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Is The Duke Rape Story Unraveling?
Yahoo ^ | 04/12/06 | Tom Bevan

Posted on 04/12/2006 5:09:07 PM PDT by Perdogg

There's probably no better way to get a feel for what's been happening in the Duke University lacrosse team rape story than to read a series of revised news alerts on the case issued by the Durham Police's Crimestoppers unit. An initial release sent out April 3 which offered cash rewards for tips about the case read: "The victim was sodomized, raped, assaulted and robbed. This horrific crime sent shock waves throughout our community."

Yesterday at 11:16am, according to the Raleigh News & Observer, Crimestoppers issued a revised version of the same news release which dropped the entire second sentence about a "horrific crime" and also added a qualifier to the first: "The victim alleges that she was sodomized, raped, assaulted and robbed." [emphasis added]

A mere eighteen minutes later a third revision was issued, changing the word "victim" to "complainant."

The evolving facts in the case seem to not only warrant those revisions but also to suggest that the case may be in the process of unraveling.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: anitahillredux; dejafreakinvu; duke; dukelax; realclearpolitics
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To: ThirstyMan
What I don't understand is that the search warrant names the three supposed attackers by first names, yet the DA is now saying she can only identify one, and she only did that last week. Why is it weeks into this investigation and no suspects from the original 46 have been eliminated? Added to the DNA, it becomes apparent that they don't have much of a case.

Let's say that she was raped. We can't pick three players from ramdom and convict them because they were at the party- without a positive ID or physical evidence, there is nothing to go on. What's scary is that the community is out for blood and if the DA did no more than pick three names out of a hat and charged them, he could get a Durham jury to convict. That is why we must continue to follow this case closely- a miscarriage of justice could occur if responsible people are not vigliant. You have to wonder how many times it happens when the cameras are off.

21 posted on 04/12/2006 6:30:45 PM PDT by LWalk18
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To: Perdogg; Howlin

GWEN IFILL

Why this is a big story

GWEN IFILL: Now for more on this story, I'm joined by Bob Ashley, editor of the "Durham Herald-Sun." He's a 1970 Duke graduate and now covers the Durham community.

Welcome, Bob.

BOB ASHLEY, Editor, "Durham Herald-Sun": Thank you.

GWEN IFILL: Why is this a big story?

"

BOB ASHLEY, Editor, "Durham Herald-Sun":

Why is it a big story? I think it combines so many forces right now. It combines the question of race. It combines the question of, you know, 200 years of concern over exploitation of black women by white men of privilege. It contains the elements of an elite university and its surrounding community.

Many of the neighbors have long been concerned about raucous parties, so we have undergraduate party behavior there at issue. We have sexual violence against women.

It's really a perfect storm of events that have come together and causes that have come together.

More

22 posted on 04/12/2006 6:33:22 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: hole_n_one
I wasn't real thrilled that, according to police, most of the Duke players were not being cooperative with investigators

Guess what, the DA lied. The 3 at the house went willingly the very first day, gave DNA, gave statements, had pictures of their bodies taken, and even offered to take a lie detector test, which the police -- wait for it -- said wasn't necessary.

23 posted on 04/12/2006 6:38:26 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: Howlin

Tonight was the first time that I had the opportunity to see Nifong and he came across to me as someone who was in way over his head.............and without a leg to stand on.


24 posted on 04/12/2006 6:43:22 PM PDT by hole_n_one
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To: Howlin; Perdogg
Living on the same side of the tracks

Apr 12, 2006

If Durham were the racially charged place it's getting made out to be, when defense attorneys announced Monday that no DNA evidence from white Duke lacrosse team members was found on a black woman hired to dance at their party, this city would have been burned and looted the way South Central Los Angeles got torched and pillaged after four white cops were acquitted of severely beating black motorist Rodney King.

There's this idea circulating around the country that on one side of the tracks are the rich white folks who either study or teach at Duke University. On the other side of where trains cross is supposedly where I and the other poor black people retreat once we finish cooking for and cleaning up after the rich white folks.

There's some truth to that, but it's not the whole story.

These people kill me talking about Durham needing to use this opportunity to finally deal with racism -- as if they don't have these issues where they live. Part of the reason Durham's in the news is because we, in fact, have been dealing with racism -- not always effectively, but dealing nonetheless.

Truth is we bear partial responsibility for the beating our city's image has taken. I'm referring to a racially divided school board that even tricks us into believing the hype outsiders project our way.

It'd be one thing if we were in a city wherein the entire school board gets slammed. But we live in a place where a lawsuit gets filed against only the white school board members.

All that does is add to the drama when microphone-holders from cable networks show up with their bright lights to piece together a story about an alleged gang rape.

So with the latest development being what it is, now what?

Well, the national media has too much invested in the story to back off now, so they'll still be around trying to act like they know what they're talking about when it comes to us. At least it's a chance for them to get our demographics straight.

But forget them. The question is whether we're going to let this mess -- regardless of the outcome -- hover the way everything with the school board gets viewed through the prism of race. Heaven forbid this ends up like the L.A. riots wherein it's the only way for rival street gangs to work together and make socioeconomic demands of the powers that be.

The Duke-dancer case isn't over. While defense lawyers say zero DNA matches exonerate the lacrosse players, District Attorney Mike Nifong claims there's other evidence besides deoxyribonucleic acid.

But there's no other way around the cliché -- Monday's announcement was a bombshell.

The accuser's case is getting weaker and weaker, especially when out of thin air emerges time-sensitive photos apparently demonstrating that she showed up to the lacrosse team's party already physically battered and possibly impaired. But that's for lawyer Butch Williams and the rest of them to say, although the late attorney Johnnie Cochran once chimed, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."

And just a few words, please, to those laying on me the charge of being hoity-toity for questioning the character of a young lady who'd shake her butt in a room full of horny boys. See, I was told that this case isn't about morals, particularly those of the accuser.

But it's looking more and more like absolute standards of right and wrong are indeed the issue.

Be it the lacrosse boys or the accuser, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

John McCann's column appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Contact him at jmccann@heraldsun.com or 419-6601.

25 posted on 04/12/2006 6:48:34 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: hole_n_one

I'm beginning to see him as just plain evil. He's doing this for his own benefit.


26 posted on 04/12/2006 6:48:58 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: TexKat

Tex, today on Fox on the show at 1 p.m., a reporter said that she may have made the charge to avoid being arrested for public drunkenness.

And they also said that "Kim" has confirmed that they girl was with her during the first call and the 2nd call. And that she never mentioned being attacked or raped.


27 posted on 04/12/2006 6:50:45 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: TexKat
And just a few words, please, to those laying on me the charge of being hoity-toity for questioning the character of a young lady who'd shake her butt in a room full of horny boys. See, I was told that this case isn't about morals, particularly those of the accuser.

They've awarded Pulitzer Prizes for much less.

28 posted on 04/12/2006 6:54:22 PM PDT by hole_n_one
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Media Credit: LAURA BETH DOUGLAS/THE CHRONICLE Satellite trucks for networks such as FOX, NBC and CNN have flocked to campus, setting up shop in the Bryan Center parking lot.

Some media experts lament coverage of alleged assault

College Media Credit: LAURA BETH DOUGLAS/THE CHRONICLE Satellite trucks for networks such as FOX, NBC and CNN have flocked to campus, setting up shop in the Bryan Center parking lot. Reyn Bowman is fed up with the news coverage of rape allegations against the Duke men's lacrosse team. Bowman, president of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the media has painted an inaccurate portrait of the University and the city. "They've mischaracterized both [Duke and Durham], probably because they lack information, and they were tempted by the contrasts," he said. "'Rich white school, poor black town,' makes a better story than the complexities of the real story, which is 'diverse school, diverse town.'" Several reporters and journalism experts-as well as some students and community members-said that while outlets such as Newsweek and The Washington Post have conducted balanced and thorough reporting, much of the coverage of the incident has been one-sided and sensationalist. Ted Vaden, the public editor of The Raleigh News & Observer, criticized his paper's reporting of the alleged rape in an April 2 column. Vaden wrote that the N&O "skirted the edge of fairness" by printing the alleged victim's account of the evening, while hiding her identity, without providing the same opportunity to the accused. Davis "Buzz" Merritt, a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was quoted in the column and described the March 25 interview as a "free shot at 46 people who have no way of contesting anything." The lacrosse players have declined requests to provide media outlets-including The Chronicle-with their side of the story about the March 13 party at which the rape allegedly took place. Jan Yopp, Walter Spearman Professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC, likened the coverage of the story by national media outlets to a game of "telephone." "By the time the fifth or the tenth person hears it, it's altered," Yop said. "The national media are not doing the original reporting, so there's an increased risk of errors." In a Sunday column, the executive editor of the N&O, Melanie Sill, wrote, "The national coverage so far... seems superficial and focused on the case's seamy aspects." An op-ed about the scandal penned by Allan Gurganus, a former visiting professor at the Center for Documentary Studies, has several errors. For instance, in the column-printed in Sunday's New York Times and entitled "Blue Devils Made Them Do It"-Gurganus implies that the University assigned the lacrosse players to live at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., the house where the rape allegedly occurred. "One perk of belonging to a sports team: preferred living quarters, close to campus but far from adult supervision," Gurganus wrote. "Friends in the neighborhood painstakingly restored an old home; they sold it the instant Duke planted a sports team next door." In reality, the University had no role in the players' leasing of the house. Team captains rented the home from an independent firm until Duke bought it-and 11 similar houses-in late February to tame the off-campus party scene. David Jarmul, associate vice president for news and communications, said he and his staff are busy monitoring news coverage of the University and have contacted a number of news outlets to correct their reporting. "There have been reporters who have been looking at this as a tabloid story, and frankly I think some of that coverage has been unfortunate," Jarmul said. "A lot of the broadcast coverage has been pretty straightforward, but there's no question that some of it-especially on the cable outlets-has had a sensational tone to it." Jarmul cited The New York Times as an outlet that has run corrections after being contacted by his office. "You have to make a judgment call," Jarmul added. "When there are hundreds of stories, you can't necessarily catch everything."

29 posted on 04/12/2006 6:55:24 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: TexKat; Howlin

Has there been any news beyond the fact that a second set of DNA tests is being conducted? Is it routine to have a second set of DNA tests, or is the DA just fishing?


30 posted on 04/12/2006 6:57:00 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: admin

Would you please delete the info in my post #29 and just leave the title link and pic. Thank you.


31 posted on 04/12/2006 6:57:40 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: Howlin

Wow... to think Kobe Bryant really wanted to go to Duke.


32 posted on 04/12/2006 6:58:49 PM PDT by rwilson99 (South Park (R)
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To: Howlin
Yes I saw that you posted that it was being rumored around that she was trying to avoid being arrested for intoxication which seems more logical to me than the idea that she was trying to blackmail the lacrosse players for large sums of money.

I also read and posted on another thread that it was reported that Kim stated that the complainant never mentioned rape to her.

33 posted on 04/12/2006 7:02:18 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: rwilson99

No kidding!


34 posted on 04/12/2006 7:14:02 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: Ken H; TexKat; Alia; GAgal; All
Has there been any news beyond the fact that a second set of DNA tests is being conducted? Is it routine to have a second set of DNA tests, or is the DA just fishing?

Oh, I have "inside information" on that -- for a change!

At my birthday party last night, a member of my family reminded me that HE works at LabCorp and that they are the ones doing the "second" set of test.

They are doing the SAME tests that the SBI Lab did -- and most of them think he's just doing it to stetch out the time.

He said the results would be the same!

35 posted on 04/12/2006 7:16:17 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: LWalk18
Added to the DNA, it becomes apparent that they don't have much of a case.

Another piece that causes me to wonder, the woman/"rape victim" had no DNA under her fingernails. If she was brutally attacked and tried to defend herself just a little bit, seems the DNA from the Duke fellas would be found there. They found no DNA under her nails. Uh-oh...looks bad to me.

36 posted on 04/12/2006 7:16:27 PM PDT by ThirstyMan (hysteria: the elixir of the Left that trumps all reason)
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Grrr! Did Entitlement Lead to Alleged Duke Attack? - Fox News
37 posted on 04/12/2006 7:17:21 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: Ken H; Howlin
Is it routine to have a second set of DNA tests, or is the DA just fishing?


38 posted on 04/12/2006 7:21:48 PM PDT by TexKat
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Durham County District Attorney candidate Keith Bishop, right, criticizes District Attorney Mike Nifong, left, for his handling of the case involving members of the Duke lacrosse team during a candidates forum at the Durham County Judicial Building in Durham, N.C., Wednesday, April 12, 2006. Nifong, who is running for re-election, is the lead prosecutor in the rape allegations against members of the Duke lacrosse team. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

39 posted on 04/12/2006 7:29:09 PM PDT by TexKat
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To: Howlin
I wasn't real thrilled that, according to police, most of the Duke players were not being cooperative with investigators

Guess what, the DA lied. The 3 at the house went willingly the very first day, gave DNA, gave statements, had pictures of their bodies taken, and even offered to take a lie detector test, which the police -- wait for it -- said wasn't necessary.

I think that by "not being cooperative" they meant the players refused to confess.

40 posted on 04/12/2006 7:29:46 PM PDT by schooter
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