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
Yeah............ :>
:>
Sounds good to me.........
Now that's a word I know: expungement.........let me look.
Q. Is there any way to get rid of a previous criminal conviction?
A. In very limited circumstances, North Carolina law permits the expunction of certain offenses from a person's criminal record. Except for convictions for possession of a very small amount of cocaine, which is a felony, or in the case of a pardon from the Governor, there are currently no North Carolina Statutes that permit the expunction of felony convictions.
Depending on the statute which permits the expunction, there are several requirements that must be met in order to qualify.
If an offense is dismissed, or a finding of not guilty is entered, that offense may be expunged pursuant to N.C.G.S. 15A-146. You can only request an expungement under this statute one time in your life. However, if multiple offenses are dismissed during the same term of court, or within a 12 month period, it may be possible to expunge multiple offenses in your request.
If you have been convicted of a crime or crimes, your eligibility depends on the nature of the conviction and your age at the time of the conviction. N.C.G.S. 15A-145 allows first offenders under 18 at the time of the conviction to expunge the conviction after two years, if they meet certain criteria. First offenders under the age of 21 may expunge certain alcohol infractions if they meet the statutory criteria. In very limited circumstances, N.C.G.S. § 90-96 allows individuals convicted of certain drug offenses to expunge a conviction. Only certain misdemeanor drug offenses, or the felony possession of less than one gram of cocaine, may be expunged. If you have received a pardon from the Governor, you may seek to have the record of the conviction expunged pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-149.
Except for offenses in which an individual received a pardon, only one expungement can be granted in a person’s lifetime. If you have a lengthy criminal record, you will generally not be able to expunge more than one of these offenses.
If a court does order that an offense be expunged, the offense will be deleted from the individual's criminal record and such individual will be restored to the status he/she occupied before arrest or indictment. If you are not eligible for an expungement, your only other remedies are to appeal the conviction, file a motion for appropriate relief, or seek a pardon from the Governor. You should contact a competent attorney for more information regarding expungements, appeals, or pardons.
I have not said it is isolated. It certainly isn't. But it is not the norm.
Another problem you may be unaware of is that NC criminal procedure is very unusual in a number of important respects, which I have recounted many times on this board.
Well, since the governor appointed the dingbat DA, he sure as heck should expunge these records!
We'll agree on that.
Yes, a directed verdict could occur if there's a trial and they're found guilty. In that case, the judge changes the jury's verdict to "not guilty." The questions are, does NC have a legal capacity for factual finding of innocence when a jury acquits (possibly, is my guess), and also does it have procedural vehicle by which the court can find, after or as part of a dismissal of charges, that the defendants are factually innocent of the crime with which they were charged (probably not, is my guess), or that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate that a crime has been committed (probably yes, is my guess). No, I haven't googled any of that.
I didn't notice him becoming full of himself, but you would have seen and/or heard a lot more from him there than I would out here. From the several times I saw him, he seemed to be a beacon of reason, comparatively speaking.
So, nothing about expunging arrests, just convictions? People are supposed to be satisfied with a mere dismissal? A dismissal can come because the DA lost the evidence or his main witness died. Without further qualifiers, a dismissal says nothing about the guilt or innocence of the defendant.
Easley has so far escaped this entire fiasco unscathed. It is deplorable that he has not set the state AG's dogs on Liefong.
What an effing bastard Easley is.
I know it, you know it, most here know it - most except a couple, anyway.
Liefong would have cut her damn finger off and used it to point to three, if he had to.
Well, I may just not have found it.
Mike Easley? Surely you are joking. He hasn't been seen near this case and I personally have called his office no less than four times.
I have never seen one NCCU student come forward to say they actually saw her on that campus.
There's a question. Where is she? And how much contact do Nifong and DPD have with her? Apparently her parents haven't heard from her for months and don't know where she is.
Who said that, her father?
I wonder why he shut up so fast.
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