Doubts About Duke (Newsweek bails on Nifong)

Newsweek ^ | June 29, 2006 | Evan Thomas and Susannah Meadows

[tlb]

The prosecutor insists his rape case is strong. One big problem: the facts thus far.

...court documents in the case increasingly suggest that Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong had very little evidence upon which to indict three players for rape. Indeed, the available evidence is so thin or contradictory that it seems fair to ask what Nifong could have been thinking when he confidently told reporters that there was "no doubt" in his mind that the woman had been raped at the party held by the lacrosse team.

Nifong is described by some lawyers as an adversary who gets dug in—and won't budge. But Nifong's motives may have been political as well. He was six weeks away from an election when the Duke case came up. Durham voters are almost evenly divided between black and white. One of Nifong's opponents was black and the other was white, but the white lawyer was much better known in the community, thanks to winning a high-profile murder case. (That opponent, former assistant D.A. Freda Black, became a bitter enemy of Nifong's after, she claims, Nifong fired her.) Nifong promised black voters that he would not let the Duke case drop. He indicted two of the players two weeks before the election. He won narrowly, taking a larger share of the black vote than the other white candidate.

Meanwhile, the players and their families are lying low, trying to figure out how they can get their reputations back. Finnerty and Seligmann are underclassmen and may be able to transfer to another college and still play lacrosse if the charges are dropped. Evans has already started to pay a price in the real world. He was supposed to begin a good job after graduation, but the job offer was withdrawn.

[cherry]

" nurse in training checked the box "no" as a matter of fact, or a mistake or was she instructed to do so."

illegal to alter the chart in any way as well as to outright LIE on it....even if instructed, she can't do it......now, mistakes.....they can happen....

[cherry]

did anyone other than me hear on Fox that Nifog had "blockbuster" new evidence coming this week?

[JLS]

did anyone other than me hear on Fox that Nifog had "blockbuster" new evidence coming this week?

I know that was claimed on one of the shows a week ago and then last week was disaster after disaster for Nifong. I did not hear any talking head try to float that tripe again this weekend?

[abb]

N & O's Ruth Sheehan: "Nifong made me do it!"

http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/452286.html

[JLS]

Notice in the sports section when the news is bad for Nifong. Has Sheehan ever been in the sports section before?

[abb]

Good point. Have you seen the blogs to her articles? She's getting her brains beat out...

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/ruth/index.php?title=more_lovenotes_from_my_fans_re_duke&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#comments

[Mike Nifong]

did anyone other than me hear on Fox that Nifog had "blockbuster" new evidence coming this week?
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

On a Raleigh Radio station, there was talk about this. Apparently, late last week, Nifong started leaking that he has blockbuster evidence and he may release it. Nifong (or someone close) told at least one radio station and one TV station of the blockbuster evidence. The new evidence is supposed to change everything.

Of course, as JLS pointed out, we've heard this before - and the news just continued to get worse for the prosecution's case. Nifong may be hoping to keep all those journalists that believe, HE MUST HAVE SOMETHING, in his corner.

[Mike Nifong]

Well, when politically correct, diehard feminists like Ruth Sheehan start writing this stuff, it tells me something.

There's more to the story.

It may be my suspicious mind, but I think (and we all know about the news lag), her past or present condition may be worse than ever thought - and they, the News Corpse, has this information.

Her mental/psych condition or her drug/substance abuse issues and past histories may be sitting on the desks of the media elite as they cry into their coffee.

I doubt diehards like Ruth Sheehan and Kimberly Gilfoyle are going to be swayed by information provided mostly by defense attorneys. After all, aren't these people that came up with the rape jacket defense, the phone calls being placed while raping someone, the clever ability of the players to conceal all their DNA, the photo timestamps that were manipulated, the cab-driver that was paid by the families, and the broomstick that they couldn't seem to let go of.
So, I doubt they would look at defense motions now and fold their tent and turn their backs on their victim and prosecution that they've invested so much in.

I think, just like at every point in the case, they have more information than we do and that this information makes them beleive that Crystal should not have been trusted or believed.

my opinion away

[JLS]

I did see her getting killed on the N&O web page. I linked this article and her original article on CourtTV's Duke board too.

If she has abandonned Nifong, he is in trouble. If there were a blockbuster out there, it would have been leaked to her. There is nothing.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Nifong says case is strong -- as in, the way it smells?

[GAgal]

In today's Durham paper there's a glimpse at what life is like in parts of Durham where the gangs roam free:

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-745382.html

Yet the police are quick to respond to 911 calls about someone safely in a car supposedly called the N-word, and detectives can be spared to serve years old warrants on innocent cabbies.

The importance of the nexis of Durham gang violence and the Duke case has gone unreported. Raleigh is estimated to have 500 gang members, while Durham has nearly 5000. I've read that 84% of the drug traffic there is handled by gangs. The Duke case allowed Nifong to turn growing public discontent over LE response to the gang problem, overwhelmingly AA, toward the wealthy white Dukies.

[Sacajaweau]

Abrams was on this morning. Says he has all of the documents in his possession. "It doesn't look good for the prosecution".

Big thing....Crystal blamed everything on Kim.

Cat-fight :-)

More disclosure to be given to defense on Thursday??

[ltc8k6]

It was the N&O that interviewed CGM and printed very little of the interview, wasn't it? The N&O may know quite a bit that we'd like to know about CGM's version(s) of events.

Nifong was claiming the LAX players might have cleaned up the crime scene when the players actually were helping him out more than they should have.

[Fido969]

N & O's Ruth Sheehan: "Nifong made me do it!"

So, instead of being an insightful, thoughtful reporter, she just regurgitates any politically correct garbage she gets her hands on, without considering whether it makes sense.

I think the N&O could save money - at least her salary by cutting out the middleman.

Also, she might want to consider the droves of people that saw through this story immediately after it came out - those folks seem to have been a smidgen more insightful and intelligent then her. At least based on their ability to see what was right in front of them.

Kind of ironic - those folks she would be quick to condemn as "cretins", etc, who saw through this case long before the mindless leftie PC press, must be about twice as smart as she is.

[Fido969]

N & O's Ruth Sheehan: "Nifong made me do it!"

So, instead of being an insightful, thoughtful reporter, she just regurgitates any politically correct garbage she gets her hands on, without considering whether it makes sense.

I think the N&O could save money - at least her salary by cutting out the middleman.

Also, she might want to consider the droves of people that saw through this story immediately after it came out - those folks seem to have been a smidgen more insightful and intelligent then her. At least based on their ability to see what was right in front of them.

Kind of ironic - those folks she would be quick to condemn as "cretins", etc, who saw through this case long before the mindless leftie PC press, must be about twice as smart as she is.

[maggief]

Thanks for the ping.

To think that for a brief moment I actually pitied Nifong for the attacks on his handling of the case. What a joke.

Nifong is the one who described this thing in such incendiary terms from the start that it was impossible to ignore.

Say all you want about the media's rush to judgment. But the truth is we report on allegations and charges out of district attorneys' offices every single day. And when a DA, especially one with Nifong's reputation for being a quiet, behind-the-scenes guy, comes out not only saying that a rape occurred, but that it was a brutal gang rape, in which the woman was strangled and beaten, you had to figure he had incontrovertible evidence.

Apparently, he didn't.

Ruth, you are the joke. Nifong played you like a fiddle, and YOU ignored exculpatory evidence, meanwhile, with swaggering arrogance, the NO slandered the Duke LAX players.

[bjc]

Again, unless he has withheld evidence from the defense - the only possible "blockbuster" that would off-set the apparent total lack of physical evidence and the AV lack of credibility is an LAX eyewitness, a confession or an email confession/description. I suspect the blockbuster, if it exists, will be some technical spin on changing times on the digital camera pics.

I would like to get a read on just how smart Nifong is? Does anyone have his GPA, LSATs, class ranking -- any of that stuff? I would like to rule out that this guy is not just plain dumb - his career to date is not exactly stellar.

[maggief]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=2092304&page=1

Frustration Over Duke Lacrosse Team Rape Investigation Weighs Heavily in GOP Challenge

By CHRIS FRANCESCANI and the ABC News Law & Justice Unit

June 19, 2006 — The Durham Republican Party will field a candidate to run against the district attorney leading the investigation in the Duke lacrosse rape case in the November election, ABC News' Law & Justice Unit has learned.

Durham Republican County Chairman Steve Monks told ABC News that he will announce his intention to challenge Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong in a press conference at 4 p.m. ET today. Monks and Durham County Republicans acknowledged that the Duke rape investigation weighed heavily in their decision to field a GOP candidate in a traditionally Democratic county.

"People feel [Nifong] totally sold out the people of Durham,'' Monks said. "They don't feel comfortable with this case. They feel like it was a sellout, that he pandered to the people of Durham.''

(snip)

[Mike Nifong]

Yes, strange they have some much time and Judicial resources for this case of the mentally-ill prostitute turned victim.

Even stranger that Nifong got the SBI to move the DNA testing to the front of the line at his urgent request (first round).

This has a very familar ring to it. Let the criminals run the city, pick your shots and your cases, and then grandstand in front of cameras for all it's worth. Ride that horse until it can no longer run, milk it for all it's worth.

Remember it is Mike Nifong that has been a proponent of not suspending or expelling kids from the Public schools in Durham - NO MATTER WHAT. Okay, to clarify, only IN-SCHOOL suspensions. No matter what. Beatings, sex in school, drugs, threats, etc. NIFONG has been a leading proponent of they need to stay in school - On the Bus. It's called IN-SCHOOL suspension.

His theory? Basically the kids are so special and they get no support at home, so we need to keep them in the schools at ALL COSTS; where someone cares about them. We are talking 17 year olds here too.

[The Red Zone]

Yet the police are quick to respond to 911 calls about someone safely in a car supposedly called the N-word, and detectives can be spared to serve years old warrants on innocent cabbies.

Low-hanging fruit, mon.