Charges not filed in Pitt drowning
DA says differing stories not criminal
Jim Nesbitt, Staff Writer
News & Observer
GREENVILLE - Giving investigators two accounts of her husband’s drowning isn’t enough to file criminal charges against Lt. Michelle Pollard but is a credibility problem that Pitt County Sheriff Mac Manning needs to address, the county’s top prosecutor said Thursday.
“There’s a difference between negligent conduct and criminal conduct,” said Pitt County District Attorney Clark Everett. “Certainly, we’re not talking about anybody getting a medal here. … Our final opinion was that the differences in what she said weren’t sufficient to show there was any criminal conduct in his death.”
Pollard initially told a sheriff’s investigator that in November 2005, she was bringing a cup of hot chocolate to her husband, Stacey Pollard, when she found his body floating facedown in the deep end of their backyard pool, according to a civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by her husband’s mother, Barbara Pollard.
Pollard said her husband, an epileptic since his early teens, wasn’t taking his medicine. He must have had a seizure and fell into the pool while she was inside the house messaging her sister on a computer, the lawsuit said.
Later, after flunking a polygraph test given her during a separate State Bureau of Investigation probe of her husband’s death, Pollard changed her story. She told SBI agents that she pushed her husband into the pool as a joke, according to the lawsuit.
In this June 2006 account, Pollard said she saw her husband walking in the shallow end of the pool, the lawsuit said. He said he was freezing and threatened to “get her back.” She ran into the house and locked the doors, then found him floating dead in the pool about 15 minutes later.
The 19-page lawsuit filed by Stacey Pollard’s mother contains allegations of Lt. Pollard having group sex and an affair with a married man. The lawsuit, which names Manning, two of his top deputies and Lt. Pollard as co-defendants, also claims that the top deputies hampered the initial investigation of her husband’s death by denying an early request to bring in SBI agents and by sitting in on her initial interviews with investigators.
The absence of criminal charges does not impact the outcome of civil lawsuits.
David Sutton, an attorney for Stacey Pollard’s family, said Lt. Pollard should have been fired. Instead, Sutton said Manning promoted her.
“There’s tons of reasons to fire her even if she had nothing to do with her husband’s death,” Sutton said.
Account ‘plausible’
Everett, the district attorney, stopped short of saying Pollard lied to investigators and said her different accounts didn’t violate state law. But North Carolina criminal statutes make it a misdemeanor to “willfully make or cause to be made to a law enforcement agency or officer any false, misleading or unfounded report.”
It’s up to Manning to decide whether Pollard, a gang intelligence officer and former school resource deputy, should stay in his department, Everett said.
“This should be a concern of the sheriff’s and is something he’ll have to address,” he said.
Manning has already made his decision. In an interview Wednesday, he said there is a “plausible explanation” for Pollard’s differing accounts contained in an SBI report he declined to discuss. He also said his officer did not violate department policy by giving different accounts of her husband’s death.
But the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office rules and regulations manual requires deputies to be “truthful when testifying, making reports, and conducting any Sheriff’s Office business.” The manual also requires deputies to obey all state and federal laws and local ordinances.
Pollard couldn’t be reached for comment.
Suspicions linger
Everett said he reviewed an autopsy report that said the cause of Stacey Pollard’s death was accidental drowning. He also combed through the final report in December on the SBI investigation. That inquiry was initiated by Manning after members of Stacey Pollard’s family complained that top sheriff’s officials had hampered the initial probe because of past romantic relationships with Lt. Pollard.
After meeting with SBI special agent Dwight Ransome, Everett said the evidence in the case did not support criminal charges against Pollard. He said the SBI investigation remains open because he asked Ransome, recovering from back surgery, to chase down two leads that won’t change the outcome of his earlier decision not to prosecute.
“There was insufficient evidence of any criminal conduct and that’s all you can say because you don’t know what happened. You know what evidence you have,” Everett said. “I guess you’d have to be pretty clairvoyant to plan to kill somebody by pushing them into a pool and hoping they’ll have a seizure.”
(News researcher Becky Ogburn contributed to this report.)
July 19th, 2007 at 10:16 am
At what point in time did Michelle “stage” the spilled hot chocolate? Before or after she dialed 911? Did she just wait for Stacey to float to the shallow end of the pool, instead of diving in after him? I find it amazing that she could pull him into a boat on the river and yet cannot manage to at least pull him up on the pool apron to administer CPR. I do hope the rest of the personnel at the Sheriffs office is better trained in lifesaving techniques than she is.
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
The Silent Issue: Epilepsy as a Cause of Death
It’s not a topic people like to think about. But epilepsy can be a fatal disorder.
Posted: January 1, 2002
It doesn’t happen often. It’s hard to know the risk. It’s not a subject people want to dwell on.
But the fact is, epilepsy is sometimes a fatal disorder. People may die as a result of accidents due to seizures, during a prolonged seizure, by their own hands, and - perhaps most shocking of all - suddenly and unexpectedly and for no apparent reason.
The extent of the risk, and how individuals and families should be made aware of it, were discussed at length during a crowded session entitled The Silent Issue, Epilepsy as a Cause of Death, part of a recent Epilepsy Foundation conference.
“It took me to the sixth year in my practice, where I have lost four patients to SUDEP, to realize the importance of working very hard to make certain that I convey to patients that epilepsy does maim and kill.”
– Sandra Clements, R.N.
“It took me to the sixth year in my practice, where I have lost four patients to SUDEP [Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy],” said Sandra Clements, R.N., M.N., “to realize the importance of working very, very, hard to make certain that I convey to patients that epilepsy does maim and kill.
‘Little Deaths’
“I call the traumas associated with seizures little deaths,” Clements said. “And, those are the lacerations, contusions, skull fractures, broken bones, burns - it is not a pretty sight. I think patients experience loss every time that happens.
“It’s sort of new to them all over again when they have those kinds of injuries. So whatever we can do to make a difference in those areas, we need to do.”
Given the risk of accidental injury or death, the best thing that health care professionals can do for patients, Clements said, is to offer as many options as possible to try to control seizures.
“Our goal for you is for you to be seizure free,” she continued. “That means zero. Nada. None. Zip. No seizures.”
“We know that between 40 to 50 percent of deaths of people who have epilepsy are related to epilepsy.”
– Dr. Braxton Wannamaker
“We know that between 40 to 50 percent of deaths of people who have epilepsy are related to epilepsy. We know that children, for instance, who have epilepsy, have four times greater risks for drowning accidents,” said Braxton Wannamaker, M.D. “Thirty percent of people who drive cars and have epilepsy report that they have had seizures while driving. And 50 percent or more of those who drive, have at some time had an accident related to seizures.
Some patients are at greater risk for SUDEP than others.
“We assume these people may have had a seizure,” he said, “but the coroner and the pathologist are not always able to tell us.”
What can be done to reduce the risk of accidental death and injury linked to epilepsy?
Using Common Sense
“Basically, you reduce the risk by using common sense,” Wannamaker said. “Ask yourself, ‘What would happen if I’m doing this and I had a seizure?’”
Wannamaker said he thinks physicians need to be geared up to look at their patients and try to modify their drug regimens so if they have adverse events, which can be precipitants of accidents, physicians can deal with them.
“We must look at the individual patient, how often they’re having seizures, what type of seizures, in terms of what we’re going to advise them to do or not to do,” he continued. “Perhaps we can avoid some of the injuries of patients with epilepsy.”
If you look at all the deaths of people with epilepsy, you find that about 42 percent have died because of the epilepsy, he said.
Accidents accounted for about 8 percent of deaths and suicide accounted for about 7 percent of the deaths for people with epilepsy. That’s about five times the national rate for suicide among the population that does not have epilepsy. Unexplained deaths in epilepsy average between 7 and 17 percent.
Features of SUDEP
The features of SUDEP include no apparent cause; a 15- to 44-year-old age group at risk; a long history of epilepsy with generalized tonic clonic seizures. People who have died this way are frequently found dead in bed. Most are found lying on their stomach, often with sub-therapeutic drug levels.
“One of the things I’ve learned from working in the suicide prevention field for years, is that the group of persons with epilepsy is at a higher risk of suicide than the general public,” said Doreen Schultz, a suicide prevention counselor.
Schultz summarized some of the issues that people face and that may add to their depression.
Secondary Losses
“There are a lot of what we like to call secondary losses over the life span of someone who has epilepsy,” she said. “Acknowledging those losses is an important part to being able to help people cope with them.
“People with epilepsy may experience many losses over the course of their lifetime,” Schultz continued. “And, some of these losses may include not being able to drive.
“I was thinking about how I get around on a daily basis. How I go see my friends. How I go out to dinner. How I go to work. How I get home,” she said. “If I wasn’t able to do that as easily as I am, how would that affect me?”
Another loss, she said, that some people with epilepsy face, is the anticipation that seizures will limit daily activities. Often, the very anticipation of having a seizure in public may limit what a person does.
Rejection by others and the stigma of the condition are other losses that happen to some people with epilepsy.
When a family has lost a loved one to sudden and unexpected death, Schultz said, there are overwhelming feelings of shock, anger, and disbelief.
Need To Explore Why
“There’s also a need to explore the why,” she said. “Why did this happen? I’ve talked to families who have gone above and beyond what most people would have done if their loved one were admitted to a hospital. They want to talk to everyone who had seen the individual. They want to see all of the records. There is this need to explore why this happened.
“When we don’t know why, that makes it even more difficult,” Schultz continued. “What we see are families trying so hard to put together the pieces of the puzzle. To find out what happened in those last moments.”
There are also feelings of guilt and of missed opportunities among the remaining family members when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly, Schultz said.
Professionals meeting with family members of a person who died suddenly should always respond honestly to questions asked by the family, Schultz said.
“People can handle what they know. What they can’t handle is what they don’t know.”
Schultz emphasized that she encourages families who have lost a loved one to epilepsy, to suicide, or to seizure-related accidents to seek support - whether it be with a therapist or a support group, peers or family members - wherever they feel the most comfortable.
Talking about what has happened, she said, is the first step to healing.
July 24th, 2007 at 8:46 am
Here is one of the emails that Michelle sent (7/24 @ 8:46am) from the Pitt County Gov’t server (same IP address as “Sara”) using the “anonymous” email coloni45294@mypacks.net It was sent before the videos went up and it has not been edited!!!!!!! Tom, you seem to know Michelle very well.
Have you ever heard that women are never satisfied with their own lives.
Woman how many times have you asked a man “do I look fat”?, Women are jealous creatures. Women are vendictive when it comes to other women. Most women will confirm this. Guys, we just sit back and think “damn these women are crazy”. Women and men go to a bar, women look at the way other women are dressed and make rude comments - only because they are jealous and insecure with themselves.
I have known Stacey and Michelle for years. Michelle was always outgoing - trying to please everyone, she cooked for everyone, she loved all of the neighborhood children, etc.
Michelle, Stacey and their son Steven would go somewhere and Michelle would point to a nice looking woman for Stacey and Steven to look at. I always admired her confidence and the fact that she just accepted life as it was. Michelle is a nice looking woman but you certainly can not tell her that - she is very very humble.
Michelle likes to focus more on her education and working and proving her abilities - not her personal appearances. That is what truly makes Michelle special. I can remember being at their house one night when Michelle was working on her Masters degree, and she was upset because she got a “B” on a paper and Stacey and Steven were joking with her calling her a geek and a nerd. But Michelle wanted merit on her abilities. An admirable quality.
People can assume - and we know the product of assumption….it makes an A__ out of you and me… Anyone can spread lies, rumors and create doubt in peoples minds. I guess what bothers me the most is that with all of this slander and defamation of character people are taking away the character and integrity of a very very good , hardworking woman who loved her family and her career. Those things can not be replaced.
Think about what you are doing and think about who is responsible for this nonsense. WAKE UP AMERICA - This is the ultimate LIFE TIME MOVIE… it is crap. Read between the lines, you will see jealousy, rumors, hatred, insecurities and gossip - I hope none of you ever have to experience the hell that you are putting Michelle and her son through - God Bless you all because you need a lot of prayers.
July 24th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Gosh we jump to unjust conclusions
Severe stress reactions that persist for long periods of time and recur without warning after a traumatic event or even after an intense experience such as an accident, hospitalization, or loss, may become a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) requiring professional assistance to overcome.
All these reactions cause the body to use a lot of energy which result in a physically and mentally weakened person.
What are some of the most stressful life events?
Any change in our lives can be stressful even some of the happiest ones like having a baby or taking a new job.
Here are some of life’s most stressful events.
• death of a spouse
• divorce
• marital separation
• spending time in jail
• death of a close family member
• personal illness or injury
• marriage
• pregnancy
• retirement
From the Holmes and Rahe Scale of Life Events (1967)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a debilitating condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that can trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults such as rape or mugging, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, death of a loved one, or military combat.
Many people with PTSD repeatedly re-experience the ordeal in the form of flashback episodes, memories, nightmares, or frightening thoughts, especially when they are exposed to events or objects that remind them of the trauma. About 8% of men and 20% of women go on to develop PTSD, and roughly 30% of these people develop a chronic, or long-lasting, form that persists throughout their lives
Mind Tricks Take Memories for a Ride, Scientists Assert
By MICHAEL WOODS
BLADE SCIENCE EDITOR
Monday, February 17, 2003
DENVER - What you remember of last week may not be real, a panel of scientific experts cautioned here yesterday.
That’s because the human brain is “frighteningly susceptible” to suggestive comments, subliminal messages, and other tricks that can form false memories.
Among the brain’s memory scams is a strange but surprisingly common phenomenon called “sleep paralysis.” Scientists identified it as the likely explanation in people claiming they have been abducted and molested by space aliens.
“Twenty years of research has given us almost a recipe for planting and embellishing false memories in people,” said Dr. Elizabeth F. Loftus. She is a professor of psychology and criminology at the University of California at Irvine.
“This has serious implications for false memory problems that are occurring in society, which are really memory-distortion episodes,” she added.
Dr. Loftus and other experts on false memories, who spoke at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited several concerns.
Police interrogation practices, for instance, may intentionally or unwittingly plant false memories in suspects or witnesses, they said, and embellish the memories with lifelike detail.
Simply telling one witness “truthfully or not” what others have described at a crime scene can plant the seeds of a false memory.
Media publicity about accidents or crimes may plant false memories that taint witnesses and interfere with investigations, she said, citing the Washington-area sniper episode.
After media reports linked the sniper to a “white van,” witnesses reported seeing white vans speeding away from later attacks. When caught, the sniper suspects were driving a blue car.
Political and other advertisements may exploit the knowledge to manipulate public opinion by inserting subliminal messages. Those may be words, which viewers do not consciously notice but still influence behavior.
Dr. Joel Weinberger, a psychologist at Adelphi University, said experts are doing a turnabout on subliminal persuasion and think it really does work.
A controversial practice in which psychologists try to recover “repressed memories” of childhood sexual abuse also got attention at the session. In some cases, psychologists may actually create in their patients memories of childhood events that never occurred.
Innocent people can be prosecuted and jailed as a result.
Dr. Loftus described planting false memories in more than 20,000 research volunteers. They included recollections of accidents, leisure-time activities, childhood trauma, and other events that never occurred.
Research has shown that it is possible to do more just than change a detail or two in a memory, she said. Totally false memories of events that never occurred can be planted “intentionally or unintentionally.”
The process involves, in part, making a person believe that an event could have happened and suggesting that it could have happened to them even if they do not remember it.
Dr. Loftus proposed establishing a “National Memory Safety Board.” A counterpart to the National Transportation Safety Board, it would investigate memory problems that led to injustices in the legal system.
Harvard University’s Dr. Richard J. McNally described research on another memory trick believed to be the basis of alien abduction stories.
“People who claim to have been abducted by space aliens are not mentally ill,” he said, citing numerous studies.
Rather, they probably are victims of sleep paralysis, a condition that occurs when people awaken from deep sleep, are only partially conscious of their surroundings, and cannot move.
About one in three people have experienced it, he said, with one in 20 having a severe form accompanied by hallucinations. Some involve other-worldly sensations that can be mistaken for alien encounters, he said.
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Source: www.toledoblade.com
July 25th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I’m sure she spilled the hot chocolate and sat in a chair with cigarette in hand and waited. Maybe someone will watch and wait the next time she falls! And, for the most part, the rest of the Sheriff’s office is made up of some really great people. It’s a shame that this woman has been allowed to ruin the reputation of the whole office!
August 11th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Can you really beleive the garbage about stress and how it affects your memory?
I heard that Michelle was going to use that in her defense! The reason that
her story changed was because she was taking Prozac and she lost all reality!!
Well we see that it did not affect her working abilities. She has been promoted
because she is so smart, right? So Sara if she was so smart why did she change
her story??? Dumb move for a smart detective. Michelle was not expecting to
fail the lie detector!! Also i guess it made her have sexual affairs and sell her
a** for 5000.00 a ride!! C’mon I can’t believe this piece of crap could serve
any community. She needs to serve TIME in prison!!
August 11th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
In reply to Tom, you must be one of her loyal customers!!
If she pointed to another pretty woman for stacey and steven to see
it’s because she was attracted to her,herself!!! We all know she likes females
and males. In fact the more the better!! You need to stay low with your
opinions, before you get caught up in her web!!