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Grand jury may consider new charges in Duke case
Raliegh Observer ^ | 5/15/06 | Ben Niolet

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.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: duke; dukelax; wtf
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To: Protect the Bill of Rights

LOL!


561 posted on 05/15/2006 12:27:56 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: CedarDave
OMG Now the next stage: they're questioning how the evidence was collected...."The fact that something doesn't show up doesn't mean that it was not there."

I may be hospitalized w/brain fever before this case ends.

562 posted on 05/15/2006 12:28:08 PM PDT by Carolinamom
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To: sissyjane

I don't think you will be banned for calling Nifong a bastard.
Although in all fairness, we don't yet know if his mother and father were married.


563 posted on 05/15/2006 12:28:28 PM PDT by TommyDale (North Carolina looks forward to the disbarring of Mike Nifong.)
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To: Howlin

Too late. Tell it to Nifong the publicity hound, lady.


564 posted on 05/15/2006 12:28:31 PM PDT by Cecily
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To: Sacajaweau

The defense needs to hire Barry Scheck....he got OJ off with overwhelming DNA evidence.....this case is in the reverse...


565 posted on 05/15/2006 12:28:49 PM PDT by mystery-ak (Army Wife and Army Mother.....toughest job in the military)
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To: SE Mom
OTOH...it's very reasonable that DNA would be found on/in the fingernail coming from the boy's OWN GARBAGE CAN.

I really hope it's a booger.

566 posted on 05/15/2006 12:29:01 PM PDT by Shelayne (Antique Media--losing value everyday...)
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To: Carolinamom
Some of those kids that I taught should have had no more expectation out of life than Crystal and Kim. They came from nothing and nowhere. But they worked their butts off and are now earning well into six figures and have traveled the world. I have no sympathy for the screwups who make bad decisions and then blame other people.
567 posted on 05/15/2006 12:29:49 PM PDT by Locomotive Breath (In the shuffling madness)
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To: Alia
I'm glad the black activist spoke. I'm glad that even she can appreciate the freedoms she has in the country.

I am too, in that it gives some of us a flavor, distasteful as it may be, of how some in Black community want this to be the reverse of what happened in Scottsboro. Unfortunately the major networks cut off just before she began her rude, never-ending rant. Cheshire was quite the gentleman to put up with it and finally came out and said the case was not about race (though some would make it so).

568 posted on 05/15/2006 12:30:15 PM PDT by CedarDave (Sleeper trolls are like cicadas - emerge in the heat and contribute nothing but loud annoying noise)
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To: TommyDale

Do lizards who live under rocks get married??

Who knew??!! ;>)


569 posted on 05/15/2006 12:30:18 PM PDT by sissyjane (Don't be stuck on stupid!)
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To: Howlin
"The black reporter is saying that as soon as the players saw that the woman were black that they should have shut the door and sent them home!"

If we were to follow her ridiculous logic, shouldn't the strippers have decided to not "perform" once they learned it was an audience of all white group of athletes ?

570 posted on 05/15/2006 12:30:28 PM PDT by Darlin' ("You said would I apologize for that?" Bush told him. "The answer is absolutely not.")
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To: Shelayne
I really hope it's a booger.

LOL! I needed that laugh. Thanks. LOL

571 posted on 05/15/2006 12:31:05 PM PDT by Carolinamom
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To: Shelayne

"I yelled out "yes, YES!" more than once! **blush**"

LOL, so good to know I wasn't alone in my reaction.

pattyjo


572 posted on 05/15/2006 12:31:07 PM PDT by pj_627
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To: Shelayne

Bahahahaha :)


573 posted on 05/15/2006 12:31:08 PM PDT by SE Mom (God Bless those who serve..)
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To: Howlin

Missed the very end of the presser. 2 yr old insisted on playing internet bowling. Sent him into the back yard with the 11 yr old with an emergency stash of bubbles. I am so annoyed at the activist trying to shout down Cheshire I want to puke. These guys are guilty of rape because they gave a fake name to the escort service. Yeah, everybody wants their real name on the roles of an escort service--talk about unwanted Spam!! They specified the race of the escorts they wanted? Apparently the escort service offered that as an option, isn't that how most brothels work? (Not that I would know.)


574 posted on 05/15/2006 12:31:32 PM PDT by RecallMoran
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To: Carolinamom
"I hope the Grand Jury members ALSO heard this."

I hope they did, too. However, they are instructed to NOT watch the coverage or discuss these cases. If it ever leaks out that they were discussing it outside the Grand Jury meeting room, or with their family or friends, there will be hell to pay.

Fortunately, the potential jury pool will know that Evans has already passed a polygraph. That alone should be enough to poison the jury pool, even if not admissable.

575 posted on 05/15/2006 12:32:04 PM PDT by TommyDale (North Carolina looks forward to the disbarring of Mike Nifong.)
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To: mystery-ak
The defense needs to hire Barry Scheck....he got OJ off with overwhelming DNA evidence.....this case is in the reverse...

Absolutely NOT. These young men don't need to have even a hint of having been "got off" - they need to be completely and publicly cleared.

576 posted on 05/15/2006 12:32:55 PM PDT by nina0113
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To: Alia

I tell you what, if Michael Moore and Cindy Sheehan came down and started holding press conferences to support the Duke lacrosse players, I would have to give pause and say to myself, I wonder if maybe they ARE guilty!


577 posted on 05/15/2006 12:33:29 PM PDT by SirJohnBarleycorn
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To: Locomotive Breath

I had some of those same kinds of students, and I know what you mean about lazy brainiacs and lovable workers who have succeeded beyond some people's/teachers' expectations.


578 posted on 05/15/2006 12:33:29 PM PDT by Carolinamom
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To: Cecily
"Nifong is the Chief Moose and Mayor Nagin of district attorneys. Incompetent, and too stupid to know he's stupid."

This past week, it was reported that Nifong was "busy stuffing envelopes" and could not be disturbed to speak with a defense attorney. I suspect he was mailing out his resume to Aruba, applying for the job as their next Prosecutor!

579 posted on 05/15/2006 12:35:12 PM PDT by TommyDale (North Carolina looks forward to the disbarring of Mike Nifong.)
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To: nina0113

You misunderstood my post.....Barry Scheck is an expert on DNA...he may be able to help the simpletons on the jury how DNA can be contaminated laying in a trash can that is used by several people.....


580 posted on 05/15/2006 12:35:37 PM PDT by mystery-ak (Army Wife and Army Mother.....toughest job in the military)
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