Posted on 05/15/2006 7:14:12 AM PDT by pissant
DURHAM - A Durham grand jury is scheduled to meet today, and the session could mean new charges in the investigation of a reported rape at a Duke lacrosse team party.
Two of the team's players were indicted in April on charges of first degree rape, first degree sex offense and first degree kidnapping. They are accused of assaulting an escort service dancer in a bathroom of a house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. Their lawyers say the men are innocent, and lawyers representing dozens of team members say that no sex or assault occurred at the March 13 party.
But the woman says she was attacked by three men, and Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong said he has been working on bringing charges against a third person.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TODAY? If Nifong decides to submit the case, police investigators and possibly other witnesses will try to convince grand jurors in a secret session that the state has probable cause to bring a case forward. Grand jurors will hear only the prosecution's side of the case. The standard required for a true bill of indictment is far lower than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard required for a conviction.
IF INDICTMENTS ARE ISSUED, WHEN WILL THEY BECOME PUBLIC? On April 17, a judge ordered the indictments in the lacrosse case sealed. The names of the players who were indicted were not released until 5 a.m. the next day when the players surrendered at the Durham County jail. If Nifong again requests that the indictments be sealed, the law allows a judge to keep them secret until the person is arrested or appears in court.
WHEN WILL ALL THE EVIDENCE BE REVEALED? State law requires prosecutors to turn over all of their case files to defense lawyers, but nothing requires the evidence to be turned over to the public. In open court hearings, lawyers often discuss some of the evidence, but the state's case may not be revealed until trial. No trial dates have been set. When a report on the DNA testing is complete, Nifong is required by law to turn it over to all 46 members of the lacrosse team who submitted DNA samples.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The cases against Reade William Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., are moving forward. Finnerty has a court date in June. Seligmann is scheduled to appear in court Thursday. His attorney, Kirk Osborn, has filed a series of motions challenging Nifong's handling of the case and asking a judge to bar the prosecutor from further involvement.
FNC just "alerted" to say the same.
Thanks for the ping Howlin! Sac
osh, I hope we hear something soon. I need to get some work done today. LOL
My mother always says, "If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen."
Perhaps Nifong's mother never told him that. What a buffoon he is showing himself to be.
My damn heart is pumping waiting for the news. I can just imagine how the by and his parents feel.
it's pretty bad isn't it, that we go to crime threads to get away from the tension of the political threads.....LOL
I know! I like it back here in our little "spidey hole!"
I've even gotten Freepmails and emails saying people aren't interested in a live thread for tonight because they know how it will turn out.
If, as reported, Nifong was 'unhappy' w/the defenses' press conference last Friday, then to delay another one today, he could very well not notify the defense about the GJ indictment or lack thereof until 5pm again.
Thanks goodness, a fresh thread. I NEED my fresh Duke threads.
CHECKLIST
Computer ____
TV ____
Cigarettes ____
Diet Coke ____
Kids at School ____
Husband gone ____
Remote ____
WRAL page open ____
Well it depends. Do they indict the Duke boys before or after they indict the ham sandwiches?
I just turned Mr. Rogers on to calm me down. He went before congress to protest the bad shows available to kids. That's why he started this show. All my kids still can sing the song and imitate him...and they're in their 40's.
(a) Lawrence Walsh
(b) Patrick Fitzgerald
(c) Ronnie Earle
(d) Michael Nifong
*Though DemocRats in the '90s screamed "out-of-control" at Ken Starr, they purposely forgot that Starr was investigating ONLY those issues that JANET RENO assigned him. Monica Lewinsky included.
"...In a private conversation that could be heard across the 6th floor, Nifong told lawyer Kerry Sutton that he was unhappy with a Friday press conference in which defense attorneys said a second round of DNA tests could not conclusively link any player to the March 13 incident...."
You forgot to put (e) all of the above.
I forgot to tell you all that yesterday, during Duke graduation, some of the students wore the players' numbers, 11 and 45, on their mortar boards.
And some students had "Innocent until proven guilty" buttons.
And Duke made the reporters get credentials to cover the ceremony and pushed them over in a roped off area where they didn't have access to the students or families; if students wanted to talk to them, they had to go to the reporters.
Ha.
Is Nifong engaging in a cover up? Is he protecting someone?
LOL!
Hey, it works for me. (What the heck are you sanding today?)
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