Posted on 05/19/2006 7:17:27 AM PDT by Perdogg
DURHAM, N.C.—One of three Duke University lacrosse players charged with rape wants the case resolved in time for the next school year, his lawyer said in court yesterday. But the judge warned he will not fast-track the proceedings.
The case "is not going to jump ahead of the line and be handled any differently," Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Stephens said at a hearing for sophomore Reade Seligmann.
After the brief hearing, District Attorney Mike Nifong said he does not expect any trial to begin before next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestar.com ...
I don't understand why the defense atty's have not gone in front of a judge, laid out their overwhelming evidence of the innocence of the accused, and ask a judge to not only drop all charges but to expunge these boys records.
A prosecutor may be able to indict a ham sandwich that doesn't mean the sandwich must sit there and wait to be eaten.
Would this not give the defense a very good reason to ask for a different Judge?
The thing they need to do is measure the distance between the eyes because there is some inbreeding going on somewhere...
The judge may not have the authority to dismiss an indictment.
A talk show host in Dallas this morning said that yesterday in court, a member of the Black Panthers stood up from the audience, pointed a finger at the defendant, and said 'dead man walking'. Sounds like a death threat to me, but the man was only briefly detained and 'released to the Black Panther Organization'.
From what I gathered watching part of this yesterday (and it wouldn't be the first time that I've been ignorant), this is just an administrative court to prepare for a trial. The judge made the statement that he wasn't sure who the presiding judge would be and he wasn't going to make rulings that the actual judge presiding over the case would have to overturn.
I shook my head as well when the defense attorney asked for a speedy trial. Seems that doesn't occur anymore.
Because how would judges,lawyers and court clerks keep up their golf games if they were forced to work "flat out"?
Damn it,man...do you want them all to have heart attacks?
AHA! Thanks for connecting the Stephens/Nifong dots.
The DA probably wants the case to die down; then he escapes unscathed.
In the meantime, the pressure on the families to make a pay off to the accuser will grow. (maybe pay million or so to each of the accusers, and a like sum to their attorneys, and you can get on with your lives? )
The way this is, I'd never pay a cent, and I'd spend the rest of my life hounding these people to the end of the earth, to make sure this never happens to anyone else again.
And I'd change the laws of NC to make it certain that the Constitution could not be brushed aside by local rules.
I didn't think a fair judge would rule the way Stephens did and with such arrogance from the bench.
Actually,it just occurred to me that the smart thing for the defendants to do would be file a police report claiming that it was a death threat and then file suit in a civil court against the Panthers for damages.
Then,the case becomes a racial free for all.I think that that chaos would eventually help the defendants.
Whatever happened to the concept of a "speedy trial"?
And it was with arrogance, wasn't it? Wonder if his trial schedule for the next six months or so is available to the public.
I reserve my right to excercise my Fifth ammendment protections becasue if I answered that question honestly I would be just like that black panther that called this boy a "dead man walking" and I am just 100% sure that I would experience a very diffferent "punishment" than did the person that made that comment.
(/ 1/2 Sarcasm)
Grounds for a change of venue?
I know it sounds like a slow process, but if I had a case on the docket that got pushed back just because this one got moved ahead of mine you can be sure I'd be very p!ssed off.
You mean Fabricate some evidence that backs up the girls story.
To be fair to the judge for a moment, we don't know how busy the court system in Durham County- given Durham's crime rate, I doubt that this the only criminal trial in town. For all we know setting this case a few months from know would mean bumping 10 cases into next year. No doubt this case will take several weeks to try given the nature of the case so far and you have to make sure that those days are available. In addition, this will be a media circus that Durham ( or whatever venue this case ends up in) has to be able to prepare for that.
Greta on Fox yesterday: She was in court. A black man behind her was grumbling loudly, and finally, after the judge left, stood up and shouted "Dead Man Walking!" at the Duke student. She said was incredibly tense, a definite racial issue. It's going to get worse. The usual town vs. gown, plus have's and have nots, black and white. In the end, it won't matter to a lot of people if the accuser is lying and the defendants are innocent. White, privileged boys deserve a lynching.
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