Posted on 10/11/2006 1:52:56 AM PDT by abb
DURHAM -- A CBS "60 Minutes" segment on the controversial Duke University lacrosse rape case is expected to air Sunday evening and will include interviews with all three indicted players and Kim Roberts Pittman, the second dancer at the party where the attack allegedly occurred.
CBS would not comment on the show. The network's normal practice is to withhold information about "60 Minutes" broadcasts until a few days in advance.
But Pittman's lawyer, Mark Simeon of Durham, confirmed Tuesday that his client was interviewed. But Simeon ended a telephone conversation before fielding a question about what Pittman told the interviewer.
An exotic dancer at the time, Pittman was with another dancer who claimed she was raped and sodomized by three lacrosse players during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.
Pittman since has been quoted as saying the rape charges were "a crock." She also told police in a March 22 handwritten statement that she and the accuser ended their performance when someone at the lacrosse party "brought out a broomstick and ... said he would use the broomstick on us."
"That statement made me uncomfortable and I felt like I wanted to leave," Pittman added. "I raised my voice to the boys and said the show was over."
Pittman said she then asked the alleged rape victim to leave the party with her. But she said the accuser "felt we could get more money and that we shouldn't leave yet."
According to Pittman, the accuser "began showing signs of intoxication" early in the dance performance and was "basically out of it" by the time it ended.
Pittman finally drove the other dancer to a Hillsborough Road grocery store, from which a 911 call was placed to police.
There is nothing about an alleged rape in Pittman's written statement, which is included in public-record court files.
All three defendants also were interviewed for the "60 Minutes" segment, sources told The Herald-Sun. The interviewer is veteran reporter Ed Bradley.
The three -- Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans -- remain free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year. Each maintains he is innocent.
Neither they nor their families could be reached Tuesday for possible comment about the CBS show, and their attorneys had no comment.
Defense lawyers apparently will not appear on the television program. Neither will District Attorney Mike Nifong, who has been widely criticized for allegedly rushing to judgment in the case and making inflammatory public statements before he had sufficient evidence.
For the past four months, Nifong has not discussed the situation publicly. He was out of town on business and unreachable for comment Tuesday.
Benjamin Himan and Mark Gottlieb, police investigators in the lacrosse case, also could not be reached. But sources said the two had not been interviewed by "60 Minutes" as of Friday.
The Police Department repeatedly has declined to discuss the lacrosse incident.
It could not be determined Tuesday if a one-time driver for the alleged rape victim, Jarriel Lanier Johnson, was among those Bradley contacted.
"I have nothing to say about it," Johnson told The Herald-Sun by telephone before hanging up.
But Johnson gave police an April 6 handwritten statement about an "appointment," "a job" and a performance the accuser had at three different hotels in two days not long before the alleged rape.
Johnson also said she had sexual intercourse with him during the same time period.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-777449.html
And let's look at Liefong's consistency issues while we're at it, too. He said the DNA would prove who did what and clear the innocent, yet he indicted when the DNA turned up bupkees. He said Mangum was held from behind in a choke-hold. She was not. He said the medical evidence would prove this was a brutal attack, but it shows the opposite. He said condoms were likely used, but Mangum had already told the medical staff that no condoms were used. He said a date-rape drug may have been used, knowing full well the test was negative for that. He said the boys didn't cooperate, but that is also not borne out by the evidence. I'm sure y'all can add to the list of his "inconsistencies." Liefong's list of "inconsistencies" probably approaches Mangum's list of "inconsistencies" in length, and he's the PROSECUTOR!
CG, I wouldn't tell you any of that, because I know differently.
Feel free to use me for venting anytime, but please just trust that I am not the enemy.
:>
(Jez waving hand frantically in the air) "I know! I know!"
The answer is Kim. In fact, I'd believe her over some of the posters on this board, lol! ;>
The father is so out of it he doesn't even try to keep his lies straight. I've read that he's a retired truck driver, but his willy-nilly lying off the top of his head - just blurts out whatever seems convenient and sounds good at the moment - makes him seem more like somebody retired from the lamestream media.
This isn't the first time I've read that ME is run by a bunch of rat Nazis, including feminazis. Here in CA, we have a large contingent of environazis at the helm.
LOL! I thought Portsmouth was in ME. Thanks for the correction. Nevertheless, the ME code I cited is accurate and class D violations equate to misdemeanors with a sentence of less than one year.
LOL. I'd have to go with Kim too. She is nowhere near as dishonest as Crystal and Fong.
Kim didn't start this thing, although she jumped on the bandwagon. Kim will do and say whatever is best for Kim. At the height of the witch hunt and hysteria she said she thought they were guilty but now that the tide has turned she's toned it down. She's selfish but she didn't start this fire.
Crystal and Fong are more twisted. Crystal's lie started this whole thing and she has nearly destroyed three families and really hurt about 44 others. She sat there and accused three innocent people of a horrible crime. That makes my stomach heave. Fong encouraged it all and used it for his own personal gain. I think he enjoys it too. He really resents these guys. He resents the fact that they are athletes and attend Duke. He resents their wealth and social status. I really want to see him in total ruin.
Kim's statements with regard to what took place with Mangum arriving at the house, in the house, and leaving the house are pretty consistent throughout. There are no blatant and obvious lies there whatsoever. When witnesses give statements of their own step-by-step movements over a period of time (of more than about ten minutes) and their observations of others' step-by-step movements to the extent they know and those movements involve different people moving about in connected locations and doing and saying different things, it is much more common for them to inadvertently leave something out and later correct it than it is for them to get it letter-perfect the first time. In fact, letter-perfect with no corrections is suspicious. That's the main reason why witnesses are interviewed more than once. To clarify and fill in the gaps after the investigator has had a chance to "map" the statement. This process may be repeated several times until the picture of movements, events and conversations is complete. At that point, if it's an important witness, they may come in for a recorded interview or sworn statement.
What I just noticed that Kim said that I was unaware of before is that she said she found none of Mangum's things in the bathroom. If a violent rape had just occurred there, since Mangum would have had her belongings with her at the time, they would have been scattered about the floor, unless Liefong wants to contend that these very drunken but highyly functional and astute criminals had already picked up the evidence from the bathroom in the moments Mangum went to the car to leave (since Mangum said nothing about falling down the stairs, as far as I know) because they clairvoyantly knew that Kim was about to return to look for Mangum's things.
Ditto. I agree, except I place more responsibility at Liefong's feet than I do Mangum's. She's a weak person in terms of her character, and Liefong has exploited and manipulated her weakness.
This is the part that Kim says was less than 5 minutes - when she "finally" left the bathroom with Mangum still in there. If this ever gets to trial, this will become absolutely crucial testimony.
Mangum made a call at 12:26 and was out on the steps about 4 minutes later, so presumably Kim left before Mangum made the call, probably by a minute, which makes sense - Kim leaves the bathroom, Mangum doesn't know what to do and can't make decisions for herself because she's so out of it, so she calls someone almost immediately for a ride or what to do now - something like that. So, it's reasonable to assume that Kim left the bathroom at 12:25. Even if it was a few more than five minutes that Mangum was out of Kim's sight - put it at eight or nine minutes with Kim leaving the bathroom at 12:20 - Reade was long gone. Since Mangum identified all three boys as being together in the bathroom gang-raping her at the same time, yet Reade could not have been there as we already know, then neither could the other two have been there.
I feel this is one step. Unless things are changed it will happen again. Not saying the Fong's behavior is the norm, but the loopholes that allowed him to do this in the first place must be closed. The office wields far too much unchecked power. Drastic changes need to be made.
Isn't she studying something related to criminal justice system? Hell, maybe one day she can be a DA.
Who would you expect more from then?
Decisions, decisions...
Imagine being Nifong having a case with the only possible witnesses to support your case are stripping felons looking to avoid the drunk tank or jail for parole violations? Bet he has a few sleepless nights. Let's all hope the residents of Durham recognize this charade and end it on Nov 7th.
It's not an excuse - it just is a fact that weak people take the easy way out, no matter who else it harms. Mangum has drug, alcohol and psychiatric problems. She isn't equipped to make good judgments or judgments that consider the needs and fairness of and to others, and that is her fault (maybe not the mental issues), not anybody else's fault. But they're still present and do affect other people adversely when she makes a bad decision, which is most of the time. It's up to herself and a cogent memeber of her family, if there is one, to straighten her out.
Because of her failures, and because Liefong is supposed to be an educated, public servant, I view him as having the role of the 'adult' in this matter, entrusted with advancing the people's best interests, not his own. That is a burden he chose, and it places on him the responsibility AND THE AUTHORITY to not have allowed her to advance this case beyond the complaint stage.
I don't think Nifong is weak in the same sense Mangum is. He is corrupt and places his own desires over the good of the people and the integrity of his office, but he is not weak in the sense that he can't control his decisions and actions in the way that Mangum can't. Mangum lives and acts in the moment, Liefong does not.
Bloody well said.
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