Win doesn't reflect doubts of many voters
By Ray Gronberg, The Herald-Sun
November 8, 2006 12:59 am
DURHAM -- Mike Nifong's victory Tuesday in the Durham district attorney race came despite broad doubts among voters about his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case, according to Herald-Sun interviews with people who had cast ballots.
The informal exit polling found that nearly two-thirds of those voters believed Nifong has mishandled the case, which turned a race normally settled in May's party primary into a three-way shootout.
Meanwhile, there was little indication that a get-out-the-vote effort among anti-Nifong Duke students produced significant results at the polls.
Though Duke vans hauled students to two precincts near campus, the precincts' turnout was far below the countywide average of 38.5 percent.
Watts School -- barely two blocks from where the alleged attack occurred in March near East Campus -- had a 23.5 percent turnout, and saw Nifong lead the three-man field.
At Patterson Recreation Center near West Campus, challenger Lewis Cheek led the field but turnout was just 18 percent.
Many who did vote said they were casting ballots against incumbent Nifong and for Cheek, who said he would step aside if elected and let Gov. Mike Easley select a new chief prosecutor.
"The case has been handled incredibly poorly," said Duke senior Robert Hughes, a first-time-in-Durham and Watts School voter who said he registered here instead of back home in South Carolina at the request of a friend on the lacrosse team.
"The job of the DA is to promote justice, not to solely protect the underprivileged,"
Hughes said, referring to the exotic dancer and single mother who said the Duke players gang-raped her.
In the end, enough voters disagreed with that sentiment to carry Nifong to victory.
Final but unofficial figures show he captured about 49 percent of the vote to fellow Democrat Cheek's 39 percent. Write-ins -- likely dominated by declared write-in candidate Steve Monks -- won about 12 percent.
Of the more than 70 people interviewed by The Herald-Sun, about 60 percent said the lacrosse case had not changed their views about the fairness of the criminal-justice system, and another 15 percent had a better opinion of the system because of the case.
"It was really good that the DA's first impulse was believe the accuser," said Jeanette Stokes, a MoveOn.org volunteer and Nifong supporter who voted at the Durham School of the Arts.
"Whether it turns out she was telling the truth or not, 30 years ago, nobody would have believed her," Stokes said. "It shows the effects of women's and rape-crisis groups to have a different understanding that people who say they've been assaulted may actually have been assaulted."
The rain came down steadily throughout the day, but judges in several precincts reported a stronger-than-usual turnout for an off-year election. So did Board of Elections Director Mike Ashe, who said he was surprised by the numbers reported to him as the balloting unfolded.
The final turnout figure was about 38.5 perecent, slightly below the historical average for similar elections without a presidential, gubernatorial or U.S. senatorial race topping the ballot.
Ashe said the day's one snag occurred at the River Church precinct on Holt School Road, when a worker from the church failed to show up to unlock the building in time for the polls to open at 6:30 a.m. About 100 people were waiting to vote. Twenty of them headed instead to the Board of Elections office on Corporation Street to cast ballots.
The church got the doors open by 7:20 a.m., and if it hadn't, elections workers were ready to set up shop in the congregation's parking lot, Ashe said. The delayed opening was, nonetheless, the fault of his office, he said.
Officials decided to compensate by keeping the River Church precinct open until 8:30 p.m., an hour later than normal. Ashe said the move followed a unanimous vote by the local Board of Elections and consultations with the state Board of Elections in Raleigh.
At the Miller-Morgan Building on the campus of N.C. Central University, roughly 40 voters had cast ballots by about 10 a.m. Still, an election worker said that wasn't bad for a precinct that saw only 64 of 1,934 registered voters show up for the May primary.
While located at NCCU, the Miller-Morgan precinct doesn't only serve students. But junior Brandon James still was wondering where the rest of his classmates were.
"They just don't understand how serious it is," the political science major from Charlotte said.
Staff writers BriAnne Dopart, Kelly Hinchcliffe, John McCann, Tara McLaughlin, Bill Stagg and John Stevenson contributed to this story.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-786124.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/
Pay off lacrosse case?
A great deal of senseless and bombastic rhetoric about the Duke lacrosse scandal seems to be going nowhere. Finger-pointing and hate mail are not contributing to progress in the case or to a resolution of the issues. Very recently, some ideas have been bruited about that seem worthy of bringing the various factions into alignment.
We begin with the notion that a trial is unnecessary because it's not in the interest of any parties concerned. If all charges are dropped, the prosecution, the indicted students at Duke and the Durham community would all heave a sigh of relief. Is that outcome worth $3 million? Half would go to the complainant and half to the attorneys. Obviously, it would take some effort to raise the money, but given the benefits, it is a small price to pay for the solution of this painful affair.
JOE DIBONA
November 8, 2006
Non-suspects in lineup
I would like to submit an answer to Gary Friedman's question in his letter of Oct. 26, "Has the DA ever before not included non-suspects in a photo line-up? If so, when?"
Not all 46 lacrosse players were at the party. Those not at the party would not be suspects. Therefore, non-suspects were included in the line-up. If the defendant had picked someone not at the party, that would be a wrong answer for her.
NORMA CONE
November 8, 2006
Shame on CBS
The thoughtful piece by Amanda Smith [Herald-Sun, Nov. 1] made me recall my reaction to the recent CBS segment: "Shame on CBS."
I did not need to watch "60 Minutes" to know that wealth; power and influence were at work. Clearly, the adage is true, "one gets the defense one pays for."
At a time when there has been a great deal of public recognition that rape is a crime of power; that rape leaves victims traumatized, in shock and eventually with feelings of shame, how dare CBS promote the defense of the accused prior to trial! In the decision to move forward with this segment, apparently no consideration was given to the plight of the powerless victim.
Shame on CBS! This was a blatant display of submitting to power and influence. This issue should be decided in the courts.
ANNETTE MONTGOMERY
November 8, 2006
Lacrosse case through the lens of history
It took courage for Mike Nifong to charge privileged white men with rape of a black woman. A strong, black presence enabled his action. Black people my age, north of 75 years, recall few situations when white men were held accountable for violation of black women. It was often the violated black woman who left town, never to return. Black men accused of raping a white woman were often beaten and sometimes lynched before reaching the jailhouse. The word of the white witness was often stronger than fact, law and reason when the alleged aggressor was a black man. The memory of past experiences and present reality causes some people to hope that the accused lacrosse players will be treated as black men have been and would likely be treated by the legal system. Others want to fire the district attorney and run the accused out of town. The community should reflect on ways the legacy of racially tainted justice has created different memories. I hope the call for accountability will be tempered by wisdom and fairness rather than a reach toward retribution for generations of unequal treatment and neglect of the rights of black citizens. Notwithstanding judgment by Fox and CBS, let us see and hear the evidence in a court of law.
JOHN HATCH
Durham
November 7, 2006