Raped and/or sodomized more women
than the entire Duke lacrosse team.
Posted on 01/11/2007 8:13:33 PM PST by Howlin
CBS) The forensic expert hired by the prosecutor in the Duke rape case says he made a "big error" in judgment by not stating in his report that the only DNA he found on the accuser was from several men who were not on the Duke lacrosse team.
Dr. Brian Meehan speaks with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl in his first interview about the controversial case this Sunday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Meehan acknowledged that he has never omitted potentially exculpatory evidence before. "We haven't done that before," he tells Stahl. "In retrospect, I should have done a better job of conveying that information."
Meehan has stated that he told the prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, about the other DNA for the first time in mid-April. Later that same month, Nifong indicted three Duke lacrosse players. Meehan has also said in court proceedings that he and Nifong agreed before the evidence tests were completed that his report should be limited to positive matches between the accuser and the players at the team party where she says she was sexually assaulted last March.
Meehan says writing an incomplete report violates his own firm's standards. "It was an error in judgment on my part. … It certainly was a big error," says Meehan. He says his firm wasn't trying to hide the information and that it released it when it was asked. But his client's behavior irks him, he says.
Nifong took six months to tell the players' defense attorneys about the other DNA, as required by law — and during that time, Nifong filed a court motion that stated he was not aware of any potentially exculpatory evidence.
The fact that Nifong withheld the information and knew it before he indicted their sons has outraged the parents of the accused. "You felt like someone hit you with a baseball bat. … It was almost too much to bear, as we sat there," says Kathy Seligmann, whose son, Reade, is among the three indicted players. "And [Nifong is] sitting 10 feet away from us."
It enraged Mary Ellen Finnerty, mother of Collin Finnerty, another indicted player. "I think [I felt] one of the strongest feelings of rage that I've had … I literally had to turn to my husband, because I was shaking from my head to my toe, and say, 'Hold me down,'" recalls Finnerty. Adds Seligmann, "And we had to hold on to each other because when you sit there and put two and two together and realize that it was calculated … set up to make these boys appear to be guilty of something they didn't do."
When asked what they would say to Nifong if he were in the room, Rae Evans, the mother of indicted player David Evans, says, "I would say with a smile on my face, 'Mr. Nifong, you've picked on the wrong families … and you will pay every day for the rest of your life.'"
Last month, after the results of the tests were ordered released by a judge and the accuser told an investigator she was no longer certain she had been penetrated by a male sex organ, rape charges were dropped by Nifong. The three players still face charges of sexual assault and kidnapping.
Thank you, thank you!
The video from WRAL is more than what was on the '60 Minutes' version, but the segment with Stahl, the parents, and in particular, Mrs. Evans, is the same snippet that I viewed earlier. Mama Evans is right, Nifong did pick the wrong people to tangle with, and he will pay for it, in some measure, for the rest of his life. He changed those boys' and their families' lives forever, and now, his life (and probably his family's lives) will change, too. [Mrs. Nifong, and Nifong Jr. will be so happy about that! /s]
Any updates on the sexual harassment complaint against ADA C. Destine Couch?
Ashley Cannon, Please Speak Up
http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=gaynorm&date=070102
Love that tagline! "Praise the Lord and pass the hammunition!"
The victim is going to hell in a handbasket all by her own choices.
I don't remember what happened to Tawana Brawley in the end. If nothing else, she either had to change her name or live in perpetual infamy.
Unless the Duke "victim" gets the light and sees religion, her life is going to be one unhappy mess, and probably not a very long one. She does seem to have one advantage over Tawana Brawley--her name isn't becoming a byword.
it is - i do not ever wish to cross her!
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good for you, Mrs. Evans.
Now that's a mom.
Heh!
I know David Freedman, he is an upright guy. He represents a number of attorneys charged with violations of ethics before the NC State Bar. He is with a relatively small firm here in Winston-Salem. I don't envy him having to represent Nifong, but then again, he agreed to the representation. He is also representing Zach Bynum, who has been disbarred and is facing charges for taking upwards of 2-3 million dollars of client money. I had the "joy" of representing a bank where he deposited/withdrew some of this money in a case brought by a victimized party.
It seems to me that Nifong's only hope of avoiding disaster in this case is to stack the jury with people who don't care about the evidence and are just determined to find the defendants guilty. If he tries that, can the defense lawyers stop him, or are they limited to a certain number of challenges?
Be sure to remind him that Nifong was quite clear about it: you don't need an attorney if you're not guilty.
:-)
Nothing that I know of....but it's Friday. LOL
Thank you.
heh-heh-heh
Wonder what the odds are there will be a info dump this afternoon?
Will something "leak" once again re-enforcing the delusional belief of those who just "Know they are guilty of something"
Or another leak designed to take the focus off of the Duke case?
We were discussing this at work (in Durham) this morning.
Our consensus was that he knows if he drops all the charges at once, he's toast. Instead he's setting up the 'victim' with all these new versions of events, thus letting her take the rap.
Future Nifong Quote: "The law required us to take her seriously, how were we to know she was a nutjob. Sorry boys, here's your life back."
Must read comments:
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