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.
Dan Abrams coming up.
Seems to me that it must be less than a complete cell to not have a full 13 point DNA profile?
If I lived in Durham, thank God I don't, but if I did I'd love to get hundreds of those nails and every day sprinkle them around the sixth floor. Nyfong would see them every time he went out of his office to go to the bathroom. LOL
Abrams on the story now
"Anyone passing through that room left DNA....."
Hell, you go through my house, my trash, or ANYONE'S house, trash, etc., and you will finds tons of DNA. We shed skin cells constantly without knowing it. I have fairly severe psoriasis. A joke I constantly make, whenever I go ANYWHERE, is that I'm littering bits of myself. This was HIS house, HIS bathroom, HIS trash can, and a bathroom one at that. Full of all kinds of yicky DNA. And that can rub off on anything it comes into contact with. A bit of DNA found on a discarded plastic nail means absolutely nothing.
pattyjo
Don't do that - he'd arrest you for littering and give the case his undivided attention.
I think the nail in question was never applied to the hos' skanky finger. She probably dropped it while fumbling around for nail polish....
Those 10 Duke seniors stayed over after their graduation to support their team mate. Did you notice at the end of his articulate speech when he thanked them that Dave's voice quivered a bit when he said that being elected their team captain was "one of the greatest honors of my life"?
I agree. When Chesire said that we will all be shocked when we see that fingernail, that was hubby's first response.
It would be somewhat useful for an athlete with large muscular legs rubbing together when running alot. In my younger years, I had very large muscular thighs and the rubbing on the inside could create quite a rash. It's not fun.
Sounds like a nail with a full sheet of nose tissue hanging from it.
What's Dan saying??
Well, we all know that you have a very smart hubby! :-)
What's Abrams saying?
Dan is dealing with a spinning black male attorney.
OMG....he's hilarious!
" The defense needs to hire Barry Scheck .."
His partner in the Innocence Project is Peter Neufeld.
DNA is only important to their cases-apparently no DNA or non matching DNA is no problemo in the Duke case .
When discussing the case on April 11 for USA Today, Neufeld said this :
"The truth is if you speak to crime lab directors, they will tell you that in only a relatively small number of cases is there any DNA evidence," said Peter Neufeld, co-founder and co-director of the Innocence Project, which uses DNA to free people wrongly imprisoned.
Please, do share!
Oh joy....Koblinsky
Dan is getting all agitated...
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