Lacrosse players' defense: Documents being withheld

HeraldSun ^ | September 1, 2006 | William F. West

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Lacrosse players' defense: Documents being withheld

By William F. West : The Herald-Sun
bwest@heraldsun.com
Sep 1, 2006 : 11:20 pm ET

DURHAM -- Attorneys for the three Duke lacrosse players charged with assaulting an exotic dancer claim District Attorney Mike Nifong and police still haven't provided several vital documents in the case, as required by law.

As a result, the defense lawyers have filed papers in Superior Court calling for Nifong to produce those documents.

The request to Judge Osmond Smith comes after Durham County's chief prosecutor told Smith and defense lawyers at a recent meeting that a toxicology report indicated the accuser's tested negative for the presence of controlled substances.

That undercuts public hints by Nifong in April that the woman might have been given a date-rape drug, defense attorney Kirk Osborn said.

In court papers filed this week, the defense argued it hasn't seen the written report despite indications Nifong would provide copies.

In addition, the defense is calling for Nifong to hand over complete copies of information regarding laboratory testing in the case by the State Bureau of Investigation and by the testing firm DNA Security Inc.

The Herald-Sun was not able to reach attorneys for the three indicted athletes -- Reade Seligmann, 20; Collin Finnerty, 19; and David Evans, 23 -- for comment Friday.

Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans maintain their innocence on all counts -- rape, kidnapping and sexual offense -- in connection with allegations surrounding events at the lacrosse team party March 13 at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., next to Duke's East Campus.

Nifong didn't respond to a request for comment left with his office Friday.

In its filing this week, the defense also is pressing for more information about what happened in the hours after the alleged attack, particularly information regarding the accuser's trip with police to the Durham Access Center, a mental health and substance abuse facility, for involuntary commitment.

The accuser reportedly began making rape allegations while at that center.

The defense cites the lack of a substantive report about the accuser's presence at the center, and the defense points to a blank check-in log as an example of inadequate information.

In addition, the defense wants to find out what was said at a meeting Nifong and police had with the accuser April 11 at the county courthouse.

The defense said Nifong argued to an earlier judge that such information was off-limits to the defense.

More specifically, the defense argues Nifong claimed at a case hearing June 22 that the defense was not entitled to know because facts regarding the legal action were not discussed with the accuser. And the defense adds that Nifong considers that to be a confidential communication.

Debunking that argument, the defense says, is that an investigator -- Sgt. Mark Gottlieb -- in a typewritten narrative said Nifong and the accuser met and talked about the case.

The defense points out, additionally, that a police major issued a memo stating all police personnel involved in the investigation were directed to produce all e-mails to and from one other about the case.

The defense said that while the message specified a June 5 deadline for compliance -- with threats of disciplinary action for failure to comply -- there is evidence police have not fully complied.

The defense argues that, in one instance, a crime scene investigator produced a number of e-mails -- but only after defense attorney Brad Bannon found them in the investigator's case file July 18 while at the police station.

The defense goes on to contend that nearly a dozen law enforcement officers who have been involved in the case have not provided all their handwritten notes.

The defense also wants to know more about what police have on file about the woman's background in Durham and about her interaction with the local criminal justice system.

The defense, again citing the July 18 date, argues that Bannon's review of an investigative file at the police station reflects the accuser was involved -- as a suspect, witness or otherwise -- in at least five other probes.

And the defense wants to see what police may have communicated to the Durham City Council.

According to the defense, Gottlieb, in a typewritten document, said that on April 4, he was asked by a captain to produce a timeline of events for the city manager, Patrick Baker, for possible presentation to the council.

The defense wants a copy of that timeline plus a report of the substance of any meetings between or among law enforcement officers, the manager and any council member.

Baker soon afterward briefed the City Council on several points about the case.
 

[darbymcgill]

Unfortunately for Kim, ditching Precious wasn't easy and eventually I think she got fed up and had the police called.Unfortunately for Kim, ditching Precious wasn't easy and eventually I think she got fed up and had the police called.

SarahUCS.. Kim stated she went to the Kroger's looking for an "off duty cop".. But she had to drive past a police substation to get there. (according to our local posters) If she wanted to drop her off with the cops, why not go to the substation?

IMO the "off duty cop" from Kroger's must have been someone she knew or someone she thought knew the AV. She went in looking for the "off duty cop" and ended up there was "only a security guard".

Now she was in a bit of a pickle... She had already called 911 30 minutes earlier with one lie about events making herself the good Samaritan. Now that she couldn't get rid of the AV she needed another set of facts to dump her. That's why she had the guard call in. Notice how the story was quite a bit different.

"There's a woman I don't know in my car who's drunk and won't get out"...

What happened to

"I picked up my black girl friend as I was driving by a frat house and these white boys were calling her bad names"

Her comments to the security guard give an appearance that she's now just an innocent bystander / victim. This frees her from any obligation to hang around of give any more details about the events earlier at the party.

"I don't know nothing, I just came out and this drunk was in my car, will you get her out please so I can get back to my loving family they are probably worried sick I'm not home yet"...

[pepperhead]

I-N-F-O-R-M-A-N-T

That might explain why Nifong keep this loser of a case going. He didn't want to lose The False One in the other cases. And with her being in hiding for the Duke matter, some of the other perps might not even know who ratted them out. I didn't think it was possible, but I might have underestimated how evil Nifong really is.

[gopheraj]

mark

[OldFriend]

Mary Mapes and Dan Rather are busy creating all the necessary documents for the prosecution of the Duke players.

[TommyDale]

Taxable Value: $2,320.00

Someone needs to re-assess property values in that county.

[Hogeye13]

My thoughts exactly. As we have always believed she was known in police circles. Maybe Shelton didn't recognize her immediately but was probably reminded by another officer of who she was. Someone recognized her early on and this confirms it. Doubt that any of the "probes" involved prostitution investigations since Durham hasn't done any until very recently.

[CondorFlight]

Meanwhile, the Court TV boards are closed until after Labor Day. . .

(wonder if that will change. . .)

[Constitutions Grandchild]

"Kim stated she went to the Kroger's looking for an "off duty cop".. But she had to drive past a police substation to get there. (according to our local posters) If she wanted to drop her off with the cops, why not go to the substation?"

Now, THAT I find intriguing. Excellent question.

[pepperhead]

(wonder if that will change. . .)

I wonder if we will have world peace anytime soon......

[JLS]

the accuser was involved -- as a suspect, witness or otherwise -- in at least five other probes.

Others have speculated that she was a snitch and that is why she was given such a sweetheart deal on the steaing the cab, drunk driving and trying to run over an officer. Here is what we know:

1. The stealing the cab incident could be one.

2. The reporting the husband has having tried to kill her could be a second.

I am not sure of any others. The defense may be fishing here, but it is one way this case can end. If she is a snitch, she won't testify and may not even return to Durham. As a known snitch her life might not be very fun or worth much in Durham, if that is what comes out of the police files.

[NeonKnight]

Actually there is a weekend thread on the Duke case at the CTV bds. I actually like it better when they have a single thread on the case rather than 5 or 6 active ones. More like here.

[JLS]

barely not a street walking, whore.

You must not remember her drivers hand written statement to the police. She certainly is at times a street walking whore in Raleigh.

[JLS]

Am I mistaken, or did we not hear/read that there was no toxicology report?

Nifong said in court there was no tox report AVAILABLE or it there was a tox report available it would have been in discovery. Probably there was not at the time. Nifong like many Dims of this era have copied Clinton as their model.

[JLS]

Well, no wonder Nikki didn't mind dumping her off to the police.

Pittman [aka Roberts] had no way to know this. If Mangum is a living snitch, it is because she has enough sense to keep that to herself. If you are a snitch and want to continue to live, you don't tell anyone. Even other snitches don't know about each other usually.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

The "barely" was to give credit to the drivers, LOL! They work hard, too.

[JLS]

You have it exactly right. The villan is Nifong. He had the primary coming up. We don't need to be looking for any involved conspiracies theories although certainly some of the DPD has jump in to aid Nifong all they could.

[JLS]

IMO the "off duty cop" from Kroger's must have been someone she knew or someone she thought knew the AV. She went in looking for the "off duty cop" and ended up there was "only a security guard".

There is nothing in the least surprising about Roberts [aka Pittman] not wanting to go to a police station. She was on and in violation of her probation.

She may also have robbed Mangum. She wanted rid of Mangum where should could not cry robbery. She told the police she went back inside to look for Mangum's stuff because she feared the players would tell the police that if Mangum later claimed robbery.

[Dukie07]

I don't have the talent to photoshop/post images. Perhaps someone here could adjust this from "Boulder" to "Durham"?

http://blogs.ocregister.com/mikeshelton/archives/2006/08/dna_match.html#more

[JLS]

That is a very clever cartoon.

[Dukie07]

Brought a melancholy smile to my face! Sad, but true.... (especially in the case of Durham).