Posted on 04/25/2006 2:34:48 AM PDT by abb
DURHAM - District Attorney Mike Nifong plans to reinstate misdemeanor charges against a half-dozen Duke lacrosse players, saying a March 13 party where a woman reported a rape broke the deals that the players made with prosecutors.
Nifong's decision could affect players who, before the party, had entered agreements in which prosecutors would dismiss the cases if the players performed community service and stayed out of trouble for six months or a year. Among the first to have his charges reinstated was David Evans, one of the team captains who lived at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., the site of the party in which lacrosse players hired two women from escort services to dance. One of the women told police that she was raped by three men in a bathroom.
Two players, Collin Finnerty, 19, and Reade William Seligmann, 20, were charged last week with first-degree rape, first-degree sex offense and first-degree kidnapping. Their attorneys say the men are innocent.
On Monday, an attorney for Seligmann filed a motion seeking information that would help attack the credibility of the woman, the only person, according to the defense filing, who says a rape occurred. The motion seeks information about the woman, including criminal charges, mental and emotional problems the woman has suffered as well as social services, probation, child protective services and victim's advocacy records.
Today, Finnerty is due in a Washington court where prosecutors in an assault charge are considering whether to revoke a deferred prosecution agreement similar to those affecting other players in Durham.
According to court records, 16 players were charged in the past three years with misdemeanor charges in Durham including noise violations, public urination and alcohol violations. The deals placed the men on probation for either six months or a year.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
This monkey,KingFong, has gone bananas.
Maybe it's like sex: legal between consenting adults, but you can't pay for it, or it's illegal!
Which leads me to my next question--Did they commit a crime by being in the house?
Yes, technically. If alcohol was being served to underage drinkers, then anyone there is "contributing to the delinquency of a minor", etc.
No kidding?? So my college age daughter who doesn't drink is committing a crime by being at a party where anyone underage is drinking?
A rational white man would scream at the sight of her, on the street.
Not all the boys were even at this party. Some of them *may* have been stupid. Some of them may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of them weren't even there.
And because of this infraction alone, IF THEY ARE PROVEN TO HAVE BEEN PRESENT, then they have violated the law. A minor violation, certainly not a felony, but the law was broken by having alcohol in the presence of minors. All that aside, I think the DA using that as an extortion against the guys as an attempt to get information, is unethical and immoral.
hiring those fugly strippers should be illegal.
I don't pretend to know all the laws in all the states, but I would think she is taking a chance.
Can that be?--I have alcohol in my home and I have kids. How can they charge anyone but the three captains (who lease the house) with serving?
OMG - I've been having illegal sex with my wife of 20 years and 2 kids to prove it.
True--just speaking generalities. The point being regardless of who was at the party, who drank, who hired the stripper--it happens with boys regardless of how we raise them.
You ask a very interesting question. Have you ever noticed that individuals are often charged and convicted for having porn on their computers but NEVER do you hear of the porn sites who sell the porn being charged?
The sellers have big $ to fight any charges. The individuals do not so that the prosecutors stay away from the sellers.
It's always about $ or lack thereof.
Let me get this straight...Does this hold true for a parent drinking in front of a minor child?
I guess I am asking unless they did a blood alcohol level on them, they cannot prove the minors had been drinking (unless someone told). Sure, it is a valid assumption, but would that assumption carry weight in court? If one of them was of age and there is no LEGAL proof the others were drinking, it is still an infraction?
Hopefully a lot of young guys will learn a lesson.
I agree with you 100% I guess in my roundabout way, I was trying to say apples and oranges, LOL!
Uh Oh . I think I've been contributing to the delinquency of minors for years!
Good point. It seems like an empty threat if no proof of underage drinking exists... but we don't know what the three captains who live there admitted in their statements of Mar. 14.
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