Prosecutors: police erred in Chandra Levy case, when they focused on Condit

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

Prosecutors acknowledged Monday that police made a huge mistake nearly a decade ago when they focused on then-Congressman Gary Condit in the disappearance of Washington intern Chandra Levy, but they told a jury they now have the right man.

Ingmar Guandique, a native of El Salvador, is charged with the attempted sexual assault, kidnapping and murder of Levy in the city's Rock Creek Park in May 2001. Levy was romantically linked to Condit, and the California Democrat was once a suspect. Police no longer believe he had anything to do with Levy's death.

In her opening statement, prosecutor Amanda Haines told the jury that "law enforcement really let Miss Levy and her family down. They veered in the wrong direction because of the media and sensationalism."

She said Condit tried to keep his affair with Levy a secret, and that led investigators to assume he was the prime suspect and "allowed Mr. Guandique to hide in plain sight."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101025/ap_on_re_us/us_chandra_levy

[ixion]

1. Well, the 'err' cost Condit his career

so they ought to have a nice lawsuit on the way.

[Kookaburra]

3. That would be sweet if he did sue

I wish he would sue them, but not holding out hope that it will happen.

[pacalo]

2. Not before ruining his life. So sad all around.

[niyad]

4. interesting the difference between condit and morning joe.

just went back to look up the story on the dead woman in joe's driveway. had not realized the two situations were occurring at almost exactly the same time:

Lori Klausutis
Murder Mystery?

Anybody know why Republican Congressman, Joe Scarborough mysteriously resigned?


Everyone knows who Gary Condit is and we all know all about the tragic death of Chandra Levy. But who was Lori Klausutis? How did she die? ... Most Americans have no idea, thanks to a mass media run by right-wingers for right-wingers. ... Of course while the "liberal" media was going nuts over the Gary Condit and Chandra Levy mess all through the summer of 2001, they completely ignored the Klausutis affair.

Lori Klausutis was found dead in former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach office at about 8:10 a.m. on July 20, 2001 by Juanita and Andreas Bergmann, who claim they had an appointment that morning with Rep. Scarborough to facilitate Mr. Bergmann's application for a green card. Mr. Scarborough, however, was allegedly still in Washington, D.C. and flew home only later that day.

The day after Mrs. Klausutis was found, the police said there was no evidence of "foul play or trauma to her body." The following day, having performed his autopsy and while waiting for the results of blood tests, Dr. Michael Berkland, the medical examiner, told the press that there was "absolutely no evidence" that Lori was "a victim of 'foul play.'" By July 26, although Berkland had still not received the toxicology results, which he noted would likely play a key role in determining whether Ms. Klausutis had died of natural causes or accidentally, Berkland stated that he had "ruled out homicide." While he said he didn't think that suicide was a likely scenario either, he stated that he was also investigating it as a possibility.

Finally, on August 6, Berkland released the autopsy. Oddly, although the police had originally stated that there were no signs of trauma, Berkland acknowledged that Klausutis had sustained a "scratch and bruise" on her head which had been noted in the original death investigation. His explanation for having lied to the press was to "prevent undue speculation" about the cause of death.

Berkland determined that Lori, an avid runner who ran fivemiles a day, had a prolapsed mitral valve which caused a sudden cardiac arrhythmia -- an irregular heartbeat -- which in turn caused Lori to faint "in midstride," and hit her head on the desk. How Berkland came up with this theory is unknown since the medical report contains no description of the death scene, no diagram of the location of the body, or its posture or appearance as Berkland first observed it on the morning of July 20th..

Ms. Klausutis had allegedly suffered from previous health problems, but her family issued a statement contradicting this.

So how does a healthy, physically fit, 28-year-old woman suddenly "faint" of a previously undetected heart problem?

The story bears remarkable and ironic similarities to the Condit/Levy story. Both involve Congressmen, rumors of infidelity, and the fate of a younger female subordinate. The details are so similar as to remind one of two alternate universes. The difference between the two stories? First, in the Klausutis case as not in the Levy case, there is a real body, very dead. Second, the Klausutis case involves a Republican.

http://surftofind.com/scandal

[Bitwit1234]

7. It also has to be noted that the ME was a hack. He had been

fired from two other positions and was brought in to this county in Florida and "performed" the autopsy. And air line records proved that Scarbrough was in Florida until he caught a flight to DC early the night before. And said he was there all the time. Also it was made public that she had TWO places on her skull that had come in contact with a blunt object. Now I can believe she "fell" and hit her head once, but just think since they said it was suicide, can you imagine a person committing suicide by hitting their head TWICE on a desk. The whole incident stunk to high heaven and to this day still does. AND last year the GOP wanted Scarbrough to run in Florida and he declined, with all the publicity he gets from his job at MSNBC he would have been a shoo in why did he decline?

[ThomCat]

9. Well, Joe is a Republican, and rules don't apply to republicans.

Republicans have to be protected from any possible repercussions. Their reputations have to be protected, forever! Their career opportunities have to be protected, forever!

We all know that! Duh.

That explains the entire difference. :(

[iverglas]

24. I'd actually never heard of the Scarborough case

but just wanted to bring this to your attention re "So how does a healthy, physically fit, 28-year-old woman suddenly 'faint' of a previously undetected heart problem?"

It actually is not all that uncommon, and in fact it's athletes who tend to be the victims.

http://heartdisease.about.com/od/palpitationsarrhythmias/a/suddendeath_athletes.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sudden-death/HB00092
http://www.sads.org.uk/
(I know someone in England whose young son died as a result of SADS - sudden arrhythmic death syndrome)

I have no idea whether any of the conditions in question would have applied to the deceased woman, of course. It's just that it wouldn't do to base a conspiracy theory on lack of knowledge.

[county worker]

5. So did the freepers and Rim Job!

[Bitwit1234]

6. You can blame the err on Billy Williams as much as the police

he was the Levy's attorney. Who constantly and every lasting had press conference after press conference saying Condit was the guy. They and Williams kept the police focused on Condit. In a way you can't fault the parents, but if my child was missing and presumed dead, if they had a person of interest, Condit, who had all kinds of alibis as to his where abouts, I would ask the police to investigate further with other suspects. They could keep Condit in mind, but I would be sure they ran down other people. AND this guy they have now was mentioned. and the police turned a blind eye. There were also two other deaths in the DC area that mirrored Levy's disappearance but the police poo-pooed they also. I don't think they every found out who did those. And people said the same person could have done all three. It is too bad when the police get tunnel vision. You read about it in the media all the time. They focus on one person and try to twist the facts to fit that person. Then years later they find the person they focused on never did it and they have wasted time and haven't found the person who did the crime.

[Name removed]

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[AlinPA]

8. The media was most responsible for ruining Condit's career. They were all over him like ghouls. nt

[valerief]

13. Absolutely. The media covers what its puppetmasters tell it to cover and avoid

what those puppetmasters say to avoid.

[girl gone mad]

10. I feel a lot of sympathy for Chandra..

for so many reasons.

Seems like she was preyed upon by more than one man in her short life.

[Lindsey]

11. The character attact on Condit was beyond belief. They ruined

his career and his life. There's no doubt in my mind that the right-wingers were behind this and all I can hope for is that the karmic ramifications will some day come to pass.

[Name removed]

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[Taverner]

12. EXACTLY

No one was asking "who did this?"

They were instead asking "Did Condit do this?"

Hence, the problem

[LawnLover]

14. I Owe Condit an Apology

I was convinced he did it.

Then again, what's the evidence against this particular guy? I have no idea how they caught him.

[cbdo2007]

15. That wasn't an error, he actually was a person of interest who was sneaking around with Levy

in parks and stuff like where she was found.

It's not like they just plucked some guy out at random and accused him of killing her. Most murders occur by the spouse/partner person so that makes the most sense.

[Kelvin Mace]

17. "person of interest" is a bullshit phrase

the word is "suspect".

[cbdo2007]

18. Ok, he was a "suspect" - who cares??? Anyone who thinks he shouldn't have been

a suspect is crazy.

[Kelvin Mace]

23. Yes, and the police should have actually INVESTIGATED

the case instead of just deciding that Condit must be guilty, and if they could not make a charge stick, they could destroy him publicly with leaks to the press.

This is the same shit that was pulled on the parents of Joan Bennet Ramsey. The police go in, do a pathetic investigation, then let them twist in the wind, while feeding leaks to the press that an arrest is coming.

When the police make assumptions in place of actually investigating, innocent people get hurt and guilty people walk.

We had another example of this in my home state just this week. Police show up at a murder scene, a ten year old and his mother dead by shotgun blasts. The locals feel out of their depth, so they call in "experts" from the SBI.

To them, the case appeared open and shut. Tyler's thumb was on the trigger. A suicide note was stashed beneath the pillow cradling his mother's head. A CD with violent music by rapper 50 Cent was found in a nearby stereo.

By evening, less than seven hours after police had been called to Pulley's home, the SBI turned the house back over to the family.

An investigator broke the news to Tyler's father, Dan Jones: Tyler shot his mother, then killed himself. They told the same thing to a pathologist before autopsies began. The theory blasted across television news stations that night.

The swift conclusion shocked Warren County deputy Regina Nolan Thomas, the lead local detective.

"You don't walk into a scene and judge it right away," said Thomas, who left the sheriff's office in 2007. "You have to search every nook and cranny."

The SBI left a trail of evidence behind. Bloodied bedsheets and carpet remained. So did a shotgun pellet lodged in the wall in Pulley's bedroom. They almost missed the suicide note; the undertaker said he found it when he lifted Pulley's body. No one searched Tyler's bookbag from his mom's SUV.

Investigators also failed to notice that Pulley's fireproof lock box, where she kept important papers, was empty. Among the missing items: life insurance policies worth $700,000 that named as beneficiary the mother of Pulley's boyfriend, Dennis Carter.

Despite TONS of evidence that the deaths were not what the SBI claimed, they refused to investigate leads brought to them. They demanded a signed confession before they would deign to be bothered reviewing the case.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/24/757525/sbis-quick-field-work-leaves-behind.html

Condit may have been carrying on with Levy, but that is no excuse for the police to refuse to do their job.

[Name removed]

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[Quantess]

22. Good point.

I agree that the police were looking closely at Condit for good reason. It's unfortunate that he got wrongly blamed and embarrassed by the media, but it would have been inappropriate for the police to immediately give him a pass.

His career is ruined, sure. At least he isn't in Chandra Levy's place, though.

[Kelvin Mace]

16. I wonder when the South Park folks will update their episode?

So far, Condit and the Ramsey's have been cleared of the whisper campaign that police and prosecutors waged against them. South Park has an episode that joined in that smear job.