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.
He probably knows because Dan Evans told him about the nail. I'm guessing about that, but didn't Dan and his roommates give the nails to the police?
The defense attorneys have had investigators all along, and no doubt they picked up on this info about the fingernail from their 'contacts'.
The boys would have told him, I'm sure.
On Abrams...some silly black dude former DA and Koblinsky desperately trying to say NiFong has a brain....Dan is incredulous....
Do gang rapists usually lube up?
Abrams asks Norm if it's true the defense attorney offered to bring evidence to the DA and he refused to look at it, that's ridiculous, right?
LOL
Well, yeah, Abrams. That's ridiculous.
Abrams said he knows that Nifong's team watches this show.
Susan Filan-- "If what defense attorney says is true I'm scared". Susan has turned.
And to know what snakes women can sometimes be.
Assuming he has more evidence yet again.
Norm Early..."Mike" probably has more info than we know. "Mike"....how special...
I caught Susan saying "I'm scared if what the defense attorney is saying".
We should all be scared. This could happen to any one of us.
I'll never forget an attorney on Abrams shows say he had a client accused of rape at 3:00 in the afternoon on a certain day. The client gave attorney evidence that he was at an ATM and some other place at 3:00 that day. So the false accuser changed the time to 5:00 and it went to trial.
I played a bit of small college basketball in the early '70s. Would occasionally use a bit of vaseline. It's greasy, but it did the job when needed.
Norm is on that more info kick.........
I think Evans turned a few pundits today...
I just don't think he would make that strong a statement based on the guys memory of the nail. Cheshire's statement is pretty bold. I think he has more than just what somebody remembered.
Abrams says it's insanity for Nifong to refuse to talk wtih Cheshire.
He also invites Nifong on his show again and says he'll give him a half hour, an hour. Whatever he wants.
Filan is not happy....not at all....NiFong should talk to the boys.
Ha! Abrams calling out NiFong!
"Do gang rapists usually lube up? "
Well yes of course, they do this after putting on the false mustache, the raping jackets and of course the full body condom made from a secret material cooked up in a Duke chem lab. This is all before they get the broomsticks out, but during the phone calls to girlfriends and take out joints.
Its all in the "Nancy Grace Handbook for Gang Rapists".
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