K. who was the clown that took a shot at me yesterday? he still around? i saw he was a newbie. we must have hit the target, lol...
Lingering rape cases nothing unusual
By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun
jstevenson@heraldsun.com
Jul 22, 2006 : 8:07 pm ET
DURHAM -- Many defense lawyers and media pundits have blasted the Durham County District Attorney's Office for pursuing the Duke lacrosse case even though, in their view, there isn't enough evidence to back up an exotic dancer's claim that three players sexually assaulted her.
Lack of DNA matches, apparent inconsistencies in the accuser's story and one indicted player's seemingly airtight alibi should be enough to toss the case out of court immediately, the critics often have said.
Still, District Attorney Mike Nifong has shown no signs of letting up on the defendants: lacrosse players Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans.
The three are free under $100,000 bonds and may be tried next spring.
In fact, it is not unusual for Durham prosecutors to hang onto rape cases that -- in laymen's eyes -- may appear to be crumbling.
Observers say the Duke case -- with frequent national and even international media attention -- simply is the most high-profile example of such tenaciousness. But it is not the only example by a long shot.
Prosecutors freely acknowledge they are particularly reluctant to let go of rape charges that arise in domestic settings, where the alleged victim and defendant are not strangers.
A case in point is that of Gabriel Watson, 19, who is accused of pointing a shotgun at a woman's head and raping her earlier this year.
Defense lawyer Dan Read said he recently approached the woman with a tape recorder, and she recanted her story.
"I laid my tape recorder on the table and we talked," Read recalled in an interview. "I asked her if he [Watson] really forced her to have sex. She said, 'No, he didn't.' "
The woman also denied that a shotgun was involved, although she did complain that Watson "didn't treat her honorably," according to Read.
"In the cold light of morning, I don't see why she would lie to me," Read added.
He said he promptly took the tape recording to Nifong and one of his assistants, Jan Paul.
"I naively thought that would be the end of the case," said Read.
It wasn't.
The charge against Watson remains pending.
Nifong and Paul were away from their offices Friday and couldn't be reached for comment.
Read said Watson and his accuser were acquaintances and that there was no doubt they had sex.
The question is whether it was consensual. Watson says it was, the woman says it wasn't, according to Read.
He said such situations give the District Attorney's Office a tremendous amount of leverage and power over rape suspects.
"If you're found innocent, you walk away," he said. "If you're found guilty, you might spend 30 years in prison. Pretty much, it depends on who you believe. This makes it easy for the DA to extort [guilty] pleas. Even if you're not guilty, you might plead to a lesser charge because you don't want to risk spending so much time in prison."
But the accuser's taped recantation makes Read confident he can get Watson acquitted.
It would be up to a judge to decide whether jurors could hear the tape.
But Assistant District Attorney Tracey Cline, who handles many of Durham's rape cases, said a recantation wasn't enough to squelch a sexual assault allegation -- particularly one that arose in a domestic setting.
"When you have situations involving sexual assault or any type of assault, it depends on how the recantation was obtained and under what circumstances," she said. "Generally, the first statement given to police officers is true. A recantation does not mean the assault did not occur."
Rather, it simply may mean the accuser had been threatened by the defendant or had made up with him and didn't want him locked up, according to Cline.
"Recantation is normal in domestic violence cases," she said. "It's common. It's the rule rather than the exception. That's the nature of the animal. For that reason, a statement given to officers is the more credible story. Our concern is to make sure these victims don't end up dead the next time. For a prosecutor to drop cases just because a victim changes her story would be an injustice. It would be irresponsible. Sometimes you have to protect the victim from herself."
Still, Cline was forced to drop one rape case this month because the alleged victim refused to testify.
That case involved Rashad Lamont Brockington, who was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl last year after offering her a ride to the library.
The rape charge was scheduled for trial during the week of July 10, but it had to be dismissed because the girl wouldn't cooperate.
However, Brockington did plead guilty to intimidating a witness -- the girl in question -- and received eight to 10 months of supervised probation for that offense.
Meanwhile, veteran defense lawyer Mark Edwards suggested that it is a waste of time and money for prosecutors to pursue rape cases that can't be won because of non-cooperative accusers.
"I don't think it's a good use of state resources," he said. "If a woman gets on the witness stand and says she wasn't raped, the defendant obviously is not going to be convicted."
Are you referring to mam81? I think that is short for "Mammy" of ADA Couch.
abb, he took a shot at maggief, too.
You 2 are jealous cause crotch boy has sooooooo many friends. LOL
If you went to the gym, you could have that body.
BTW, it is mam81 and he/she/crotch groupie posted on another forum.
We didn't even bother reporting them.
Most importantly, we were instructed to "stop hating."