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 ...
Now there's a shock!!LOL
gotta get some sleep G'night!
ROFL--EXACTLY!
Goodnight..
>>My information with regard to high priced tricks has all been bad. They always want the money up front and skip out as fast as they can. Putting the mark in a position of having to physically prevent their leaving and he has to rape them to get his money's worth.<<
That's just sick. You are saying that these boys HAD to rape these ( ) to get their money's worth???
Maybe I'm reading this wrong,and I've had a couple of glasses of wine.....LOL
Well, you never know: "somebody" might be cooperating with the DA.
good point--I wonder if Mr. Cooperation has an alibi??
Sorry I haven't been around for the last few days, I ended up going into the hospital last Thursday and just got home.
Guess I have tons of threads to weed through to find out what's been going on with this case.
Hope you're okay.
Check this article out by the NYT: Call to escort service led to night of trouble.
The Times says that the accuser got to the party at 11:30. The don't know she got to the party a half hour late. LOL
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/sports/sportsspecial1/23duke.html?ei=5065&en=da73356b7e9039dc&ex=1146369600&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Nifong has continually pointed to the SANE report as his lode star for believing a rape happened. I wonder if the accuser told the nurse examiner and the police investigators that she had just fallen on/down a steep flight of brick steps?
If the defense photos, many yet unseen, show the accuser in good physical condition on the porch, then stumbling on the steps, and finally landing with overt scrapes, cuts, etc. not there pre-fall, ... then the failure to mention the fall to authorities will destroy the credibility of the SANE report imo. Not to mention the credibility of the police and Nifong if they were unaware of a fall before the photos appeared.
It's a hoot that the DA's investigator has contacted MSNBC and asked them to describe those pictures! All they had to do was meet with the defense pre-indictment and see them for themselves, but no, he had to play hardball and ruin those men's lives to make a political point.
I wonder if Nifong will be able to hunker down and wait out the criticism until May 3, because that's what he'll try to do. It seems so unfair that voters may learn too late that the pundits' assertion that "the DA has evidence we don't know about or he would never have brought charges" may be very wrong ... but Nifong will already be the newly-elected DA.
MSNBC just reported the second round of DNA testing may not be back until 5/15.
And OT: OBL has released another tape.
I had posted:">>My information with regard to high priced tricks has all been bad. They always want the money up front and skip out as fast as they can. Putting the mark in a position of having to physically prevent their leaving and he has to rape them to get his money's worth.<<"
You posted: "That's just sick. You are saying that these boys HAD to rape these ( ) to get their money's worth???
Maybe I'm reading this wrong,and I've had a couple of glasses of wine.....LOL
Ask yourself, would these guys actually pay $800.00 to watch 2 strippers dance. Why not $400 for watching one?
According to everyone on this thread the boys were expecting whores.
I can't be sure but all indications are that the strippers had been paid already. One of them had called 911 and provided an address. Sounds like insurance to me.
The party begins breaking up early. What happened to cause that? Do you think the guys had gotten their money's worth already? Maybe somebody told them that the cops were coming.
Why did the guys start taking pictures? Why was somebody so mad that he felt like killing a stripper(i.e. the E-mail)?
Yes it does sound like if the boys wanted to get their moneys worth it would have been against the strippers will.
However I didn't say they did. Kim sounds treacherous, she made the 911 call, she was in the bathroom alone with Crystal. She might have tried to engineer something using crystal as a scapegoat. Who knows?
Cheers :)
Easy Does It:)
It could be that she knew that an "Adam" made the reservation.
I have a question about the dna tests. Does the fact that tests are being run indicate that there is something to test the samples against that is known not to be the AV's? I'm not sure that I am asking this correctly...but, do we know that there are at least 2 different dna strands present in the evidence from AV?
Are you alright?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.