Posted on 12/15/2006 12:00:48 PM PST by nj_pilot
The head of a private DNA laboratory said under oath today that he and District Attorney Mike Nifong agreed not to report DNA results favorable to Duke lacrosse players charged with rape.
Brian Meehan, director of DNA Security of Burlington, said his lab found DNA from unidentified men in the underwear, pubic hair and rectum of the woman who said she was gang-raped at a lacrosse party in March. Nurses at Duke Hospital collected the samples a few hours after the alleged assault. Meehan said the DNA did not come from Reade Seligmann, David Evans, or Collin Finnerty, who have been charged with rape and sexual assault in the case.
Meehan struggled to say why he didn’t include the favorable evidence in a report dated May 12, almost a month after Seligmann and Finnerty had been indicted. He cited concerns about the privacy of the lacrosse players, his discussions at several meetings with Nifong, and the fact that he didn’t know whose DNA it was.
Under questioning by Jim Cooney, a defense attorney for Seligmann, Meehan admitted that his report violated his laboratory’s standards by not reporting results of all tests.
Did Nifong and his investigators know the results of all the DNA tests? Cooney asked.
“I believe so,” Meehan said.
“Did they know the test results excluded Reade Seligmann?” Cooney asked.
“I believe so,” Meehan said.
Was the failure to report these results the intentional decision of you and the district attorney? Cooney asked.
“Yes,” Meehan replied.
At that answer, several people in the packed courtroom clapped. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III warned the standing-room only crowd to be quiet or leave.
Meehan’s testimony differed from a statement Nifong made at the beginning of today’s hearing.
“The first I had heard of this particular situation was when I was served with this particular motion” on Wednesday, Nifong told the judge. After court, Nifong clarified his remarks to say that he knew about the DNA results.
"And we were trying to, just as Dr. Meehan said, trying to avoid dragging any names through the mud but at the same time his report made it clear that all the information was available if they wanted it and they have every word of it,” Nifong said.
Joseph B. Cheshire V, a lawyer for Evans, said he was troubled by today’s testimony.
“If any of the lacrosse players were excluded, they simply wouldn’t put it in the report,” he said. “It raises some troublesome questions about (Nifong), who has an obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence and turn it over to the defense.”
In a response to reports that the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case gave birth recently, UNC Health care issued a statement at about 1:30 p.m. saying that the woman is at UNC Hospitals for care related to her pregnancy but has not given birth.
True, but you left out a key ingredient. Nifong is a white guy trying to get re-elected in a town that is predominantly black. If he didn't prosecute he would have pissed off his constituency and not been re-elected.
Not an apology, just a fact. The man should be in jail.
I'd sure like to see nifong doing the jail time he has tried to get for these young men.
Why not invoke the civil rights violation(s) under Federal statues. The NC state structure sure isn't doing anything.
That just shows you how stupid commentators are - the right to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the 6th Amendment to the US Constitution - it is not up to the states.
Fromm NC Dept of Department of Justice
Attorney General Roy Cooper
(http://www.ncdoj.com/default_contactus_form.jsp?sectionid=ag&subsectionid=general)
District Attorneys:
In North Carolina, district attorneys are Constitutional officers directly elected by the people in the district where they serve and are not a part of the Attorney General's Office. Complaints against a member of a local district attorney's office should be directed to the staff member's immediate supervisor and, if unresolved, to the district attorney.
That's true, but the federal speedy trial right is pretty amorphous, as I recall.
For instance, in my state, if you assert speedy trial, the state has 70 days to bring the case. I'm not aware of any Supreme Court decision that puts a time limit on federal speedy trial right, so it becomes a question of "how long is too long?"
Also, I don't know if the boys have asserted speedy trial, which is certainly possible. Speedy trial is a right that must be demanded.
Federal charges of violation of the players' civil rights and consprircy may be pretty good to hang this bastard out to dry.
"Nifong, you piece of crap."
How dare you call Nifong a piece of crap.
Now I would never do that to a piece of crap.
Nifong is so much lower, more dirty than crap.
He makes crap smell like a high price perfume!!!
Something 'bout "...the right to a speedy trial....".
>I heard a commentator say that NC has no "speedy trial" reference in its laws....fwiw
U.S. Constitution - Amendment 6
Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
There are numerous Civil Rights violations here. The DOJ should've been on this months ago.
This is the kind of stuff that angers me about Bush and his administration.
He was just reelected - and that is evidence the sheeple don't care about anything!
I don't understand how reporting that no lacrosse players' DNA was found violates the players' privacy? What is private about it being known that they did NOT have sexual relations with that woman?
If you're hung it should only be known in private. You can be hanged in public however.
Not re-elected. He was never elected to begin with, he was appointed by Governor Michael Easley. And you wonder why Easley has been so silent.
For that matter, why has there been such silence from Nancy Grace, Kimberly Guilfoyle and the rest of the cable TV legal "experts" who had these lacrosse players strapped to the gurney?
Nifong and Meehan colluded to perpetrate criminal acts and now, at last, it is out in the open.
Yes, he should.
It looks like Nifong just perjured himself.
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