Free Republic

Casey Anthony. The name and the trial spark emotion. But there is a far deeper issue lurking beneath, a monster of much greater importance. Recent years have borne witness to the rampant rise of prosecutorial zeal in the courts. While no responsible citizen wants crime unpunished, prosecutors, in all their forms, have been growing in power and influence. When prosecutorial power teams up with political ambition or a high-reaching career path, we must watch carefully the potential threat to individual liberty.

Never come between the "Godmother of Soul" and her luggage. That's the lesson a West Point cadet says he learned at Houston airport when he charges Patti LaBelle's security guards roughed him up. Richard King, 23, is suing LaBelle over the incident, captured on surveillance video last March 11 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. King, a Houston resident who is a senior at the military academy, had come home for spring break when he wandered close to LaBelle's limousine. He was talking to his brother on his cellphone when her bodyguards "sprang into action," according to the civil suit he filed...

Saturday, May 28, 2011 Catalino Hat Trick Propels Maryland Maryland upset Duke, 9-4, in this evening's national semi-final; the list of the Terps' top stars included senior Grant Catalino, who scored three goals, including goal that broke the game open in the third quarter, when Maryland led 5-3. The last name should be somewhat familiar to those who followed the lacrosse case closely. [snip]

Crystal Mangum, the woman who claimed three Duke lacrosse players raped her five years ago, could soon be facing murder charges after the man she's accused of stabbing has died.

A grand jury has indicted Crystal Mangum in the murder of her boyfriend Reginald Daye. She was accused of stabbing her boyfriend, Reginald Daye, during an argument. Police were dispatched to 3507 Century Oaks Drive at 3:15 a.m. April 3, and found Daye stabbed in the torso. Daye, 46, died last Wednesday at Duke Hospital, police spokeswoman Kammie Michael has said. Mangum, the woman at the center of the Duke University lacrosse scandal five years ago, is in the Durham County jail. She originally faced a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury....

Durham, N.C. — Family members of a man who was stabbed in his home April 3 say he died Wednesday evening. Crystal Mangum, the Durham woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape in 2006 has been charged with assaulting him. Durham police could not be reached for comment on whether her charges would be upgraded. Mangum, 32, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and was being held in the Durham County jail on a $300,000 bond. Police said Mangum stabbed Reginald Daye, 46, in the torso with...

DURHAM (WTVD) -- Police say former Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum was arrested again overnight. Authorities say Mangum was arrested Saturday night and is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to commit robbery and inflicting serious injuries. Mangum is being held at the Durham County Jail with no bond. She will make her first apperance in court on Monday. Police have not released any further information on the arrest. snip

CONCLUSION Having undertaken this comprehensive review of the 41 claims asserted in this case against the various 50 Defendants, the Court concludes that the Motions to Dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part as set out herein. In summary, Counts 1, 2, and 5 will go forward under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged constitutional violations. The claims asserted in Counts 1 and 2 are asserted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment for unlawful searches and seizures without probable cause based on the Non-Testimonial Order and Search Warrant that...

Many readers will remember the infamous Duke Lacrosse case of five years ago when Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong falsely charged three lacrosse players from Duke University with rape. What made the case extraordinary, however, were not the charges per se, but the fact that they were transparently false, and yet the mainstream media and the Duke administration and much of its vaunted faculty ignored the evidence to proclaim that they were true. In the end, the case fell apart because Nifong was caught lying, and the accuser, a prostitute named Crystal Mangum couldn’t keep her stories straight. (And...

Published Wed, Feb 23, 2011 04:03 PM Modified Wed, Feb 23, 2011 04:05 PM Duke settles suit over costs of lacrosse scandal DURHAM Duke University has settled a lawsuit against its insurance company over costs associated with the Duke lacrosse scandal. The National Union Fire Insurance Co., an affiliate of insurance giant AIG, and Duke had been wrangling over whether the company should reimburse the university for costs tied to the confidential settlements of lawsuits with three former lacrosse players and the former lacrosse coach. Duke agreed to dismiss the suit, and each party will pay its own attorneys fees....

Dear Sheriff Dupnik: My name is Mike Nifong. You may not know of me, but I was once was a liberal democrat prosecutor from Durham County, North Carolina. I am writing, because I have seen you on the television over the last few days making serious allegations against people claiming they were, in part, responsible for a hideous crime without a shred of evidence to support such a charge. I know you would like nothing more than to smear these people in the hopes of advancing a political agenda—and believe me when I tell you a more understanding supporter of...

Superior Court Judge Abe Jones has declared a mistrial on the felony arson charge in the Crystal Mangum trial. The jury was split 9-3. The jury was unanimous regarding the misdemeanor charges. Mangum was found guilty on three counts of child abuse, one for injury to personal property and one for resisting arrest. During today's proceedings, former Durham city councilwoman and school board member Jackie Wagstaff was jailed for ten days for contempt of court in the Crystal Mangum arson trial. She was charged with contempt after saying "This is ridiculous" while the judge was ordering the jury back into...

Attorneys worked Thursday to keep the Duke lacrosse case out of accuser Crystal Mangum's current criminal troubles. Prosecutor Mark McCullough and defense attorney Mani Dexter agreed that if Mangum takes the stand in her own defense, McCullough will not cross-examine her about false allegations of rape she made against three Duke University athletes four years ago. Mangum faces trial on charges of arson, injury to personal property, contributing to the delinquency of her three children and resisting arrest. Police say she set the clothes of live-in boyfriend Milton Walker afire in a bathtub while the children and two officers were...

They've run off one public defender, been chastised by a new defense attorney and faced a threat of jail time by a judge. But the Friends of Crystal Mangum insist they're on her side, trying to protect her from a corrupt judicial system that they say aims to punish her for accusing three Duke lacrosse players of rape four years ago. Attorney General Roy Cooper concluded there was no rape, and former District Attorney Mike Nifong lost his law license over it, but the Friends believe Mangum's story. Now facing multiple felony charges related to a domestic violence call Feb....

Joseph B. Cheshire V, who represented former Gov. Mike Easley, is a good lawyer who negotiated a good deal for his client. As accomplished as he is as an attorney, Cheshire might be even better as a showman. Ladies and gentlemen, he put on a heck of a show Tuesday, after his client agreed to a deal that led to his felony conviction. After the hearing, Cheshire met with reporters and criticized at length The News & Observer's coverage of Easley. Easley, he said, had done almost nothing wrong, but The N&O was out to get the former guv'nah and...

Duke University and the insurance company it sued to recoup some of the settlement costs linked to the Duke lacrosse case hope to settle their differences within the next month. The National Union Fire Insurance Co., an affiliate of insurance giant AIG, and Duke have been wrangling over whether the company should reimburse the university for costs tied to the confidential settlements of lawsuits with three former lacrosse players and the former lacrosse coach. In a court document filed Friday in federal court, Duke and the company acknowledged that settlement talks had been held. "The parties are hopeful that they...

Crystal Mangum's ex boyfriend went to the Durham County district attorney's office Monday, trying to take responsibility for a February incident that left Mangum charged with arson for allegedly setting a pile of clothes on fire. Milton Walker, the ex-boyfriend, says he set his own clothes on fire and damaged his own house and vehicle. "At that time I wasn't on my medication," Walker wrote in a notarized handwritten note. 'The breakup of my relationship aggravated my symptoms and I acted out on the voices I was hearing." Quantcast Mangum is charged with arson, contributing to the delinquency of a...

Reade Seligmann is now a first-year law student. He is into his second week of classes at Emory University School of Law. In an e-mail response to my query, Reade says he is excited to be starting what he hopes will be a long and fulfilling career in law. He reports that he already has a heavy assignment load but that he is happy to be an L1. He concludes, "Thanks again for all of your support and and please send my best to all of my friends in the liestoppers crew." *** I am very pleased that this outstanding...

DURHAM (WTVD) -- A judge has ordered former Duke lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum arrested again. Officials say Mangum violated the terms of her pre-trial release related to the visitation hours with her children. (snip)

A blistering report this week identifying how North Carolina's state crime laboratory workers misrepresented blood evidence in dozens of cases over 16 years covered only two of Roy Cooper's years as attorney general. But it's all Cooper's task to clean up the problems at the State Bureau of Investigation lab and overcome questions about its work. The Democrat faces a long road back to restoring trust in the lab that helps state and local law enforcement. The lab will need to regain faith from attorneys and the public, as well as the lawmakers who approve funding for the lab and...