Is anybody besides me sitting here, just shaking your head?
There's somebody on the DPD involved in this who is at least as prejudiced as Nifong and quite possibly has some personal animus against the lacrosse players or personal interest in the AV herself. I'm guessing that person is probably Mark Gottlieb, who appears to be calling the shots in the police investigation.
Is Gottlieb a client of Crystal or of Crystal's escort agency? Was Gottlieb around during the prostitution scandal in the 90s and managed to skate free? Is Gottlieb involved with the local drug scene? Do people in Crystal's crowd have something with which to blackmail Gottlieb?
Was Gottlieb one of the detectives who conducted the 8 hour police station interviews with the three housemates?Did something happen during those interviews that left Gottfried with a personal animus towards the lacrosse players? Maybe he just didn't like their looks or maybe they brought some attitude in to those interviews.
Or does Nifong have something on Gottlieb? Nifong was in charge of traffic court for some years. Was Nifong fixing DUI and other offenses for favored individuals and is now calling in his chits, at least on Gottlieb?
The ham-handed arrest of Mostafa and the apparent attempt to influence his testimony may actually amount to a crime, and is of a piece with the whole pattern of the police investigation in this case.
While other DPD officers appear to have been skeptical (e.g., the officer who was overheard saying Crystal was unreliable and changed her story, the officer on the scene who said she was just passed out drunk, etc.), one of the investigators, probably Gottlieb, is skewing the investigation and evidence-collecting process.
Why? The defense investigators need to be looking into this angle. Who knows how much corruption would be found in the DPD if the lid was pried off.