Posted on 04/22/2006 2:45:35 AM PDT by abb
Defense lawyers and legal experts say District Attorney Mike Nifong may have crossed ethical lines in public comments about rape allegations involving Duke University lacrosse players, potentially prejudicing jurors and setting off a media maelstrom.
Nifong says that he has done nothing wrong, though he has ceased talking with reporters about allegations made by an escort service dancer hired to perform at a March 13 team party. He would speak only about his handling of the case Friday.
"In terms of what I said, no, I wouldn't say I regret anything I've said," Nifong said. "I think what I have learned, basically, is that if you cooperate with the media out of a sense of duty to public truth, you make yourself a victim."
Local observers were hard-pressed this week to remember a case with so much back-and-forth between the prosecution and defense playing out in a 24-hour news cycle. It has some suggesting a judge should step in with a gag order.
Defense attorneys for the lacrosse players say it is their clients who have been victimized by Nifong, and they blunt criticism of their own extensive public comments by saying they are just attempting to limit the damage. Some also said photos, ATM receipts and other evidence they claim exonerates the two team members arrested Tuesday were given to the media only after Nifong refused to look at them.
In its ethical rules, the N.C. State Bar orders lawyers to refrain from statements outside the courtroom that they know might have "a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing" legal proceedings. But once one side talks to the press, ethics rules say the other side can make statements "a reasonable lawyer" would believe are required to protect a client from bad publicity.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
Hey, what is the status on the latest DNA results? Shouldn't they have been completed by now? I know the defense gets a copy of the results by agreement. What is the holdup with that?
I have no way of knowing if it's true, but heard a reporter from Durham on one of the TH shows....say that the results would be back by the latest --beginning of this coming week.
I guess we'll see.....
Dukie07:
I'm curious about your screen-name......are you currently a junior at Duke?
" At some point numbnuts may come to realize that he has a wrongful prosecution on his hands regarding Seligmann, if not Finnerty and the "third" suspect."
Yesterday on Abrams, there seemed to be a definite cooling by Susan Filan, usually a zealot for the prosecution .
The NBC reporter was given a copy of the AV's ID process.
Not only was she shown only lacrosse players, but,
she " sort of " picked out two other players, besides Finnerty and Seligman.
We're now up to 5 people, so far, at the scene of the alleged crime.
Unless the house has a spa bathroom, this is turning into the DA's version of stuffing a telephone booth.
The DA's demonstration on Abrams was a defense gift-given what we know now and seeing the AV in her platform streetwalker shoes.
She must have towered over the players and yet one lone 20 yr old, per the DA, could stand over her, in an upright position and subdue her in a choke hold.
I'm still trying to figure out how she was able to service Seligman orally.
Because according to Nifong's visual presentation and words-the attack occured in an upright position and " she was attacked from behind."
It will interesting to see how this PR firm spins things for her.
BTW...I have two threads open, which one will be the weekend thread?
"Once upon a time, in a neighborhood far far away, little princess and her sweet and innocent friend little kimmy . . . ."
and PLEASE GOD don't send me back to traffic court, i promise to behave!
Sorry, got side-tracked with RL. Sort of in order to questions asked:
The students were suspended because school codes dictate any student arrested on a felony is suspended, I believe.
Again, I do think the possibility of reprisals against all students by a lynch-mob mentality may have prompted the suspension of games, etc. Add to that, prior warnings to coach/team about behavior. Undeniably, there was underage drinking going on in a university-owned premises. I really don't see that he had a choice. Yes, some of the team members were not there, but most were.
I am not a Duke student, I am the parent of a Duke junior.
I am more appalled by the treatment the team received at the hands of other students and faculty than I am at the administration's stance.
What the heck kind of PR firm is that, where you send them a confidential email, and the next time you see it, it's on Dayside on Fox?
Besides, I saw that guy being enterviewed in his office: cheap paneling.
Fri Apr 21, 6:00 AM ET
LOS ANGELES, April 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Outspoken critic of the liberal black establishment and men's rights advocate Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny), today released the following statement about the treatment of the Duke lacrosse players charged with the rape and kidnapping of a 27-year-old black stripper:
"The white student athletes in the Duke rape case are deemed guilty until proven innocent by anti-male feminists and liberal black leaders like Rev. Jesse Jackson because they are perceived as privileged southern white males. The treatment of these boys by the mainstream media is deplorable. The nation has overreacted to this case because it involves the alleged 'rape' of a black woman by white males. The way this case is being handled is an example of race and sex discrimination. If these young men were black they would be treated with kid gloves; if the victim was a male this case would be laughed out of court. DNA tests have failed to connect these boys to this alleged crime; yet their mug shots are plastered in the media as if they've already been found guilty-where's the photo of the alleged victim?
This case is proving that Americans are too sensitive when it comes to matters of race and sex. Liberal black leaders and feminists understand this and are exploiting this weakness for political gain. This situation calls for calm and reflective scrutiny. Thus far, the only thing these young men are guilty of is hiring a black stripper while white. The reputations and lives of these boys and their families are being destroyed partly because of the students' own poor judgment, but primarily because of the double standard society uses in dealing with incidents involving race and gender."
Rev. Peterson is the founder and president of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny), a nationally respected nonprofit organization that for the past 16 years has been providing unique programs and services designed to help men and their families. Rev. Peterson is also an author and columnist. For more information visit http://www.bondinfo.org
Welcome to FR; you'll be sure to like it here.
BTW, please don't misunderstand me. I feel for all the members of the lacrosse team. They did not deserve this.
Karma is a b*tch, and I can't wait for it to catch up with Nifong, AV, etc.
Are you a current student? If so, can you give us some insight into how this is playing out on campus?
Everything that even comes close to touching this case just oozes sleaze, doesn't it? Nothing but horrid, amoral people doing horrid, amoral things to one another.
My read on the N & O story - the Drive By Media got what they wanted from Nifong, indictments against those evil rich white boys. So now it's time to remember that the DA race pits Nifong against a hard left black man and a hard left woman. Time to throw Nifong under the bus and get one of the minorities elected.
Liar!!!
“The reason that I took this case is because this case says something about Durham that I’m not going to let be said,” said Nifong. “I'm not going to allow Durham's view in the minds of the world to be a bunch of lacrosse players at Duke raping a black girl from Durham.”
Wih respect to your above question, if so why was the object not found along with the complaining witness's other belongings, makeup bag, purse, etc.? Could it be inserted into the missing white high heel?
After 70 interviews by Nifong! He gave 70 interviews before the defense said a word.
But when the DNA came in, he shut up, except for the NCCU appearance where he said the case wasn't over, and then once more at the Candidates' forum, where he made that nasty remark about "raping a black girl."
He made this about race.
My student hasn't said much. To be honest, as it is almost finals and workload is very heavy, I try not to bring up the subject. As it so happens, Edens 2C is his/her dorm. Does not know the team players - hangs with the geeks, not the jocks. Finds the media attention irritating - not liking having to field them going to and from dorm. Has not mentioned that since last room search, though. Hopefully, all that has died down.
I will ask for a take on the current mood and let you know.
It could have belonged to Kim.
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