Posted on 10/27/2006 5:00:15 AM PDT by abb
Nifong to give up more documents to defense
By John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun October 26, 2006 9:44 pm
DURHAM -- District Attorney Mike Nifong today will give defense lawyers about 2,000 additional pages of information about the Duke University lacrosse rape case -- the largest single batch of documentation he has surrendered so far.
Nifong turned over some 1,800 pages of information in one previous court hearing and another 615 pages last month.
After they receive today's batch, defense attorneys will have roughly 4,500 pages of documentation about the case that has polarized Durham, brought intense national publicity to the community and sparked a movement to oust Nifong as chief prosecutor.
In addition to paperwork, defense lawyers will receive 3 DVDs from Nifong today. Among other things, they reportedly contain e-mails generated by Duke students and lacrosse players.
The information will be surrendered in a hearing before Judge Osmond Smith, who was specially assigned by the N.C. Supreme Court to shepherd the controversial lacrosse case to completion.
Three suspects in the case, Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans, are not required to be present today. They are free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year.
The three are accused of raping and sodomizing an exotic dancer during an off-campus lacrosse party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.
All have professed their innocence.
Other than the surrender of information by Nifong, no major developments are expected during today's hearing.
"I don't think anyone knows exactly what will happen, but I don't believe there will be much to it," said one lawyer, asking not to be identified.
Critical defense motions in the case have yet to be heard, but they will not be argued today.
Among other things, those motions accuse police of misleading a judge to obtain a search warrant, and of devising an unconstitutional photo lineup -- a lineup that allegedly was too suggestive because it included only pictures of Duke lacrosse players.
Several national television pundits, along with a host of Internet chatters, have blasted Nifong for allegedly rushing to judgment in the case and getting the three suspects indicted on insufficient evidence.
In addition, the lacrosse incident is responsible for an anti-Nifong movement in the Nov. 7 election.
Voters are being urged to cast their ballots for County Commissioner Lewis Cheek as part of an effort to recall Nifong.
However, Cheek has said he would not serve as district attorney if elected, meaning the governor would have to choose a replacement for him.
Another anti-Nifong faction is led by local Republican Party Chairman Steve Monks, who is running for the chief prosecutor's seat on an unaffiliated write-in basis.
Monks said in an interview this week that a combined oust-Nifong effort would be better than two fragmented ones.
"It is probable that one of us has to withdraw," he said. "It has to happen. Someone has to be the frontrunner for the anti-Nifong movement. Otherwise, Mike will continue to be DA?. I can't scream from the highest mountain loudly enough that we need a combined effort."
And Charlotte Woods, a campaign leader for Monks, said she had told Cheek "a multiplicity of times" that Monks would withdraw from the race if Cheek agreed to serve as district attorney if elected.
"We have made it plain over and over again," she said. "We've told him and told him."
But Cheek said Thursday that, "Service as DA is not an option for me."
He said he made it clear earlier that responsibilities to partners and employees prevented him from leaving his private law firm
"Nothing has changed," he added.
Meanwhile, Nifong said Thursday that he continued to stand by the rape case, and he denied he was responsible for polarizing the community.
"This particular case has not divided the community," he said. "It has pointed to divisions that already existed. It is a signal to us that we need to address these underlying divisions."
Nifong would not be specific, but he apparently referred to town-gown issues and racial issues, among others.
The accuser in the rape case is black. The three suspects are white.
"Another prosecutor might make the case go away, but he can't make the underlying issues go away," said Nifong.
The district attorney, who has been a prosecutor in Durham for 27 years and head of his office since April 2005, said he wasn't withering under a storm of adverse criticism about the lacrosse incident.
"It's the difference between character and reputation," he said. "Character is what you are. Reputation is what people say you are. As long as you know who you are, you don't have to worry over what people say about you. ?
"I might be better off if I wasn't DA," Nifong acknowledged. "It certainly would be less stressful. But this is a path I have chosen to take in my life. I'm seeing some of the not-so-fun part of the job right now, but you can't take a job and just do it when it's easy and fun. URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-782289.html
How did I miss that he didn't talk to accuser? Ugh. Maybe the Jim "Chiquita" Webb issue has clouded my mind.
On the other hand this business of inventing Jewish names for the supposed rapists and then selecting the Yankees to take the fall suggests there's a part of Durham my GGGrandfather forgot to burn, and they've been waiting for revenge.
Gad, is Nifong so stupid he thinks we don't notice this stuff?
He's the lead investigator and he hasn't spoken to the accuser or the defendants, and he believes the accuser.
I played the video on WRAL and the reporter said the records were from UNC hospital. Wasn't there some prior speculation that Crystal might have gone to UNC hospital a day or two after the alleged rape?
I think the Jewish names thing is stretching it. Is "Bret" a Jewish name? And there are plenty of non-Jews named Matt and Adam. I don't think any of the actual guys on the team named Bret, Matt and Adam are Jewish.
On the other hand, Crystal did manage to pick Reade Seligmann, who is Jewish, as one of her alleged attackers. But then she also picked an obviously Irish Catholic guy - Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans who seems to be your standard Anglo-Saxon type.
Having grown up in NY, and having lived in NJ for 17 years, I know how disliked we are. For the most part, we're pretty thick skinned about it (the Jersey jokes do get old).
That being said, there is no question that a large number of college students come from the Northeast. It sure makes a parent question whether or not to send Johnny or Jane south. Who knows, maybe Duke will be better off and everyone will be happier?
Which would explain why Gottlieb brushed aside Mangum's semi-identification of Durham native Matt Wilson (#4) during the April 4th lineup.
We've already heard about those visits, haven't we? It was UNC doctors who wrote that she said she'd hit her head on the sink, wasn't it? She had contusions, as I recall. Stiff neck, etc. Things that could be faked, IIRC.
We have at least heard about her visit to UNC the next day, I'm sure.
There were probably others.
I do remember hearing that UNC was her regular hospital.
The speculation was that since she'd lost her purse at the party she'd lost her flexerile and wanted more. IIRC she got out of Duke hospital on the morning of 14 March and was at the UNC hospital on the morning of 15 March (16 March?). Can't remember for sure but it was very soon after, and I do recall that she had the "hit her head on the sink" thing going on. If her exam from the UNC hospital showed injuries (beat up by a pimp named "Sink" as someone joked?), I'm sure Nifong is going to try and make hay with them saying that that they are a result of being beaten up at the lax party and that they just weren't evident when she was examined at Duke hospital.
I'm not arguing with you-the dislike may be justified. I just think in this case, the prejudice against the Yankees at Duke has had a huge exclamation point put on it, and I think that's too bad--for Duke.
But maybe I'm wrong, maybe Duke would be better off without the Yankees. After all, it was Nothern lax players that caused this.
I thought so, too. Wonder which side asked to use the documents?
Judge Osmond Smith said he received medical records involving the accuser from the hospital. Those documents are currently under seal until the judge looks at them and decides whether the prosecution or defense can use them.
Well it's one of those "when cultures collide" things. One of the better part of my education at Duke was, when dealing with Yankees, dispense with politeness and give them crap right back. They won't take offense.
My room mate, from Richmond VA, went to see Duke play in the Palestra in Philly. He went to concessions to order a soft drink. He ordered a "Coke" which is not the local lingo. So they had to have an interchange over that. When he got his drink, being a well brought up Southerner, he said a sincere "Thanks" which earned him a dirty look from the concessionaire who figured he was being a smart a$$.
Yes, I believe the medical term is "pole dramatic undress" syndrome.
Bump for a great comment!
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