There's a wrinkle in the efforts to find out who leaked a copy of the 2010 Cary police report that included the salacious details about Wake County school board members Debra Goldman and Chris Malone.

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby isn't certain what happened to the copy of the report that he was provided by the Cary police. But whether that means his office's copy is the one that was leaked to the media is uncertain.

Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore, who is investigating how the report was leaked, has said that the document sent to the media appears to be a copy of a printout that her department made at Willoughby's request in October 2011. Bazemore says that she doesn't believe anyone in her department is responsible for the leak.

Cary police are confirming the authenticity of a 2010 police report leaked to the media that details allegations Wake County school board member Debra Goldman made against fellow board member Chris Malone.

In a written statement Tuesday, Police Chief Pat Bazemore said the narrative report provided to the News & Observer last week by an unknown source "does appear to be a copy of our police report." In the report, Goldman named Malone as a suspect in a 2010 burglary reported at her home and both board members gave conflicting statements about whether they had a romantic relationship.

Bazemore said she has launched an investigation "to determine how the media could have gained access to information that is not public record." Under state law, police are not obligated to release such narratives, which contain the notes of investigators, but are not prohibited from doing so.

Democratic members of the Wake County school board are distancing themselves from the decision to prosecute the school board protesters.

As noted in today's article, Democratic board members like Susan Evans and Keith Sutton are saying last week's decision to reject mediation shouldn't be interpreted as them wanting the protesters to go to trial. they say the prosecution question is solely up to Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby.

But Willoughby said Thursday his office will move forward with prosecution because the board didn't take the mediation offer that would have avoided the need for trials.

We're seeing more efforts by members of the Democratic majority on the Wake County school board to spin their decision to reject mediation with the protesters who were arrested at school board meetings in 2010.

Democratic board member Susan Evans, who did not return calls on Tuesday, has put up a Facebook comment saying their closed-session decision last week was to leave the matter of prosecution in the hands of District Attorney Colon Willoughby. As noted in this earlier post today, Democratic board vice chairman Keith Sutton conceded that their decision has the practical effect of leaving in place the prior GOP board majority's decision to seek prosecution.

Here's Evans' Facebook comment:

"Clarification: We did NOT vote last week that we wished to take protestors to trial!!! We were informed that the District Attorney could exercise his own judgment with these cases and we place out trust in Mr. Willoughby to do what is fair and most sensible for the taxpayers. Mr. Keung Hui of the N&O could not be present at the discussion, as it was a closed session, so he is speculating on the discussion and trying to incite the public. This is very unfortunate!!!"

Wake County school board vice chairman Keith Sutton is saying the decision to reject mediation with the 30 people who were arrested at school board meetings in 2010 shouldn't be interpreted as the board wanting the protesters to go to trial.

Sutton, a Democrat, said from his perspective the board was telling Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby that it's up to him and not them to decide whether to seek prosecution.

But Sutton concedes that the board's decision last week leaves in place the prior GOP board majority's vote to seek prosecution.

Did you feel frightened for your safety when attending Wake County school board meetings during the period of protests and arrests in 2010?

That's the charge that former Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta made during an interview Monday on the Bill LuMaye Show on WPTF to explain why he feels the protesters should go to trial instead of getting mediation.

Margiotta linked the protesters to Students for a Democratic Society, the leftist activist group that dates back to the 1960s. Some of the SDS members formed the Weather Underground, which was linked to bombings in the 1970s.

Former Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta says protesters arrested for disrupting school board meetings don't deserve leniency for "reprehensible behavior" that "threatened" public safety and "deliberately created chaos and fear."

In a letter to the editor Sunday, Margiotta contrasts the people who were arrested with those who were not during the last two years. He writes the board "tolerated" the "rude and disrespectful" behavior of people who were "cheering and jeering" and "simply refused to maintain civility and adhere to proper decorum."

But Margiotta writes that the protesters who were arrested went beyond simple acts of civil disobedience or disruption. He charges those protesters used "extreme and intimidating tactics."

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR RESPONSE FROM STATE NAACP

The conservative Wake Community Network is continuing its criticism of Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby for seeking mediation for the 30 people arrested for disrupting Wake County school board meetings.

In today's Daily Journal, Joey Stansbury contrasts the mediation efforts for the school board protesters with the Occupy Raleigh protesters who've shown up in court ready to go to trial. Stansbury believes that the Occupy Raleigh protesters were less confrontational and volatile than the school board protesters.

"So Willoughby is concerned about court dockets with (the Rev. William) Barber as it relates to BOE meetings but not with Occupy Raleigh?" Stansbury writes. "Why? Why the difference between Occupy Raleigh protestors and those arrested at Wake BOE meetings? We'll let our readers make that judgment."

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Should Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby prosecute the 30 people charged with disrupting school board meetings last year, seek mediation or drop the charges?

As noted in today's article, the outgoing Wake County school board called a  last-minute closed session meeting last week in which it agreed to rescind its prior authorization to seek mediation.

"We decided against mediation," said former school board chairman Ron Margiotta of the Dec. 1 meeting. "We wanted a court trial. We wanted to see them stand trial for their actions."

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

An attorney for The News & Observer today asked Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison to reconsider his decision not to provide key personnel records for a jail officer involved in an altercation that left an inmate in a coma two months ago.

Attorney Amanda Martin said in a letter to the sheriff and to Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby that withholding such personnel information is in violation of the public records law, which does not allow public records to be withheld simply because there is an ongoing criminal investigation.

Last week, Harrison said in a letter that Master Detention Officer Michael Hayes had served a disciplinary suspension without pay six months prior to the incident that has left Joshua Martin Wrenn in a coma at Duke Hospital, but declined to explain the circumstances.

Harrison had declined to produce any information about the suspension for several weeks because it is his practice not to release such information during the course of the SBI investigation. Willoughby said he did not want the information released while SBI agents were interviewing witnesses for fear it might alter their statements.

Once the interviews were completed, Willoughby told Harrison he had no issue with releasing Hayes’ personnel information. But Harrison then only released information related to actions taken after Oct. 1. That’s the start date of a new law that expanded the types of personnel records that are now public, including suspensions, demotions and dismissal letters.

Harrison contended it’s not clear that such information prior to Oct. 1 is public. Martin said that’s not the case, citing an opinion from the Attorney General’s office.

“Both the plain language of the statute and the opinion issued by the Attorney General plainly say that the General Assembly’s recent amendments ... make available to the public certain information that was created prior to the passage of the law,” Martin wrote.

Martin has asked to meet with Harrison and Willoughby next week to try to resolve the impasse. She said The N&O would file suit in state court to win the records’ release if Harrison continues to withhold them.