Nifong: Defense Attorneys 'Don't Know What My Timeline Is'
UPDATED: 1:19 pm EDT May 3, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. -- Within the next couple of weeks, a second set of DNA test results could be back and a third Duke lacrosse player could be indicted in connection with rape allegations made by an exotic dancer.
It was back to business Wednesday for Durham County's lead prosecutor, who held off opponents in Tuesday's primary election to remain district attorney.
Mike Nifong, who received 45 percent of the vote, has been at the center of a media storm surrounding allegations that the dancer was raped and beaten by three members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team at a party in March.
Members of the Durham community, as well as defense attorneys representing lacrosse players, have criticized the district attorney, saying he spoke too soon and too publicly about key facts in the investigation, and that he was pushing the investigation forward for political gain.
In recent weeks, however, Nifong has remained relatively silent about the investigation, but told WRAL on Wednesday that he feels as strongly now about prosecuting the case now as he did when the allegations were first made.
"I'm confident a sexual assault took place in that house," Nifong said, echoing a statement he made earlier on in the investigation.
Nifong also spoke of reaction to the case, saying much of what has been published has been negative. He said much of that reaction is not based on fact and pointed to details of recent legal filings filed by defense attorney Kirk Osborn, who represents Reade Seligmann -- one of two players charged with rape.
"By leaking things out like this, they can keep the case in the headlines -- see all these trucks that are still around here waiting for something to happen -- and kind of frame the case their own way," Nifong said. "And say thinks like, 'according to my timeline' -- which of course, they don't know what my timeline is."
On Monday, Osborn filed several motions, including one that called for Nifong to recuse himself from the case. Osborn wrote that the district attorney has ignored facts that will clear Seligmann, such as time-stamped photos of the party, cell phone records and ATM surveillance photos, and was using the investigation to bolster his chances for election.
Last month, defense attorneys also publicly stated that DNA samples taken from 46 Duke lacrosse athletes cleared the players, but Nifong hinted on Wednesday that there may be more to the DNA tests than defense attorneys are sharing.
"The fact they're making statements about what reports are saying, and not actually showing the reports, should in and of itself raise some red flags," Nifong said.
Shortly after Nifong received the DNA test results from the State Bureau of Investigation, he ordered a second set of more sophisticated tests that the SBI crime lab was not certified to perform.
In Wednesday's interview with WRAL, Nifong said the tests were ordered because the SBI suggested them.
Nifong also said the case could go to trial as early as the fall, but said he expected a trial next spring because of all the motions that are expected to be filed in the case.
http://www.goner-records.com/board/index.php?action=vthread&forum=4&topic=14949
Some interesting posts on Osborne. Seems like he is one of the good guys.
"..As to the elitism of some of the involved attorneys, Kirk Osborne, the attorney for Reade Seligman (who it sounds like by the time lines being volleyed about may be innocent even if there was a rape), is so elitist that he started the Public Defender's Office in Prosecutorial Dostrict 15B (Orange County, Chapel Hill, NC). He was such a snob that he bought my lunch the first time I met him, when I was an elite intern at the exclusive Public Defender's office and at the posh Orange County (now defunct branch of the NC) Legal Aid. The defense attorney, Kerry Sutton, (who I do know personally)probably could be due to be quiet, but she likes to make noise and get in the middle of things whether she belongs there or not, she is so elitist that she graduated from the black school North Carolina Central University's night law school in four years while she was raising two little ankle biters herself. ..."