Posted on 04/11/2007 7:46:54 AM PDT by Howlin
RALEIGH, N.C. — Three members of Duke University's lacrosse team could learn Wednesday whether state prosecutors will drop the remaining charges accusing them of sexually assaulting a stripper at a team party more than a year ago.
"I think it's likely that they will do that," said Wade Smith, an attorney for charged player Collin Finnerty. "We certainly hope that would be true. But until we hear it, we're not going to acknowledge that's the truth. We'll wait and see."
The state Attorney General's Office has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. news conference to discuss the case. It is unclear whether Attorney General Roy Cooper will be at the news conference at the RBC Center, which can accommodate the crush of national media interested in the case.
The Associated Press, citing sources close to the investigation, reported Wednesday morning that all charges would be dropped in the case.
The Attorney General's Office took over the case in January after Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was charged with several ethics violations tied to his handling of the sensational case.
No notice of dismissal had been filed at the Durham County Courthouse by early Wednesday. But a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office told WRAL that the investigation into the case has been completed.
"We are relieved that this day has come,” Smith told WRAL. “There will not be a celebration because this has been a train wreck.”
The families of Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans arrived in Raleigh Tuesday. Officials told WRAL that the three lacrosse players would be present once a decision had been made as to how the prosecution would proceed with the case.
A grand jury indicted the three players on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense last spring after a woman told police she was assaulted at a March 2006 team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. All three have steadfastly maintained their innocence, with Evans calling the allegations "fantastic lies."
Nifong dropped the rape charges in December after the accuser changed a key detail in her story. He recused himself a few weeks later after the state bar charged him with violating several rules of professional conduct.
Among the ethics charges, Nifong is accused of withholding potentially exculpatory DNA evidence from the defense and lying to both the court and bar investigators. Nifong faces a June trial before the bar and could be disbarred if convicted.
Nifong faces a Friday afternoon hearing in the ethics case, and he spent Wednesday morning with his attorney in Winston-Salem.
Nifong's recusal put the players' fate in the hands of Cooper, who promised "a fresh and thorough review of the facts" when he took over the case in January.
Smith said the players, their families and the defense attorneys were pleased that the special prosecutors took over the case, saying they brought "sanity to this situation."
“The special prosecutors have looked under every rock, and they have searched for evidence in places even the defense did not,” he told WRAL.
While Evans graduated the day before he was indicted in May, Duke temporarily suspended sophomores Finnerty and Seligmann in the wake of their arrest. Finnerty was also convicted in July in an unrelated assault case in Washington, D.C., and sentenced to six months of probation.
Finnerty and Seligmann were both invited to return to campus, but neither has accepted. John Danowski, the former coach at Hofstra who took over the Duke program last summer, has also said that both are welcome to continue their lacrosse careers with the Blue Devils
CGM should be prevented from WRITING a story about “herstory” of the case. Maybe she’ll be nominated the next poet laureate. ahem.
I’d attribute it to age but I’m only 44 for crying out loud.
I expect the Oprah exclusive playing the poor little victim.
Gawd I hate that woman.
The other type of believer is the kind we were. We believed the system was inerrant. It should be allowed to take its course and justice would prevail. I cannot stress the importance of being pro-active if you are ever put in the situation where your or a loved one's life is in jeopardy. You can't rely on the police, the D.A. or the system to come to the just conclusion. When the system won't even consider the possibility of the accused's innocence, then you have to go for broke and it's all-out, no holds barred.
That would greatly harm her ratings.
Now, I could see "The View" inviting one of CGM's multiple spokespeeps on... it'd be fitting with their show format.
Oprah probably believes her. Wouldn’t be surprised.
As for The View, I can almost hear that man-hating pig squealing now. Maybe those vultures can take her under their wing. Somebody is going to want Crystal on their show. I just don’t want her to profit from her lies. I’d like to see her admit she lied, but I’d like to win the lottery too.
Fox Cable made the mistake of inviting Ms. Murphy to comment on rape allegations against three University of Minnesota football players and Ms. Murphy proceeded to speak yet again in support of the prosecution that has been a persecution. (If that’s how Ms. Murphy observes Easter, I wonder if Judas is her favorite apostle.)
Ms. Murphy whined about the football players’ immediate arrest (they had been identified by their accuser, aka the alleged victim) as compared to the “failure” of Durham police to quickly arrest some Duke lacrosse players.
Ms. Murphy called that “disparate treatment” and never mind that false accuser Crystal Gail Mangum failed to identify any Duke lacrosse player when given chances and only did so after Mr. Nifong ordered an identification procedure that Duke Law Professor James Coleman, an expert on such procedure who happens to be black (and a Democrat), concluded violated federal, state and local guidelines.
How were the Durham police supposed to know which Duke lacrosse players Ms. Mangum ultimately would falsely identify before she falsely identified them? They are police, not mind readers.
Ms. Murphy’s encouragement of rioting by predicting it and distinguishing the Minnesota and Duke case based on race and wealth not only are deplorable, but obviously ridiculous. The Duke Three were identified and persecuted (prosecution is NOT the best word) on account of their whiteness and wealth; if they were black and poor, after the DNA results came back, their trouble would have been no more.
http://z9.invisionfree.com/LieStoppers_Board/index.php?showtopic=2871
After it was over, no apology, no acknowledgment, nothing.
Ever since, I have not liked her.
Good get
Thanks Maggie
Heck, she barely qualifies as Garrett Morris! ;)
Unfortunately, when she’s the prosecutor it’s hard to get by with. Whenever I have to watch her on O’Reilly, I say to myself, “I’ll bet she forgot to take her meds today.”
LOL!
I might remind all of us that Friday is the 13th when Nifong stares into his future. LOL
well...........I remember that tight lipped Wendy Murphy during Clinton’s impeachment........she was shown TO HER FACE the picadillos of Clinton and agreed Clinton was attacking Paula Jones and Brodrick. This bitch then said Paula was ugly so who cared and “why throw the baby out w/ the bath water”.
some lawyer huh.......burn in hell Wendy
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