Posted on 05/15/2006 7:14:12 AM PDT by pissant
DURHAM - A Durham grand jury is scheduled to meet today, and the session could mean new charges in the investigation of a reported rape at a Duke lacrosse team party.
Two of the team's players were indicted in April on charges of first degree rape, first degree sex offense and first degree kidnapping. They are accused of assaulting an escort service dancer in a bathroom of a house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. Their lawyers say the men are innocent, and lawyers representing dozens of team members say that no sex or assault occurred at the March 13 party.
But the woman says she was attacked by three men, and Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong said he has been working on bringing charges against a third person.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TODAY? If Nifong decides to submit the case, police investigators and possibly other witnesses will try to convince grand jurors in a secret session that the state has probable cause to bring a case forward. Grand jurors will hear only the prosecution's side of the case. The standard required for a true bill of indictment is far lower than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard required for a conviction.
IF INDICTMENTS ARE ISSUED, WHEN WILL THEY BECOME PUBLIC? On April 17, a judge ordered the indictments in the lacrosse case sealed. The names of the players who were indicted were not released until 5 a.m. the next day when the players surrendered at the Durham County jail. If Nifong again requests that the indictments be sealed, the law allows a judge to keep them secret until the person is arrested or appears in court.
WHEN WILL ALL THE EVIDENCE BE REVEALED? State law requires prosecutors to turn over all of their case files to defense lawyers, but nothing requires the evidence to be turned over to the public. In open court hearings, lawyers often discuss some of the evidence, but the state's case may not be revealed until trial. No trial dates have been set. When a report on the DNA testing is complete, Nifong is required by law to turn it over to all 46 members of the lacrosse team who submitted DNA samples.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The cases against Reade William Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., are moving forward. Finnerty has a court date in June. Seligmann is scheduled to appear in court Thursday. His attorney, Kirk Osborn, has filed a series of motions challenging Nifong's handling of the case and asking a judge to bar the prosecutor from further involvement.
You should check on the youngn's kinda says it all.
She was driving with a revoked license in 2002, and has had a reported three suspensions since. Not to mention she tried to turn one officer into a speed bump. Makes her kinda memorable I'd think.
Now if I was an attorney, I might just "borrow" and ape from the local zoo to make my point about DNA.
Agree to both.
"All of the evidence in the case makes it clear ... that we took it seriously from the get-go," Baker told the council Monday. "I've spoken with all the officers. Any conclusion or allegation that the Durham Police Department didn't take this seriously is incorrect."
The alleged attack occurred in the early hours of March 14 and had been classified as a sexual assault by Durham Police by 2:50 a.m. Police did not obtain a search warrant for the house where the attack allegedly occurred until 6:55 p.m. on March 16.
This is 100% CYA horse hockey....
They cops didn't believe her, and/or she kept changing her story. The reason they didn't get a search warrant until late on the 16th was because the victim hadn't given a statement yet.. IMO this delay allowed her to "get her story straight"... It also allowed her (and others IMO) with a clearer head, to weave a few key details into her version to give some hint of validity. I'll bet a nickle the fingernails supposedly lost during the fight for her life were not in version 1, but were added when she had to come up with some explanation for what she was doing in the BR.
If they "took it seriously from the get-go" they would have had enough information early on the 14th to get a warrant.
To show how unseriously the LE were early on, look at Jason Bissey, who saw and heard so much. He said that he first learned about the allegations a week later through a neighborhood message board. So, police didn't even contact him the first week.
He then called the police, left a message, and spoke BRIEFLY the next day to lead investigator Ben Himan. It was another week, April 1, before he was asked for a statement.
Sounds like the Durham LE were engrossed in this case alright.
They don't appear to have ever treated the house like a crime scene, either.
Irrelevant. Nifong broke Legal Protocol.
I think Kim wanted to get out of there because she knew she had warrants out for parole violation. The same reason she supposedly hid her number on the 911 call and asked the Kroger's guard to call later. I bet she beat it within seconds of the cops arrving at Kroger's...
If you recall she was immediately arrested following her later statement when to cops found out who she was.
People like Schenck just mess with jurors heads. He could conclude with "the sky is green" and they would conform.
I can just hear the feminist "lawyers" on the talk circuits declaring...."THAT'S BECAUSE SHE BACK-SLAPPED ONE OF 'EM..."
Pod people mentality: Because I is female, I is all females. I was "there".
Brkr, ick, gag...
Yep - no question Kim wanted nothing further to do with the night's events and you've outlined the reason why. I wonder if Kim had been physically able to get Crystal out of the car, would Kim have dumped Crystal in a ditch somewhere?
So she wasn't SCREAMING rape or saying "look at what they did to me"? No, she was sleeping it off with no convulsions (drug overdose).
To show how unseriously the LE were early on, look at Jason Bissey, who saw and heard so much. He said that he first learned about the allegations a week later through a neighborhood message board. So, police didn't even contact him the first week.
He then called the police, left a message, and spoke BRIEFLY the next day to lead investigator Ben Himan. It was another week, April 1, before he was asked for a statement.
Sounds like the Durham LE were engrossed in this case alright.
Additionally, even Jason Bissey's "recall" of what he saw changed at least once.
And Jason, and Kim Roberts, and Kim's brother all share MySpace accounts. Just for trivia knowledge, I added that one...
Waiting patiently on the tox report to become public.
Can't believe it says anything about a date rape drug or Nifong would have leaked it to the press.
"after she gave a statement, police arrested her .."
http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/438314.html
That suggests she was promised a probation violation deal in return for saying certain things. I wonder if her police statement came after the one she gave the defense?
http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A18856
JANUARY 8, 2003
Chalmers' challenge
BY RICHARD HART
Durhamites have a fatalistic attitude toward their police department. They don't expect much–and with some reason. The department's crime-solving rate has improved to around 17 percent from a low of 5 percent, but still has a long way to go. And residents have reason to be outraged when it takes investigators six months to identify an alleged serial rapist because no one knew they could ask the state laboratory to speed up DNA tests--allowing the rapes to continue.
(snip)
http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/news/NewsDisplay.cfm?vNewsID=770
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Durham Police Officers to Take a Skydive Against Sexual Assault
Durham Crisis Response Center, Operation Freefall Seek Monetary Pledges
Share accounts: Kim's friend wanted a piece of Kim's action if she got her dream to have a magazine cover her story. That's what it sounds like.
You are exactly right... And think about how much more accurate his story would have been. Imagine the detail he could have given if contacted on the 14th...
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