This just in...
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/489469.html
Evidence handed over in Duke lacrosse case
By Anne Blythe, Staff Writer
DURHAM -- District Attorney Mike Nifong handed over three packets of evidence to defense lawyers in the Duke lacrosse rape case this morning.
During a pretrial hearing in Durham County Superior Court, Nifong also harangued the lawyers for seeking more information about DNA testing of the three lacrosse players charged with raping a dancer in March.
The lawyers want to know more about who did the testing and how it was done. Nifong said it was ironic that the attorneys now want the "typical witch hunt list" to cast doubt on how the DNA was tested.
Nifong noted that this summer, when the lawyers got the test results, "they called press conferences and told everybody that the DNA had exonerated their clients."
Nifong said that the State Bureau of Investigation could produce much of the information the attorneys want and that a private lab used in the testing could, too, but that it could cost the state $4,035.
Brad Bannon, a lawyer representing one of the players, objected to Nifong's mention of cost. He said it was the state that ordered the second round of testing at the private lab.
"We did not make the choice of doing the second round of testing in this case; the state did," Bannon said. "We are entitled to the information we are asking for, no matter how much it costs."
The hearing comes after a flurry of action this week by the prosecution and defense.
On Wednesday, Nifong asked Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III to put all the defense lawyers under oath and ask them to explain their involvement in a phone survey that has been conducted in Durham. He called the survey a "thinly disguised" attempt to influence jurors.
Two days earlier, defense lawyers asked the judge to order Nifong to give a more precise timeline of when the alleged gang-rape occurred. They also asked Nifong to designate which of two bathrooms at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. was the supposed site of the incident, and to designate which sexual act each defendant allegedly committed.
David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann each face charges of first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual offense.
In his motion, Nifong said the phone poll violated the state ethics rules that govern lawyers' behavior. Lawyers for the lacrosse players had accused Nifong of ethical violations, citing his public statements about the case and accusing him of using the case to win an election.
The hearing today was the first appearance before Judge Smith, who was assigned in the summer to preside over the case.
Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or
I hope Judge Smith doesn't tolerate Nifong's "haranguing".
That should have been included in the indictment.
He really is incompetent and should be removed.
Thanks, abb. Geez, it all seems so obvious to me. I just can't understand how it keeps on and on. If the political motivation is the case, Nifong's going to lose eventually. When this all comes out in the wash, he'll be lucky to keep his license, or more to the point, stay out of jail. If he's sandbagging evidence, it makes him look more and more evil. How does he expect it to turn out when the foundational issues are so flawed?