Posted on 01/03/2007 10:57:18 AM PST by abb
(01/03/07 -- DURHAM) - Duke lacrosse defendants Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann are both expected to be reinstated today as Duke students in good standing, two sources close to the case told ABC News. Also on abc11tv.com: Send us news tips | Desktop Alert | ABC11 AccuWeather | Pinpoint Traffic Defendant David Evans was allowed to graduate last spring, but underclassmen Seligmann and Finnerty were suspended from the University pending a resolution of the assault charges.
December 22, 2006, prosecutors dropped rape charges against the three Duke lacrosse players accused of attacking a stripper at a team party, but the three still face kidnapping and sexual offense charges.
According to court papers filed by District Attorney Mike Nifong, the accuser says she now does not know if she was penetrated during the alleged attack.
The accuser, a 28-year-old student at North Carolina Central University, has said three men raped her in a bathroom at a March 13 Duke lacrosse team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper.
The indicted players - Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann - all say they are innocent, and their attorneys have consistently said no sex occurred at the party.
Evans graduated from Duke in May, the day before he was indicted. Sophomores Finnerty and Seligmann were suspended following their April 2006 indictments.
The Duke lacrosse team was also suspended from play, but was reinstated in June on a provisionary basis.
A press conference from defense attorneys is expected this afternoon.
Stay with abc11tv.com and ABC11 Eyewitness News for the latest on this developing story.
I wasn't ask a question.
I commented on your bogus question.
Your 104 : Dead-on accurate assessment. In my reply 83, I speculated on the likelihood of violence against the players at the hands of an angry "citizen" who just wanted to see a white guy sent to prison regardless of guilt. (As you and I both mentioned, there is a sentiment among many in the black citizenry of Durham for convicting the students simply to 'right past injustices') Can you imagine how much angrier such people are now that the rape charge has been dropped-and how enraged they'll become if all charges are dismissed? It is patently obvious that the university will not and cannot protect these students. They are insane if they return to Duke.
This is truly a case where the boys were considered guilty until proven innocent.
BFD! I can't believe these students would even consider wanting to be reinstated after the way duke has treated them. They need to give duke the middle finger wave and go somewhere else.
What makes you think they aren't?
And since when does making one mistake require the public lynching these boys have gotten.
I know that a lot of you "real, true" conservatives get off on morally condemning anybody and everything you don't agree with to pump yourselves up, but this is a thread about a CRIME.
Go find somewhere else to look down your nose at people.
Which is exactly why they should refuse this. There are significant legal bills to be paid. And there are certainly better colleges.
So when can they sue the school?
I cannot find comfort in that from where I'm sitting; to me, this is just one huge embarassment from this state, starting with the governor and moving right on down to the citizens who never spoke up before now.
Now I'm perfect? Yay, another stupid straw man.
Matter of fact, I'm hopelessly imperfect. But, I do accept the consequences of my own stupid choices. When I got burned because I played with fire, I took my lumps. Any damage to my reputation was, in the end, my own fault.
And if they had raped the stripper I would have insisted that they suffer the consequences for that. You're insisting that they suffer the consequences for their non actions.
So when some day, when you are walking down a sidewalk, a drunk driver with a suspended license doing 100 mph runs you down on purpose, I hope to be there to point out that you were playing with fire by being so close to the street.
On that I can agree.
I have felt all along that the only way to end this is with a trial that absolutely beyond a doubt proves their innocence and the accuer's and Nifong's complicity.
I understand the risk that entails to these boys, but in my mind, the only way sane people will ever be sure they are innocent is to see it laid out in front of their very eyes day after day.
Then, after their vindication, any "uproar" caused by certain segments of the town will be seen as what it is -- demand for pandering.
Oh my goodness.
It's practically a rite of passage for our military and young college men to hire strippers. You seemingly "perfect" people make me laugh.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240559,00.html
The last rat jumps off the ship.
If you can guarantee the verdict of a Durham jury then I'll agree with you. Other than that I'm gonna have to disagree. Nifong's last line of defense is if he can get some charge any charge in front of a properly selected Durham jury. If he does that he'll get a conviction and be able to argue that, despite all his "missteps", the whole thing was justified because they were actually guilty of something.
mark
As I've stated repeatedly, punish the criminals.
By now, everyone who's anyone knows these fine young men didn't rape the the lovely young stripper.
So, in the end, what damage has been done to the young men's reputations? They're not rapists. Maybe their reputation will be that of "whoremonger" for a few years. Big whoop.
You seemingly licentious "conservatives" make me sad.
My German/Dutch/Swiss isn't very good... does Ni = new and Fong = geezer???
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