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.
My husband called me today from 495, crossing the Potomac. He was ILL.
Thanks, Ken!
I don't think I heard Mort say that about the national data base. Afterall it is a database for CONVICTED sexual offenders.
Kerry Sutton.
Really? That's disheartening.
You should have been here; such rage at the press.
I've hated each and every one of them since, except Tony Snow and Brit Hume, and a few others.
FLESH?
One of the things Reade's attorney is asking for Thursady is her cell phone records.
They all agreed that once you're in, you don't get out.
Then you need to listen again.
He specifically said that they would be in there for the rest of their lives.
Yes, he did say that. No matter what, it will show up.
>>My husband called me today from 495, crossing the Potomac. He was ILL<<
Figuratively, or literally?
As in "as a snake."
Traffic was dead stopped.
"FLESH?"
Nope, don't think so, since the attorney said there was NO BLOOD. Well, to be precise, IF she had scratched him there would be blood. Now if you want to speculate that there was a skin cell, top skin layer only, not deep enough to contain blood...well, you could think that, but what kind of an effort did she put out if that's all she got, and as you said earlier, why no DNA under her real nails?
Some scratching.
NOT.
It was heart breaking.
I don't know if it will be a turning point for the media in this Greek Tragedy, but it is for thousands of people who saw it.
This isn't about justice - it never was. It appears that any moron, lowlife, race baiter, feminist, and evil monster with an agenda has jumped into this to advance their own menace.
On the radio in traffic today, I heard the media quote some woman who argued with the defense attorney at the media conference. She is head of some group with a ridiculous name (like Black Women Against Rape And For Dollars Awarded By A Jury For Me Because I Want It And White People Are Evil And Can I Get A Closeup On Camera).
The media played none of the comments by the lacrosse captain on the radio for their listeners, but gave this woman 45 seconds of airtime at the top of the radio news hour.
I hope and pray there is a backlash against these people of the OJ outrage times 10,000. I pray this case causes a backlash against Democrats (like Nifong) and the entire evil Democratic Party.
I am so disgusted I can't even spit straight.
That was the name of her organization. I can't believe you remembered it all!!
Catfish on H&C spouting "vaginal injuries consistent wiht violent sexual assault".
(shaking my head)
I still say it's vaginal injuries from a too tight red polyester lace teddy.
DOJ database intro:
"State sex-offender registration and notification programs are designed, in general, to include information about offenders who have been convicted of a “criminal offense against a victim who is a minor” or a “sexually violent offense,” as specified in the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (“the Wetterling Act”) – more specifically, information about persons convicted of offenses involving sexual molestation or sexual exploitation of children, and persons convicted of rape and rape-like offenses (regardless of the age of the victim), respectively."
http://www.nsopr.gov/main_frameset.cfm?pageid=4
I think Mort might be wrong. At least I don't want to believe (I hope, really) that more than a mere accusation is needed for inclusion on the registry.
The opposite is simply to frightening to contemplate.
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