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
HA HA HA! "Mr. Nifong, you've said you believe the victim, yet she has told different versions of the incident. Would you at least tell us which version you believe?"
Looks like Jim Hammer got Nifonged. I'd forgotten what a smarmy little prick he is.
When you couple that with the transcription of the tapes from that night when somebody said something about "stopping by there to check on the kids" it's QUITE fascinating.
I've GOT to find that thread where we transcribed that audio!
I am so slammed right now I hardly have time to look though; but I will find it!
Actually, you are both wrong.
It ALL started with intergration; see, the Yankees couldn't understand just why we couldn't get along with blacks down here. Since there were vitually no blacks up North at that time, they had absolutely no point of reference. Yankees have ALWAYS thought the South was bigoted and racist; and I mean ALL of us.
Now I'm not saying that there weren't problems with the races down here from way back, but what I am saying is that their perception of us started this whole "versus" thing.
There is a reason one of the most popular bumper stickers around here for years was one that said "We don't give a damn HOW you did it up North."
And I'll say out loud what I've said to some on these threads in private: I suspect there are quite a few Yankees getting a lesson in just how "justice" works in the South -- and it isn't like they thought it was, is it? People in the South KNOW what happens when an entire group of people who imagine they've been discriminated against close ranks and demand their "justice."
And we all knew exactly what Danny Glover meant when he said, "We don't NEED the facts. We're supporting our sister."
I don't mean this to sound racist; it's just the way it always was down here.
What's so shocking to me is that I actually thought that the idiots in Durham had become enlightened over the years. If they reelect this guy, I'll never spend another dime in Durham County.
I hope there are more independent thinkers in Durham than we give credit for.
I would love to be wrong.
The female prosecutor on Greta's show last night said the ONLY excuse for Nifong NOT to have talked to her was she was in a coma.
it is beyond outrageous.
Oh, gawd.......thanks for THAT visual the rest of the day!
I think he's more likely to be framed in a little box otherwise known as a mug shot.
And when we're not wrong? It's gonna alter MY world.
Who ARE these people who look at him and think to themselves, "He's just doing his job."
It really is, isn't it, beyond outrageous.
I cannot figure out WHERE we go from here.
I am beyond the point where I need a pound of flesh from this guy. I just cannot figure out what will be enough to satisfy my rage at this man.
Yep Hammer saying that Nifong clearly believes Mangum really came back to me when this issue first came up a month ago. Nifong is being too clever by half.
And he is taking a great risk lying about talking to Mangum. She may well turn on a dime on him.
Yes Nifong AND HIS WIFE maybe well have been holding her children hostage to keep this going.
The continuing silence from the NC Attorney General and the NC Bar re this presecutor's blatant non-professionalism astounds me. Are they waiting until after the election? After the trial? Never?
Howlin, I know you disagree with me, but I still think this case is going to be over by the end of the year.
A couple of months ago, I predicted that it would be dismissed on December 21. Now I'm wondering if I was six days off and if December 15th will be the big day. That's the Friday before winter break at Duke.
I think that the fix has been in since Cheeks pulled out of the race and Nifong agreed to the special case designation. And before that, I was on the record as saying that this case will never go to trial.
Nifong is gonna win the election, but this case is going to end before any trial takes place. I'd love to know the behind-the-scenes deals that have occurred!
Winter break would allow a "cooling off" period before CF (and maybe RS) can resume classes for the spring semester. Why would the court wait for December 15th for the next hearing?
I keep thinking of the "cooling the mark" article. Initially we thought that the mark was the justice-seeking public. Now I'm wondering if the mark is the black community in Durham. The 60 Minutes piece helped to pave the way for the inevitable end: the dismissal of the case and the resumption of business as usual in Durham.
What are you saying, that the legal system is "handling" this case to get the best outcome for themselves and their cherished "justice" system?
You don't think the defense team is playing along with this, do you?
I tend to agree that this case will end in December. I suspect that if this is the case it will end AFTER the Duke students are gone on Christmas break.
That at least would be the smart thing to do in case this sparks any random violence. Certainly there are some who would use dismissing this case as an excuse to break things and hurt people randomly.
I certainly agree that Thomas Sowell's mark in the case is the black voters of Durham.
The defense attorneys -- and with the exceptions of Butch Williams and Kerry Sutton, I hold them in the highest regard -- will continue to practice law in that town. Their careers will continue long after this case is over. I don't think they are "in" on any of the backroom dealings, but I do think that they know that their clients will never spend a day in prison on these phony charges. That's as far as any "playing along with this" goes as far as the defense attorneys are concerned. They are honorable and they are defending their clients well.
Yep! That's exactly what I'm saying. This case is being handled and the Powers That Be are protecting each other. All Nifong wants is to remain the DA. He's going to get that. Making the case go away without provoking the black community is a bigger problem. But yes. That will be accomplished and the cherished "justice" system will be protected and all those Northern media types will go home.
Whether the case will be dismissed on a ruling on one of the defense motions or Nifong's withdrawal or some revelation about Crystal (and what else could there be?), it is going to end without a trial. I'm not corrupt! I don't think that way, so I don't know what they've come up with to extricate themselves from this mess.
But why December 15th? The last Friday before winter break.
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