Posted on 07/12/2006 1:52:14 AM PDT by abb
Phone use spans time of team party
In the middle of a Duke lacrosse party where a dancer said she was gang-raped for 30 minutes, a call was placed from her cell phone to a Durham escort service.
The 12:26 a.m. call to the service, Centerfold, lasted one minute, according to a copy of her cell phone bill reviewed by The News & Observer. It is unclear whether the call was a request for another job, a cry for help or something else, or even whether the accuser made the call herself.
But the accuser's phone records add some details to the chronology of the March 13 party, a drunken spring break bash that spawned a national controversy.
Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers would discuss the phone records Tuesday. Neither the accuser nor a second dancer at the party could be reached, nor could representatives of Centerfold. Police Chief Steve Chalmers was out of town; his spokeswoman said he would not discuss the case.
Three players have been charged with first-degree rape, sexual offense and kidnapping: Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J.; Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y.; and Dave Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md. Lawyers for the players have proclaimed their clients' innocence and said no rape or sex occurred at the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
District Attorney Mike Nifong, whose handling of the case has undergone national scrutiny, has been adamant that the woman was raped at the party. Nifong has not given a precise timeline of when he thinks an assault occurred.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
Gottlieb's working on those notes. Where's your patience.
The guy's a professional, he's deciding where to put that semi-colon!
;
But, why didn't the article explictly state those Fresno players were black?
You couldn't read a Duke article for 3 months with reading White and privileged.
In the Fresno City Football (11 YR OLD) case, they are concerned with the players fate and they indicated they're underprivileged - No race.
Wonder why the Media hasn't attached the underprivileged status to a proclivity to be rapists and thugs?
Strange, but I can't find any articles insisting the Football team's season be cancelled (they even stopped Duke from practicing) and, I know it's hard to believe, but no one is investigating the Culture at that school. No one is accusing the culture they were raised in as a contributing factor to the alleged gang-rape. I haven't seen a team poster or any Midnight vigils.
No Good-morning America coverage - no Dateline - Absolutely NO Outrage!
Contrast the Fresno Football media treatment with the Duke LAX treatment.
Here's are some excerpts from one (just one) article on Duke LAX by the NYT:
"The accuser, a BLACK student at a nearby college who agreed to dance at the private party, told the police that she had been assaulted by three WHITE Duke lacrosse players in a bathroom of the residence of two of the team's captains."
"While the public outcry in this college town of 210,000 residents over this incident was channeled into the Take Back the Night march, signs of uneasiness were everywhere. The community is disturbed by the violent nature of the alleged attack and its racial overtones. The accuser is BLACK, a mother and a student at North Carolina Central; the Duke lacrosse team is virtually ALL WHITE."
"Many are angry about the team's lack of cooperation and the university's seemingly tepid response. Nifong said his investigators would soon interview university administrators about what team members might have told them about the incident.
"I do not believe that such conversations are privileged," he said. "Of course, others might disagree."
"Brodhead met with students Wednesday after they PROTESTED outside the Tuesday news conference at which he announced the SUSPENSION of the lacrosse team's season."
"In the evening, several hundred people marched in a long-planned Take Back the Night rally, held annually to raise awareness of sexual assault against women. The marchers chanted, "Out of the dark and into the street, WE WON'T BE RAPED, WE WON'T BE BEAT," as they walked across the campus to the Duke chapel."
"Among the students were members of a group called the Concerned Citizens at Duke University, which passed out a statement saying that "the university is cultivating and sustaining a CULTURE OF PRIVLEDGE AND SILENCE that allows inappropriate behavior to PLAGUE the campus.""
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/sports/30duke.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=a8a93d6d412c5555&ex=1152936000
The Contrast is astounding!
How about these gems from the N&O reporting on this case:
. . . MEDIA BIAS $ MEDIA BIAS $ MEDIA BIAS $ MEDIA BIAS !
3/28 Barry Saunders
"the young lady was a NOVICE STRIPPER"
http://www.newsobserver.com/1101/story/422770.html
*** She was arrested in 2002 for stealing the car of a guy she was performing lap dances for at a strip club in Durham. When exactly would Barry classify her as an experienced or "seasoned" stripper?
4/2 Jane Stancill and Anne Blythe
"Lacrosse, for many, is symbolic of white male privilege"
*** Had no idea. I must get out more. Those White people - gotta watch 'em.
The same article quotes a Poster on a tree supposedly (there's a source):
"Shame on Duke!"
*** Beware of Posters on trees. This was Red-riding hood's downfall.
"A black woman WORKING HER WAY THROUGH SCHOOL at N.C. Central University reported March 14 that she was raped by three white men at a party attended by the mostly white Duke lacrosse team"
*** I understand that it is unknown whether the woman was paying for her school as in "working" or utilizing Government grants or other methods of payment.
http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/424563.html
4/9 Jim Nesbitt, Benjamin Niolet and Lorenzo Perez
"a championship lacrosse team with a reputation for a swaggering sense of entitlement and privilege"
*** No excuse for swaggering.
"It's this preppy arrogance that they will never be held accountable for what they've done -- that their daddies will get them out of it," said Eugene Brown, a Durham city councilman"
*** Strange the N&O didn't question how a public official can carry such terrible sterotypes and inherent bias. Sounds like the councilman has made up his mind when he says "what they've done." Doesn't sound fit for office to me.
A neighbor of the house at 610 N. Buchanan was posed with this question by the N&O writers, "Is there a particular machismo and variation of that swagger on the lacrosse team?" The neighbor, to everyone's surprise, responded - "Absolutely"
*** What a probing question. Nothing like leading the interviewees right into your previously written story-line.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/427038.html
3/27 Ruth Sheehan
Ms. Sheehan immediately assumes these guys are guilty:
"Members of the Duke men's lacrosse team: You know.
We know you know.
Whatever happened in the bathroom at the stripper party gone terribly terribly bad, you know who was involved. Every one of you does.
And one of you needs to come forward and tell the police.
Do not be afraid of retribution on the team."
But Ruth doesn't stop there. Of course these guys are guilty (to her), but she has a message about these white collegiates:
"Unfortunately, because the team members are students at such a fine university, there is a tendency to presume that this was an aberration."
*** Aberration - deviation from the norm. We shouldn't presume that this gang-rape Ruth is convinced of - is a deviation from the norm? Ms. Sheehan apparently believes that roving bands of White Male students constantly scour campuses across the country looking for underprivileged women to pillage and desecrate. Please Get Help Ms. Sheehan!
http://www.newsobserver.com/1105/story/422462.html
5/16 Anne Blythe, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jane Stancill,
This from a woman on the street interview, the woman, Jackie Alder, says:
"She finds herself believing the woman's story more than the adamant denials of the lacrosse players.
"Probably because she is black, and I wouldn't be surprised if something like that happened, and that guys who probably are wealthy and go to Duke would think they could get away with it," she said."
*** More racial stereotyping that the N&O doesn't call out.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/439991.html
4/19 Jim Nesbitt
"They came from a world of hushed golf greens and suburban homes with price tags that cross the million-dollar line."
*** "They came from a world" - is it an invasion or something over there in Durham? Scary stuff. Attack of the Killer Preppies.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/430250.html
4/28 Michael Biesecker
""We as black men cannot sit idly by and allow white men to rape black women, regardless of what our sister (who by nature is a queen and a divine black woman) was doing," Shabazz is quoted as saying in a media release announcing the event."
*** I thought this was a Nifong quote.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/433625.html
Nifong could be in ethical trouble. He could be disbarred or suspended, but the real destruction would come from constituent dissatisfaction, which doesn't seem to be mounting against him. If he is involved in any provable corrupt acts, he could be prosecuted. But until some judicial body or federal investigative body takes an interest in his activities and/or handling of this case, none of that will happen. A fruitful investigation would be professional death for him, as would suspension and, obviously, disbarment. But unless the feds get involved, none of that is likely, other than perhaps a censure from the NC state bar committe on ethical standards and practices.
Don't hold your breath. This is not unlike investigating the Clintons. Some people love their corrupt officials, in part because they are corrupt. For other examples, look at Louisiana, especially New Orleans, and New Jersey.
when will the other kid's attorney release the video of him at the mexican eatery on the nite of the "FAKE RAPE"
Nifong could be in ethical trouble....Gee, Ya think?!!
Clearly we have a government offical colluding with a private individual to conspire to violate several individuals' civil rights. The press, ostensibly, exists to hold such officials to public accountability.
I was speaking about reality, not theory, in response to a question I was asked. If no authoritarian body takes the steps to examine Nifong's conduct, it doesn't matter how many different ethical standards or procedures he's violated.
In reading the specifics of Finnerty's banishment from Georgetown - the are some exceptions:
He can return to run for Mayor (of DC).
The Capitol Police said he is welcome there as it's not even assault when you hit Police officers in the Capitol.
He is allowed, at any hour, to return to drive Teddy Kennedy or anyone on his staff.
If a Hurricane, tropical depression, or other dangerous weather phenomena strikes, Finnerty is allowed in town to assist Congressman William Jefferson removing material from his Congressional office. Even though Jefferson is on Videotape taking a $100,000 payoff from an undercover agent, he (unlike Finnerty) hasn't been charged and the Wonkette blog is indicating that he won't be.
. . . . . DID YOU SEE THIS GEORGETOWN CASE ? ?
One Georgetown Student, that had been drinking with his friends, approached and Punched another Georgetown student in the face with a damaging blow - the victim fell and when his head hit violently struck the concrete he sustained damages that he died of in the hospital.
D.C. medical examiners ultimately ruled the man's death a HOMICIDE.
The U.S. Attorney DECLINED to bring criminal charges against the student. This is the same U.S. attorney's office that decided to try Finnerty!
Even though the U.S. attorney DECLINED to bring any criminal charges - Georgetown U. had hearings on the attacking student's behavior (it occured on campus). Georgetown U. ruled that the assailant should write a 10 page reflection paper, attend alcohol counseling, and be suspended for one semester. However, the assailant APPEALED - and he was NOT - NOT suspended.
So, we have a group of Drunk Students and they approach a single student and one strikes a Hard blow to his face - he falls and the dies from the injuries sustained in the Fall.
The same U.S. attorney's office out of DC DECLINED to charge the student with ANY criminal charges.
He did have to write a 10 page paper for the University though.
http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/12/12/3df81ece380fd
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071201911.html
Wolves in Blazers and Khakis
By Marc Fisher
Thursday, July 13, 2006; Page B01
They look like such upstanding young gentlemen in their blue blazers and pressed khakis. They say "Yes, sir" and "No, sir," and they attend the finest of schools. And they are such loyal friends. Oh, their stories matched up so prettily as they trooped up onto the witness stand to defend their boy, Collin Finnerty.
(snip)
How is it that these polite youngsters spent half an hour shoving and taunting total strangers, making them announce to the world in the coarsest possible terms, right there on a public sidewalk, that they perform gay sex acts? What could gentlemen say that would cause Scott Herndon, one of the victims, to run into a restaurant seeking help because he thought he was going to be killed?
Answer: When in the company of elders and teachers, these young men do behave admirably. When the stage lights go off and the guys head out to drink and drink and drink, anything goes. Hey, they're just kids! Or as the priest who testified for Finnerty puts it, "One incident doesn't make a gentleman's character."
(snip)
Even if no rape occurred in the Duke case, even if that ugly incident was no more than a raucous party at which a bunch of drunken kids verbally abused a hired performer, it sounds like it was entirely within character for these kids and the friend they tried to talk out of trouble in D.C. Superior Court. Sorry, Father, but one incident often does make a gentleman's character.
Scott Herndon, one of the victims, to run into a restaurant seeking help because he thought he was going to be killed?
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Is this the same Scott Herdon that EXITED the restaurant and then tackled Finnerty - initiated the physical contact.
Why isn't the Post concerned with the 11 year old alleged victim and the 5-10 College football players?
The Author of that Washington Post hit piece - Marc Fisher - suppprts Kweisi Mfume for the U.S. Senate. He has described Kwesis as a "gentleman". Kweisi has admitted to being a Gang member in Baltimore when he was younger.
Senate - that's pretty good for a gang-member. He's pretty quick to conclude that Finnerty has character issues and is a bad person though.
Oh, that "youthful stint?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/01/AR2006070101004.html
"But it's also true that Mfume's story of his life and his youthful thuggery is both dramatic and winning and I've seen white as well as black audiences very much rallying to his side as he's told his story of rising up from poverty and life on the street."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/06/30/DI2006063001271.html
I don't think it will be a video.
More like a credit card receipt and witnesses. Finnerty probably didn't go alone and the staff at the place may remember him, especially if he is a regular customer.
Voice mail would be great, that can be recovered.
I didn't miss her point at all. Her attitude that it is ok to put out false information to make her point stinks in my opinion. So her other points have no validity at all.
Of course we don't know if the student charged or the student who died was a privileged white man or a disadvantaged person of color, do we? It wouldn't make a bit of difference to me, but it seems it makes a great deal of difference to prosecutors and judges. Schmucks come in all sizes, shapes and colors and so do decent, honest people. Justice is the only entity that seems to be able to see color, and, more recently, those of color.
I would tell you how that makes me feel, but I can't spell the sound of actual vomiting.
Yeah, that would be possible. We had the recordings on voicemail in our cell phones of our accuser trying to make contact with our son and answered the calls she made to our house (several times within the first year of waiting to go to trial) but voicemails are hard to save. We stopped using the phone and service we were under while she was calling in order to save the contacts. Of course, we never had the opportunity to show that in court.
Even though I have prosecuted many slimeballs in my day, I still believe in "innocent until proven guilty" even when an 11 year old runaway is making the allegations.
The dichotomy in how you are approaching these two cases is striking.
I am more concerned with the difference in media attention paid to each respective case, at this point, as nobody has been convicted in either.
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