Gag order sought in lacrosse case (NAACP Wants Gag Order)

Durham Herald-Sun ^ | May 25, 2006 | PAUL BONNER

[abb]

DURHAM -- A lawyer with the state NAACP said the civil rights organization intends to seek a gag order in the Duke lacrosse case, and a journalist who participated in a forum with him on Wednesday said media coverage of the alleged rape may deprive the alleged victim of her legal rights to a fair trial.

Al McSurely, an attorney who chairs the Legal Redress Committee for the state National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he generally respects the defense attorneys in the case as colleagues. But they are violating the State Bar's rules of professional conduct that discourage comments outside court that are likely to prejudice a case, he said.

The NAACP will try to intervene in the case to file a "quiet zone/let's let justice work" motion. That is otherwise known as a gag order, he acknowledged, although he said he doesn't like that term.

McSurely's comments came amid the first-ever Durham Conference on the Moral Challenges of our Culture at First Presbyterian Church downtown. The session gave the approximately 150 people who attended a chance to hear a series of talks and discuss among themselves sexual and domestic violence, racism, class distinctions and the media.

[Mike Nifong]

I can read that report (supplemental, ABC) and right off say that this was written not at the time, but much later with the benefit of time and possibly input from Nifong.

He starts right off identifying Kim Roberts. The Police did not know it was Roberts that night. She was arrested 8 days later. It took them time to identify the second stripper. I read somewhere that the first time they got to question her (other than the drunk report) was 8 days later.

Why didn't the AV mention a 2nd dancer? Did she know Kim previously as many have thought, did she know her as Nikki and know she was wanted? Did Kim tell her that night that she cannot mention her name or bring her into it? Remember Kim was struggling trying to get the AV out of her car without getting the Police involved. The AV not describing another dancer may indicate the AV had more wits about her than one would think. It also shows a level of deception. She could have been afraid of Kim. Or possibly she didn't want Kim existence to be known so that there would be no chance of Kim contradicting her story.

You may be dead on about the Police picking the Bathroom over the Bedroom. For one thing, it's hard to explain the 2nd dancer not seeing or hearing anything of the 30 minute gang-rape if it was in the bedroom. Also, during the photo lineup (the one with a transcript) the AV mentions the bedroom and the lead investigator steers her into the living room. It's clear he's keeping her story on track.
From earlier statements it sounds like the Bedroom is open and players are sitting in the living room and bedroom and people are moving freely through those rooms.

[Mike Nifong]

Then, Shelton says the alleged victim's story changed again.

"Within a few minutes, I was told that she told the [doctor] that she had been raped? I returned? and asked her if she had or had not been raped. She told me she did not want to talk to me anymore and then started crying and saying something about them dragging her into the BEDROOM."

[Krodg]

I didn't read anything about the bedroom.

Fine...

She told me she did not want to talk to me anymore and then started crying and saying something about them dragging her into the bedroom."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=4208878

[JLS]

Maybe it's just poor reporting or a typo, but this article claims Kim didn't dance and other's say Crystal didn't.

I thought the initial story was that Mangum was walking down the street as Roberts drove by and Roberts picked her up because she was being taunted with racial slurs.

No clearly the "apparel" Mangum was wearing quickly caused that story to fall apart. But Roberts of course could still claim she picked her up driving by and did not know she was a stripper/ho. The number one concern of both woman that night was that they were on probation.

[Publius22]

Read the actual report, not the quote from ABC. It says bathroom, not bedroom.

[Mike Nifong]

That is what was reported. Roberts lied and said she found the woman walking and she overhead white men calling her racist names. Roberts picked up the woman and drove her to Kroger.

That is what was reported more than once.

[Publius22]

[Mike Nifong]

Did he say anything about her getting groped and being dragged out of the car?

That was reported this week that she apparently said at point that she was dragged back into the house and in that process many men groped her.

[Publius22]

That's actually another version that she told Shelton. She claimed they dragged her out of the car and groped her. Nothing was said, however, about them taking her back into the house. Shelton was clear that in the groping verison she stated that no one forced her to have sex.

[Mike Nifong]

Thanks. I have it opened now. It sure helps to look at the report rather than the ABC story.

I notice she doesn't mention any comments that upset her or caused her to leave in fear. They were leaving and when they went to leave someone from the party asked them to come back inside. Nikki wanted to go back in and the AV did not. Nikki and the AV had an argument and then a group of men pulled her from the car and groped her but NO one forced her to have sex.
And then she mentions that someone took her money (like she just noticed it missing).

It also states she "recanted" her remarks about being raped.

[Mike Nifong]

When you read the report, NOT the ABC piece of crap article, it's also clear that the AV states Nikki danced also.

So, Crystal admits that Nikki danced with her too.

[Mike Nifong]

From that Supplemental Report (Shelton's), Crystal never mentions a crude remark, never mentions any problems with the lacrosse players. She says the put on a show and were leaving, and that she got into an argument with NIKKI, because Nikki wanted to return (and Crystal didn't). While she was arguing with NIKKI, men from the team pulled her from the car and groped her in the process. She tells Shelton no one FORCED her to have sex.

Aside and apart from this supplemental report, the Neighbor Bissey sees everything, but does NOT report this struggle, dragging or forcing her out of the car. In fact, Bissey says they were talked into returning to the house and BOTH women returned to the house.

Crystal can't even get her basic lies in order. I don't think she dreamed of a independent witness at that time of night.

[Krodg]

Read the actual report, not the quote from ABC. It says bathroom, not bedroom.

I was responding to the article..

While I believe that the players are innocent, I have some doubts about this story.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1638002/posts?page=596#596

[David Allen]

You're exactly right. The feminazis' biggest weapon now is the sexual accusation. It's like kryptonite against Superman, immediately rendering the man accused almost helpless.

Started in the late 80s with sex harassment cases, and now any sex experience that doesn't hold fond memories is subject to retroactive assault status.

[David Allen]

The more we know about this case, the more we know about the active misconduct of Nifong and others who work for the city of Durham. When you add it all up, the sum is a conspiracy that probably needs FBI investigation and Justice Dept prosecution.

Nifong will not be held accountable by the state bar or anyone within state or local government.

[pepperhead]

Shelton might want to send out his resume to other cities and hope he can land a job before this goes to trial. He is going to have a big X on his chest in the courtroom with Nifong and the defense questioning him. If he changes his story on the stand he will be ruined. His fellow officers and the people on the city council will probably turn on him. And when he is walking down the street he will have a big X on his back. I would be very worried a supporter of the FA attacking me if I was him.

[JLS]

I would be very worried a supporter of the FA attacking me if I was him.

She probably has few real supporters. Most around town probably know her for what she really is. And in this case she is a useful tool for a few race baiter.

Once Nifong has to fold his tent on this case, the race baiters will drop her like a hot potatoe and move on to the next situation they can exploit.

I guess he might have to worry about some lone crazy true believe out there. But for the vast majority including Mangum, this is about what Roberts said, I don't want to let this opportunity pass me by.

[Publius22]

This quote is from the Herald-Sun article:

The logs show that Shelton was dispatched to the Hillsborough Road Kroger supermarket -- where police first encountered the woman -- at 1:32 a.m. He left there at 1:49 a.m. The logs have no mention of Shelton's going to Duke Hospital.

According to Shelton, he decided that CGM should be taken to Durham Access because she would not speak and she could not walk. Since they didn't know her, taking her home was not an option.

They left Kroger at 1:49 for Durham Access and by 2:12 Shelton was requesting a unit stop by Charles Street to check on her kids. So in that 23 minute range, her demeanor must have changed dramatically.

[pepperhead]

You sober up pretty fast in the back of cop car. Even faster once you reach the jail.

[JLS]

A few days back I posted about the cell phone Mangum apparently had at the party. I said I thought summed up the case in a nutshell, making points like:

1. Mangum dropped it when she fell and did not get it back.

2. The police did not investigate it.

3. The DA is completely uninterested in it.

4. The defense not knowing what is on it wants it perserved. [This to me is most telling that nothing happened. If something happened they would not dare seek to get evidence from a cell phone one of the players did not have under his control.]

Well tonight I watched the first setting hearing for the first time. A link to a CourtTV file of it follows:

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=xDpiiRI2jJQ1hKhActHbd99eW-vKCJL7&UserName=Unknown

The phone came up and let me add a 5th point of how it is this case in a nutshell:

5. The judge is very concerned about the cell phone. He mentioned that it might be owned by someone else and that would raise third party AND FOURTH PARTY concerns. The judge is clearly with his FOURTH PARTY remark worried about whose number might be on that cell phone. He order the phone information not be released until it can be viewed "in camera."