T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
The Chronicle
XXXDAY, MONTH MONDAY, MARCHXX, 25,2013 2013
ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH EIGHTH YEAR, YEAR, ISSUE ISSUE 121 X
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
A breath of free air after 17 years
ON TO THE SWEET 16
by Zac Elder THE CHRONICLE
Duke Law helps overturn wrongful life sentence by Michelle Menchaca THE CHRONICLE
After 17 years serving a life sentence, LaMonte Armstrong’s name has been cleared of his 1988 wrongful murder conviction. Armstrong, a Greensboro native, was released last June with the help of Duke’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic, an organization at the School of Law that investigates claims of innocence by incarcerated felons. Law School students and alumni reexamined Armstrong’s case along with involved police and prosecutors. Howard Neumann, the Guilford County Assistant District Attorney, officially dismissed Armstrong’s murder charge this past Monday, of which he was convicted in 1995. Armstrong expressed his happiness in an interview with The Chronicle to no longer have the murder charge hanging over his head. “It was a great relief,” Armstrong said. “It’s been tough these past few months being able to walk around but still not feeling free.” Jamie Lau, Law School ’09 and supervising attorney for the Clinic, facilitated the testing of DNA evidence that was not available at Armstrong’s original trial. The DNA results identified a handprint found at the home of the victim and proved conclusively that Armstrong could not have been at the scene of the crime, Lau said. The Duke Law Innocence Project, a student organization devoted to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted, wrote to Armstrong in 2006, asking to take on his case. “[The Duke Law students] were the first ones to really take the time to listen, to look at my case and to research,” Armstrong said. The victim of the murder, Ernestine Compton—a faculty member at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University—was found stabbed and strangled with an electrical cord in her Greensboro home. Compton was Armstrong’s college professor and a friend of his mother. While no physical evidence ever linked Armstrong to the murder, he was arrested after an informant placed him at the scene. This witness only implicated Armstrong to avoid being charged with the crime himself and later recanted his story. More than a decade after this wrongful conviction, John Hibbard, special projects director of the Innocence Project and a third-year law student, worked closely with the Wrongful Convictions Clinic on the case. The Clinic takes cases in which individuals who are currently incarcerated have claimed innocence and investigates these claims. If members of the Innocence Project find factual basis for innocence, SEE ARMSTRONG ON PAGE 8
Chronicle talks to the new dPS president, Page 4
CAROLINE RODRIGUEZ/THE CHRONICLE
Rasheed Sulaimon scored a team-high 21 points to lead the Blue Devils past Creighton in the Round of 32.
PHILADELPHIA—In a low-scoring battle that featured 46 personal fouls, second-seeded Duke found a way to overcome Doug McDermott and seventhseeded Creighton, defeating the Bluejays 66-50 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Behind the first-half scoring of freshman Rasheed Sulaimon and the secondhalf scoring of senior Seth Curry, the Blue Devils (29-5) recorded the school’s 2,000th career victory, becoming just the fourth program in Division I men’s basketball to do so. “It’s a game of adjustments,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Their coaching staff and certainly our coaching staff didn’t expect everything that happened today, and so your team has to adapt really well.” After controlling the opening tip, Creighton’s Grant Gibbs raced down the court for an easy breakaway dunk to give the Bluejays (28-8) the early lead, but the scoring all but stopped for the rest of the half. Both teams spent most of the opening period throwing up bricks—Duke shot just 35.7 percent from the field, while Creighton only managed to convert 29.6 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half. McDermott—the nation’s secondleading scorer—started the game just 1-of-5 from the field, but quickly warmed up after Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee picked up two fouls and were forced to SEE M. BASKETBALL ON SPORTSWRAP 4
Coffee drinkers look to fill JVG void by Amy Cheng THE CHRONICLE
With Joe Van Gogh temporarily closed, some Duke coffee drinkers have to go elsewhere for their daily cup of joe. For the past three weeks, some Joe Van Gogh coffee shop fans have struggled to find a complete replacement for their favorite on-campus coffee spot. The cafe closed March 1 due to ongoing Bryan Center renovations and is expected to reopen early this summer. Although some have turned to other coffee vendors, many say Joe Van Gogh’s absence leaves a void. “Coming from Seattle, I’m kind of snobby about that type of stuff, and you can also taste the difference [at Joe Van Gogh],” senior Tim Chang said. “Baristas were for the most part knowledgeable.” Chang noted that he values the atmosphere of a coffee shop like Joe Van SEE JVG ON PAGE 8
ERIC LIN/THE CHRONICLE
Now that Joe Van Gogh is temporarily closed, loyal customers are looking for other coffee venues to fill the void, such as Alpine Bagels, pictured here.
ONTHERECORD
“Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond should cry. And I will not be mourning their tears....” —Jaimie Woo in ‘They should cry.’ See column page 6
Relive the weekend in photos, Page 2