Posted on 06/22/2006 2:23:47 AM PDT by abb
DURHAM -- District Attorney Mike Nifong plans to give defense lawyers at least 300 additional pages of information about the Duke University lacrosse rape case, adding to 1,298 pages of documentation surrendered previously.
Without describing their contents, Nifong said the new documents would be handed over during a preliminary hearing today for three recently indicted lacrosse players: Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans.
The three are accused of raping, sodomizing and restraining an exotic dancer in a bathroom during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.
All are free under $400,000 bonds as they await a trial that, according to Nifong, might begin next spring.
None is expected to attend today's hearing.
In addition to a transfer of documents, the hearing will include a request from Seligmann's lawyers that his bond be lowered to roughly one-tenth its current level. The lawyers filed an affidavit in support of that request Wednesday.
Signed by Philip Seligmann, the defendant's father, the affidavit said that Seligmann had been recruited by every Ivy League university to play football or lacrosse, and that he accepted a 90-percent scholarship to be on the Duke lacrosse team.
"This case has taken an unbelievable and horrendous emotional toll on all my family, especially my wife," the elder Seligmann wrote. "We are committed as a family, along with Reade, to do everything necessary to restore our good name."
According to the affidavit, Seligmann's bail money was provided by a family friend whose "loss of income is substantial" as a result.
In a related matter, the News and Observer Publishing Co. moved Wednesday to make public certain documents -- reportedly pertaining to the alleged rape victim's medical records -- that were filed by defense lawyers under seal.
"In this case, the fact that there are charges of sexual assault is unfortunate and controversial -- either because a woman has been sexually violated or because the defendants have been wrongfully accused -- but neither is a justification for sealing a court proceeding," a lawyer for the newspaper wrote.
The lawyer, Hugh Stevens, also said the sealed documents raised questions about Nifong's handling of the case. He said that when the conduct of public officials is at issue, it is an added reason for making the pertinent files public.
Meanwhile, several defense lawyers predicted Wednesday that Nifong's latest 300-plus pages of documentation would do little to help him, since earlier paperwork -- in their view -- was more beneficial to the defense than the prosecution.
For example, attorneys Joe Cheshire and Brad Bannon have said the earlier documents showed a "very significant and disturbing deficiency" in Nifong's evidence.
Specifically, there were indications that Nifong began making public statements about the accuser's medical records even before they were in his possession, according to the two lawyers, who represent Evans.
Cheshire and Bannon said the District Attorney's Office subpoenaed the accuser's medical files from Duke Hospital on March 20 -- six days after the alleged rape.
However, the files were not printed out in compliance with the subpoena until March 30, and Police Investigator Benjamin Himan didn't pick them up until April 5, Cheshire and Bannon wrote in court paperwork last week.
But the lawyers said Nifong told a local television station on March 27 that he had no doubt the exotic dancer was raped, based on a "personal review" of her medical records. They quoted the district attorney as saying, "My reading of the report of the emergency room nurse would indicate that some type of sexual assault did in fact take place."
Citing the 1,298 pages of documentation given them by Nifong earlier, various defense lawyers also have contended there were numerous inconsistencies in the accuser's version of events, along with unacceptable omissions in a sworn affidavit prepared by police. The affidavit was used by Himan to obtain judicial permission for his evidence-gathering efforts.
Among other things, Himan failed to mention that a co-dancer had described the rape allegation as "a crock," even though she was with the accuser for all but about five minutes on the night in question, according to defense lawyers.
Nifong has bristled at that and other defense characterizations of his evidence, while attacking the national press corps for -- in his opinion -- blindly reporting the characterizations without checking their accuracy.
"Is anyone surprised that the defense attorneys are spinning this case in such a way that things do not look good for the prosecution?" Nifong wrote in an e-mail to Newsweek magazine last week.
"Their job, after all, is to create reasonable doubt, a task made all the easier by an uncritical national press corps desperate for any reportable detail, regardless of its veracity," the district attorney said.
The e-mail traffic was made public by Nifong on Monday.
URL for this article: http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-746370.html
Abb, that was a superb, short, concise, comprehensive coverage and opinion of the case. That was good!
Just making sure: He's in jail for each of those counts. Right?
Which? The Bob Zelnick thing?
Yes: "Prisoners of a false paradigm".
Some information on the new Judge in Durham - Titus...
Judge lays down the law
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-749716.html
HOWEVER! Does this mean that Nifong gets to drag this case on and into "next year" and because it's been "scheduled" for then? If so, I say this article is about "sandbagging".
It could be just a case of lazy prosecution. His name appeared, and Linwood remembered his name from his list of bad check people. No real effort here, and it serves multiple purposes for the DA. I wouldn't give these idiots credit for actually planning such an operation.
:)
The reporters have had so much information already provided to them that their heads are spinning. They seem to be afraid to print actual facts, even when provided to them on a silver platter, sources and all.
If the NandO, SunHerald and the Observer printed what they know now, they would have to admit their culpability in whipping up the lynch mob early on...
It is one of those 'What are the odds?' questions, isn't it?
I think so, yes.
It is a damned shame they are a bunch of sniffling wimps.
So much for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
This theory just hit me: What if Nifong is actually applying pressure on all those around the accuser, in an effort to get her to back away so he can drop the case?
If Crystial bugs out, wouldn't Nifong be obliged to investigate false accusation charges? Plus all the other exposure she has on drugs, etc?
Perhaps, but something tells me he will end this nonsense prior to the November election, in his own "October Surprise". By convincing CGM to not testify, he could still claim that he did his best for the black bigots in Durham, and cut a deal with her to drop the other potential charges. Just a thought.
You just know the defense lawyers have private investigators scouring the Durham area. They are probably uncovering a lot of dirt, a lot of dropped charges, a lot of ignored charges.
Sure! And if the private investigators were really smart, they would just follow up on the threads here at FR! LOL!
Is he just arresting everybody she ever knew?
Well, it's not like she knew anyone who obeyed the law!
Morning Howlin!! Happy Independence Day! Big Hug!!
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