Posted on 10/27/2006 5:00:15 AM PDT by abb
Turning the tide in Durham
Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer, N&O, Published: Oct 30, 2006 12:30 AM
To most of us, the Duke lacrosse case is such a disaster that Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, up for re-election, should be preparing for a trouncing.
But not, apparently, in Durham.
As unfathomable as it might be, a News & Observer/WRAL-TV poll released last week showed Nifong with a substantial lead. In the poll of 600 likely voters in Durham County, 46 percent said they planned to vote for Nifong; 28 percent for Lewis Cheek (the county commissioner who is the Anyone-But-Nifong candidate) and 2 percent for write-in Republican candidate Steve Monks. (It's not too late to bow out, Steve. Don't be the spoiler.)
Two of the most influential political groups in the county, the People's Alliance and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, have endorsed Nifong -- with no reference to his handling of the Duke lacrosse case, mind you.
The Alliance endorsement cites Nifong's quarter-century in the prosecutor's office. A spokeswoman for the Durham Committee told the Durham paper her group was focused on quality-of-life issues in its endorsements.
Why would these two groups choose Nifong over Cheek?
In part, I'm sure, there is a hesitance to surrender votes to a candidate (Cheek) who hasn't campaigned and will not serve, forcing the governor to come in and appoint. (Ahem, just like he appointed Nifong.)
But also, in a strange way, Nifong has become a symbol of Durham to the nation. And in Durham, as in most dysfunctional families, it may be OK to holler and throw lamps at one another within the family, but let an outsider criticize and, honey, watch out.
Durhamites are tired of seeing their city mischaracterized and maligned.
A friend of mine from Durham recently visited Philadelphia and had lunch with a woman whose own city, according to the FBI, is one of the most dangerous in the country.
Yet this woman said she'd never send her child to school in Durham: too violent.
My friend was steamed.
Whether halfway across the country or a half-hour up the road, we outsiders might be appalled at Nifong's handling of the Duke lacrosse case, but on this one, Durham voters are in the driver's seat.
At a rare news conference (since he shifted from blabbermouth Mike to mute Mike), Nifong noted that "this case remains a Durham problem, and it demands a Durham solution."
Too true.
I just hope the voters of Durham understand that the general election is not, in fact, a referendum on their loyalty to Durham. In many ways, it is not even a referendum on Nifong.
Much as they might wish it were otherwise, this DA's race is a referendum on the Duke lacrosse case.
If Nifong wins, how can he do anything but take this case to trial?
That is what's so scary.
At this paper, and in this column, my colleagues and I have written plenty about prosecutors with tunnel vision, who press forward with flawed cases at any cost.
Here's a chance for voters to say, "Not here. Not in Durham." Durham voters can set this case before new eyes.
If only they would.
http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/504445.html
* Not much help from Ruth. Maybe Durham represents a process of 'devolution'.
'Go Ahead, Put Marks on Me'
Second Dancer Claims Alleged Duke Lacrosse Rape Victim Said to Bruise Her
By CHRIS FRANCESCANI and EAMON McNIFF
ABC News Law & Justice Unit
Oct. 30, 2006 — The second dancer in the Duke rape case has said for the first time that the accuser told her to "go ahead, put marks on me'' after the alleged attack.
Dancer Kim Roberts made the new allegation — which she has not shared with authorities — in an interview with Chris Cuomo that will air today on "Good Morning America."
Roberts' allegation comes in the wake of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's admission in court last week that he has not yet interviewed the accuser "about the facts of that night."
As she drove the accuser from the March 2006 Duke lacrosse party, Roberts told ABC News the woman was clearly impaired and "talking crazy." Roberts said she tried several different times to get the accuser out of her car.
"The trip in that car from the house … went from happy to crazy,'' Roberts told Cuomo. "I tried all different ways to get through to her.
"I tried to be funny and nice," she continued. "Then I tried to, you know, be stern with her. … We're kind of circling around, and as we're doing that, my last-ditch attempt to get her out of the car, I start to kind of, you know, push and prod her, you know."
Roberts said she told the woman, "Get out of my car, get out of my car."
"I … push on her leg. I kind of push on her arm," Roberts said. "And clear as a bell, it's the only thing I heard clear as a bell out of her was, she said — she pretty much had her head down, but she said plain as day — 'Go ahead put marks on me. That's what I want, go ahead.' ''
Roberts said the comments "chilled me to the bone, and I decided right then and there to go to the authorities."
'Weighing on My Heart'
Roberts was not aware at the time of any rape allegations, which were first made by the accuser after police had arrived and taken the woman to a crisis center.
In the interview, Roberts appeared reluctant to talk about her new claim.
"It is something that has been weighing on my heart, and I worry that maybe I won't be called to trial,'' Roberts told Cuomo, as she reached for a tissue. "Because all of, so many of her, so much of [the accuser's] statement differs from mine and I, I might not help the prosecution at all as a witness.''
Roberts became visibly upset as she described the accuser's comments for the first time, at one point stopping the interview.
"I don't even want to talk about it anymore,'' she said.
"Why is it so hard for you to reveal that?" Cuomo asked Roberts.
"Because I think it's gonna make people rush to judgment,'' she replied. "It's gonna make them stop listening. … And I don't like this at all. It's gonna make— It's gonna make people not listen and I, I'm sure you're probably not even going to play this. It's gonna make people not listen to any other part of the story. It's gonna make people so judgmental, it's gonna solidify their opinions so much, that they're not gonna want to hear the other aspects of the case, which I think are just as important.''
Changes in Roberts' Characterization of the Events
Roberts' attorney, Mark Simeon, said she never shared what she says were the accuser's final comments with police, not realizing their significance at the time. He said she would be willing to take a lie detector test about the new information.
Three Duke lacrosse players — Dave Evans, Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann — were charged last spring with rape and kidnapping for the alleged attack on the exotic dancer, who had been hired by the men to perform at the off-campus party. All three men have vigorously declared their innocence, inside and outside of court.
Defense attorneys for the players declined to comment on Roberts' remarks.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong did not return a call over the weekend for comment.
One legal expert who has followed the case closely from the start said the new information is a clear blow to an already embattled prosecution team.
"To have witnesses appear on a media program revealing information that the prosecutor doesn't know is stunningly inappropriate,'' said Linda Fairstein, who headed the Manhattan District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit for more than two decades.
Roberts has proven to be a somewhat unpredictable character in a case with a seemingly bottomless supply of surprises.
She has said consistently that she doesn't know whether or not a rape occurred. But she has characterized the evening's events differently to different people.
On March 20, when police first contacted her a week after the alleged attack, she called the rape allegation a "crock'' and said that she was with the woman for all but "less than five minutes.''
A month later, in an Associated Press interview, she indicated that she believed there had been an attack.
"I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred — and I never will. … In all honesty, I think they're guilty. … Somebody did something besides underage drinking. That's my honest-to-God impression."
Then, on June 14, in an interview with National Public Radio, she said she was "unsure'' of how much time passed when the alleged victim got out of her car and went back into the house to get her purse.
"I can never say a rape did or did not occur. That's for the courts to decide. I didn't see it happen, you know? But what I can say is that there was opportunity and it could have happened.''
Simeon told ABC News that she has never shared this new information with authorities simply because she was never asked.
"She hasn't spoken to authorities beyond that very first [March 20] interview that police conducted,'' Simeon said. "She's never met with the DA and has never been called back for a follow-up interview.''
Simeon said she told him she felt her complete story was damaging to both the prosecution and the defense's cases, and as such she believes she may not be called to the witness stand at all.
Fatal Blow to Duke Prosecution?
Nifong, who is seeking reelection next month, stunned defense attorneys in court last week when he said that he has yet to interview the accuser "about the facts of that night.''
"I've had conversations with [the accuser] about how she's doing,'' Nifong said. "I've had conversations with her about seeing her kids. I haven't talked with her about the facts of that night. … We're not at that stage yet.''
The prosecutor made the comment in response to a request from defense attorneys for any statements the accuser has made about the case.
Nifong said that only police have interviewed the accuser, and that none of his assistants have discussed the case with the woman either.
The highly-charged case has sparked an intense, bitter rivalry between Nifong and defense attorneys.
In September, he similarly surprised defense attorneys when he said in court that the attack, which the accuser told police took about 30 minutes, had in fact been only "five to 10 minutes.''
"When something happens to you that is really awful, it can seem like it takes place longer than it actually takes.''
Fairstein, widely considered a pioneer in the field of sex crimes prosecution, said Roberts' allegations do not bode well for either her own credibility or for the district attorney's office.
"In terms of any prosecution, it's troubling when a witness who has been interviewed many times comes up with a completely new statement,'' Fairstein told ABC News. "At some point in a prosecutorial interview, she would have been asked to give them anything she knew, any scrap of information that she had.''
Fairstein told ABC News she was shocked to learn last week that Nifong has yet to interview the accuser.
"That is just against the progress that's been made in this very specialized field,'' she said. "It belies anything a prosecutor would do before making charges. There was no need to rush to the charging judgment in this case. … This whole train should have been slowed down and everybody interviewed before charging decisions. To have witnesses appear on a media program revealing information that the prosecutor doesn't know is stunningly inappropriate.''
Roberts' attorney, Mark Simeon, said she never shared what she says were the accuser's final comments with police, not realizing their significance at the time. He said she would be willing to take a lie detector test about the new information.----
Simeon told ABC News that she has never shared this new information with authorities simply because she was never asked.
"She hasn't spoken to authorities beyond that very first [March 20] interview that police conducted,'' Simeon said. "She's never met with the DA and has never been called back for a follow-up interview.''
---- Is Nifong going to be the last person in Durham to know what happened in his own case?
OMG!!!!!!!!!!
Simeon told ABC News that she has never shared this new information with authorities simply because she was never asked.
Now I know this woman was under a lot of pressure and worried about going to jail over violating her parole on that embezzlement deal. Everyone seen what kind of stuff the DPD and Nifong was trying to do to witnesses and these kids. But how and in the hell do hold this fn' back. How do you sit there while three innocent kids are getting their names drug through the mud and do nothing. Hell she did worse than nothing. She said if they didn't rape the girl they had nothing to worry about and they should just brush it all off or something to that nature. This woman is sick. She even started the racial taunts.
5:30 am promos on ABC 11
show Kim as a new drama queen-
dressed in black with large crucifix
on chest.--- body language indicates
MORE LYING!!!
Maybe next to last since judge Smith is taking his sweet time reading all the fn' motions.
"He [Simeon] said she would be willing to take a lie detector test about the new information."
Maybe GMA should have tested her BEFORE unloading this crap on the nation.
Test her lawyer also.
Wow!
Anybody still want to claim that the DA doesn't need to speak to the accuser and the witnesses?
I am sure a few of those trolls at the TL boards might still claim that.....
That's what I'm wondering too. Remember our early wonderings about who might be "servicing" the ruling elite in Durham?
Yes, she has changed her story. However, she wasn't drugged and nor were the Duke La Crosse Players. Crystal was obviously on something.
Link to new thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1728367/posts?page=1
Have I missed it? Have I missed Kim explaining the "anonymous" 911 call about "guys making racist comments to some women"?
Katrina gave one to New Orleans. Houston is still trying to clean up the resulting mess.
I noticed that too and was going to e-mail him.
That is what Kim claims Crystal says in the car.
They says it's a 45 minute interview; more in the next hour!
But he did sign of on that sweet bond deal...
I know that. The reminder was that if her original story was a lie and she stuck with it under oath, on the witness stand it would be perjury.
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