Posted on 04/23/2006 8:52:59 AM PDT by TexKat
DURHAM -- Results from the second round of DNA tests in connection with the Duke lacrosse rape investigation will not likely be available before May 15, District Attorney Mike Nifong said Saturday.
Nifong also denied an allegation by some defense attorneys that the second exotic dancer at the March 13 party where the rape allegedly occurred received special treatment from Nifong's office so she'd cooperate with the prosecutor.
Kim Roberts, 31, was arrested March 22 -- eight days after the lacrosse party -- on a probation violation from a 2001 conviction for embezzling $25,000.
The same day a grand jury indicted lacrosse players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, a judge agreed to a change so that Roberts would no longer have to pay a 15 percent fee to a bonding agent. Nifong signed a document saying he would not oppose the change.
Soon after the rape allegation was made, Roberts told defense attorneys that she doubted the story of her colleague who told police she was dragged into a bathroom and raped. But in an interview last week with the Associated Press, Roberts said she thinks some players -- she's not sure which ones -- are guilty.
"It seems she is receiving very favorable financial treatment [from prosecutors] for what she is now saying," said Bill Thomas, a defense attorney for one of the lacrosse players who has not been indicted.
Nifong said Saturday that wasn't his motive in agreeing to change Roberts' bond from secured to unsecured.
"It's consistent with local bonding policy," Nifong said, when asked why he supported the change.
Nifong, who faces two challengers in the May 2 Democratic primary, attended a meet-and-greet with supporters Saturday at Joe & Jo's Downtown Restaurant and Pub, where he fielded a few questions from The Herald-Sun.
Nifong ordered the second round of DNA tests from a private lab after initial tests by the SBI crime lab in Raleigh failed to find DNA from any of 46 lacrosse players tested on or in the accuser, nor any of her DNA in the bathroom in which she said she was raped, sodomized, beaten and strangled for 30 minutes by three men.
Some defense attorneys had said they expected the new DNA test results last week.
I hope some of them end up in jail.
I hope your predictions don't come true because Mr. Nifong is largely responsible for the tremendous increase in racial tension in this town.
(I know that there were racial tensions before this case.)
Mr. Nifong may end of being prosecuted himself as I believe it may be illegal to discuss a case all over the media and especially BEFORE anyone was even charged.
If African Americans think that Nifong is "on their side" they should think again. It seems to me that this man is on his own publicity tour and that is not good for anyone in this town, regardless of race.
I am proud to be a citizen of Durham because I have not witnessed people jumping the gun and despising their neighbors of a different race, despite the increasing attention from Jesse Jackson and the horrible hate flyers that ended up in my neighborhood.
I will be even prouder still when the citizens of Durham drop the racial thing and focus on getting to the truth.
Again, I am so proud to be a citizen who lives in a racially diverse neighborhood. If anything I think my neighbors who are a different race than me have gone out of their way to be NICER to me.
I hope nobody actually believes that Mr. Nifong, who seems to be a member of "the good ole boys club in Durham" is prosecuting this for the sake of the African American community. That would be a disgrace.
Shelly Posted: 4/23/06 9:17 AM
LOL! You have a way with words!
Can you imagine what the parents of these 46 young men are experiencing !!
Knowing full well their sons are innocent of the charges...(although at least a few were foolish to hire the strippers)...
..but not all were even a part of that
Probably most of these families have worked hard and played by the rules...
..and wonder how this could happen to them in the good ole USA!
Just wonder how many of the 46 will have to repeat this year, or lose credits, or lost potential jobs...
..or how many more (others considering where to go to college)-- this incident has effected concerning whether they will sign an athletic scholarship or even attend Duke period!
The ripples of this are wide, I believe.
It's ironic, isn't it?
And after all those years of looking down at "bigoted" Southerners.
If it wasn't so tragic, I might enjoy the irony.
But the cell phone company would have the real accurate times, correct??
On phone calls yes on photos no, that would be local to the phone, unless they sent them.
On phone calls yes on photos no, that would be local to the phone, unless they sent them.
I think the reporter was not popular in school and you're right - it screams out when reading this article.
The DA is going to have a VERY difficult timing moving that timeline around, isn't he? hehehehe. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut, worked the case with the police and nailed down some key aspects of the case before he gave 70 interviews.
The fact he has to move around a timeline or keep changing a story should tell people something.
Wonder if this Nifong is going to win the election in nine days?
I'll bet he will win. His minority constituency will certainly vote for him and so will a large segment of academia - you know - the metrosexuals and feminazis.
But I don't live in the area and others who are in NC will have a better handle on the election.
I'll bet he will win.
__________________________________
I seriously doubt it. What he has accomplished is:
1. Racial polarization that will cause the percentage of the African American community that buy into that kind of thing to vote for the African-American candiate.
2. The academic male haters will vote for the woman candidate.
His chance was to get the white vote. I suspect every day he is losing more and more of the white vote. The white vote might sit home, but I can not see many ordinary whites voting for a guy who would try to smear white people due to their race.
I seriously think he will finish third in the primary.
I can't get it to work.
I'll bet he will win.
__________________________________
I seriously doubt it. What he has accomplished is:
1. Racial polarization that will cause the percentage of the African American community that buy into that kind of thing to vote for the African-American candiate.
2. The academic male haters will vote for the woman candidate.
His chance was to get the white vote. I suspect every day he is losing more and more of the white vote. The white vote might sit home, but I can not see many ordinary whites voting for a guy who would try to smear white people due to their race.
__________
I hope you are correct. I asked for a poll of the DA race and someone posted a 'favorable/unfavorable' stats poll.
I want a likely voters, 'who are you going to vote for in the DA's race', poll.
I cannot find the raw numbers anywhere.
Someone from the area might know.
(04/19/06 -- DURHAM) - Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong has the highest unfavorable rating among the three candidates running for the office in next month's primary, according to a new Eyewitness News Flash Poll.
SurveyUSA conducted the poll Monday and Tuesday on behalf of WTVD. We asked 483 registered Durham County voters about their opinons of the three candidates running in the May 2 Democratic primary for district attorney.
Nifong and former prosecutor Freda Black have similar favorable ratings in our poll. Keith Bishop had the lowest favorable rating, but by far the least known of the candidates, with 57 percent saying they were unfamiliar with him.
Favorable rating
Black: 35 percent Nifong: 33 percent Bishop: 7 percent Nifong has the highest unfavorable rating among the candidates.
Unfavorable rating
Nifong: 30 percent Black: 20 percent Bishop: 13 percent Not surprisingly, Nifong was the best-known candidate in the poll.
Unfamiliar rating
Bishop: 57 percent Black: 24 percent Nifong: 14 percent The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
Gosh, he may get less votes than Alan Keyes got in Illinois!
LOL!!
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