Replies

Judge Bristles At Defense Requests In Duke Rape Case

POSTED: 3:00 pm EDT May 18, 2006
UPDATED: 5:31 pm EDT May 18, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. -- A judge on Thursday refused to lower the bond for one of three Duke University lacrosse players charged in connection with an alleged rape of a stripper at a lacrosse team party two months ago.

Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., made his initial court appearance before a packed courtroom Thursday afternoon. Seligmann, fellow sophomore Collin Finnerty and recent graduate Dave Evans have been charged with rape and kidnapping after a 27-year-old woman told police she was beaten and raped by three lacrosse players while she performed as an exotic dancer at a March 13 team party.

Defense attorney Kirk Osborn made a series of requests at the 25-minute hearing, including asking District Judge Donald Stephens to lower Seligmann's $400,000 bond.

"We have a box of material from senators, congressmen, friends that says he's not a flight risk," Osborn said.

Stephens denied the request, noting Seligmann already is out on bond and that the figure is appropriate for the charges he faces.

District Attorney Mike Nifong told Stephenson that he has turned over 1,278 pages of documents, two videotapes and a CD-ROM to Osborn and other defense attorneys to provide them with evidence the Durham Police Department and his office have gathered in the case so far.

But Osborn requested that a defense expert have immediate access to a cell phone believed to belong to the accuser. The phone was found outside the house where the March 13 party occurred the morning after the party and was turned over to police, he said.

"We want access to it before evidence is lost," Osborn said. "The data on a phone disappears when the battery loses its charge."

Stephens told Nifong to work with the defense and the court to ensure all parties had equal access to the information stored in the phone.

The judge also complied with defense requests to record all court proceedings in the case and to have police maintain all notes they have taken or will take.

But Stephens clearly bristled when Osborn asked to have free access to law enforcement records.

"I'm not going to sign an order allowing you to go rummage through all law enforcement records," he said. "I'm not going to order things that I believe will be done voluntarily."

When Osborn said he made the request because "this is a serious case," the judge cut him off.

"I deal with serious cases every day," he said. "This case is not going to jump ahead of the line of all of the other cases that we have here or be handled in any other way."

Seligmann's next court date was set for the week of June 19, and Osborn said he wants to move the case along as quickly as possible.

"We want a trial as fast as we can," Osborn said. "This young kid wants to go to school in the fall, and he can't until this is resolved."

But Nifong said he plans to tie the cases against the three lacrosse players together, so speeding one through the pretrial process wouldn't expedite the entire case.

http://www.nbc17.com/news/9239758/detail.html