Yet, let’s not overlook the fact that had the lacrosse team members gone to the gym, went to a movie or a bar, or just decided to watch TV instead of hiring strippers in the first place none of this would have gone down. I would like to think that given the opportunity to go back to that evening, they would opt to do something other than hire these *ladies* for their entertainment.
At least two of the accused were no where near the party. A cab driver came forward on behalf of one of them. He was threatened with deportation if he didn’t shut up.
Of course...and certainly those that weren't party to..."the party," were clearly the biggest victims of the whole mess. Even those who were present and hired Mangum were falsely accused and abused by the system; I'm not denying that. My only assertion was that had they chosen to do something more wholesome than hire strippers, they would have likely spared themselves a whole lot of trouble. While they did nothing illegal, they certainly made a poor choice. Most people, at some time during their upbringing are advised to steer clear of unseemly people; this was an object lesson in why. I suspect that most of the lax team who were involved in hiring Mangum have not troubled themselves to hire another stripper since.
Did they "deserve" to have their lives put through a wringer? No. Could they have easily avoided it altogether by not associating with such lowlifes? Easily.
“At least two of the accused were no where near the party. A cab driver came forward on behalf of one of them. He was threatened with deportation if he didn’t shut up.”
Yea and one dude was cleared because of an ATM camera that took his pic at the time of the so called “rape”.
Also look that the fact the whole team got their pic posted all over campus by some professor who had their knickers in a wad. The whole team was not at the party, just a few of the players. The whole team ended up suffering.