Posted on 12/13/2006 1:36:38 PM PST by Howlin
A private laboratory hired by the prosecution in the Duke lacrosse case failed to report that it found DNA from multiple males in the accuser's body and underwear, according to a defense motion filed today. The lab, DNA Security of Burlington, found that the DNA did not match the three defendants, their lacrosse teammates or anyone else who submitted their DNA to police, including the accuser's boyfriend.
The new evidence emerged in thousands of documents handed over to the defense in October.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
[snip]
How did The Herald Sun get such important principles and rights so wrong?
Under America's laws those three young men don't have to prove anything. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. But the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that the players committed rape during a team party in March is of no consequence to Nifong, Ashley and their enablers.
Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann are being persecuted -- I use that word deliberately -- not for anything they've done, but for who they are. That's a chilling turn of events, one that should concern every resident of Durham and anyone else who cares about justice.
What's being done to those three young men is so chilling and so perverted that I'll no longer be a silent witness to Mike Nifong's malicious, possibly criminal, disregard of justice and The Herald-Sun's cheerleading for him.
[snip]
http://johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2006/12/real-editor-for-durham.html
You're definitely another one with a personal ax to grind.
Why don't you tell us what you do for a living and then I can recount horror stories pertaining to your profession, if you have one. With your attitude, you may be posting from a prison.
"What's being done to those three young men is so chilling and so perverted that I'll no longer be a silent witness to Mike Nifong's malicious, possibly criminal, disregard of justice and The Herald-Sun's cheerleading for him."
---Bob Wilson, pre-Paxton editor at the Herald-Sun.
It's about time some of the locals starting speaking-up.
Now, if they would only do some more investigating, before
the trail is completely covered-up.
I've already said I've taken your word for it, but if you like, you're welcome to send me the document by email if you can scan it.
You refer to my remark as a "slap". Every time you condemn all LE as corrupt and under-handed, you have "slapped" me, and it's been going on for months on the Duke threads, and it's always the same posters. I've mostly tried to ignore it or politely remind you (collective "you") that this case is an extreme example of misconduct (and now we see it's reached actual criminality) but was ripe to happen in NC. But obviously you'd rather wallow in self-pity with the hope that this case will bring you some sort of vindication and internal justice. That's irrational and can't be dealt with effectively in a forum environment so, by all means, continue to insult me and all the thousands upon thousands of people who work tirelessly day-in and day-out to bring some justice to true victims with nowhere else to turn, something YOU have NO IDEA about.
Knock yourself out. But don't call LE when you or your loved one becomes a victim, which I hope doesn't happen. Work it out on your own. Turn the other cheek. That way, you don't have to worry about the "system" harming you in some way you imagine is lurking behind every badge and every prosecutor.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1110918/
Brodhead: Nifong's Case 'Will Be on Trial' Along With Defendants
The case against three Duke lacrosse players charged with raping a stripper at a team party in March "will be on trial just as much" as the defendants, university president Richard Brodhead said Monday.
In a statement released by the university, Brodhead said the defendants should be presumed innocent as the case pushes toward a possible spring trial date.
The statement came days after a lab director said in a pretrial hearing that, following an agreement with Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, he violated his own procedures and withheld results showing none of the charged players' DNA was found on or in the accuser's body.
It was the latest blow to Nifong's case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans -- whose lawyers have maintained their innocence since they were indicted in the spring.
"As I told Ed Bradley during a '60 Minutes' interview last summer, given the concerns that have been raised, when it goes before a judge and jury the DA's case will be on trial just as much as our students will be," Brodhead said. "In the meanwhile, as I have said before, our students must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise."
Not a problem for me. I have since become entirely self-sufficient for self-defense purposes. Relying on police for protection is foolish. Folks who have been paying atytention know that LE really can't help you if you REALLY find yourself in deep doo-doo.
I agree. Mr. Glock can get there a lot faster than the beat cop.
BTW, were you aware that the USSC essentially ruled several years ago that the police are not responsible for individual safety?
I would not hold my breath on any of these rumors of the state bar acting against Nifong. They have publically said, they will not investigate this case until it is over.
So until they announce publically that they are doing something different, I view these internet posts as just rumors. Other than Congressman Jones everyone in a position of authority in NC including Brohead seems not to care in the least bit.
Link to new thread.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1755455/posts?page=1
"...you seem to be another one with an axe to grind about LE in general. Did you get busted for something, or is it as simple as just getting booted out of the police academy because you couldn't cut it?"
Nice try, but I am immune to your drivel.
You can't be serious -- but just in case -- you are wrong on all three counts.
"You're definitely another one with a personal ax to grind.
Why don't you tell us what you do for a living and then I can recount horror stories pertaining to your profession, if you have one. With your attitude, you may be posting from a prison."
Wow, I'm just catching up on the thread, and boy have you got hard-0n about this...
...Oh, and BTW: wrong again, offensively-named one.
"you are wrong on all three counts."
Oh, okay. You're unemployed.
Violent crime at 4-year high so far
BY RAY GRONBERG : The Herald-Sun, Dec 18, 2006
DURHAM -- Violent crime in Durham is running at a four-year high, with rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults all occurring more frequently than they have at any point since 2003, Durham police said Monday.
The only bright spot in the reported 32 percent increase in violence during the first nine months of 2006 is the city's homicide count, which so far is shaping up as "the lowest total in my history as a police officer in Durham," said Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge, a 23-year veteran of the force.
The city had 11 homicides in the first nine months of the year and has had 13 to date in 2006.
But increases in the other types of violence monitored by local, state and federal authorities are offsetting the good news on that front.
The biggest increase is in robberies, which are up 58 percent from the figures reported in the first nine months of 2005 and are being driven by a series of crimes targeting local Hispanics.
Most involve a firearm and are stick-ups of people on the street or in a parking lot, Hodge told the City Council.
"We want people to be aware of their surroundings and circumstances so they're not targets of opportunity, because [robberies are] crimes of opportunity," he added. "You need not to be out alone after dark if you can help it."
Hodge said Hispanics were the victims in 46 percent of the robberies that occurred in July, August and September. They figured in only 29 percent of the robberies reported in the three months before that.
Durham's increase "almost goes off the charts" but the percentage is high because 2005 was a good year. There were 1,103 homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault cases through the end of September last year, compared to 1,459 this year.-cut-
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-800809.cfm
* The criminals continue to run Durham in more ways than one.
'cause I am like my male yorkie. I am "marking" my spot after reading all these fine posts. :) I wanted to find a little doggy marking gif but haven't had time (too much genealogy research)
Link to new thread.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1755455/posts?page=1
I do that most times also BUT sometimes, since I am in the boonies, we lose power or my computer decides to puke and I have to re-start it. You do't know how frustraing that is when doing genealogy. I will have 7-9 different pages open on the research and then my computer says "Hey! Why don't we see how many cuss words she knows."
Allow judicial process to work
The Herald-Sun [editorial]
Dec 19, 2006
There is immense pressure building in the Duke lacrosse case. The pressure is to toss out the rape charges against three players, and it's coming from the players' families, their defense lawyers and their many supporters on campus and across the country. It is directed against anyone who thinks the case should be decided in a court of law, not the court of public opinion, and it has two basic targets -- the accuser and District Attorney Mike Nifong.
Let's consider the case against Nifong. There is no question the DA has made mistakes in handling this hot potato of a case. He said things he shouldn't have, such as calling the players "hooligans" and wrongly predicting DNA tests would implicate them. He gave too many media interviews at the start, a mistake he has corrected by falling competely silent except in court. Now the defense lawyers have made up the slack, taking every opportunity to spin their case in public.
One serious problem for Nifong is his inexplicable use of a lineup in which the accuser was asked to choose the assailants from a group of photos that included only lacrosse players. That flawed process led her to identify the three players who are now indicted. Such a fundamental misstep may well come back to haunt Nifong.
And as we learned in court Friday, the director of a DNA lab in Burlington at first withheld results showing the accuser had DNA from other men -- not the lacrosse players -- in her underwear and on her pubic hair. The defense is trying to imply a conspiracy existed between Nifong and lab director Brian Meehan to keep the results secret. But those alleging prosecutorial misconduct have to deal with a simple fact -- Nifong did turn over the data. Defense lawyers' only real complaint is that they had to fight to get it.
Nor did Nifong explain the information sufficiently, defense attorney Joe Cheshire complained. "We had to try to discover what it meant," he said. Sorry, but we don't think a judge will dismiss the case because Nifong didn't provide Cliffs Notes.
Of course, Friday's DNA revelation was as much about the accuser as it was about Nifong. We may find the results disturbing, but let's remember what we're supposed to know about rape cases. Rape is still a crime even if if the accuser was provocatively dressed or if she was a stripper. Rape is still a crime if the accuser had consensual sex with other people. We know she is not a paragon of virtue. But that does not rule out rape.
The biggest elephants in the room are still sitting there -- the accuser's charges and the players' presumption of innocent until proven guilty. Yes, there is information that may cast doubt on whether a crime was committed. But is it enough to outweigh the accusation? That's for the courts to decide. There have also been instances of, at a minimum, prosecutorial sloppiness. But are they enough to toss the case?
That's for a judge to decide, as part of the judicial process, which should be allowed to work.
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsedits/56-800699.cfm
Only in RatLand.
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