Posted on 09/18/2006 5:19:53 PM PDT by abb
DURHAM - One of three people who saw the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case at the crisis center where she first reported being sexually assaulted kept notes of her observations, defense lawyers said in a motion filed in court today.
In the early hours of March 14, the accuser was taken to Durham Access Center because she reportedly met the criteria for involuntary commitment, defense lawyer Brad Bannon wrote in the motion filed in Durham County Court today.
While there for 40 minutes, the accuser interacted with three women on the center's staff, the motion says.
Gerri Lomuriel Wilkes, who was working at the center the morning the accuser came in, took hand-written notes of her observations, according to the motion.
Kirk Osborn, the lawyer representing Reade Seligmann, one of three lacrosse players accused in the case, found out about the notes while interviewing Wilkes, the motion says.
Defense lawyers are asking that the notes be turned over to them.
District Attorney Mike Nifong has told defense lawyers during discovery hearings that no notes were made at the center, that only a log existed from there.
In previous documents handed over to defense lawyers, there is no evidence that police tried to contact Wilkes about that morning.
Also, defense lawyers are asking the state for a bill of particulars in which they hope to get a more precise timeline of the alleged offenses and find out which bathroom at 610 N. Buchanan the gang-rape allegedly occurred.
They also are asking the state to specify which "sexual act" each defendant is accused of committing. Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or ablythe@newsobserver.com.
Pinging the DukeLax List with new thread and information...
Defense lawyers in Duke case seek additional notes about accuser
The Associated Press
September 18, 2006 5:26 pm
DURHAM, N.C. -- Attorneys representing three Duke lacrosse players charged with rape asked prosecutors Monday to turn over handwritten notes they said were taken by an employee at the mental-health facility where the accuser first said she was raped.
In their joint motion, defense attorneys also asked for copies of any radio communications between Durham police officers connected to the case made in the hours after a March 13 lacrosse team party. A woman hired to perform as a stripper told police three people sexually assaulted her in a bathroom of the off-campus house where the party took place.
A grand jury later indicted three players -- Collin Finnerty, David Evans and Reade Seligmann -- with rape, sexual offense and kidnapping.
The defense has asked several times for records from the Durham Access Center, where police took the woman for involuntary commitment in the hours after the party. She interacted with at least three staff members and was there for 40 minutes, according to defense attorneys, but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said there are no records of her time at the facility other than a simple log-in sheet.
In Monday's motion, defense attorneys said one of the staff members "took handwritten notes of her observations" of the accuser and that she intended to turn those notes over to prosecutors. It is unclear whether those notes were ever turned over to Nifong's office.
Nifong, who has generally refused to talk about the case, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
Attorneys representing Finnerty and Evans also filed a motion seeking a "bill of particulars," which would detail information prosecutors used as the basis for charging their clients. The motion specifically seeks the time and place of the alleged assault as well as "the specific 'sexual act'" for each defendant.
Seligmann's lawyers filed a similar motion in June. Attorneys for all three players have strongly proclaimed their clients' innocence.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-770868.html
BOOM shaka lakka lakka BOOM shaka lakka lakka BOOM BOOM! Yer goin down Nifong! Ya putz!
No notes, sayeth Nifong? Hm. Did he even bother to look? Or even bother to meet with the young mens' attorneys in the early days? Nope.
Nifong ran with a "By Any Means Necessary" modus in charging innocents with rape, etc.
Is Nifong the local legal terrorist? So driven by his hidden Allah, that he must win at any cost?
Didn't Nifong just want to win the Dem primary to retain his job?
The rat primary isn't the general election. And he won the primary a few months ago I think.
Right around the time he brought this case against the Duke students.
Either Nifong didn't bother to ask anyone at Durham Access if there were any notes regarding the accuser's time there (sloppy), or he knew there were notes and tried to hide them (scary).
Either way it's not a pretty picture. How any judge can accept any representations made by Nifong at this point is beyond me. If Nifong told me that the Pope is Catholic I'd check it out with the Vatican.
It also makes me wonder what else is out there floating around that Nifong is either hiding or didn't ask about.
Because there was no sexual assault, there's going to be more exculpatory evidence. Nifong can run but he can't hide. If the defense has talked to the Durham Access Nurse and they demanded notes, she has told them something further damaging to Nifong and now they are looking to confirm. As an added bonus, they caught Nifong in another lie. Of course, he can say he never saw them or some such weaselly words but the damage is done.
The hearing Friday has circus potential.
Thanks for the ping.
I just deleted myself from the Talkleft forums. Too much crap from PB and IMHO for me to remain polite anymore. Rather than say what I really think, I just left, because I'd be banned anyway.
A couple morons ruining a whole board....
"A couple morons ruining a whole board...."
Maybe that's their deliberate intention?
Same thing happened at Court TV--again, maybe deliberate.
(So the way to defeat that is to NEVER answer the trolls.)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
Twenty Questions
Today's N&O reveals the latest in the Durham Police's inexplicably shoddy investigation into the Duke lacrosse case. On March 14, police initially took the accuser to the Durham Access Center, where involuntary commitment loomed. Three people saw the accuser at the Access Center; one asked her if she had been raped; when she responded yes, this case took a new turn.
Mike Nifong long has claimed a single-page log sheet constitutes the only record of the accuser's 40-minute stay at the Center. A defense motion filed yesterday, however, asserts that at least one Access Center employee took handwritten notes of the accuser's arrival. No explanation exists as to why Nifong has not turned these notes over to the defense, as state law requires him to do.
Much more important, the defense motion contends that "months after the event" police hadn't interviewed any of the three Access Center employees who saw the accuser before she went to the hospital on March 14. It's hard to fathom an innocent explanation for this oversight:
[end excerpt]
why isn't the justice system kicking in here?........
District Attorney Mike Nifong has told defense lawyers during discovery hearings that no notes were made at the center, that only a log existed from there. (N&O)
"...but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said there are no records of her time at the facility other than a simple log-in sheet. (H-S/AP)
The Herald-Sun may be another casualty of the Duke rape hoax. The case has been an acid test for North Carolina journalists. It looks like the acid from this case may peel away the remaining dead flesh from the corpse of The Herald-Sun.
[snip]
One final link is to the Raleigh N&O's Editors' Blog post "Duke lacrosse latest: Gottlieb profile." Link to Melanie's blog
Scroll down and take a look at what reader/commenters are posting on the thread.
bttt
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