Posted on 04/18/2006 6:40:40 AM PDT by mathprof
Two Duke University lacrosse players were arrested early Tuesday on charges of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping, FOX News has confirmed.
Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, both 20 years old, were being held on $400,000 bond each. Seligmann had posted bond by 7:30 a.m. and Finnerty was in the process of doing so. By posting bond, the players avoid making an initial court appearance later Tuesday.
District Attorney Mike Nifong said authorities are still trying to identify a third assailant.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Rumor has it one of the kids can prove he wasn't even at the house when the alleged rape occurred. This could get very ugly for the DA.
This D.A. must be related to Ronnie Earl?
$400,000 bond. Wow! Are they a risk of flight???? Is that customary in NC????
Any NC lawyers out there?
This DA is bringing these indictments with very, VERY little to go on.
I wonder why the names are different than the three names that the stripper originally claimed: Adam, Bret, and Matt...
Prosecutorial abuse is unfortunately a widespread problem in the US. Any practical suggestions what to do to lessen its frequency?
"$400,000 bond. Wow! Are they a risk of flight???? Is that customary in NC???? "
Ridiculous. I'll bet they don't have records and this evidence is flimsy. Ridiculous bond.
He's up for re-election this year.
Are charges of prosecutorial misconduct ever actually brought? I hear defendants griping about it all the time, but I never hear of any DAs being brought up on it. I get the impression that a DA is essentially immune from prosecution.
I had the exact same reaction you had. Can't be a coincidence that the guys the DA picked to prosecute have the "whitest" names imaginable.
White names all sound alike.
The grand jury apparently has some reason to charge them. Think I'll wait for the actual evidence to come out instead of listening to the spin of defense attorneys and the prosecutor.
This might not qualify as a "practical" suggestion but the first step is to figure out how to insulate the DA, at least in some sense, from political temptation. More often than not, and as people are sensing in the Duke case, misconduct is the product of forthcoming elections or other aspirations. How to fix it is another question; as long as the DA's office is a stepping stone to higher office, and big convictions the path to book deals and Fox News spots, we're probably stuck.
If all the prosecutor has is her allegation, that could be enough. All he has to do is to pick the jury carefully. The governor is a Democrat so no chance for a pardon even if the trial is a farce (unlike Altgeld and the Haymarket Square defendants...well, Altgeld was a Democrat but that was a different era)
The old saying in Pennsylvania was that the DA could get the Grand Jury to indict a ham sandwich.
THIS CREEP IS UP FOR ELECTION IN TWO WEEKS. THERE IS VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE REQUIRED FOR A GRAND JURY. LOWEST LEVEL OF PROOF. BOY.
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