Posted on 06/22/2006 6:37:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
DURHAM, N.C. - A judge reduced the bond of a Duke University lacrosse player charged with rape to $100,000 at a hearing Thursday, and the prosecutor said he had turned over hundreds of additional pages of evidence to defense lawyers.
The family of sophomore Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., had posted a $400,000 bond after their son was charged in April with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense.
The two other players facing the same charges — Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., and David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md. — remain free on $400,000 bond.
A trial isn't expected to begin before spring 2007 in the case, which began when a stripper told police she was raped by three men at a March 13 team party. Attorneys for all three have strongly proclaimed their clients' innocence.
Prosecutor Mike Nifong said he had provided defense attorneys with an additional 536 pages of evidence. Last month, Nifong provided nearly 1,300 pages of discovery.
"Frankly, for a case of this nature, with the voluminous amount of information that's been provided, there appears to have been at least a good faith effort" to fulfill the defense requests, Judge Ronald L. Stephens said.
None of the players were in court Thursday. Stephens set their next appearance for the week of July 17.
Among the items the defense is seeking is an analysis of the accuser's computer, which Nifong said was still pending, and records from the mental health facility where authorities took the woman before she told police she had been raped. The only record from the facility, Nifong said, is a single page from a log book he is still working to obtain.
The defense also has requested the results of any toxicology tests performed on the accuser in the hours after the party. One of the first police officers to encounter the woman described her as "just passed-out drunk," and the defense has suggested she arrived at the party impaired.
Nifong told the court he didn't have a toxicology report to turn over, although he later refused to say if such a test was performed. Defense attorneys said later they don't believe one was.
"If there was a toxicology report, they'd have it by this time," said Evans' attorney, Joseph Cheshire.
At the request of Seligmann's attorney, Stephens ordered Nifong to turn over to a judge for review the accuser's hospital records from June 1993, when she said she was raped in nearby Creedmoor.
In that instance, the woman didn't file a police report until three years later and no charges were ever brought. Nifong told Stephens he's not sure if such records even exist.
Attorneys Joe Cheshire, left, and Kirk Osborn arrive at the Durham County Courthouse on Thursday, June 22, 2006, in Durham, N.C. for a hearing for the three Duke University lacrosse players charged with sexually assaulting an exotic dancer. Cheshire represents lacrosse player David Evans, and Osborn represents Reade Seligmann. (AP Photo/Sara D. Davis)
District Attorney Mike Nifong enjoys a light moment outside the courtroom at the Durham County Courthouse, Thursday, June 22, 2006, in Durham, N.C., before attending a hearing for the three Duke University lacrosse players charged with sexually assaulting an exotic dancer during a party. (AP Photo/Sara D. Davis)
This seems as if it's happening in some other country, not our own.
ping
Spring 2007? This is a travesty for these guys to have this hung over their head so long.
Kind of like China under Mao. Didn't matter whether you were really innocent or guilty at all, just whether you had offended "The Party".
Why is this man laughing?
I guess the defense lawyers know what thy are doing, but I thought a person was entitled to a speedy trial. Spring 2007 doesnt seem very speedy to me and it just gives this Nifong butt wipe more time to produce more phony evidence.
Funny you should mention Red China. I was sitting here thinking that China probably has more freedom of speech now than we have in America. Our speech police are like the Red Guard of the 70s. Say the wrong word and you are marched off to re-education camp (after a severe beating about the head and body and being dragged through the streets on public display in disgrace). The baseball player who was forced to apologize for using an offensive term toward some guy. In the old days, if he wanted to call the guy a f*g nobody but the guy would be concerned. And the highschool validictorian who had her microphone cut off at the word "Christ". Only two recent examples. This nonsense is getting on my last nerve.
They are probably hoping Michael Savage will retire...
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The damage has been done. The obviously drugged up lost soul who responds like a child with her hand caught in a cookie jar was used by a very cynical political animal masquerading as a prosecutor to advance his career and pander to racially paranoid community leaders.
The boys have their lives ruined, the university has its image sullied, the immoral little trollop is further destroyed, all for the stereotypical god of political correctness. If this case had to be brought to trial in the next six weeks it would never get there, I doubt seriously it will get there a year from now. Interestingly, the only group who gains from this fiasco is the media and their precious news program ratings numbers.
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