Nifong to give up more documents to defense (DukeLax)

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.

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."

He said he made it clear earlier that responsibilities to partners and employees prevented him from leaving his private law firm

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.

"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

"I keep wanting to ask if Durham doesn't need a city cultural initiative."----

Festival a celebration of oneness

BY GREGORY PHILLIPS : The Herald-Sun, Oct 28, 2006 : 9:16 pm ET

DURHAM -- It may not be the biggest festival in town, but the event put on by Southwest Central Durham Neighborhoods on Saturday afternoon is surely one of the most heartfelt.

"We call it a commUNITY festival," said David Ross, one of the organizers of the event at Lakewood Shopping Center on Chapel Hill Road. "We're hoping to bring all the ethnic groups in the neighborhoods together in a spirit of mutual appreciation." -jump-

The festival doubled as the culmination of Make a Difference Day, in which teams of volunteers worked on neighborhood cleanup and improvement projects in the surrounding neighborhoods. Volunteers who had been hard at work all morning got a free lunch and the chance to soak up the atmosphere.

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-782815.html

111 join forces to spruce up, assist the community at Make a Difference Day

BY GREGORY PHILLIPS : The Herald-Sun, Oct 28, 2006 : 10:34 pm ET

DURHAM -- The band of 111 volunteers spread across southwest central Durham on a bright Saturday morning cited myriad reasons for being involved, but they all had the same goal.

"We're just trying to make a difference in our community, building relationships," explained the Rev. Duane Hoskins of Durham Community Land Trustees, one of the agencies behind the second-annual Make a Difference Day in Durham. -jump-

UNC senior Joey Horne got involved in the effort through a service learning class and dragged along his roommate Daniel Lim, an exchange student from Singapore.

"I thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know this area and do some community service," said Lim, who had never been to Durham before.

"It's been quite an eye-opener," he said as he and Horne picked up trash along Chapel Hill Street. "I would have expected the streets to be more ... organized. Hence the need for this project."

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-782817.html

Originally published in Herald Sun on October 29, 2006.

What happens next in the lacrosse case?
by Robinson O. Everett

What is going to happen next in the Duke lacrosse rape case? Here is my summary of some of the possible events.

Until recently when I saw the “60 Minutes” program, I thought the least probably alternative would be for District Attorney Mike Nifong to dismiss the charges against the three defendants before trial. However, the information presented by CBS – especially the comments of the second dancer – certainly makes the case against the players seem shaky. With that in mind, Nifong might choose to rethink the suggestion I made several months ago [Herald Sun, May 25], that he ask the claimed victim to take a lie detector test and, if she refused or took the test and flunked, then drop the case. Admittedly, to dismiss the charges at this point late date would seem like an admission of error on Nifong’s part, but that might be better than a long trial and a likely acquittal or hung jury.

Perhaps, the accuser – especially if she saw “60 Minutes” – might decide that a trial would be unduly stressful for her and she might request Nifong to dismiss the charges. Admittedly, gag orders and rape shield laws are intended to reduce the possibility that a woman who has been raped will choose not to file a complaint or will ask that charges be dismissed; but even so, in some instances a rape victim might choose not to undergo the ordeal of a trial.

If the accuser were to request Nifong to dismiss the charges, he would face a dilemma. He would not wish to inflict additional trauma on a female whom he believes has been victimized; but he might feel that there is a strong public interest in assuring that allegedly rapists are brought to trial.

Moreover, if Nifong dismissed the charges at this stage, he would undoubtedly be criticized, for not having done so months ago. Thus, unless he can explain that new information has recently come to him (such as lie detectors results raising questions as to the accuser’s credibility or new information revealed on the “60 Minutes” program that contradicts what the accuser told herself), he will probably conclude that it would be better to go ahead with the trial. If Nifong were to be defeated in the November 7 election, his successor might choose to dismiss the indictments; but he would probably be deterred from doing so by the likelihood of criticism for “being insensitive to the right of women and African-Americans.”

I have heard comments that Nifong should request appointment of a special prosecutor. That he would do so at this point seems implausible because this decision would be construed by many as an evasion of responsibility. Also, there would be additional delay in getting the special prosecutor up to speed. Likewise, if Nifong were defeated in November, his successor would probably hesitate to request a special prosecutor and would feel a responsibility to handle the charges.

If the case proceeds to trial, where and when will that occur? All the alleges crimes occurred only in Durham County, where the grand jury indicted the three defendants. The district attorney has no discretion to move the trial away from Durham. On the other hand, the defendants may choose to seek a “change in venue” – a transfer of the trial to another North Carolina county. Apparently defense counsel jointly contracted for a recent survey to help determine whether a jury selected from Durham County would be biased against the lacrosse players. (Amazingly, Nifong’s wife was among those polled). In view of the national media coverage, it is likely that whatever the results of the survey, Judge Osmond Smith – the trial judge – would be skeptical that transferring the trial to a different county would enhance its fairness.

In guest column in mid-summer I urged that District Attorney Nifong bring the case to trial promptly – preferably before November 7 election. Although I still believe that my suggestion was not unrealistic, I recognize that the extensive pretrial discovery process made some delay necessary. If trial occurs in Durham, it probably could not start until January 2007. In the unlikely event that the venue was changed to another county, March or April, 2007 would probably be the earliest start time; and if a new district attorney takes over, some additional time might be necessary to prepare for trial.

A trial jury selection will present problems wherever or whenever the case is tried. In view of the massive media coverage, it is unlikely that here in Durham a prospective juror can truthfully say that he or she has nor formed an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the defendants. Nonetheless, with suitable “coaching” from the judge and counsel, many of the prospective jurors will probably say that they can put aside any opinions that they have formed and, if selected as jurors, will decide the case solely on the evidence. In that event they are likely to survive the challenges for cause.

The prosecutor and the defense counsel will also have a number of peremptory challenges – challenges for which reason or explanation is required. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that a peremptory challenge cannot be motivated by race or gender. In this case, if defense counsel peremptorily challenge some African-American jurors, the prosecutor may raise an issue as to the presence of an improper racial motive; and vice versa, if the prosecutor challenges white jurors on the basis of race. However, in either event, the attorney making the peremptory challenge will persuade Judge Smith that no racial motive exists to the challenge.

We already know what most of the evidence will be at trial. No one can predict with certainty what a jury will decide on such evidence; but I must admit that if all – or any – of the defendants are convicted, I shall be surprised.

The writer is a professor of law at Duke University.

http://friendsofdukeuniversity.blogspot.com/2006/03/expired-documents-2.html#c116215826595135506

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Breaking right now.......ABC11 reports that the second dancer will disclose more BOMBSHELLS on ABC' Good Morning America tomorrow morning.