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
I want to be on it also. I do not post much, but I do read everything. You all post so fast, that by the time I think of something to say, one of you has said it already. :)
Or -- as I speculated earlier and before Cheshire shot down Nifong's yapping investigator -- she could turn up dead. Nifong needs an out because this case is not turning out the way he thought it would.
Go for it-Post anyway. Welcome to the Duke threads.
I tend to agree. I keep fighting the good fight and hoping for the best, but I tend to agree. My husband said, well, we second-guessed our call on our son's case because we ran out of money. Let's see what the defense fund these boys will have can accomplish. When the dust settles, I fear we'll see no difference. Please don't let the boys or their families see this, God, but I'm very, very worried.
Going to trial and losing is an out. My source, who claims to see this kind of prosecution frequently, says having a not-guilty verdict in five minutes is no big thing. The next defendent will understand how much time and treasure it took. The prosecutor literally has nothing to lose.
Shep up on Fox News with story...
I still don't think this case is going to trial.
As a result of this "miss-information" the committee recommended they "do better" at obtaining information from primary as opposed to second hand sources..
I politely disagree--The Freepers that are from Durham think it will go to trial, and the juries there tend to be black.
Aaaah. Look for the money. Her brother could have cooked this up. Upon thinking this over, someone could have been banking on someone fumbling the ball, at a crucial moment. It is wise not to say anything in public forums, but I wonder if perhaps your son was approached to do just that? It sounds to me that your son has too much integrity to do that, so he was framed. LE was all too happy to assist :(
Look for the money...
I wanna be on any of the Duke ping lists too....
You're always polite, sissyjane. :) And I politefully disagree with our Durham posters on whether this case will go to trial. I know that the juries are primarily down there.
But something will happen to prevent this case from going to trial. And I have no idea what.
Just watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" again last night. this is the same case with the colors reversed. I suppose this can be seen as a weird kind of progress in the south, but it will destroy Duke and Durham. Trials would have the kind of national publicity that OJ got.
In the OJ case, the perp did not have to take the stand. In this one, she will have to testify under oath.
I'm really confused with the issue of blood samples. As stated, Durham Access is a mental health facility. To administer proper meds, they need to check not only for a pregnancy, but street drugs, so what the heck? They have to have some records of toxicology reports!
I don't know what the AV's mental problems are, but as far as I know, the staff must rule out certain things before treatment. Nifong is most likely cruising the net instead of doing his job. This cannot be his only case. As for the police dept., I'd love to see Crystal and Kim's client list. Probably why they seized Crystal's computer.
I certainly hope you are correct. I think at LEAST, the photo-line up should be thrown out. That's where the whole thing can go away. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
How the heck does one fall into a sink? Sinkhole maybe....but a sink?
Nifong indicted these 3 guys on the basis of Crystal's accusation. Why, then, is Kim not indicted as well on the basis of Crystal's accusation?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.