Posted on 04/16/2006 9:05:32 PM PDT by Michael2001
With a grand jury now expected to convene Monday to weigh indictments of two or three of the Duke lacrosse players tied to allegations of raping an exotic dancer, defense lawyers say they fear their clients are being targeted in a setup or sting operation possibly perpetrated by law enforcement. The lawyers have advised the players not to trust or respond to any e-mails sent to each other, one attorney tells Time.
The explosive allegations stem from an e-mail message sent in the last few days to several players from the e-mail address of another player, stating he was going to tell the police a crime occurred and implicate key players. The player denies he sent it. This comes after the recent revelations of the now infamous email sent by a Duke player hours after the alleged crime, in which he joked he was going to have more strippers over and "kill the bitches'; defense lawyers do not dispute that message's authenticity, though they insist it has no bearing on their clients' culpability. "The police said (the new e-mail) came from a confidential informant, but we have reason to believe it came from the police, hoping it would make all the players nervous," says one defense lawyer. "That didn't work." A spokesperson at the Durham Police Department would not comment on the allegations of a set-up, and said she would not forward Time's inquiries to any of her superiors over the holiday weekend. No one at the Durham County District Attorney's Office could be reached for comment Friday.
The lawyers' unsubstantiated accusations came on a busy Good Friday in Durham, when it became known that Durham police investigators had attempted the night before to interview some players on campus about the case. Meanwhile, defense lawyers tell Time they spent part of Friday trying unsuccessfully to talk the Durham County district attorney Michael Nifong out of taking the rape case before a grand jury after the Easter weekend. "What I wished and hoped he would do is conclude there is not enough evidence to proceed," says one defense attorney.
Despite the highly publicized lack of initial DNA evidence linking any player to a crime, grand jurors will be presented with the accuser's statement, her visual identification of the players from photos and a police report from a hospital examination stating "injuries consistent with being sexually assaulted vaginally and anally." Nifong is also still awaiting results of DNA analysis from a private lab in North Carolina to compare with those already received from the state's own crime lab. Blood was taken from the three captains of the team. Saliva cheek swabs were used to gather DNA from 43 players; the lone black player on the team was not tested, as the African-American accuser has said her attackers were white. So far none of the Duke players have been subpoened to appear before the grand jury as witnesses, nor has a second woman also hired as an exotic dancer at the team's Spring Break party at an off-campus house on the night of March 13.
On Thursday, Durham police released the audio tape of a dispatch call made by a responding officer from a Kroger parking lot about four miles from the house where the team party took place. The officer, responding to a 911 call, noted that the accuser was in a drunken state. "She's just passed out drunk," the officer says. D efense lawyers also point to the officer's statement that he has a "24- hour hold" situation — meaning possibly a night in jail on a drunk and disorderly charge. Defense lawyers tell Time they will argue that it was expressly to avoid that possibility that the accuser fabricated the rape charge. "I know which I'd choose," says one defense attorney.
Harder to explain away is the hospital examination report. Defense lawyers will try to poke holes at it by searching for a lag time between the 911 call and the accuser's arrival at the hospital. The district attorney's office has not made public the police report stating time of arrival, and neither has the hospital.
Lawyers say a photo taken of the accuser at 12:40 a.m. shows her being helped into the car by some of the Duke players. The 911 call was made at 1:30 a.m., and she reportedly left the hospital at approximately 11 a.m. later that morning after spending five or six hours there.
Defense lawyers tell Time they also have pictures, not yet turned over to the DA's office, of the main room at the party showing the players sitting in a semi-circle "watching the show." "They are bored, they're practically yawning. This is not a group of rowdy, dangerous people," says one of the attorneys.
No one should be surprised that District Attorney Nifong is proceeding with the case despite the lack of initial DNA evidence. Nifong made his intentions clear on April 11, the day after the initial DNA results went public, at a forum at North Carolina Central University, where the accuser is a student. "Anytime you have a victim who can identify her assailant, then what you have is a case a judge must let go to the jury," he said.
Well, guy, I think I have a lot of company, and you are, ahem, in the minority. This is first opinion I've seen that requiring DNA from the lacrosse players was a violation of their rights or even not justified in this case and I've read a lot of posts on the subject. Did you post this feeling about DNA testing before the subject of the black guy came up - if so I missed it.
You are really an asshole
Your momma wears army boots!
Actually you do have a civil right not to have a DNA test.
The DA got the court order by stating it would positively link the perps to the crime, and if he didn't get the link he would drop the case. Now the slimeball is changing his story. (I don't have the exact quote.)
But it is in his written request.
They also tested guys who weren't even at the party - the goal there part of their early theme of "the wild lacrosse team" lumping all white guys together in a way they would never do to another demographic.
The guys knew it would come up negative. DA is screwed.
"Now ask - why would they do that? The only reason is if they knew the results would come back negative. And how would they know that? Because they knew they didn't do it!
If there was any chance of positive DNA, they would have started spinning about "It was consentual, now she is claiming rape, etc." make it a he said she said. "
That's uncanny... That's exactly what I said to the wife last evening.
And that the email was selectively leaked; it was one of many sent back and forth between the players that night; one of the very next emails referenced that movie.
If she was raped, was it then done by the officer transporting her to the hospital or by hospital employees?
This just gets stranger by the day.
"Wait, what? Northern Alliance"
I don't want to communicate with you... Buzz off.
His(?) past posts certainly show a sore spot when it comes to race. In this case I think he is so knee-jerked enraged with any mention of the word 'black' that can not see how silly his position is - can't even debate it without going ballistic.
It's got everything to do with him being black. She said it was white guys and you want the black guy tested just to make sure he isn't white after 10pm!
It is just common sense. They have never even said "consentual" they said "didn't happen". There is no case here. DA just hoping for a confused racist Grand Jury to do a reverse OJ.
I don't want to get into a long debate about this (don't have the time) but I think what you are saying is you don't have a right to be forced to take a DNA test without a court order. If so, of course I agree. My point, my opinion, which is probably obvious to you, is that is that it not good investigative procedure to require it from everyone except the black guy just because the stripper said the guy(s) were white. It would make more sense to simply eliminate everyone.
Hey, babygene!
And that type of movie line lingo is exactly how this demographic communicates. For instance -
"nuff said"
If you see any of those posters - would you grab a few? I definitely want one.
The first thing I heard them say was that they "unequivocally" denied it.
Since I know those attorneys, I knew immediately that they wouldn't put their well-earned reputations for Duke punks.
I love Free Republic because I can learn stuff like that!
"Hey, babygene!"
Hey to you too...
Naw, I'll buzz or not buzz when I bloody well feel like it. However, if this is bothering you, you can just stop typing anytime, or can you? I mean, all I am doing since this started is replying to you.
Actually they should have tested him as well for his own sake. They tested the team. he is on the team. They ostracized him by not testing him.
They tested guys who weren't even at the party.
Ping for later read
I didn't post the buzz off thing to you, it was to Mephari.
I agree - I would have tested the black guy for his own good - to include him on the team. Good practice or not.
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