Posted on 01/13/2007 11:03:36 AM PST by Peach
Crap, this is going to take a long time to resolve.
All files and documents transferred next week from DA's office to Cooper's office. They'll conduct a fair review of these matters.
Agreeing to accept the prosecution of these cases doesn't guarantee a trial or a dismissal. Just a fresh review of the facts and a decision on the best way to handle the cases.
During the review it's possible we'll need to request additional info, to conduct further investigation, or re=-check info in court files. We'll meet with defense attoreys and witnesses.
Wish I could say it will be resolved quickly but there are numerous documents in the DA's file and court record. Since we haven't been involved in the investigation of these cases, all information will be new to our office . Any case with such serious criminal charges requires a careful and deliberate review.
We seek justice and truth while respecting the rights of everyone involved.
Same with the war in the pacific, what if we had decided that the Japs were just too tough and went home? Good lord, people aren't using their heads when they claim that their president is the cause of the problems and advocate just giving up and kowtowing to these bullies of the world.
Oh, I'll bet they are more than willing to do that.........LOL.
?': (Can't hear it)
Answer: I've requested Mary Winsted (another name I missed) to be primary attorneys to handle cases. Other attorneys could be involved, but for now those two will handle the cases.
I'm betting this is the end of OUR fun; no more leaks........LOL.
Jim Cobin
Mary Winstead
Special Prosectutors section.
They will be assigned this case.
Who did he say>
Jim Coman and Mary Winstone?
Will meet with Judge Smith soon.
Cooper: We will handle the case the way we handle all the cases. Special prosecution section often gets top cases that DA's find too hot to handle or cases where they have conflicts.
Cobin and Winstead
Yes
Doesn't guarantee a trial or a dismissal.
Prosecutors will meet with witnesses, investigators, and defense attorneys (Something Ding Dong should have done already)
Promises a carful review.
LOL - now the case cannot be commented on.
Only questions about how the process will go forward will be answered.
Head of Prosecution in this to be Jim Coman and Mary Winstead - primary attorneys to handle these cases.
in the long run, this may be the best outcome. better for the special prosecutor to decline to prosecute the case based on a fresh review of all of the evidence and indpt evidence gathering if need be, than just Nifong dropping the charges bc the PC community would always say he had just caved in to save his own skin, and would not concede that the evidence failed to prove a crime.
Potted Plant mentioned
"Move forward"? Get it behind them! What's wrong with these people???
sw
You can understand his accent better than I can. LOL!
I bet the AG is pissed that he's had to interrupt a three day weekend to deal with Nifong's incompetence.
THIS Mary Winstead?
The News & Observer
September 29, 1993
Voices on rape trial tape to be analyzed
Author: JALEH HAGIGH; STAFF WRITER
Article Text:
DURHAM -- A prosecutor and a defense lawyer continued to spar Tuesday over key evidence in an upcoming rape trial -- two cassette tapes that the prosecutor accidentally altered.
Superior Court Judge Leon Stanback granted a motion by the defendant's attorney, Public Defender Robert Brown Jr., to send the tapes to Florida to be examined. Brown said an expert there will use computer analysis to identify voices on the tapes.
Brown made the request a day after another expert in Raleigh was unable to adequately reconstruct the tapes. Brown said the tapes are crucial to his case because they will show the victim's demeanor before and after the assault.
The tapes, which have the victim's voice on them, will be used in the trial of Timothy Malloy, who is charged with rape and sexual assault at a Durham gas station where he worked.
Prosecutor Mary Winstead said she accidentally erased a small portion of both tapes while she was listening to them in preparation for the trial. Somehow her voice and that of a detective ended up on one of the tapes, she said.
The tapes were taken from an answering machine belonging to a friend of the woman who reported the rape early April 25, 1992.
The woman called her friend several times that morning, both before and after the assault, looking for a ride home. She had been stranded by friends and walked to a Phillips 66 station on Hillsborough Road to use the phone, authorities said. She didn't reach her friend and left several messages.
Winstead objected to sending the evidence to Florida, saying she told Brown whose voices were on the tapes. She also said it was an attempt to delay the trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday.
"This is bordering on the absurd," she said.
[Judge] Stanback disagreed. He said it wasn't clear whose voices are on the tapes. He also said the issue must be cleared up before the trial starts.
Brown also has asked Stanback to remove Winstead from the case because he plans to call her as a witness to discuss problems with the tapes. The judge will rule on that request later.
Third article follows:
The News & Observer
September 28, 1993
Prosecutor erases part of tape meant for rape trial
Article Text:
DURHAM -- The prosecutor in a rape trial said Monday that she accidentally erased portions of a cassette tape with the victim's voice on it. The tape is expected to be used as evidence during the trial.
Mary Winstead, an assistant district attorney, told a Superior Court judge that she was listening to the tape recently and that somehow her voice ended up on it by mistake. She said only small portions of the tape were erased.
The tape is expected to be used in the trial of Timothy Malloy, who is charged with raping a woman April 25, 1992, at a Durham gas station where he worked. He also is charged with forcible sexual offense and crimes against nature. The trial was scheduled to start Monday.
The tape was taken from an answering machine belonging to a friend of the woman who reported the rape. It has the woman's voice on it before and after the assault, authorities said.
The woman was stranded by her friends, and she went to the Phillips 66 station on Hillsborough Road about 2 a.m. to call another friend for a ride home. She couldn't reach her friend and left several messages on the friend's answering machine instead. Police later recovered the tape.
Malloy's attorney, Public Defender Robert Brown Jr., discovered the problem with the tape last week when he was listening to it in preparation for trial. He said Winstead's voice and the voice of a detective can be heard on the tape.
On Monday, Judge Leon Stanback granted Brown's motion to have the court pay for an expert to attempt to reconstruct the tape. Brown said the tape is important to his defense because it shows "the victim's demeanor" before and after the incident.
Brown also asked the judge to disqualify Winstead as the prosecutor in the case. He argued that Winstead has become a witness in the case and that he plans to call her to testify about what had been erased from the tape.
The judge said he would rule on that motion after hearing from the tape expert.
http://crystalmess.blogspot.com/2006/09/ed-bradleys-cue-cards-redux.html
Awww - you're going soft.
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