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
Fell into a sink? When? I've never heard that.
Sinks. And doors. And I've heard tell of tripping and falling down stairs...
Yes, and as soon as they are stitched up, they are back out working with dark glasses on to cover the black-eyes to make up the shortfall.
His "other senses" are heightened and make up for the loss. In his case, though, his sense of smell must be dificient as well. So, okay, we've got taste, touch and hearing -- oh, wait - mark through hearing -- he's obviously deaf as a doorknob as well. He's working on taste and touch. Where's Helen Keller when you need her? Somebody will have to sign in his hand.
Status: Ended Premiered: September 16, 1971
Show Categories: Action/Adventure, Drama
Mike Longstreet was a New Orleans insurance company investigator.
While on a case he had the double misfortune of having his wife killed and his eyesight destroyed by people determined that he not solve the case.
Despite his injury, Mike refused to quit the business and with the help of his canine guide dog Pax to help him get around he felt confident of his abilities to solve cases.
His girl Friday, Nikki was his biggest booster and his friend Duke Paige worked with him on many cases.
Bruce Lee appeared throughout the series as Longstreet's self-defense instructo
Tammy Rose works at Angel's escort service.
Tammy said she did not know how the rape could have happened and spoke to Kim, who also did not know how or when it could have happened.
Tammy gave Himan Pittman's phone number.
http://www.wral.com/download/2006/0609/9346930.pdf
Mike, Duke, Nikki ---see it all fits. Nifong needs a dog.
The attachment is devastating. Reminds me of our recent past. How did our law enforcement and justice system get to this point. Believe it or not, my grandfather and his brother, my father-in-law, and his father were all cops. My uncle retired after 52 years on the force. What in God's name has happened? Uncles and cousins on both sides of my marriage were officers. I can hardly look at one now. I feel like a traitor to my own blood, but I literally freeze when I see a police car or an officer in one.
There have long been bad acters in every profession, be it lawyers, MDs, college profs, policemen, firemen, Senators, you name it. I will be very very curious to hear how the police actually testify in this matter if Nifong gets it to court.
If the police they try to make the case stronger than the evidence, then they are complicit. If they let the jury know they did not believe her, then this was all Nifong's doing.
This is insanity! What the hell was that girl's problem? Does she have mental issues? Jealous that he took a black girl to the Homecoming dance? I look for a motive in cases like this. Maybe she thought it would be easier to punk the white guy, than to beat up on a sister?
That is a lot of trauma for one family to deal with, and I am so sorry. It's typical for idiots to go after an innocent, such as the police officer who was gunned down. Ghetto mentality, and I've lived in some rough neighborhoods to know. 200,000 dollars is mind boggling. Has your son been able to find employment? Has he been designated a felon?
We have a friend. His tattooes are older than us. He found the Lord, and is now working towards ministering in prisons. It didn't happen soon enough to keep his son and daughter out of jail. His son did something to do with robbery, and is incarcerated in another state. He was sent to work for a state project, and the supervisor was so impressed with him, that he made the mistake of telling the warden. Our friend's son was pulled from the work detail, immediately. You'd think the warden would be pleased, wouldn't you? The deal for his parole is that he find work and a roof in short order, or back to prison he goes. Guess what? The Lord is good. That supervisor will hire him, and found him a trailer to live in.
This should identify problems with "recidivism"(sp?). You can't get a job or rent a place if you are a felon. Back to jail you go, when you don't have one or the other. They seem to want you back in jail.
Unfortunately, our friend's daughter has served 15 years, for what we don't know. I'm guessing domestic violence. She's afraid of leaving prison : ( I wanted to possibly include her in a catering venture, once she adjusted to life outside, and I am able to get on SSDI to see a doctor. I need to work, and she needs verifiable employment. Unfortunately, I am envisioning her hiding in her closet...
Let's go to trial, I say.
No reason to drag this farce out any longer.
The accuser will be demolished in court, absolutely crushed by the defense.
That's too bad, really, but there's no way around it now.
Let's get the demolition started.
To be fair.. the document Cheshire released today did not state that the AV claimed 20 guys raped her.. There may be one where she did, but not this one... It said there were 20 guys there and Nikki was hot after one.. Then the AV says 5 guys raped her...
I can see how someone overhearing these comments could easily have mistakenly reported back to the "Do Better" committee that they heard that 20 guys had raped her, then she changed it to 5...
If anyone wants to take a pulse of the black community (and the pool from which the jury will be drawn), read the Jakki "hush money" story.
http://wilmingtonjournal.blackpressusa.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=70514&sID=4
I know this link was posted upthread, but this is just breathtaking to read.
This case needs an impartial special prosecutor fast.
He's got one. Jackie (or however you spell it..)
Anything can happen these days...
See Carling's post #932. That's pretty much the story. As long as the AV is willing to get up on the stand and testify, the case goes whether the D.A. believes it or not. That was the one thing the police kept asking my son's accuser -- "Are you willing to testify to that on the stand?" As long as she said yes, it was a go. Now, the fact that she made a complete fool of herself at the preliminary saying that she never saw a weapon of any kind in our son's hand, yet was alleging he held a pair of scissors to her throat for a protracted period of time to the point of the judge looking at the prosecutor like are you crazy bringing this case in here and the prosecutor throwing his pen up in the air and making that big disgusted sound made no difference. It was switched to the only prosecutor who hadn't one a case in her entire time with the County Prosecutor's office (and I think she'd been there for quite some number of years). It's all about the AV and what she's willing to risk. We'll never really know the reason for our son's ordeal. He was one of the top 100 Q.B.s in the U.S. (according to the rankings), he was on target with Notre Dame. The girl said something to his teammate (who was her neighbor) about not thinking our son deserved an education because he played football, but she said in her deposition that she would have settled for any football player and our son's childhood friend (African-American) was on her hit list. My son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn't recognize race baiting when he heard it. Silly me, I raised him to be color blind. Durham is going to go all the way, folks. The Accuser in Duke is in for the long-haul. I wasn't kidding about this costing millions before it's done. If Evans has anything left over after this goes to trial, if he loses, he'll have to take it all the way to the U.S. Supremes to get a fair trial. Sounds like the fix is in in North Carolina -- I don't know in our case. It just got "lost" in the system because it was a loser case. When we wanted to bring our son home, they approached the D.A. who said he'd take a plea -- nobody had read the evidence (or lack thereof). He didn't care, he just didn't want to have to take the loss.
Like I was saying, if this goes to trial, I have a feeling the fix is in.
Osborn, Cheshire, and whoever the other defense lawyer is had better figure out a way to end this before trial. As we get closer to next year, a settlement is going to look like a better option than prison.
Something I saw in that courtroom yesterday just was not right. It was surreal, and the families involved can't afford to (figuratively) to put their sons in jeopardy of being railroaded into 25 years of prison. I am as down about the young men's fates today as I have been throughout this entire process. This happens all of the time in courts; the difference is we are seeing the corruption live, but the more frustrating part is that there is nothing that we can do about it.
It just "is", regardless of us being witnesses to it.
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