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.
How many of the "elites' in the MSM have kids at the "elite universities? Probably most of them. Yeah, this could happen to most of them. Are you listening? Barnicle...son at Georgetown, Russert...son at BC.
Tom Brokaw's daughter started duke in '86.
Hard to know what will happen at Duke. I think they will be chosen by few students that they accept. I think fewer students will apply.
A smart lady Washington lobbiest let her son go to school some place where a significant and influential segment of the university faculty hates her son merely for his race and sex. This was a costly decision for her. Others will think twice about the same decision.
Where does "Sissy Matthews" kid go? He(Chris) went to Holy Cross but I want to say G-Town.
" I assume she'll follow the lead of Lisa Bloom,.."
A week or so ago, Lisa Bloom ( and I am not making this up ) said that because of Bill Clinton's behavior, we know that it is possible to talk on the phone while having oral sex.
Therefore, Seligman's cell phone records did not exlude him from forcing the FA to service him.
These female commentators have made themselves laughingstocks- only they're too ditzy to realize it.
Rumor has it acceptances are down. If this fiasco continues they'll be down to their second waiting list by August.
S'cuse What?
"These female commentators have made themselves laughingstocks- only they're too ditzy to realize it."
They just can't allow themselves to accept the possibility that this "poor black woman" could be, dare I say it, lying. It is easier to believe that a bunch of spoiled white boys jumped all over their poor, helpless "victim". They will invent any scenario, no matter how ludicrous, in an attempt to poison the minds of their viewers agaisnt the real victims in this case, the young men who have been falsely accused of a particularly nasty crime.
Even when these young men are acquitted, you will find the Lisa Blooms and Nancy Graces and Gloria Allreds of the media still blathering on that the jury might have found them not guilty, but that doesn't prove they are innocent. The whole lot of them make me ashamed to be a woman.
pattyjo
LOL. I lost any respect for him during Katrina. I was furious how the media treated the President.
Jenjis John and Mama T Heinz-Kerry and any number of Kennedys have multiple luxury homes with tennis courts and motor boats. I guess Newsweak believes all their rich kids are de facto criminals too.
What did disGrace say tonight?
Why did they go to Krogers? I read something that implied that Crystal knew the guard (?) and from the sound of what I read, he called someone at the PD who knew Crystal. That's where the "check the young'ns came in.
I heard her say that!!!!
He sure did.
And he said that they knew that there would be civil suits and that this is going to cost them millions of dollars.
Plus he said that the boys' names will be in the national data base of sexual abusers even if they are found innocent -- for the rest of their lives.
According a blog on another site, he has a rap sheet a mile long. I think the more we find out about him, the worse it will look for Crystal Magnum.
Why is that? Why would the innocent be in a data base? Even if one is just accused? of indicted?
Yale is speaking for the defense team.
That makes me weep with frustration! I can't imagine any family paying the ho one red cent!
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