U.S. Congressman Calls For DA Probe In Duke Rape Case

WRAL TV ^ | December 12, 2006

[Howlin]

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A congressman wants a federal investigation into Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong and the way he has handled a rape investigation involving three Duke University lacrosse players.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case, having accused Nifong of making prejudicial statements to the media and telling police to violate identification procedures.

In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Jones also highlighted the fact that Nifong has never spoken directly with the accuser, a 27-year-old exotic dancer, about the case.

[JLS]

Isn't this Friday (15th) the last of the hearings? I think it just might get dismissed this week.

It is the NEXT hearing. You are being quite optimistic if you think this will be the last, but I hope you are right.

[SmoothTalker]

"I'm glad something is being done but I wish it was someone else pushing the envelope. If ANYONE can foul this up it is Walter Jones!"


Ain't that the truth. Walter is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[TommyDale]

I didn't just pull that out of the sky. Someone reported that it was the last pre-trial hearing.

[JLS]

I am positive I read that on here, that neither the governor NOR the AG can do anything at all right now.

Let's see:

1. If this were true according to the statutes, the Governor and the AG could certainly could: bring Nifong in for a chat, publically take him to task and in many other ways bring pressure on him to behave without even directly calling for him to drop the charges. They could publically ask if he has read the case file. They could publically ask him to explain why he took over the investigation.

2. And in fact while the AG may not have the statutory authority to take over this case, I suspect the AG has the authority to convene a Grand Jury and indict Nifong for obstruction of justice tommorrow. The AG could then have him arrested and I bet DAs in NC would behave much better for the next decade.

But neither of these will happen because as someone pointed out a little coruption among Dims is already ignored.

I for one think this move is great. The power of the federal bureacracy should not just be reserved for African-Americans or members of other groups based on the percentage they vote Dim who are being mistreated by state criminal justice systems. Maybe one GOP Congressman understands that part of why the Dims won, they try to use the levers of power to help their base.

[JLS]

I didn't just pull that out of the sky. Someone reported that it was the last pre-trial hearing.

Ok, but I suspect that is not correct. I guess it could be the last pre-trial hearing before some immediately before the trial hearings. But I suspect many many many issues will be left unresolved that will have to be resolved before the trial. For example:

1. Jury selection rules.

2. The questions on the jury selection form.

3. Evidentuary questions like the admissibility of those photo array IDs.

4. etc.

[Ken H]

Per commenters on Liestoppers board - Congressman Jones will be on Greta tonight.

[Howlin]

Jones on Greta's show now MISPRONOUCING Nifong, calling him NEE-FONG.

How emabarassing for us. Again.

[TommyDale]

I think he is mispronouncing it deliberately, common practice by politicians who try to belittle opponents by mispronouncing their names. It gives the impression that he doesn't really think Nifong is important. I think it was funny, not an embarassment.

[Locomotive Breath]

Nifong's yet to learn how to pronounce "Duke"

[xoxoxox]

Notorious sexual assaults at Duke in 2004 and 2002 were hoaxes

In Spring 2002, a freshman had terrified the campus community two years prior by alleging that she had been “beaten and sexually assaulted after being sprayed in the eyes with a liquid as she exited a stall in a Randolph Dormitory bathroom” (having been “blinded,” she could not identify her attacker). Women wrote to the Duke Chronicle of their fear of being on campus. Duke began offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailant before he attacked again.

http://triangle.johnlocke.org/blog/

[Jrabbit]

I think he called Greta..."Gretchen"...sigh

[sissyjane]

There is a hearing on Friday???? We may have to ping the old gang for a margarita party!

[Jezebelle]

I sort of enjoyed the mispronunciation. :>

I don't know anything about Jones, but I think he did just fine on Greta. Besides, he couldn't help but beat the hell out of my guy - a dyed-in-the-wool rat lefty. Count your blessings. :>

[Jezebelle]

Well.....that's better than "Gretel", which is what some rat congressman called her once by mistake a year or so ago.

[abb]

Inquiry of Nifong eyed over lacrosse

By BILL STAGG, The Herald-Sun
December 12, 2006 11:54 pm

DURHAM -- A North Carolina congressman wants the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong committed "prosecutorial misconduct" and violated the civil rights of the three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a dancer at an off-campus party last March.

Third District U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C.,3rd, sent athe letter Thursday to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, saying he acted in response to "serious questions" raised in recent months by constituents and the media about the dancer's allegations and Nifong's handling of the case.

Repeated efforts to contact Nifong for comment on Jones' letter were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Jones specificially citedmentionedathe Oct. 15 "60 Minutes" broadcast on Oct. 15. , which capped a six-month investigation. He said the CBS program's "60 Minutes" findings touched two "troubling" issues that appear to be "blatant examples" of improper conduct by the district attorney:

-- That Nifong allegedly directed Durham police to violate state suspect-identification procedures by not including images of non-suspects in a photo lineup, and by telling the dancer she only would be looking only at pictures of Duke lacrosse players at the party.

"By doing so," Jones wrote, "Mr. Nifong ensured that the accuser could not make a mistake no matter who she identified because she would inevitably identify Duke athletes."

-- That Nifong repeatedly has made prejudicial statements to the media that "clearly violate" the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct, which bar a prosecutor from making comments that "heighten public condemnation" of accused people and have a "substantial likelihood" of prejudicing the case.

"Mr. Nifong's statements ranged from labeling the Duke players 'hooligans,' to falsely stating that they refused to cooperate with his investigation, to informing the public that the lack of DNA evidence was possibly due to the use of condoms by the alleged attackers when he knew the accuser stated to hospital personnel that the alleged attackers did not wear condoms," Jones wrote.

Jones also said he was most concerned by Nifong's public acknowledgment admission that he has never asked the dancer what she alleges occurred at the party because "Mr. Nifong has stated it was unnecessary to hear her version."

Everything Jones cited in the "60 Minutes" account had previously had been reported in The Herald-Sun, The News Observer of Raleigh and other local and national newspapers.

A Jones spokesman said Tuesday the congressman followed up last week's letter with a phone call Monday to Gonzales on Monday.A Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that Gonzales had received the letter and said he would respond directly to Jones. She declined further comment. Jones' House congressional Web site -- http://jones.house.gov -- contained a press release dated Tuesday on the letter.

Jones' district covers 17 counties in the state's central and northeastern portions of the state. Wayne, Wilson and Nash are closest to the Triangle.

Democratic U.S. Rep. David Price, whose 4th District includes Durham, said Tuesday through his press spokesman Paul Cox that any comment or intervention on his part "would be premature and inappropriate" since the legal proceedings are ongoing.

The defendants in the case are Collin Finnerty of Garden City, N.Y; Reade Seligmann of Essex Fells, N.J.; and David Evans of Bethesda, Md.

They are accused of raping and sodomizing the dancer during an off-campus lacrosse party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March. All are free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year. All say they are innocent.

Bill Cotter, Finnerty's attorney, declined comment on Jones' letter. A spokesman for Evans' attorney said the lawyer was aware of the letter but wanted to review it before commenting. Seligmann's attorney couldn't be reached for comment.

Jones' call for a federal probe of a Triangle issue isn't his first.

In 2004 -- following news reports that a student in a UNC English class was chastised for his comments against homosexuality in a mass e-mail sent by his professor -- Jones asked the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Education to investigate.

After five months, the department found that the professor's actions constituted a civil rights violation. But it said UNC had handled the issue correctly.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-798855.cfm

[F.J. Mitchell]

LOL! It wuz jus' his suthun accent, Howlin.

If I spoke his name it would probably sound like Neefong too.

A Nifong by any other name would smell just as wrong.
Spell check went Postal over that first sentence.

[xoxoxox]

Rep. Jones on Fox in 2 hours-

10 am teaser- fed prosecutor
John Q. Jones argues DA in deep trouble.

Keep your eyes on the wire.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"Keep your eyes on the wire."

Will do.

[xoxoxox]

correction:

Fed prosecutor
John Q. Jones-

make that

John Q. Kelly

[JLS]

Yeah, I thought the Congressman did fine. The important points to me were:

1. He sent his letter.

2. He has talked to someone at Justice trying to be sure the AG sees the letter.

3. He does not know nor has he talked to Evans, Finnerty, Seligmann nor their parents.

As for the panel, boy what a disappointment. I have tried to defend Ted who I liked in the past, but he is just a pathetic old racist. Bernie was just about as bad wanting to be the defender of the down trodden and claiming these victims are not down trodden so we should not care as much as about his client.