Although Alton Maddox may be subject from time to time to fits of hyperbole, he is not a racist.  He is a truth speaker who is not afraid to point out to all and sundry that the emperor is not wearing clothes.  Alton Maddox consistantly points out what White folks don't want to hear.  I'm not about to swear on a stack of bibles that Mr. Pagones was one of those who raped and humiliated Ms. Brawley, but a 15 year old girl does not put themselves in a plastic bag, smear feces over themselves and write racist epithets on themselves.  I am convinced that Tawana Brawley told the truth, aand chose to quietly disengage herself from public view rather than subject herself to further humiliating public scrutiny.

Jury's have been proven to be wrong.  Just like the truth came out years and prison terms served later that the Central Park Jogger was not raped by the boys accused.

Btw, OJ did not kill Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman.  Evidence was suppressed that Nicole owed drug dealers a significant amout of money for cocaine.  I believe they were killed by either the Mexican or Columbian Mafia.  When you owe a criminal organization that much money, they will kill you.

a few days ago. It is common knowledge within certain circles in the Black community. (I have no dog in this fight, nor am I anyone's fan. The story itself is compelling. I happened to follow it from the beginning.) The past couple of days, I have been attempting to obtain documentation to buttress certain aspects of the story. Please bear with me, it is convoluted, with myriad legalistic twists and turns.

In addition, I am asking you to remember the context: a 15 year old girl was raped and left unconscious in a garbage bag. The alleged perpetrators were men employed in various law enforcement positions. Steven Pagones, who you referenced in your rebuttal, was a Dutchess County assistant district attorney in 1987. His father was a city court judge and his uncle was a family court judge.

Now imagine if any of NYC's well-connected ADA's were accused of being involved in a situation like this. If innocent, all prosecutorial powers would be brought to bear. If guilty, those same prosecutorial powers could be employed to deflect blame. Who would expect anything less?

Here goes:

Pagones sued Maddox for defamation of character of a dead man, Harry Christ, who was also implicated in the incident. Christ, a Duchess County police officer, was said to have committed suicide 2 days after Tawana's description of  her perpetrators pointed to him. An autopsy report suppressed for more than 10 years communicated that Christ was likely a homicide victim. The pathologist who actually conducted the autopsy was never called to testify at trial.

The judge was S. Barrett Hickman, who passed away in November 2007. Hickman instructed the jury that "truth is no defense." The jury award damages for defamation of Christ, a dead man, partly based on this instruction. The jury sheet said Maddox did not defame Pagones.

Maddox refused to pay. After the verdict, Hickman took a trip to South Africa. Judge Tolbert was in charge of the post-verdict proceedings while Hickman was away. Tolbert oversaw a compromise that was sent back to Hickman.  Maddox and Pagones agreed that the money would be put in escrow pending a hearing on the lawfulness of the judgement, something akin to a motion to set aside the verdict. 

A hearing on the lawfulness of the verdict was to take place when Hichman came back. Hickman did not notify Maddox of his return. Instead, Hickman gave the escrow money to Pagones.

Maddox filed a formal complaint against Hickman for violating the escrow agreement. Hickman was supposed to hold a hearing before dispensing the money.

In the meantime, Hickman reached age 70, the legal age at which a judge is mandated to retire in NYS. Hickman filed an application for extention of his term another 6 years. His application, which is usually granted as a courtesy to jurists, was denied. Maddox says his complaint regarding Hickman's handling of the escrow account contributed to Hickman being compelled to step down from the bench.

Incidentally, Maddox says AG Andrew Cuomo could take up the issue of the lawfulness of the verdict and move to have the money returned to escrow.

Going back to your source, Yoda, as much as it pains me, I have to give the "paper of record" the benefit of the doubt. This time. A search within the paper's website found 9 pages of links to articles on the trial. Nothing about Hickman's mishandling of the escrow. The same thing happened with broader net wide searches.

Why? I called the NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct. Their person in charge of public records told me state law prevents the release of complaint information, which is confidential. Regarding the Commission's decisions, if a judge is publicly sanctioned -- removed, censured, or admonished -- that information is released, and on their website. Some  complaints and subsequent decisions are not made public. In Hickman's case, he was "not publicly sanctioned." which meant she "can't disclose if the judge was removed, censured or admonished." She could not tell me if a complaint was filed against Hickman, even though he is deceased. She did say a complaintant was welcome to request a copy of their original complaint, in writing and signed. The complaintant could also ask for a copy of the commission's decision, which could be provided as a courtesy. 

Of course, I asked Maddox for his records. He could not immediately put his hands on the documents, for reasons I won't go into.

The reason the Black community knows about Hickman is that Maddox has been telling us what has been going on over the years. There may be one newspaper, now defunct, that more than likely covered the story better than the Times. That pre-internet paper, The City Sun, was popular in it's day. It should be archived somewhere. When I get a chance, I will check.

In addition, the Black community has a tradition of going to court and observing proceedings in particular cases.  It is the American way. There are many who witnessed the whole thing, first hand.

Pagones' name will not go away partly because one of the members of the original Brawley Grand Jury gave an interview more than 20 years ago regarding what happened in that Grand Jury. That member of the jury said among other things, that they were struck by testimony that Pagones had stated that a girl was found in a garbage bag 2 hours before Tawana was found. This interview was videotaped and has been available all these years. I can get you a copy, if you like.

There are many who see the issue surrounding Maddox's license to practice law, and the current challenges to his home and office, as continuations of legal vindictiveness and abuse. More on Maddox's license at another time.

to violate the law.

As I wrote, there were many witnesses to the whole thing. Black people were present in court daily to witness the proceedings. I guess that doesn't count.

Like I said, when I get a chance I will look up City Sun archives. (The original City Sun was a Black newspaper owned by the late Andrew Cooper.)

BTW, if a propaganda machine does not cover a story, does that mean it did not happen?

Memo to Black folk: if you do not support your papers and journalists financially, consistently, and with a measure of sophistication, you cannot effectively compete in the marketplace of ideas.  I have been deliberately avoiding writing on this topic, but sooner or later I will. And it won't be pretty.

They covered the Tawana Brawley incident extensively, and published a 40 page special edition.

He will put it up this weekend. When it goes up, I will post a link here.

I don't expect that to be enough for you, but that's OK. I have experience dealing with recalcitrance, and don't get upset when people demonstrate they don't know, or resist new information. Especially when they have been indoctrinated with one-sided, limited, slanted points of view. 

I came to New York and heard the name Tawana Browley, and knew very little until I have just read your article.  I need to get all the information to have a vivid understanding of this henous crime.  My friends overseas know very little but are rather interested as well.  Please keep me posted.

 Josiah.

Thank you Mary Alice Miller for your re-cap of the Tawana Brawley and her attorney Alton Maddox's ordeal for justice.  I witnessed two Jews getting out of a car on the corner of Nostrand and President street in Brooklyn, NY taking a roped bundle of "City Sun" newspapers from a newsstand which use to be at that corner late in the evening.  The "City Sun" re-ran an article they ran a week previously of Tawana Brawley lying in her hospital bed with her hair chopped off and medical reports about bacteria she sustained because of human excrement put inside her body because the previous distribution was sabatoged.  I'll never forget that picture or the story revealed by the "City Sun" paper. If you can obtain that article from archives it would serve the community well; it is still current events 22 years later and shall remain current events until Justice is served.

Attorney Alton Maddox is not a racist.  He is a qualified ethical African American Man. He is a decendant of African Slaves in America which was perpetrated by racist White persons.  If you have a need to speak on racism speak the truth and set yourself free.  The Tawanna Brawley ordeal is a clear indication of the high moral ethics that is practiced by Atty. Alton Maddox, you need to get with the program of morality and ethics. 

You know I have nothing but the deepest respect for your writing, but it took me five minutes on the web to find this decision by Judge Hickman, and it appears to refute a lot of what you just said.

 http://www.courts.state.ny.us/press/old_keep/brawley.htm

Could it be that Maddox is delusional? 

If you don't have the time to read all of Gatemouth's link, here the highlights that refute Maddox's lies. Mason and Maddox continued to represent throughout the trial that they would prove the truth of Brawley’s allegations.

On repeated occasions, having subpoenaed witnesses to the courthouse, they withdrew their subpoenas and the witnesses never testified. 2The attempt to prove that Harry Crist, Jr. wasmurdered by Pagones was unsupported by any credible evidence. Mason’s attempt to relate Brawley’s chlamydia infection in 1987 to Pagones’ common type urinary infection in 1993 was without any reliable basis in fact. Mason’s early claim that medical records at Westchester Medical Center revealed five separate types of sperm found on Brawley turned out to be totally false. There was absolutely nothing in those records to substantiate this claim.

Meaningful medical evidence that Brawley was raped and as Mason claimed, sodomized in two ways, was totally lacking. It is inconceivable, even to lay persons without medical expertise such as those serving on the jury, that Brawley, a fifteen year old, could have been repeatedly raped and sodomized in two ways by six men over a four day period without significant physical evidence to support her allegations. The extensive cross-examination of those who treated and those who observed Brawley after she was discovered produced nothing of substance to sustain these allegations.

Defendants were all afforded broad opportunity to examine former Assistant Attorney General Ryan and to otherwiseattack the efficacy of the Grand Jury report. In fact, the Court also signed a subpoena presented by Maddox for the appearance of Michael Baden, an expert in forensic pathology who testified before the Grand Jury. At the last moment, that subpoena was withdrawn. No other expert witnesses were called by Mason or Maddox to contradict the analyses of the various experts presented to the Grand Jury. Among these were psychological opinions, including one by Dr. Park Elliott Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist and professor of behavioral medicine and psychiatry at the University of Virginia. In the report at page 115, it is stated that "Dr. Dietz concluded that Tawana Brawley’s physical appearance when she was found is consistent with self-infliction and a false allegation." Finally, all the defendants had a collective period of approximately twenty-five days to cross-examine plaintiff Pagones about every possible relevant aspect of the case.

Tawana Brawley and the 7 Other Racial Rape Hoaxes Of Investigator Jack Ryan

By James C. McIntosh, M.D.

In 1998 when, so called, Special Prosecutor, Attorney General Robert Abrams approved Jack Ryan as his chief investigator in the Tawana Brawley case, Tawana's advisors Maddox, Mason and Sharpton knew that Abrams was not looking for someone with special sensitivity to the Black and Latin Community. Ryan had started out his career as an intern in the office of Queens District Attorney Santucci whom Tawana's Advisors had just humiliated a year or so previously in order to obtain justice in the Howard Beach Racial Violence and Murder case. It was in that case where Tawana's advisors had demonstrated to perfection the effectiveness of a strategy they invented to battle the local borough District Attorneys of New York City, none of whom had ever effectively prosecuted cases of white racial violence. In the Howard Beach case this strategy, which combined community agitation and client non-cooperation, had not only forced New York State Governor Mario Cuomo to appoint a special prosecutor but also forced Santucci to step aside on the case. The selection of Ryan was an indicator not only of Abrams fearful expectations regarding the impending tactics of Mason, Maddox and Sharpton but a harbinger of the intended tactics of Abrams. Abrams had chosen an investigator who was connected to Santucci the man who had last stonewalled the same team that Abrams was clearly planning to stonewall. Although Santucci had been unsuccessful he would have in all likelihood, from Abram's point of view, learned something from the ordeal and would have also undoubtedly still had an ax to grind against Maddox, Mason and Sharpton. Ryan's earlier training by Santucci and his contacts with the Queens District Attorney had the main advantage of helping Abrams get a bead on this relentless team whose investigation had by then determined - that police and other officials were involved not only in the cover-up and rape of a Black 15 year old girl in Wappinger Falls but in the subsequent murder of one of the suspects - a white cop named Harry Crist. Ryan was eminently qualified from Abrams perspective. Ryan at that point had no Blacks on his staff and his closest contact to so called minorities, was the routine railroading of Black and Latin youth that had taken place on a daily basis in Santucci's office, including Ryan's railroading of Puerto Rican revolutionaries from FALN back in the 1970's.

Hoaxes Of The Same Different Color

Ryan had the added advantage of being a virtual unknown, a man who even to this date operates mainly in the shadows of his bosses. How effective Ryan was during the Tawana Brawley case can be inferred not only by the outcome of that case but by the outcomes of cases in which he has been involved since the Brawley case. The so-called Grand Jury Report of Abrams went on to essentially label the Brawley assault and kidnap a hoax. Attorney General Abrams went on to say to the press, that if any sex had occurred with the 15 year old Tawana Brawley it was "consensual." If Tawana's advisors could have looked into the future career of Jack Ryan they might have predicted what would eventually happen in the Brawley case. The allegation of hoax is certainly no anomaly in Ryan's career. It's his area of expertise. Ryan, a St. John's Alumnus himself, was also the chief investigator in the case of the infamous St. Johns Rape Case where the lead perpetrators, white members of the St.Johns Lacrosse team were alleged to have drugged a Black coed and forced her to have oral sex with them all. Some of the alleged perpetrators had copped a plea (confessed and implicated their teammates ) in return for leniency from the prosecutors office. Those alleged perpetrators who did not cop a plea all walked away Scott free even though the facts of the gang sex attack were not really contested. Jack’s investigation had somehow not proven that the girl had not volunteered to be ravished by the mob. Somehow the jury was left with the impression that the coed had voluntarily consented to the sex.

During that trial, it was revealed by the victim that the boys had taunted her by discussing whether or not they needed to kill her to keep her from pressing charges. The perps eventually boasted to each other that, "Even if she does talk nobody is going to believe her look at Tawana Brawley." A news report at the time said Ryan was saddened by this statement because that wasn't the message he had wanted to send.

Oops Jack Did It Again

Perhaps it was not. However, Jacks communication problem is clearly chronic. Consider the message that was sent by Ryan in 6 other cases of rape involving white cops and 6 separate Black victims--- all men. In these cases 5 Black Livery Drivers filed separate complaints that a white police officer had sodomized them after stopping them for routine traffic violations on various dates. The attorneys in the case examined the previous brutality cases against the officer and found a 6th man who had earlier complained that the officer had "beaten" him. When the lawyers questioned that man he admitted that he had also been sodomized but had been too ashamed to reveal it at the time. The attorney's for the victims had the victims tested by polygraphs administered by Retired New York City Detective, Nat Laurendi the former chief polygrapher for the Manhattan District Attorneys Office. Laurendi found that the men were telling the truth. The police claimed that their own polygraph test was "inconclusive." Ultimately Ryan's investigation led to the conclusion that the victims had perpetrated a hoax. Ryan's exact words were, "The first alleged victim to come forward had months prior to his alleged assault organized a meeting of other van drivers, the purpose of which was to file complaints against Police Officer Rivera to drive him out of the Rockaways." Ryan also said, ""There is no medical evidence to substantiate the attacks, no forensic evidence, blood, semen, fingerprints." Ryan's Boss at the time, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown refused to bring the case to trial saying, "It is clear that the credible evidence . . . does not support the allegations . . . and that there exists no legal or factual basis for the commencement of criminal proceedings against the accused officer." Activist Carol Taylor had led weekly demonstrations outside of the Queens D.A.'s office for 40 weeks. Yet Jack’s investigation and management of these bombshell cases had been so discreet so "deep cover" that nearly a year after lawyers for the victims sought redress, Mayor Giuliani had said he never heard of their allegations.

Where Ignorance Is Bliss 'Tis Folly To Be Wise

No major stories were ever printed about these cases in the City's white daily papers. Black Writer Earl Caldwell was fired and driven from The Daily News when he dared to insist that his paper print the column he wrote about these cases. The column never appeared. Ironically another Black writer at that same newspaper had once said that the only people who still believed Tawana Brawley were "educated fools." Yet, as in the case of Tawana Brawley, the alleged perpetrator in these 6 cases was never even brought to trial. Instead, in each of these cases the victim was blamed as having perpetrated a hoax. If you believe the conclusion of Jack Ryan that 6 Black Men made up story's that they were sodomized to get a cop transferred from his beat then you should also believe that Tawana Brawley is a Hoax. You should believe that a 15 year old Black girl smeared herself with dog feces, hid for four days, scrawled KKK, nigger and epithets such as nigger on her body, cut off her hair laid in a plastic bag in near freezing weather and faked unconsciousness when smelling salts were placed under nose then blamed a white cop and his associates in an overwhelmingly white town. You are entitled to your own opinion. No one should ever call you an educated fool, unless, of course, you can actually prove that you really have ever attended school.

Thanks all for contributing to the dialog. Didn't know one little post would generate such diverse responses. This is what I was looking for: crowdsourcing at its finest.

Yoda and Rock, the old OTP articles have not been put up yet, therefore no links thus far. 

It will take me some time to obtain old City Sun articles, like I said, when I get a chance.

FOIA's also take time. And resources. When I request documents from certain sources, that is what I expect. Push logically leads to pushback.  I could comment further, but I don't want to go there. Yet.

Thanks for the link, Gate. Will read.

Yoda, your cultural reference may have gone over some heads. The lack of basic cultural literacy from different camps, at times,  looks offensive. Rather than retreat, I would like to explore more dialog. And not just on this topic. It will be uncomfortable, as skill levels  are revealed. The only way I can get better is to practice. Occasionally it will look stupid, crude, boring, or confining, but people do the best they can with what they have.

We have to talk anyway, Rock, on another matter. Re. Maddox's license, Gov. Paterson was asked about the same. He said he believes Maddox should get his license back. Will have to dig out that video, and post.

On another unrelated note: I owe you an apology, Manny, so here it is. Elsewhere, while making a point unrelated to you, I ignored your pertinent response. Mea culpa.

Why wasn't Tawana Brawley, her parents, Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox, and C. Vernon Mason all prosecuted for making a false claim?????

Why did the cop kill himself a couple of days after the Brawley controversy popped off?

If Tawana Brawley was such a hoax, why won't New York unseal -without redaction- all files, minutes, records, transcripts, tapes, exhibits, disks, logs, reports and all other matters concerning the Tawana Brawley investigation and let the chips fall where they may as far as public opinion goes?

Why does the political and judicial plantation in New York continue to illegally refuse to reinstate Alton Maddox? What is New York hiding?

Even a mostly white petit jury in Duchess County would later find that Alton Maddox did not defame Steven Pagones. This is public record in the Dutchess County Courthouse

Apparently, C. Vernon Mason is still well respected in some VERY important circles...

Disbarred Tawana Brawley lawyer C. Vernon Mason aids Manhattan District Attorney-elect Cy Vance

HTTP://WWW.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/11/07/2009-11-07_disbarred_tawana_brawley_lawyer_c_vernon_mason_aides_manhattan_district_attorney.html

Times are certainly changing.

TO PLANTATION POLITICS: 

 So after the lawsuit against them, why did Sharpton, Maddox and Mason pay up?  I guess they won right?

I'm going to keep this as simple as possible for you.

Here's why the "powers that be" in New York media, business, and politics HATE Alton Maddox, Al Sharpton and black people in general:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlE5mc8vi5I

Read between the lines... Til this day the total contempt for black people just drips off of every page of all three New York rags... Ask yourself why til this day when that unfortunate incident is brought up (usually to discredit Al when he brings attention to legitimate systemic racism or to discredit black leadership in general via David Dinkins) the two children who were denied immediate medical care are NEVER brought up ?

Again, that guy shouldn't have died, that was just wrong. As Alton Maddox would say, "it was the system that should've been on trail," not this man. But how hypocritical of our media (and our current media mogul mayor) to jump to conclusions and lynch the two ambulance dispatchers -without all the facts in- when they ignored the two little kids getting immediate medical assistance?

This is why we should support our own independent media, and our own businesses every chance we get!

RIP Percy Sutton!

The years 1984-89 of the City Sun are archived at the Schomburg. The last six years of the paper, 1990-1996, were lost by the NYPL.

I know this because I have been writing a biography of Andrew W. Cooper and the newspaper since 2005.

I have copies of the post-1989 City Sun and would be very interested to meet folks who could help me fill in gaps.