Journalists and Law Enforcement Fail Mazzeo, Defend Gibbons
Courtesy of KTNV Las Vegas News
Picking up where I left off yesterday, Chrissy Mazzeo’s lawyer, Richard Wright, began today’s press conference with a devastating critique of Las Vegas law enforcement officials and their failure to protect her (the victim) and her identity as is their legal responsibilty. In fact, Wright outlined a clear pattern of abuse on the part of Sheriff Young and Las Vegas Metro, inappropriate treatment of Mazzeo, Gibbons the alleged perpetrator and the other witnesses involved including Sig Rogich. He pointed out that key evidence is missing or has not been provided to him, including photographs police took of Mazzeo’s injuries after the incident. Wright also made it abundantly clear that the ONLY reason Mazzeo came forward is because her identity was illegally released after which the Gibbons campaign and Sheriff Young disparaged her publicly, implying that her orginal charge was politically motivated.
Wright stated that there are ways to corroborate Mazzeo’s account of that night including phone records from all witnesses and involved parties, witness interviews, crime photographs and security tapes (if they turn up), and it seems that they would like the D.A. to at leat investigate the original investigation. It is not clear if Mazzeo will reconsider bringing charges against Gibbons over the incident.
In a decidely creepy development, Mazzeo reported that Gibbons was waiting for her near some bushes outside the restaurant 20 to 30 minutes after he originally left. She also saw him drink at least three glasses of red wine and reported that he was sexually agressive throughout dinner with her. And can I just say that nobody, NOBODY deserves a friend like Penny Puhek. Jesus.
Here is a letter from the private detective employed by the Gibbons campaign via John Ralston.
What’s the missing evidence Wright mentioned?
- Possibly the video tapes from the parking garage that Mazzeo insists would show the assault.
- Photos of Mazzeo’s injuries taken by police after the assault.
- Mazzeo’s car and house keys which she believes Gibbons had in his possession that night.
- Interviews of all witnesses including Sig Rogich, Penny, and the others at the table that night.
Lets face it, Mazzeo is hot in a Vegas kind of way–no doubt Gibbons “the teetoler” (according to Ralston and Damon anyway–see below) was overcome by the close proximity of her beauty and breasts and lost all sense of good judgement. They aren’t a lot of women like Mazzeo in D.C. or Sparks, that’s for sure (unless you go to Fantasy Girls). Just because a women is beautiful or sexy however, does not make it okay to blame her for his behavior. Mazzeo displayed uncanny prescience when greeting Gibbons that evening by saying: “nice to meet you President Clinton,” and again by remarking during the press conference that “You never think that someone running for office like that is going to be retarded.” Obviously, she was wrong. It looks like Gibbons has shown himself to be retarded, but also, potentially, a sex offender.
Remarkably, Channel 9 Las Vegas Now interviewed John Ralston, the man who incorrectly reported that witnesses signed “affadavits” (which Wright revealed as “notarized acknowledgements”) at the conclusion of the press conference. This is the man who, along with Damon at the RGJ almost immediately defended Gibbons from the charges made and withdrawn by the “tremendously intoxicated” Mazzeo. Ralston should’ve begun his interview with an apology to Mazzeo for jumping on the blame the victim band wagon much too quickly. But, as I previously noted, blaming the victim by focusing on the victim’s behavior is all too common in the coverage of sexual assault cases like this, particularly in cases involving persons of note. Just like Las Vegas law enforcement officials, local journalists treated the victim with a complete lack of respect–victimizing her all over again. Here is what Ralston and Damon had to say on October 16th:
Ralston (via Gleaner):
I have been pretty critical of Gibbons for dodging debates, for avoiding substance and for other misdeeds. But he has my sympathy on this one because this is one of those stories that was overplayed and now is being bandied about in the blog echo chamber, with rumors and falsehoods printed as fact in the hope that someone in the MSM will pick it up.
Damon:
So, three weeks before an election, the largest newspaper in the state runs a front page Sunday story about a drunk woman accusing the Republican candidate for governor of assaulting her outside of a restaurant in Las Vegas. According to both the R-J and the AP, the woman admitted she was completely inebriated and has recanted her charges against Jim Gibbons, but that didn’t keep the newspaper from writing a story replete with phrases like, “Gibbons and the woman both had been drinking at the restaurant….Gibbons has never been one of those carousing politicians who spend most evenings in bars knocking back several bottles of wine in the company of women. Quite the opposite. His inability to gain any kind of leadership post despite nearly a decade in Congress is often attributed to his uncomfortableness schmoozing with the in crowd on the D.C. social scene. That’s not the sense you get reading the R-J story.
Notice both the early defense of Gibbons in both of these accounts, as well as the judgements made about the vicitim’s behavior. Gibbons was drinking at the restaurant–this was clear form the beginning of this story, and somehow this descriptive phrase is seen as a judgement. Ralston takes a shot at blogs, and actually, he is sort of correct. Some blogs did stray from the facts, however, the same could be said in his case. I can say confidently that this blogger treated Gibbons much more fairly than Ralston or Damon treated Mazzeo when writing about this affair, and I am in now way a professional journalist–far from it. But I don’t have to tell you that. From these accounts, Mazzeo suffered because they did not know her like they knew Jim Gibbons. So it had to be her behavior that was in question.
And once again, I have to point out the failure of the Reno Gazette Journal to provide current and adequate coverage of this story. I just don’t understand why there isn’t a link to the video of today’s press conference unless its a proprietary thing. But this has been the story for the past week, and its a serious failure. Gibbons is our congressional representative and we should have access to every part of this story.
Similar Posts:
- Collection of Chrissy Mazzeo Related Posts
- Young Should Remove Himself From The Gibbons Mazzeo Investigation
- Chrissy Mazzeo Files A Lawsuit Against Gibbons
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Trackbacks & Pingbacks
[...] Gibbons Garage Gate [...]
[...] Do yourself a favor and read Hugh Jackson’s latest on why the citizens of this state should be embarrassed to elect Jim Gibbons as our governor. And after you read it, send it to everyone you know. Its not just about Gibbons Garage Gate, or even Gibbons Nanny Gate, its about the fact that he is an effectual politician. [...]
[...] RECAP: Gibbons is running for governor. His wife was running for his congressional seat, but she didn’t survive the primary. Jim got in trouble for having a drunken restaurant party with a bunch of gals a week ago — his wife wasn’t one of them — and then he got accused of assaulting one of the gals, outside the restaurant. He sort of denies the really bad parts. Oh, and a Vegas TV station has since come up with a terrible illegal nanny story, just to make it really bad for Mr. Close the Border. And now, the New Developments: Allegedly assaulted waitress Chrissy Mazzeo finally gave her own press conference. She’s “hot in a Vegas kind of way.” [Reno and its Discontents] Mazzeo’s name was illegally/improperly leaked by the sheriff’s department, while Gibbons’ staff immediately began calling her a crazy drunken whore. [Las Vegas Gleaner] Gibbons allegedly propositioned her, threatened to rape and/or kill her, and then somebody from his campaign tried to bribe her to shut up. [Associated Press] Clark County Sheriff Bill Young is fucking insane. This is what he said in public Thursday: “Bring it on. Come forward, sign the crime report. You want an investigation? You ain’t seen nothing yet.” [AP] Young’s opponent Jerry Airola — the sheriff’s election is also coming up — says this just proves Bill Young is a thug who runs the department as a personal security unit for Nevada’s political mafia. [Las Vegas Sun] Sheriff Young says, “Oh yeah? Well, you’re a freakin’ Scientologist!” [KVBC TV] In an interview after the news conferenece, Mazzeo describes Jim Gibbons this way: “Something is mentally wrong with him.” [Las Vegas Sun] If you’ve never heard of Jim Gibbons, it’s because he spent a decade in Congress without doing anything. Filed under: Tech | [...]
Comments
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I’m just saying, okay…Damon is a UNR grad from the 1970s? So that means, he couldn’t get into what, Boise State academically? Sorry if I offended anybody. UNR is a great school. No, really. I’m serious.
Myrna, Welcome to “Old Boy” Nevada…
Damon is not a man, not that old, and Boise is crap.
I couldn’t tell if it was Mr. or Mrs. Damon–their damned page looked like they were selling real estate together. I grew up in a different place. Anyone remember when Banana Republic used to have those Safari Jeeps in the store?