Posted on 07/17/2006 2:08:51 PM PDT by Howlin
Every member of Duke University's men's lacrosse team is a potential witness in the case against three players charged with rape, Durham's lead prosecutor said Monday while arguing for access to their student ID card records. "We want to be able to confirm what they tell us about where they went afterward," District Attorney Mike Nifong said of the uncharged players.
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Titus also formally reaffirmed the state's rules governing trial publicity and disclosure of information to the public and the media. The order does not prevent attorneys in the case from talking publicly, but does prohibit statements that have a "substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing" the case. "The rules of professional responsibility require us to be very careful of what we say," said Wade Smith, one of Finnerty's attorneys. "We'll do that. We've been doing that. And we'll continue to do that."
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Man, did he ever sound irritated all the way through. He snapped at Osborn.
He seemed peeved that he had to....like...do his job. He hadn't even bothered to read the motions.
I am stunned that the judge had read all of the motions, briefs, and attached documents in the unindicted players' case. Doesn't he have law clerks?
I do think that his decision is going to be a written opinion, which makes me think it will be against the defense. He knows it's gonna be appealed.
Delay, delay, delay....
A couple of months ago, on these boards, the "cool the mark" strategy by the prosecution was posited. This is what we're seeing.
But it is UP TO US to make sure it stays in the spotlight. We must not be discouraged...
Yes, the judge was really upset that he was even there. He must have had a hot date that he was going to have to reschedule. Somebody check the calendar at Diamond Girls!
I watched the hearing on CourtTV, very unimpressed with this judge.
At least one of the lawyers stood up to complain that Nifong basically accused the defense lawyers of giving bad advice to their uncooperative, indicted and unindicted players.
I can see why Nifong might want potential witness out of state addresses, but it seemed out of line to supoena the unindicted students' swipe cards. Nifong said he might call these unindicted students as witnesses and he wanted their cards to verify they were truthful.
It is crystal clear (pardon the pun) to me that Nifong is fishing for any evidence he can dig up now, because he has none that can win the case. The only caveat is that this case MUST be moved to another county, where the "privileged white boys" can get a fair trial by a jury of their peers. They currently have no peers in Durham County.
Absolutely. It's up to us to keep the pressure on.
I don't know that Nifong is fishing so much with his alleged investigation as he is delaying. As long as he says he's investigating, he can delay turning over some of the evidence he has...
Yikes! Meant to say "the judge had NOT read...."
The way this subpoena was written is amateurish at best. I will be interested to see how the ruling goes this Friday. After expressing my opinions here at FR, I may never be able to drive through Durham County again! LOL!
IIRC it was Thomas Sowell who first used the term "cool the mark" with respect to the Duke hoax. I thought his article was interesting, but I didn't think much more of it. Now I'm amazed at how insightful he was.
That is exactly what they are doing. Cooling the mark with all the delays in this case. And usually it's the defense that wants delays! It's the defense that wants a gag order.
But notice how fast DC tried Finnerty.... That's the case that should have been delayed. Delayed until there was resolution of the Durham case.
Yep Sowell first commented that what we were seeing is cooling the mark. The question is what mark?
1. The Duke black voters that Nifong took advantage of to win the primary?
2. The lacrosse families, the defendants and other team members?
I am not sure either group has been cooled yet? I am not sure that the lacrosse group can ever be cooled and he is going to face civil actions. I think with an opponent looming out there the black community he used can not e cooled. Nifong is stuck.
I'm gonna have to re-read that. I thought he was talking about the public.
One group that "cooled" is the black church that was out demonstrating and demanding conviction on the "privileged white boys" who "brutally raped this good, innocent black girl" as "white men have been doing for over 200 years". Blah, blah, blah... Where are those saintly folks now?
Reading that he wants the school records, home addresses, etc. of every single member of the LaCrosse team.
Yeah, he is trying to re-write the laws as he goes. This guy gives lawyers a bad name. As if they had a good one...
Where ARE those people that attend the black church? I think we should get a follow up interview on Fox News about them! Or better yet, maybe Nancy Grace could do it. Although I bet she is afraid they may perform an exorcism on her...
The lacrosse families will never be cooled, that's for sure.
Is Cheek going to run? He's taking his time to decide and that's making me a little nervous.
From Sowell's article:
Even after being re-elected, the district attorney cannot let his indictment collapse in public while there is nationwide attention focussed on this case 24-7.
What will be different next year? The public will have either forgotten the case or be tired of hearing about it. The D.A. can even turn the case over to some lawyer on his staff to take into court and see it either get thrown out by the judge or fail to convince a jury.
We will all be tired of hearing about it by then. We are the marks who will be cooled out.
So who's the weakest link for us to attack? The NandO? The Courthouse Crowd? The TV talking heads?
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