While on Probation, Without being Jailed

 

 

Murder victim Eve Carson

 

 

By Nicholas Stix

 

Today, the prosecution and defense are making their closing arguments in the trial of Laurence Lovette Jr. for the murder of Eve Carson. But if the probation system had done its job, Carson would still be alive, because no one would have been on the street to kill her on March 5, 2008.

 

Carson's convicted killer, Demario "Rio" Atwater, and defendant Laurence Lovette Jr. were both on probation at the time, and had each repeatedly been arrested prior to Carson's murder, without either ever being returned to jail for violating his probation. Atwater, who had been convicted in February 2005 of felony breaking and entering, was even convicted of a further felony, possession of a firearm, in June 2007, and still wasn't incarcerated!

 

Meanwhile, Lovette's probation officer, Chalita Nicole Thomas, never met with him. Thomas got into all sorts of trouble for a series of 11 arrests of her own, in four different counties, over the course of four years. She was arrested at least twice for DUI, and once for carrying a concealed weapon. The media didn't feel that it was the public's business what she was arrested for the other eight times. The North Carolina media then "disappeared" the Chalita Thomas story, so we don't know if she landed in jail, or even if she lost her probation officer job. (Otherwise, all that is known about her is that she has tried her luck as a model.)

 

 

 

In practice, probation has become a ruse and an affirmative action program. It purports to be "doing something," response to black and Hispanic crime, while doing nothing. Black and Hispanic offenders commit felonies, get convicted, and since they are sentenced to probation, the felonies are on the house. Then, while on "probation," they continue committing felonies, which are also on the house, as long as they don't commit something "serious" crimes, like murder. (Sound like the sophistry employed by the Treason Lobby, on behalf of illegal aliens? It's the defining down of deviancy on steroids, at least where protected "minorities" are concerned.)

 

Then again, even First-Degree Murder often doesn't count as a serious offense for certain offender groups in certain jurisdictions, like Harris County, Texas.

 

The main for the meaningless sentences of "probation" is because tens of millions of blacks in this country are outraged at the idea of imprisoning black felons, a practice they call "racist." Another reason for the probation sentences, is in order to rationalize the hiring of do-nothing "professional blacks" like Chalita Thomas as probation officers, who expect to be paid simply for being black. (Ditto for Hispanics.)

 

I initially wrote that one reason for "probation" was to save money on prisons, but then realized that blacks support all spending, as long as it is confiscated from whites, and given to blacks.

 

The only rationale for probation would be for first-time offenders who are not hard cases, and who might benefit from a "second chance," under the supervision of a trained professional who will ensure that the offender stays out of trouble, and works and/or gets an education and/or vocational training, so that he may become a productive member of society. However, the concept of probation also necessarily entailed until recently that violating it would result in the offender being jailed to complete the remainder of his sentence, plus the sentence for his new crime. Since blacks and Hispanics can now violate their probation with near impunity, the public must learn that such programs are billion-dollar scams that have nothing to do with their names or histories.

 

  

I could find little about the N.C. Department of Corrections' investigation into the botching of Atwater and Lovette's probations mentioned in the first article below. The media apparently "disappeared" that, too.

 

Previously, at WEJB/NSU:

 

"One of Eve Carson's Killers Gets Sentenced to Life Until Parole";

 

"Eve Carson Murder Suspect Trial Date Set";

 

"Laurence Lovette to Stand Trial in Eve Carson Murder";

 

"Upcoming, Diversity-Based Murder Trials the National MSM are Ignoring";

 

"Laurence Lovette Jr. Pleads Not Guilty to Murdering Eve Carson";

 

"Jury Selection Begins in Eve Carson Murder Trial";

 

"Trial Starts in Eve Carson Murder";

 

"Videos from the Trials of Laurence Lovette Jr. and Demario Atwater for the Murder of Eve Carson";

 

"Convicted Killer Demario Atwater's Girlfriend Testifies at the Trial of Laurence Lovette Jr. for the Murder of Eve Carson";

 

"How the Cops Got on Laurence Lovette Jr.'s Trail: An Eve Carson Murder Trial Update":

 

"HLN Covers the Eve Carson Murder Trial on the Air, but Not at Its Web Site";

 

"Medical Examiner, Friend of Laurence Lovette Testify in Eve Carson Murder Trial";

 

"Eve Carson Wanted to Pray with Her Killers";

 

"Eve Carson Trial on HLN";

 

"We Have a Match! Laurence Lovette's DNA was Found in Eve Carson's SUV"; and

 

"Prosecution, Defense Rest in Eve Carson Murder Trial; Closing Arguments to Come on Monday."

 

 

 

Defendant Laurence Lovette Jr. in costume during

Eve Carson murder trial. New 'do, new suit; the only

thing missing are the fake eyeglasses.

 

 

One of Eve Carson's killers, Demario "Rio" Atwater, is serving two life sentences for murdering her, though how he'll serve one, die, and serve another is a mystery to me

 

Updated 04/02/2008 07:06 AM

Errors made in both probation cases

By Shelvia Dancy

Demario Atwater, Lawrence Lovette Jr.

 

RALEIGH -- The State Department of Corrections has wrapped up its investigation into the probation files of two men accused of murdering UNC Chapel Hill student Eve Carson.

Court records show both 17-year-old Lawrence Lovette and 21-year-old Demario Atwater were arrested multiple times while already on probation, and they were both out on probation when Carson was killed.

The results of the Department of Corrections' investigation will be released Wednesday, and some hope the report will answer some tough questions.The State Department of Corrections has wrapped up it's investigation into the probation files of two men accused of murdering UNC Chapel Hill student Eve Carson.

"On first impression it indicates a very serious breakdown in the system," said state Rep. Dan Blue, D-Wake. "It indicates, number one, that somebody was asleep at the switch."

He wonders whether the probe will provide the answers the public wants.

"One of the starting points would be to figure out how the entire probation violation review process works to make sure things are in place to immediately get violators back into the court," Blue said.

Others hope the department's investigation will offer answers about the work of Lovette's probation officer, Chalita Thomas. She had a criminal past that included two arrests for driving while impaired. Officials said she also failed to properly update Lovette's file.

 

Chalita Nicole Thomas

 

 

"How many DUIs does it take to be fired as a state employee?" asked Durham City Councilman Eugene Brown. "Is it one, is it two, is it three? So in many ways, in my judgment, Ms. Thomas epitomizes the failure of the system.

"And it goes beyond her because the case loads these probation officers have is just outlandish. No one can do the job, and ovbviously she did not do the job. We have a lot of good, hardworking conscientious state employees, but this woman is not one of them."

Blue said he also hopes the report examines the workload of probation officers.

"We have to make sure that the people who are doing this work are competent to do the jobs for which they're hired," Blue said. "We have to look at case loads and we have to look at how these probation officers are executing their case load."

Brown said the investigation into Carson's death shows that the legal system failed not only her, but the public too.

"You begin with the premise that the system failed us, so what are we going to do to correct the system, where were the mistakes made, how can we make sure it doesn't happen again," Brown said.

"If we don't rise up and seize this opportunity in response to what happened last month, then we're going to be sitting here six months from now or a year from now talking about similar cases where criminals were left on the street and they went on to commit heinous crimes.

"And we just simply cannot allow that to happen."

 

Probation revoked for Carson suspect

The attorney representing a man accused of murdering UNC Chapel Hill student Eve Carson said probation officials "dropped the ball" with his client. See why.

  

Undated, circa May, 2008

Charlotte News14

 

RALEIGH -- The attorney representing a man accused of murdering UNC Chapel Hill student Eve Carson said probation officials "dropped the ball" with his client. During a probation revocation hearing Thursday for 21-year-old Demario Atwater, attorney Rudy Renfer told a Superior Court judge that probation officials did not keep in touch with Atwater as often as they should have.

"If the probation office, the probation department does not do a better job informing them, and keeping people on probation informed of their responsibilities, they can't fulfill those responsibilities," Renfer said, after Superior Court Judge Ripley Rand revoked Atwater's probation, sending him behind bars for 20 to 25 months. "I think if this had been an average probation violation hearing, the problems that the probation department had supervising him, I don't think it would have led to a revocation."

Atwater was placed on three years of probation in February 2005 after he was convicted of felony breaking and entering in Wake County. In June 2007 he was convicted of possessing a firearm in Granville County. That conviction violated his probation terms. Renfer said Atwater did not think he was still on probation for that conviction because officers did not keep in touch with him.

"When it comes to community service he was supposed to do, probation officers they assign that, they tell you where to go, bring me proof that you're doing it - who does he go to? Who does he pay the money to? Who does he bring proof of employment to? There was simply none of that in this case," Renfer said. 

 

Demario Atwater

 

 

 

Officials with the Department of Corrections have acknowledged they mishandled probation for Atwater and his co-defendant in the Carson case, 17-year-old Laurence Lovette. Lovette also faces first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato. Both Lovette and Atwater were out on probation when the crimes occurred.

"The supervision of Mr. Atwater on probation by this division is extremely disappoint, flat-out embarrassing," said Robert Guy, director of the state Department of Corrections' Division of Community Corrections, in a news conference last month after his department released a report investigating the issue. The report found that probation officers did not make sure that Atwater met the terms of his probation, which required him to meet every week with an officer. The report also faulted officials for not immediately revoking his probation after he was convicted of having a gun in June 2007.

"They were told by computer as well as telephone 'we've got him, he's here, what do you want us to do with him,'" Guy said. "We just told them to come in next month for a contact. That's unacceptable."

The report also pointed out that Atwater's case was transferred to several probation officers, and at one point a year passed without anyone making contact with him. Guy said the report found more unacceptable issues in Lovette's file.

"Only one face-to-face contact occurred with Lovette, that was the day of processing," Guy said. 

 

Laurence Lovette

 

 

Several people within the state Department of Corrections have already resigned as a result of the investigation into the probation files of Lovette and Atwater.

During Thursday's court appearance, Atwater acknowledged violating probation, and listened quietly as the judge activated his suspended sentences. Renfer said if the probation system doesn't change, others will meet the same fate.

"You're going to have a lot of folks who are going to be charged and arrested and charged with violating probation, when the probation department hasn't been doing their job sufficiently," Renfer said.

Atwater appeared in court days before Carson's death to answer to probation violation charges, but an administrative error sent him home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham, NC (ABC affiliate)

 

Probation officer never met with Lovette

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

DURHAM (WTVD/ABC) -- Department of Correction is investigating postdated embellishments in Laurence Lovette's probation records.

In just over a year as an adult, Laurence Lovette racked up quite a criminal record. And the supervision of Laurence Lovette's probation was less than stellar. State officials have already admitted that, but Eyewitness News has learned that even Lovette's probation officer, Chalita Thomas, is no stranger to the law.

Keith Acree with the NC Department of Correction explains, "I'd characterize that as unusual but not unheard of. I mean, you know, we hire human beings off the streets like other folks do."

Related Content

Story: Probably 2 trials for UNC, Duke suspect

Story: Gang suspicions surround murders

Story: Lovette in court for Duke grad student's murder

Story: Judge: need anti-gang legislation passed

Story: Atwater's arrest shows justice system flaws

Story: Police search Lovette's home

Story: Lovette, Atwater waive court date

Story: Lovette's probation officer faces charges

According to probation records, the probation officer in charge of Laurence Lovette never met with the teenager.

Officer Chalita Thomas was pulled off the case in early March, due to a drunken-driving charge. Reportedly, she went by Lovette's mother's home in Durham once in late February, but he was not there.

Thomas' record shows eleven criminal charges filed against her in four counties over five years. The charges include carrying a concealed weapon and two DWI's the latest DWI charge was in Wake County last year. "That's one of the issues we're looking into as part of our investigation," Acree said.

Acree says the Department of Corrections is conducting an extensive investigation of Lovette's probation and the probation for the other man accused of killing Eve Carson Demario Atwater.

State documents obtained by Eyewitness News show that Lovette's probation records were updated on the day Lovette was arrested, apparently by Thomas, his probation officer.

State officials say that's part of their investigation, but they don't believe it is a coincidence. "After it became known who the suspects in the Eve Carson murder were, and we realized that they were out probationers, the supervisor directed the probation officer to take all the notes she had from her contacts with Lovette and enter those in the computer," Acree explained.

Some of the late entries, five total, on Lovette's probation records appear to embellish earlier entries, which violate Division of Community Corrections policies. They require officers to record their notes by the end of the next business day.

How much of the blame, if any, in the Lovette case falls on his probation officer remains to be seen. Acree says, "I think some of this certainly we're probably going to see falls at the officer level. But there are probably some systemic issues we need to look at here as well."

Thomas, 26, has been put on desk duty at least until the state's investigation is complete.

 

 

 

Probation Officer Never Met With Killer (Link is dead.)

 

March 25, 2008

Charlotte Observer

 

The probation officer in charge of keeping track of Laurence Alvin Lovette never met with the teenager, according to probation records. Officer Chalita N. Thomas, pulled off the case in early March because of a drunken-driving charge, went by Lovette's mother's home in Durham once in late February, according to the probation records, but he was not there.

Then, on the day Lovette was charged with murder in the deaths of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson and Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato, Thomas added a backdated account of missed meetings and phone calls into computer records, according to probation records.

The late entries, five in all, violate Division of Community Corrections policies, which require officers to record their notes by the end of the next business day. Keith Acree, a spokesman for the state Department of Correction, said the postdated account is one of the areas an internal investigation is examining.

The investigation has been under way since the arrest of Lovette and Demario Atwater, 21, another murder suspect in the Carson case under the probation system's watch. That investigation is due to end late this week or early next, Acree said.

"As we look at this, we're uncovering many things," Acree said. "We've got some questions about management and hiring practices."

Lovette, a 17-year-old with a juvenile criminal record, was put on probation in the adult system Jan. 16, the day he pleaded guilty to larceny and breaking and entering. Because his juvenile record was not available for public scrutiny during his adult court hearings, Lovette was given a probation sentence that called for monthly contact with his officer.

As Lovette battled his legal troubles, Thomas, the woman assigned to check up on him, was having problems of her own.

In late December, less than two years after being convicted of driving while impaired in March 2006, Thomas, was charged with a second DWI. Such offenses are supposed to be reported to supervisors immediately and an officer is to be put on administrative duty, Acree said.

Correction officials had not determined late Tuesday why Thomas was not put on administrative duty until March 7, two days after Carson's death.

Thomas could not be reached for comment.

Her postdated account of her supervision of Lovette's case describes at least two cell phone conversations with him.

The only entry made before March 13, the day Lovette was charged in Carson's March 5 homicide and Mahato's Jan. 18 death, was brief. It described a visit Feb. 28 to the home of Lovette's mother. Lovette "was not present at the home, but mother confirmed that defendant lives at 1213 Shepherd St. ... Defendant lives in a tan house with beige shutters. Defendant house is located on the right side of the street with a red door."

An entry made March 13 describes a more urgent attempt to contact Lovette on Feb. 28, with a warning left on the door.

"This door tag ... stated that if defendant didn't call this PPO [probation-parole officer] back by 2/29/08 at approximately 9:00 hrs. an order for arrest would be issued."

On March 3, two days before Carson was killed, Lovette called Thomas on her cell phone, according to the probation records. The Durham probation offices were moving, according to Thomas' account, so Lovette was given an appointment for March 10.

It was unclear whether Thomas was taken off the Lovette case before or after her change in job status March 7.

But in an entry for March 10, recorded three days after the fact, the officer describes a phone call from Lovette's mother.

"Defendant's mother called this PPO at approximately 11:15 a.m.," the entry states. According to the notes, Lovette's mother said a Durham detective had been calling the house looking for her son, hoping to get him to turn himself in on a stolen property case.

"Defendant's mother stated that it was over a pair of shoes that they stated he had taken from another guy," the entry said. "This PPO informed defendant's mother that I was not supervising my caseload at this current time and I would forward this information to my supervisor."

It was unclear whether the supervisor ever received the information.

 

[Thanks to NNN.]