Posted on 04/23/2006 8:52:59 AM PDT by TexKat
DURHAM -- Results from the second round of DNA tests in connection with the Duke lacrosse rape investigation will not likely be available before May 15, District Attorney Mike Nifong said Saturday.
Nifong also denied an allegation by some defense attorneys that the second exotic dancer at the March 13 party where the rape allegedly occurred received special treatment from Nifong's office so she'd cooperate with the prosecutor.
Kim Roberts, 31, was arrested March 22 -- eight days after the lacrosse party -- on a probation violation from a 2001 conviction for embezzling $25,000.
The same day a grand jury indicted lacrosse players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, a judge agreed to a change so that Roberts would no longer have to pay a 15 percent fee to a bonding agent. Nifong signed a document saying he would not oppose the change.
Soon after the rape allegation was made, Roberts told defense attorneys that she doubted the story of her colleague who told police she was dragged into a bathroom and raped. But in an interview last week with the Associated Press, Roberts said she thinks some players -- she's not sure which ones -- are guilty.
"It seems she is receiving very favorable financial treatment [from prosecutors] for what she is now saying," said Bill Thomas, a defense attorney for one of the lacrosse players who has not been indicted.
Nifong said Saturday that wasn't his motive in agreeing to change Roberts' bond from secured to unsecured.
"It's consistent with local bonding policy," Nifong said, when asked why he supported the change.
Nifong, who faces two challengers in the May 2 Democratic primary, attended a meet-and-greet with supporters Saturday at Joe & Jo's Downtown Restaurant and Pub, where he fielded a few questions from The Herald-Sun.
Nifong ordered the second round of DNA tests from a private lab after initial tests by the SBI crime lab in Raleigh failed to find DNA from any of 46 lacrosse players tested on or in the accuser, nor any of her DNA in the bathroom in which she said she was raped, sodomized, beaten and strangled for 30 minutes by three men.
Some defense attorneys had said they expected the new DNA test results last week.
Ping
Maybe Nifong and Fitgerald can get together
and find some DNA on Plame?
Good morning, TK!
Isn't May 15 the date Finnerty is due back in court?
(Would you kindly add me to your ping list, TIA.)
They were released on $400,000 bonds after appearing before a magistrate and are expected to return to court on May 15.
http://www.gcnews.com/news/2006/0421/Front_Page/105.html
I think that is the court date. How convenient that he can keep the "evidence" from the defense until right before court. Defense has no time to react, especially if its manufactured evidence...
May I kindly have some Ping too?
I thought that the DA was obligated, at this point, to turn over everything he has to the defense. No?
Abrams asked a NC lawyer whether at that hearing on the 15th the defense could present an argument for dismissal, and the lawyer said there is no "adversarial" hearing short of a trial. Surely, there is some provision for making sure a DA is acting in good faith, but I don't know what state officer Nifong answers to, if any.
I am in the middle of a huge controversy. Things haven't gone the way I thought they would go, but I hate to let this opportunity pass me by without being able to take advantage of it. Can you give me some advice on how I can spin it to get the most value out of it?
Sincerely
Mike Nifong
Good morning maggief. I don't have a ping list for the Lacrosse thread, but I will ping you.
Only if he holds the results back.
LOL!
Which is why he doesn't want the results back until right before the hearing....
Which means he will not even consider dropping the charges until after May 15.
Morning--Thanks for the ping.
I can't believe that the results of the second DNA tests are conveniently going to be ready on May 15. That's the date of the first hearing in this case. Talk about a set up. This is pure BS.
The issue may be if Nifong can coerce his investigators to perjure themselves for him. For example, they might lie as to where a hair sample came from....
You post #11 said it all.
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