Posted on 10/11/2006 1:52:56 AM PDT by abb
DURHAM -- A CBS "60 Minutes" segment on the controversial Duke University lacrosse rape case is expected to air Sunday evening and will include interviews with all three indicted players and Kim Roberts Pittman, the second dancer at the party where the attack allegedly occurred.
CBS would not comment on the show. The network's normal practice is to withhold information about "60 Minutes" broadcasts until a few days in advance.
But Pittman's lawyer, Mark Simeon of Durham, confirmed Tuesday that his client was interviewed. But Simeon ended a telephone conversation before fielding a question about what Pittman told the interviewer.
An exotic dancer at the time, Pittman was with another dancer who claimed she was raped and sodomized by three lacrosse players during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.
Pittman since has been quoted as saying the rape charges were "a crock." She also told police in a March 22 handwritten statement that she and the accuser ended their performance when someone at the lacrosse party "brought out a broomstick and ... said he would use the broomstick on us."
"That statement made me uncomfortable and I felt like I wanted to leave," Pittman added. "I raised my voice to the boys and said the show was over."
Pittman said she then asked the alleged rape victim to leave the party with her. But she said the accuser "felt we could get more money and that we shouldn't leave yet."
According to Pittman, the accuser "began showing signs of intoxication" early in the dance performance and was "basically out of it" by the time it ended.
Pittman finally drove the other dancer to a Hillsborough Road grocery store, from which a 911 call was placed to police.
There is nothing about an alleged rape in Pittman's written statement, which is included in public-record court files.
All three defendants also were interviewed for the "60 Minutes" segment, sources told The Herald-Sun. The interviewer is veteran reporter Ed Bradley.
The three -- Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans -- remain free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year. Each maintains he is innocent.
Neither they nor their families could be reached Tuesday for possible comment about the CBS show, and their attorneys had no comment.
Defense lawyers apparently will not appear on the television program. Neither will District Attorney Mike Nifong, who has been widely criticized for allegedly rushing to judgment in the case and making inflammatory public statements before he had sufficient evidence.
For the past four months, Nifong has not discussed the situation publicly. He was out of town on business and unreachable for comment Tuesday.
Benjamin Himan and Mark Gottlieb, police investigators in the lacrosse case, also could not be reached. But sources said the two had not been interviewed by "60 Minutes" as of Friday.
The Police Department repeatedly has declined to discuss the lacrosse incident.
It could not be determined Tuesday if a one-time driver for the alleged rape victim, Jarriel Lanier Johnson, was among those Bradley contacted.
"I have nothing to say about it," Johnson told The Herald-Sun by telephone before hanging up.
But Johnson gave police an April 6 handwritten statement about an "appointment," "a job" and a performance the accuser had at three different hotels in two days not long before the alleged rape.
Johnson also said she had sexual intercourse with him during the same time period.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-777449.html
Both these articles on Nifong campaign fund raising are getting closer and closer to the point, aren't they?
Yep, it's totally bassackwards. I worked in LE for 32 years and have never seen anything like it - some fishy and/or weak cases, yes, but nothing like this. Liefong is trying to shoehorn these boys into a prison cell. It is the most dishonorable and cowardly acts of selfishness I have ever witnessed from a prosecutor.
Yes, that's right. But the gag order was issued in mid-July. 60M announced the show in August originally for a Sept. airing. We don't know when 60M did the interviews. Although probably after the gag order was issued, we don't know for sure. If it wa before the gag order was issued, I'm sure Liefong would have hidden himself. Cockroaches don't like having a bright light shined on their activities - tends to make them run for dark cover. :>
Of note in NDLax84's Crystal Mess blog comments this morning...
Saidi Chen said...
Hello,
My name is Saidi Chen and I'm an editor at The Chronicle. I'm working on an article in anticipation of this weekend's 60 Minutes segment on the lacrosse case about shifting media coverage and the work of bloggers who have followed this story months after the initial media frenzy has faded.
My deadline is tomorrow evening, so if we could set up a time to speak sometime tomorrow during the day, I'd appreciate it.
My e-mail address is sc53@duke.edu and I can be reached at the Chronicle office at 919-684-2663.
Thanks.
2:20 AM
Attorneys press Nifong again on lacrosse case
By John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun
October 11, 2006 9:02 pm
DURHAM -- Two defense lawyers again are asking District Attorney Mike Nifong for statements the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case made to authorities and for copies of police notes and reports about the investigation.
In a letter Wednesday, lawyers Joe Cheshire and Brad Bannon again said they have reason to believe Nifong may be withholding the information from them.
Nifong was at an out-of-town conference Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Also Wednesday, CBS confirmed a Wednesday Herald-Sun report that it will air a "60 Minutes" segment about the lacrosse case at 7 p.m. Sunday.
A CBS news release said the segment will include interviews with all three rape suspects and with Kim Roberts Pittman, a second exotic dancer who was at the alleged crime scene. Ed Bradley will be the interviewer.
In their Wednesday letter, Cheshire and Bannon cited remarks Nifong made in court papers last month in which he said the woman told him she "had never at any time knowingly and voluntarily taken Ecstasy" -- a euphoria-producing drug.
The defense team also mentioned a Tuesday Herald-Sun article in which David Smith, chairman of the Friends of Durham political-action committee, talked about a recent discussion the group had with Nifong as it considered endorsing a candidate in the Nov. 7 district attorney's race. Friends ultimately decided not to endorse any of the three contenders.
When Nifong was asked about the lacrosse incident, he said he was "the only one that's interviewed this victim," according to Smith.
Smith also quoted Nifong as saying he continued to feel confident about the case.
Cheshire and Bannon wrote Wednesday that, "It is clear that [Nifong has] spoken with [the accuser] about the facts of this case. ... It is equally clear that we still have no reports of any factual statements [she] has made to you in the investigation and prosecution of this case, whether in the presence of others or not."
The lawyers represent rape suspect David Evans, who graduated from Duke in May. A copy of their letter was placed in court files and copied to Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith and other attorneys.
Evans is accused along with Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of raping and sodomizing the alleged victim, an exotic dancer, during an off-campus lacrosse party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March. All are free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year.
Cheshire and Bannon noted that the accuser met April 11 with Nifong, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, Investigator Benjamin Himan and Lt. Mike Ripberger of the Police Department.
Asked about the meeting, Nifong had said in a court hearing last month that the woman made no statements about the alleged rape to him or anyone else.
He also said she was asked no questions because she "was clearly still so traumatized from this offense that I could not see anything that could be served by even speaking to her about the case."
But Cheshire and Bannon said in Wednesday's letter that if Nifong didn't discuss the case with the woman April 11, there was reason to believe he did so on other occasions. They said they were entitled to know what information she provided.
"We have made these requests time and again," they added. "We understand and appreciate that this is not the only case in Durham and that you have an office to run. We, too, have an office to run, other cases to work on, and many other professional and personal responsibilities. When, however, you chose to assume control over the investigation and prosecution of this case, you also accepted the attendant responsibilities of producing the materials to which ? we are entitled. We would appreciate your doing so at your earliest possible convenience."
In addition, Cheshire and Bannon said Nifong still had failed to provide them with notes and reports about the case from Himan and Gottlieb, and also from investigator Linwood Wilson of the District Attorney's Office.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-777797.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/497626.html
Defense wants report on accuser
Attorneys for an indicted lacrosse player ask Nifong about what the accuser told him
Accused players on '60 Minutes'
CBS' "60 Minutes" will feature the three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a dancer earlier this year. The program will be aired at 7 p.m. Sunday.
CBS reporter Ed Bradley interviewed Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and Dave Evans, all of whom are free on bail. Kim Roberts, an exotic dancer who accompanied the accuser to the 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. house where the rape allegedly occurred, will also be interviewed, a "60 Minutes" spokesman said.
The news show did not interview the accuser, said Kevin Tedesco, the spokesman.
Benjamin Niolet, Staff Writer
DURHAM - Attorneys for an indicted Duke University lacrosse player want to know what a woman told District Attorney Mike Nifong about her allegations of rape at a March party.
Attorneys for Dave Evans sent a letter to Nifong on Wednesday saying that they are entitled to a report of anything the woman told the district attorney about the night the woman said she was raped by three Duke lacrosse players. The letter, signed by lawyers Joseph B. Cheshire V and Bradley Bannon and filed in court, seeks to pin Nifong down on whether he has heard the accuser tell her story.
The attorneys for the players have highlighted several inconsistent accounts from the woman as evidence that her accusations are false.
Nifong was out of town at a conference and could not be reached.
Evidence turned over to the defense contains a reference to a single meeting between Nifong and the accuser.
On April 11, Nifong met with investigators and the woman. He told a judge last month that she said nothing at that meeting, in part because she was still too traumatized from whatever happened at the March 13 party. The day after that meeting, Nifong told a judge that he intended to indict the first two lacrosse players.
The News & Observer generally does not identify complaining witnesses in sexual assault cases.
Nifong acknowledged in court that if the woman said anything to him about the facts of the case, the defense would be entitled to a written report of her statements. He has given nothing to the defense that documents any further meetings between the prosecutor and the accuser. But in the letter, the lawyers say a motion Nifong himself filed shows that he has talked to her and not given the defense the report of her statements that he is required by law to turn over.
In a motion filed Sept. 20, Nifong wrote that the woman told him she had never voluntarily taken the drug ecstasy.
The lawyers also cited a story the Durham Herald-Sun published this week that said the chairman of a political organization told the newspaper that Nifong had said he was the "only one that's interviewed this victim."
In an interview with The News & Observer, David Smith, chairman of the Friends of Durham, said Nifong did not say much about the case when he sat for an interview with members of the group.
"What he said was he is the only person who has talked to the victim," Smith said.
The letter that the defense filed Wednesday states that Nifong's own motion and the recollection of Smith show that Nifong has talked to the woman.
The Friends of Durham ultimately decided to make no endorsement in the district attorney election that includes Nifong, write-in candidate Steve Monks and Durham County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, who is on the ballot but has said he will not accept the job if elected.
In his campaign for the November election, Nifong has reminded voters that throughout his career, he has opened his entire files to defense lawyers, something that was not required by law until 2004. But the lawyers in the lacrosse case have accused him in court of waiting until the last possible moment to turn over evidence.
"We understand and appreciate that this is not the only case in Durham and that you have an office to run," the lawyers wrote in the letter. "... When, however, you chose to assume control over the investigation and prosecution of this case, you also accepted the attendant responsibilities of producing the materials to which, you have acknowledged in court, we are entitled."
The letter also requests handwritten notes taken by the investigators in the case.
Staff writer Benjamin Niolet can be reached at 956-2404 or bniolet@newsobserver.com.
http://www.blackathlete.net/artman/publish/article_02444.shtml
Re-visiting Two More Higher Profile Cases In Collegiate Sports
by Gregory Moore, gmoore@blackathlete.net
published on Oct 12, 2006
The next story that hasn’t received much attention is the Duke lacrosse story. This story has been a firestorm in the beginning but the embers are barely burning since the story first broke.
The latest news lines of this story are the following: Suspects not getting due process, DA says attack took ten minutes, Witness sentenced in unrelated case.
So what do we know about this case since it was last visited? Exactly what I put in those headline blurbs. According to various op/eds, the suspects in the case may not be getting due process in this case.
On Fox.com, one commentator wrote: The Duke Lacrosse case, in which three white male students are accused of raping a black woman last March, is also a case about race, class conflict and political ambition. For me, the case has become a litmus test for the American justice system.
I believe the accused are blatantly innocent and that the prosecuting District Attorney Mike Nifong is acting with willful disregard for both the evidence in the case and the Constitutional rights of the accused. In this case, I believe the legal system is the enemy of justice...and nakedly so.
How naked? Consider one of the suspects, Reade Seligmann. He is scheduled to be tried on three felony charges despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence: exculpatory DNA tests, a corroborated alibi, a string of contradictory statements by his accuser and an irredeemably tainted I.D.
The assumption that a defendant is 'innocent until proven guilty' has been reversed. Seligmann is assumed to be guilty. But more than this. It is as though Seligmann is not allowed to prove his innocence no matter how much evidence he produces.
Those words were written by Wendy McElroy, the editor of ifeminists.com and a research fellow for The Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. That is the words from one person but Ms. McElroy may be echoing the voice of many others in the Durham area.
In another story, the District Attorney says that the attack took all of ten minutes. District Attorney Mike Nifong is being quoted by the Associated Press saying, “When something happens to you that is really awful, it can seem like it takes place longer than it actually takes.”
Here is more of the AP story as reported by CBS News’s website: Kirk Osborn, who represents Seligmann, said the defense needed the "bill of particulars" because the accuser has told several different versions of the alleged assault, and his client has a right to know which version prosecutors will present at trial.
In search and arrest warrants issued early in the investigation, police stated the accuser told investigators she was assaulted for 30 minutes.
Nifong said he is not required to state the exact time of the alleged attack, but offered that authorities believe it took place between 11:30 p.m. on March 13, when the accuser arrived at the party, and 12:55 a.m. on March 14, when police arrived and found no one at the house.
Friday's hearing was the first since Smith was appointed to take over the case.
Before the hearing began, Nifong gave defense lawyers 615 pages of evidence, a compact disc and a cassette tape. He said it included much of what was requested by defense lawyers, who had asked for handwritten notes from police officers involved with the case, reports outlining procedures used at the labs that tested the DNA of the players and notes from a mental health facility where police took the accuser after the party.
The defense has said those DNA tests failed to find a conclusive match between the three players and the accuser.
Defense attorneys also provided the judge with a description of the procedures used by a polling company they hired to survey Durham residents about the case. Nifong has asked the court to stop the polling, but the defense insists it is harmless.
"It's like taking a teaspoon and dipping it into the swimming pool. We just want to see what the teaspoon will reveal," said Wade Smith, an attorney for Colin Finnerty.
So what can we make of this story and the feelings down in Durham? How about it’s a mess that isn’t going to be fixed anytime soon?
I got an e-mail from a defense lawyer when the story first broke out and he told me that as things went along, I would probably be singing a different tune as to whether a crime was committed or not. Well as far as I’m concerned, something inappropriate went on in that house and at least three Duke players knew what happened.
Now whether they want to fess up and tell the world, that’s a different story. I’m not going to say that the victim is some angel because she isn’t but I’m not going to portray her as just another piece of human trash that had to use her body to make money either. People do things for different reasons.
But this case has been dragging for quite some time and it is quite interesting to read the bits and pieces of an embattled DA trying to win a case that may not be very winnable in the end.
This story will continue to be watched as well as there are some social implications that will probably come forth and need to be addressed. Stay tuned folks. It’s going to be very interesting indeed.
http://www.newsobserver.com/138/story/497620.html
Durham's no-choice election
Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer
There's an old Soviet Union joke that goes like this: Former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev approaches a man carrying a watermelon and asks for the melon.
"Which one?" the man replies.
"How can I choose if you have only one?" Brezhnev asks.
"The same way I chose you," the man says.
Ba dum bum!
I know, I know. Those Russkies aren't exactly causing Jon Stewart to lose any sleep.
But the old Soviet predicament of having few real choices is one that Durham voters might relate to these days.
Next month, Durham voters choose between the following:
* The sitting district attorney, Mike Nifong, who won a tight primary in a Democratic town just as criticism of his handling of the Duke lacrosse mess was starting to heat up.
* County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, a fellow Democrat whose supporters gathered a mountain of petitions to get him on the ballot -- but who later announced that, if elected, he would not serve. Cheek is endorsed by the Anybody But Nifong and Recall Nifong-Vote Cheek campaigns, which recommend electing Cheek and letting the governor pick his stand-in.
* Write-in candidate and local Republican Party Chairman Steve Monks, who would do everyone a favor by quitting his campaign, which is destined to further muddle an already murky situation. Sure to siphon off some of the "anybody-but" vote, Monks' biggest secret supporter might be Nifong.
What a choice. Or should I say, nonchoice?
No doubt all of us have had moments of holding our nose while voting for a candidate, or boycotting a particular race on principle.
But Durham's quandary illustrates why "none of the above" has become increasingly attractive in electoral politics in recent years.
In Oregon, "none of the above" actually made it onto the ballot as a referendum item for judicial elections. (It was ultimately defeated.)
And in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states, "none of the above" has become a force unto itself -- coming in second or third in several races. In fact, it has become such a force that the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, voted this year to remove it.
But Durham's quandary is different. It's one thing to elect "none of the above," requiring a whole new election in six months (which is the way the proposed system for judicial elections in Oregon would have worked).
It is quite another to vote for Anybody But Nifong and trust Gov. Mike Easley to read the tea leaves and appoint just the right person to fill Nifong's shoes and "do the right thing" with regard to the lacrosse case.
And, oh yeah, to also take care of the thousands of other cases that the Durham DA's office handles each year.
It is easy to forget about those when you live in Raleigh or New York or California.
Ironically, a goodly number of the people who have been critical of Nifong, including me, don't live -- or vote -- in the People's Republic of Durham.
This election is in the hands of voters whose town has been sorely misrepresented in the national media.
The question is: Which watermelon will they choose?
Ruth Sheehan can be reached at 829-4828 or rsheehan@newsobserver.com.
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/061011
With Collin out of the attic, Nifong soon will be out of office
Well since one of the melons is clearly more rotten than the others, maybe Ruthie and her paper should tell them which one they shouldn't choose. A rebuke of Nifong or a front page endorsement for one of the other two candidates could go a long way in righting the wrongs they did to these kids. It's time for the media of Durham to stand up for what is right and tell the citizens of Durham that Nifong is unfit to be the DA of Durham.
First, I'm the guy who took the photo of Ed Bradley and what I thought was his assistant. I had no idea it was Kim Roberts.
It most definitely was at the Washington Duke as I was over there to hit some golf balls that night when I saw Mr. Bradley. I returned to my car to grab my camera phone and asked Ed if I could take his picture. Kim was standing next to him and started to back away and I, again, assuming she was with the crew, told her to stick around.
As for the before or after question I can't answer with any certainty, but I would say that it sure seemed like it was before because Ed and Kimmie were standing around while the crew was scurrying about. They then all disappeared into the Inn and I didn't see them again.
Sorry for the confusion and the good folks over at Crystal Mess were totally unaware that it was Kimmie in that photo as I didn't know it when I sent it to them. In fact, NCLax assumed it was me - which is not the case since I'm not a convicted felon nor have I ever been a sex worker (well, there was that one time....).
I saw both photos many times and never noticed, either.
It was our furtive and secretive, but often informative poster xoxoxox who gave me the word to compare the pictures.
Too bad you didn't realize, would have loved an "after" shot.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/SPORTS01/610120351/1271/SPORTS
Locals take part in Duke's return
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10122006/tv/duke_and_cover_tv_adam_buckman.htm
DUKE AND COVER
'SHARK' RIPS COLLEGE-ATHLETE RAPE CASE FROM RECENT HEADLINES
I'll give you 3 guesses as to how the SHARK episode turns out....
From Drudge
'OTHER' STRIPPER IN DUKE LACROSSE RAPE CASE REFUTES KEY PART OF ACCUSER'S STORY
Thu Oct 12 2006 12:34:11 ET
In an interview set to run Sunday night, 60 MINUTES' Ed Bradley talks with the other exotic dancer caught up in the alleged Duke Lacrosse tape:
"In the police statement, [accuser] describes the rape in this way: Ê'Three guys grabbed Nikki,' 'That's you,' says Bradley, "'Brett, Adam and Matt grabbed me. They separated us at the master bedroom door while we tried to hold on to each other. Bret, Adam and Matt took me into the bathroom.' Were you holding on to each other? Were you pulled apart?" Ê
"Nope," replies Roberts, who says she was hearing this account for the first time.
Developing...
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