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.
The order to test all of the members of lax team will get any DNA results thrown out.
4th amendment violation.
I just cannot believe it.
It's definite.
I thought they agreed to it, as the warrant said that it would be "conclusive" and they foolishly thought that if no match ocurred they would not be charged.
Where's the "all of the above"?
Not me; I wish I did.
But I know whose side I am on.
If it's Dan Evans, Cheshire is going to go crazy today.
Okay, I want to see both barrels from the defense now.
This grand jury process is disheartening.....
It's becoming a circus!!
"The time for personal accountability has come, and I think Durham is going to see a lot more of it when Mike Peterson is elected mayor." --K.W. Sutton (August 30, 1999)
"I'm not on the payroll now. If nothing else, I'm a loyal person...I had some trouble with people in the courthouse at first, questioning my judgment because I'm Mike Peterson's friend." --- Kerry Sutton, former Chief Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court (May 2003)
I am not sure. I don't think so. Was Rush handcuffed?
Judging from what we have seen of the DPD, they will handcuff him when he comes in the door like he's Charles Manson.
And, of course, they'll do it close to that window so the press can get the picture.
...tap...tap...tap.. waiting. Thanks for the ping.
As I posted on another forum, I think Nifong will soon be named the patron saint of defense attorneys. A picture of Saint Mike, much like the one in that article with the added touch of a halo encircling his shaggy, grey head, will be prominently displayed.
....now, doesn't the defendent get to have a jury of his "peers" and wouldn't that require a possible trial moving to an area of more whites?
I remember OJ getting a trial of his racial "peers" even though he lived and murdered in lily white territory.....
It is; I just cannot imagine WHAT he is showing them to get these indictments.
He may just be showing them the SANE report and nothing else.
I feel sick....I pray the parents are more PC than I am....what I would have to say would get my son convicted, for sure!
You got it Howlin.
I'm just sick.
Again.
If you surrender on your own, do you have to be cuffed?
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No. You walkin, surrender, are put in jail and processed. You may not actually be put in a cell, but you go behind the jail door to be photographed and booked.
And.. this comment from Kim is was brought on the "cotton shirt" retort from one of the Duke Lax boys.
WRAL said the boy is going to meet with his lawyer and then surrender, post bond, and he, his family, his attorneys, and at least ten Lacrosse players are going to go to the steps of the Courthouse.
So I guess when the newest indictee proves his alibi they just go arrest the next guy, right? Why don't they just arrest the entire team and make them all prove their innocence? Oh wait, that might be the next step.
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