Posted on 01/18/2007 4:46:46 PM PST by SmithL
Durham, N.C. -- The state chapter of the NAACP on Thursday called on those involved with the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case — from defense attorneys to state bar officials — to stop talking publicly while the state attorney general's office begins its review.
"We sincerely believe that the high level of public scrutiny and controversy involved in this matter is unwarranted and threatens to pervert the truth-finding process," said the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
No parties involved in the case have indicated whether they plan to stop speaking publicly.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, under heavy criticism for his handling of the case, asked the attorney general's office this month to take over the prosecution — a decision Barber said his organization applauded.
Until turning the case over to state prosecutors, Nifong led the investigation into allegations that a 28-year-old black student at North Carolina Central University, hired to perform as a stripper, was raped and beaten by three white men at a March 13 party thrown by Duke's highly ranked lacrosse team.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
LOLOL......my hubby's favorite movie!
Click and scroll down to Tuesday, Jan. 11, "Nifong Ripples....": http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/
It supports what I've been saying for awhile now - that the NC DAs are in panic mode because Nifong is blowing a good gig for all of them. Once rumblings for reform began, they abandoned him. NC has a skeletal oversight structure, and even that meatless framework is not enforced. These guys don't want oversight and the state bar doesn't want anyone stealing their thunder or authority, either. The liestoppers' piece I've linked to looks as this case from the standpoint of the NC legal community, and they're scared the fun may be over due to Nifong's conduct. I have often wondered why some judicial oversight wasn't exercised by the presiding judge and was told s/he had no authority. According to the piece, s/he does have the authority, at least as part of a recent ethics oversight legislative act, but obviously hasn't exercised it. Therefore, the authority is as good as non-existent, except that establishing it but not employing it serves as a barricade to other forms of oversight being enacted and/or employed. I've also pointed out the GS 7A-66 means to get rid of him, and apparently NOBODY has filed such a petition, and I'm absolutely baffled about that. As I've said many times, the DAs have a real racket going in that state and the people of NC are crazy if they don't demand extensive and meaningful reform. I wonder if it will take a public referendum to put an end to this, if in fact the NC citizenry has the public referenda/plebiscite available beyond state bond referendums, and the cojones and drive to do it? And God forbid NC should reform it's criminal procedures and grand jury system while they're at it, which I've carped about for months and is also discussed toward the end of the piece. NC has a criminal justice and procedures system that came over on the ark. Does anybody in that state care about anything?
The piece is a good read because it concisely lays out what is/was possible in this case in connection to Nifong's activities in this case and closely related issues.
One other thing - that law prof at Duke, Metzloff, seems to think Nifong's biggest problem for himself is withholding the DNA evidence, but I disagree. In light of Meehan's testimony, I think his biggest problem is the affidavit he signed attesting to having given over all the DNA evidence, as well as a verbal representation of the same effect he gave to the judge. Even if Nifong were to get away with the argument that the evidence isn't exculpatory, just usable for impeachment of Mangum, a legal position already established as invalid under NC law, he was still required to turn it over. Meehan's testimony makes clear that Nifong knew about it and, while he supposedly didn't overtly direct Meehan not to disclose it, he instead told Meehan what he wanted disclosed, which amounts to the same thing, inasmuch as Nifong knew about the nature of the totality of the DNA results before he directed Meehan as to what should be included in the report, which Meehan complied with against the lab's policy. So, conspiracy may be a "no-go" as far as the DNA goes, but obstruction and perjury as to the DNA are pretty clear and quite serious offense for an officer of the court to commit. And there may have been a conspiracy in connection with the photo line-up, which is why someone needs to sweat Himan and Gottlieb and whomever all were involved in all those photo line-up preparations and sessions. But who's going to do it? There are criminal violations at hand here, and taken altogether define an effort to deprive these boys of their civil rights, yet there is no action on either prosecutable front, nor even throwing Nifong out of office by petition as allowed in GS 7A-66.
I am baffled.
Another target for a defamation suit appears down range.
My definition of fair would be for the false accuser and the despicable POS Nifong to get to share the total maximum sentence that the three would get if convicted. Say three times 25 years split into 37.5 years for each of them. In fact in every cast of false accusation the worst that the accuser faces is "making false statements to police" I believe (but not being a lawyer don't know) is a misdemeanor.
#34 Mr. Cheshire has given out digital camera photos that have 12: 37 a.m. and 12:41 a.m. on them. The first shows Ms. M in a coma on the back porch.
A coma?
#50 Theresa Arico, the SANE coordinator at Duke Hospital said "there was a certain amount of blunt force trauma present to create injury"
No such thing is in the medical record.
# 52 The serial killer in American Psycho followed a similar pattern with his female victims.
#64 On information and belief, this American Psycho depravity is sprinkled throughout some of the young men’s computer files that the State controls. Mr. Evans and his defense team, people at Duke (the University has access to all e-mails and files on its computer system) and Duke’s alumni and sports backers are aware that if these ideas or reports of some of Duke young athletes were to be published—like Mr. McFadden’s e-mail that night—all the spin doctors in the world could not stop the public from having an adverse reaction to the type of education Duke provides.
Lots of references to American Psycho.
#55 Now over the affects of what ever narcotics were in the one or two drinks she was given that evening when she got to the party....
No evidence that she was given any narcotics in the drink.
#61 The Evans family and other parents who had watched their boys play Lacrosse for Landon Prep school in the Montgomery county suburb immediately worked out an arrangement with Robert Bennett, a powerful D.C. lawyer who had represented Pres. Bill Clinton against the accusation of sexual harassment by a state employee in Arkansas, Ms. Paula Jones. Mr. Bennett and other supporters of Pres. Clinton spent much time and energy trashing Ms. Jones. In fact, one of the favorite names for her was "Trailer Park Trash." Ms. Jones had not brought criminal charges against Pres. Clinton for the alleged advances he made toward her—she had merely sued him in civil court for violating her rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
LOL
#78 The three defendants they have two mountains to climb. First, they must deflect public attention from their boorish, racist, and illegal behavior by mounting outlandish attacks on the survivor and the D.A. Second, they must deal with a mountain of physical evidence, that is corroborated by, we have reason to believe, accounts of some of the men who were at the party who have cooperated with the police and the D.A. from early on.
A mountain of physical evidence?
I don't have a good feeling about Coopr, Coman or Winstead. I will not be surprised if they go forward with some of the charges. I base that on their histories and attitudes toward evidence. They seem to be only slightly less fast and loose with the rules than Nifong is - okay, somewhat better perhaps, but the same thought patterns and attitudes are in play with the two new prosecutors as we saw in Nifong.
If these guys don't do the right thing while they have the chance, and instead cave into racial pressures, then we are lost. Justice is for God, but law is man's attempt to get as close to justice as he can. Deliberate avoidance of it is the antithesis of that attempt, and an evil work. This case is becoming the seminal battle between good and evil in NC.
If this were ever to go to trial there would have to be a change in venue.
From the beginning, I have said this Hoax was a political prosecution - a modern-day Salem Witch Trial. I said it would be tried in the Court of Public Opinion and what happened in the courtroom was secondary. I said it was up to US - the bloggers and the posters to keep the pressure on.
Nothing in the past 10 months has changed my mind.
OT but one of those things which leaves you shaking your head and asking "What else?"
http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/533820.html
Man pleads guilty to child porn charge
From Staff Reports
A Duke University employee who performed background checks on prospective campus police officers pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of receiving child pornography over the Internet.
Brian Frederic DeLuca, 55, of 601 Three Meadows Road in Fuquay-Varina, faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years when he is sentenced April 9. U.S. District Court Judge James C. Fox, who accepted his guilty plea Thursday in federal court in Wilmington, will hand down the sentence, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
DeLuca had worked with Duke police since 2002. He was placed on leave in September when school officials learned he was the target of a federal probe.
This has got to be irony. NAACP was early on in this case making statements and adding to the circus; not a word about the circus threatening to "pervert the truth-finding process".
Perhaps the NAACP might better serve the community in RESPONDING in print to articles such as this threatening article published in the Wilmington Journal
OUR VOICE, ''WE'RE WATCHING YOU, MR. COOPER'', WEEK OF JANUARY 18-24, 2007 by EDITORIAL STAFF
No question about it: the article was a threat to Mr. Cooper, personally and politically.
The article was authored as being on behalf of North Carolina's African-American Community. The signees assert they are against mob justice when in fact they've just published a suggestive article threatening such "mob justice".
I'd copy the "signee" portion of the article, but I've been "net" informed I do not have "permission" to "right click" this passage.
I wonder, would the NAACP have "permission" to "right click" this passage?
From memory, the NAACP asserted that they, the THE Themselves would assure that JUSTICE would be had in this case. That they were wanted truth, and justice. And, said nothing at all that presses covered, which supported that they were in fact interested in "just the facts".
I should have read on through the thread: I've just reiterated, essentially, your post and in ref to the Wilmington Journal "threat".
Their grossly ignorant plantation members who follow must be kept pumped up with the poison these nefarious liars crank out day in and day out. The sheeple who follow have never had an original thought and have sucked at the teat of their pontificating racist "leaders" since birth.
They will believe every word of it - those of them who can read, that is.
We were watching WRAL last night and my wife saw the Rev. Barber. I guess she'd never seen him on TV.
She said, "what in the world is (physically) wrong with that guy? Did he have some kind of birth defect?"
I said "yes, he does have a birth defect - a mental one!"
:)
Roy Cooper finds himself in the same position politically that Nifong was in: seeking office, depending on the black vote as a Democrat. This alone tells me that Cooper will not do what's right, but what is politically expedient for him.
I don't recall ever seeing a suit that large. It must have been a size 88 XXX . He must pay for it by the square yard.
Why do they matter? They have no dog in this fight.
unless of course they are racists.
Hey, Omar the Tentmaker has to eat, too!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.