Posted on 01/20/2007 2:52:54 AM PST by abb
Exactly. And thank you for detailing these matters.
Must read ping.
http://z9.invisionfree.com/LieStoppers_Board/index.php?showtopic=1773&st=0&#entry7595650
7:42 PM, January 22, 2007, joan collins said...
Profiles in Courage
The Other Duke Lacrosse Moms
“Men are what their mothers made them,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. Mothers and sons have a unique bond. Ask any mother. Ask any son. A mother is the first woman to love him unconditionally. As he grows into the man you hope he will one day become, no matter how tall he grows, or old he becomes, you are still his mother and he will always be your child.
When the hoax was born, the “eclipse of justice” cast a wide shadow enveloping all the families of the 47 players of the Men’s 2006 Duke Lacrosse Team. People deal with difficult situations very differently, some privately and others more publicly. Whatever way they choose to deal with their pain should be respected. This article is based on conversations with five courageous mothers willing to share how the hoax has affected them and their families. At the onset, all made it very clear that their pain pales in comparison to that which the Finnerty, Seligmann and Evans families have experienced and continue to endure. None of them were looking for attention. Quite the opposite, they want their private lives back. However, all thought it important for people to recognize that so many families have been devastated by the hoax. The five resolute mothers are Gale Catalino, Barbara Loftus, Sherri McFadyen, Susan Wolcott and Nina Zash. Here is a sample of their stories.
The “Other Duke Lacrosse Moms” hail from Texas, New Jersey and New York. The common thread is that they are the mothers of sons who went to Duke University and played on the Mens 2006 Duke Lacrosse Team; some have since graduated, while others continue their education at Duke.
One of the major events in a young man’s life is going off to college. The mothers reminisced about happier times, when they first learned their sons had been accepted at Duke. It was a time filled with great excitement and pride. It represented the culmination of years of hard work as both gifted students and talented athletes.
Mrs. Zash, spoke about her son, Matt, who was a senior and a 2-year Captain. Matt had grown up in a middle class community in NY, a town known as a nice place to raise a family. It is the same town his parents, high school sweethearts, had grown up in. The local public schools have a reputation for being fierce competitors on the athletic field. Matt attended these schools and was an icon in his hometown. Matt was accepted to Duke as early decision candidate. He was All American 2004 and 2005.
Mrs. Catalino’s son, Michael, was a freshman. Michael is the product of upstate New York public schools and currently hopes to become a doctor one day. Michael was recruited by most Division I schools, and turned down Ivy League schools, to attend Duke. “At Duke, my son’s education was valued and prioritized above athletics. He went to Duke first for its education and secondly to play lacrosse and Coach Pressler “was sensitive to that. We felt comfortable that Duke’s staff were as concerned with Mike’s well being as we were”, said Mrs. Catalino.
Mrs. McFadyen’s son, Ryan, was a sophomore. Ryan heard of his acceptance to Duke in September of his senior year of high school. It was such a proud moment. Mrs. McFadyen and her husband celebrated by buying balloons and a CD of the 1960’s popular song “Devil in a Blue Dress.”
Mrs. Loftus had two sons on the Duke Lacrosse team. Their elder son, Danny, was a junior and goalie for the team. Chris was a sophomore. Her husband is a retired Captain in New York City Fire Department. The Loftus brothers were products of New York public schools. When Mrs. Loftus and her husband first heard their elder son Danny was accepted at Duke they were “ecstatic”. Then when Chris was accepted they thought what could be better. “Getting accepted to Duke was a badge of honor. What more could a parent want”, said Mrs. Loftus.
Mrs. Wolcott, a proud Texan, vividly recalled the day her son, William, was accepted at Duke. Her son knew Coach Pressler from attending Duke Summer lacrosse camp. Mike Pressler called to offer the invitation while they were with his high lacrosse school team at a Spring Break Tournament. Mrs. Wolcott remembered, “We were in a restaurant and William went out to take the call. The whole team knew what was up and cheered loudly when William returned with a huge grin on his face. It was very exciting as William would have the honor of being the first Texan recruited to play at Duke.”
After the party of March 13 and 14, when the hoax was born, several of the team mothers almost immediately predicted this would become Tawana Brawley II. A large shadow was cast on the Men’s Duke Lacrosse Team that would change the lives of many people.
All the members of the lacrosse team, except for one, (African American goalie, Devon Sherwood), were immediately under a cloud of suspicion. Without their parents knowledge they submitted DNA. One young man called his mother the next day and started the conversation with “I need to talk to you about something”, words that cause great concern for most parents. Photographs of the players were plastered on wanted posters on Duke’s campus. There were protestors and marches. The New Black Panthers visited Durham. Threats were made. The major news media was relentless. These were very difficult times for the mothers and fathers, the sons and their families. Some of the phrases used to describe their feelings were frightening, roller coaster and constant dismay at the justice system.
The mothers were asked to reflect over the past ten months and identify an event or moment that touched them personally. Here are their poignant responses.
As team captain, Matt was living in the house at 610 N. Buchanan. With angry protestors surrounding the house, the media in frenzy, and the New Black Panthers in town, Matt was forced to leave the house. With no safe haven to go, at one point, he was living out of his car. His parents visited each weekend, just to see him and make sure he was safe. “My husband and I went down to visit him. This kid had tried to walk the straight and narrow everyday and set an example and he was searching for a shirt in the trunk of his car. We watched him change his clothes in the parking lot. I thought I would die of a broken heart that day”, said Mrs. Zash.
For Mrs. Loftus, the most memorable moment was “stopping at a gas station on the way to work, I saw Collin Finnerty’s face on the front page of Newsday. I thought to myself “how did the world come to this?”
Mrs. McFayden described “the feeling of helplessness of watching Ryan weep uncontrollably on his father’s shoulder as he heard that his friends and teammates, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, had been indicted and being unable to console him.”
The Catalino’s attorney called in April to tell them there would be indictments and “It’s not who you think it is”. Up to this point, the media seemed to be targeting the players who lived in the N. Buchanan house. “This revelation put us all on edge, as we knew that any one of our son’s could have been indicted that morning. The best analogy would be similar to a firing squad with 46 players, not knowing who the targets were. “We picked up our son and drove to Greensboro to spend the night prior to the indictments. We didn’t want him to be in Durham not knowing what to expect.” Unable to eat as they sat down at breakfast with their son, they asked him “Do you understand that could be you?” That morning they told their son that if he was “picked” they did not have the funds to provide bail. “I felt like I couldn’t protect my children from the media and the assault on our family, and knowing that the accusations weren’t true offered little comfort”, said Mrs. Catalino.
A dedicated student, Mrs. Catalino’s son decided the best way for him to support his team was to continue his studies and prepare for exams. With the New Black Panthers in town, at Mrs. Catalino’s request, Michael’s father and uncle flew to Durham to accompany his freshman son around campus and to his chemistry exam. “At that time the Duke campus was perceived by us as a campus whose security was being compromised by outside forces with no reassurance that our son’s safety was protected”.
Mrs. Wolcott reflected on the senior dinner on Saturday before the graduation ceremonies. “Dave Evans spoke as Team Captain, Senior, and a young man facing indictment within 48 hours about his confidence his family would see him through what was ahead,” said Mrs. Wolcott.
Time did not stop for the hoax. These are busy women. Some work outside the home. They are the mothers’ of 18 children, many with other active children to care for. They had no choice but to carry on.
Mrs. Zash’s only daughter became engaged Christmas 2005, a special time in the life of a young woman, and they had just started making wedding plans. She and her husband would fly down to Durham on Saturday and return on Sunday. “We would literally walk in the door on Sundays and my daughter and I would take off to look at wedding halls, wedding gowns or flowers. I had to try and shift gears and turn into a normal mom so my daughter and I would not be deprived of one of the most special times in both of our lives,” said Mrs. Zash. Her newlywed elder son was spending 3 to 4 nights a week at their home comforting his parents and siblings.
Mrs. Catalino experienced another tragedy immediately prior to the hoax. Her father passed away in February 2006, just weeks before the hoax. Coach Pressler, whom the Catalino family refer to as “Pastor Pressler” helped to ensure that Michael joined the rest of his family in being with his grandmother later that evening. Mrs. Catalino stayed with her mother for several weeks until shortly before the hoax began. She still has not yet had time to grieve her father’s death.
Mrs. Wolcott’s middle daughter got “lost” in the hyper focus on her older brother, until her parents realized she needed love and attention. She was kept home from college this fall, but thankfully is doing better and will be spending next semester abroad.
Mrs. Loftus described a very busy, hectic family schedule. Her daughter, a junior in high school was preparing for her SAT’s. Another lacrosse mother volunteered to tutor her daughter in physics.
Mrs. McFadyen’s son, Ryan, wrote the “infamous email” that went around the world. Her emotions have changed from disbelief and embarrassment to anger. While she does not condone the language of the email, it was a private email taken out of context. Only after a few weeks was it reported that it was based on “American Psycho”, a novel by Bret Easton Ellis taught in three courses offered at Duke and made into a popular movie starring Christian Bale. Mrs. McFadyen’s daughters and their classmates, who had seen the film, recognized it immediately. Ryan was suspended for a time. His father flew to Durham. Another player went to her son’s room, threw a few of Ryan’s things in a bag and brought it to him. Ryan and his father drove home to New Jersey in Ryan’s car that night. The media was relentless, calling and filming her house. Her husband could not face people for months. Even through the most difficult moments, Mrs. McFadyen knew she was blessed because she and Ryan were so close, and this travesty further strengthened their relationship. Mrs. McFadyen expressed gratitude for the kindness and support her family received during these difficult times from members of her community, church and the team.
The mothers and families of the teams have tried to provide support systems for each other. Their faith has helped them to get through these difficult times. Mrs. Catalino, said she did not know how she got through that Monday morning the first indictments were handed down, until she realized she had lived the words of the famous poem “Footprints in the Sand”:
The Lord replied,
The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
Is when I carried you
Rather than pitying themselves, the mothers have tried to channel their energies to positive things. Mrs. Wolcott formed the Concerned Mothers for Duke Students. She said one of the most reassuring things she did was going to Durham for the December 15 hearing and experiencing the courage of the families of the indicted players. She and her son work on fundraising for the Legal Defense Fund. Mrs. Zash continues to work on communications for the “Devil’s Advocate”, a lacrosse booster club.
When some of the teachers at their public school began asking her children who do you think did it, Mrs. Catalino decided to empower her children. It was her daughters who suggested the idea of the Duke Lacrosse wristbands, which then became a fundraiser. Individuals and families in 48 states and 5 countries have distributed over 30,000 wristbands. The bands are not for sale but are offered by donation with all proceeds going to the Association for Truth and Fairness to help defray the costs of legal fees and to insure that truthful information is communicated to the general public. One daughter produced a film “We’re Back”. Another daughter provides monthly current event updates on the case to her class.
Mrs. McFadyen spends two to three hours daily on the Internet, searching for someone to finally see the light and dismiss this “hoax” of a case.
When I asked the mothers what messages they would like others to know they said the following:
Nina Zash: “Perhaps someday, someone will gain something from the collective suffering of 46 families. I’d give anything if my son, those three wrongly accused young men, the coach and the rest of the team could have been spared this ordeal. I look to the future with the hope that I will be shown some reason, somehow for all our pain.”
Sherri McFadyen: “This lacrosse team is the most respectful, polite, kind, helpful group of guys that anyone would be so proud to know. Words cannot begin to express how I feel towards them all. It is a travesty how they have been portrayed. Nothing could be further from the truth. We want justice which has been completely lost in this entire case from day one.”
Barbara Loftus: “If this case had not gotten national attention and public outcry, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Susan Wolcott: “Every mother who has a son should be invested in this travesty of justice. There should be no racial lines drawn. Not only is my son always in my prayers, but also three outstanding young men named Collin, Reade and David. To Mary Ellen, Kathy and Rae, we love you dearly and we will fight with all the strength and resources we have until your sons are freed from this horrible hoax. We will now always be a family in the greater sense.”
Gale Catalino: “I realized very early that we all needed to do whatever we could to fight for Dave, Reade and Collin and for justice in this case. It had to be done. Whether it was a letter, or a donation, whatever was within our means.”
The mothers spoke with great respect of Coach Pressler and said the season should never have been cancelled. Pressler took care of their sons as he promised he would. He took pride that his team has the highest average ACC team G.P.A. average. Those mothers whose sons are currently at Duke said the one thing Duke did right was hiring John Danowski as coach. Though they miss Mike Pressler and regret what he has gone through, they are grateful their sons are in Coach Danowski’s capable hands. As a father of one of the Duke Lacrosse players himself, he understands and has been a coach, father figure, and friend and is helping to heal their sons.
Not having their son picked as one of the three indicted boys brought relief, but then outrage. One mother described “steeling” herself prior to that awful Monday with the thought that she and her family were strong. “My son was not guilty of any crime, nor is anyone else. That is what makes this all so maddening. We learned early that Monday in April that our son would not be indicted. It was a relief that was followed by shock that Reade and Collin had been falsely accused,” said Mrs. Wolcott. Along with the outrage, there was great sadness knowing what the Finnerty, Seligmann and Evans family would have to face.
Mrs. Loftus’ husband, Brian, was a Captain in the NYC Fire Department on September 11, 2001. He responded to the call, watched World Trade Tower #7 go down and was involved in recovery operations. Although the two events are obviously very different, I asked Mrs. Loftus if she thought there were any similarities in the emotions she felt. She spoke of going to so many funerals for the victims of 9/11 and seeing so much pain on peoples’ faces. She thought of the pain of knowing someone’s kids could go to jail when “nothing happened”. “What could be worse than kids could go to jail for nothing?” asked Mrs. Loftus.
The hoax has caused so much pain for all the families of the 47 players. At the same time, the mothers described even stronger bonds with their husbands and children. The moms look at their sons with pride and admiration as they try to carry on with their lives. This is the resilience of youth. They know the truth is that nothing happened that night. The mothers stand in unity with the Finnerty, Seligmann and Evans families that Collin, Reade and Dave were wrongly indicted on charges for which they are absolutely innocent. Only when this “eclipse of justice” finally ends can peace return to these mothers’ hearts.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson167.html
The Cost of the Lie: Duke, the Courts, and Hoaxes
by William L. Anderson
I recently received an email from someone who was a member of last year’s lacrosse team at Duke University, a young man who has had to watch the travesty suck three of his teammates and friends into North Carolina’s maw of injustice. What he said in the email made my jaw drop, and this is a case which has hardened my jaw line more than any other.
His email said that so far, the estimated cost of defense to the three families is exceeding five million dollars. That is correct. Three families are having to shell out five million dollars in total to deal with the lies perpetuated by the State of North Carolina.
No doubt, many readers will not care at all. Two of the three families are wealthy, and the other is well-off, although the third family is having some difficulty paying the legal bills, from what I hear. I already have heard a number of black commentators and assorted leftists declaring that they see nothing wrong in having to force wealthy whites to pay millions of dollars to protect their sons against wrongful prosecutions.
Yes, I am glad that the families have had the resources to pay for the excellent legal representation that they have received, but that does not mean that what the State of North Carolina is doing is justified. Furthermore, I would argue that the state is paying millions of dollars in order to promote this particular hoax, and it would be quite interesting to see, when this case finally is dismissed, just what the total legal costs have been.
There are other costs as well. I have argued elsewhere that the outright lies and fraud have been exposed only because of the rise of the blogosphere. Professor K.C. Johnson of Brooklyn College has exposed official lie after official lie in his Durham-in-Wonderland blog, while other bloggers, such as the crews at Liestoppers, Crystal Mess, John-in-Carolina, La Shawn Barber, Michael Gaynor, Friends of Duke University, and Johnsville News. (I have been in personal touch with all of the bloggers except for Johnsville News, and I have no idea of who the mystery man is with that blog, although he has posted my articles, and for that I am grateful.)
Each of these blogs is operated by individuals who are not mainstream journalists, but rather people who have other jobs. Johnson, as pointed out, is a history professor with a full-time teaching load. Gaynor is an attorney, as are the people who run Friends and Crystal Mess. The Liestoppers crew consists of many people with full-time jobs elsewhere, but who have become so outraged by the crimes being committed by the State of North Carolina that they have jumped into the fray.
While he is working on a book (with Stuart Taylor of the National Journal) that I hope will make him millions of dollars, Johnson has had to put many of his other projects on hold. At least one blogger is having the face the reality that his own business is suffering greatly because of the work he has thrown into this project. Others in the blogosphere are having to re-work their work and family lives because of what they are doing.
When one begins to add the numbers of lost productivity and the giving up of other activities, it is not hard to see many more lost millions of dollars. Yes, people have voluntarily given up that money and absorbed those costs, but nonetheless they could have been spent elsewhere, which means there are others who are losing money that would have been spent on their endeavors.
In the mid-1990s, the costliest case in North Carolina history, the Little Rascals case, was also a hoax. Like the Duke Non-Rape, Non-Kidnapping, and Non-Sexual Assault case, the entire case was a lie. There was not one real incident of child molestation, but the State of North Carolina chose to promote the lie and real people spent many years in prison before the appellate courts finally did what others should have done and overturned the convictions.
(Two other people, after serving many years in prison because they could not pay the $1 million bond, pleaded nolo contendere while maintaining their innocence simply because they lost all confidence in the State of North Carolina to do what was right. To put it another way, they agreed to submit to more prison time – another year – because they knew that the deck was stacked against them. I suppose that is what people mean when they declare "the system works." Yes, it "works" in the promotion of state power, period.)
However, some people might say that because the original prosecutor in the Duke case, Michael B. Nifong, has turned it over to the state attorney general’s office, that this somehow gives a measure of justice to this fiasco. Nothing could be more untrue. While Nifong no longer is directing this pack of lies, all that means is that another prosecutor – James Coman – is the new enabler of the Big Lie. Even if Coman chooses not to take this thing to trial – the only honest choice he faces – he still has his name on a series of false charges.
Moreover, once he inevitably drops the case (as to bring it to trial would be to knowingly suborn perjury and could create some legal and ethical problems for him – although law and ethics are foreign terms to prosecutors), he will say something like, "We don’t have enough evidence to gain a conviction." He will not say, "These charges were a criminal fraud in themselves, and the State of North Carolina apologizes to the defendants, their families, and all who were affected by this hoax." No, the state never engages in hoaxes. Just ask the Little Rascals defendants, whose lives were ruined by the Lies of the State of North Carolina.
The question one asks is this: Why does the State of North Carolina continue to impose huge costs on everyone when we know this case is a fraud? The simplest answer is this: They do it because they can do it. Furthermore, they do it because the benefits to those who promote hoaxes far outweigh any costs that generally are imposed upon them.
One of the unusual things about this case is that the original prosecutor, Michael B. Nifong, faces charges from the North Carolina Bar Association. It is very unusual that prosecutors ever face any kinds of charges, let alone facing dangers that might result in their disbarment. A reason for Nifong’s confidence as he broke the law and lied to judges and others is that the prosecutors in the infamous Alan Gell case, who withheld exculpatory evidence that resulted in a death sentence (not carried out) against Gell were only reprimanded. In other words, as one attorney put it, David Hoke and Debra Graves received a slap on the wrist for what some might call attempted murder. (That is, using the state to impose, what columnist Barry Sanders calls, the "state-sponsored dirt nap," for someone who did not commit murder.)
Given that Nifong’s open statements about guilt, his questionable and dishonest tactics, and his public lies were the main reason that he won the Durham County elections to his present office, one can say that his tactics might have been worth it. He faces some legal fees for his own representation before the bar, but they are minimal to the $5 million that the families of Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans have shelled out.
In other words, the present setup in the criminal "justice" (sic) system is one in which prosecutors can impose huge costs on other people and upon taxpayers, but rarely face any costs themselves. Nifong is a huge exception, but I still have doubts that the North Carolina Bar Association will do anything more than reprimand him, which will permit him to keep his job and to pursue other wrongful convictions.
Ultimately, the State of North Carolina can do this because it falls into the category of what Murray Rothbard once called an "armed gang." Those employed by the "justice" (sic) system of North Carolina are free to rampage, impose unjustified costs on others, kill people, and ruin lives without the threat of any sanctions, and if anyone tries to stop him by force, that person can be kidnapped and even killed.
I still predict that the remaining charges against the young men will be dropped, but in the meantime, we still see the state authorities behaving as we would expect members of a violent, criminal gang to act. They do what they want, they strut about like owners and overseers of a plantation, and they expect the rest of us to bow down to them. These are people who impose huge costs upon others and receive nothing but benefits to themselves. As long as that kind of arrangement remains in place, expect the Michael B. Nifongs of the "justice" (sic) system to go on plundering and pillaging, all in the name of the law.
What began as a lie in a medical facility told so that a woman would not be involuntarily committed to a detox center ultimately blew up into the Duke Non-Rape, Non-Kidnapping, and Non-Sexual Assault case. The consequences have been horrendous, for the young men, their families, their friends, Duke University, and for justice itself. But we always must remember that in the world of private markets and exchange – that world detested by the faux academics at Duke University who helped enable Nifong – a lie cannot go very far.
The reason that this lie has done so much damage is not so much the lie itself, but rather that the state could take it and spin it and manufacture a bogus criminal case from it. And only the government ultimately benefited from that lie; everyone else bore the costs.
January 23, 2007
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-811825.cfm
State Bar grants Nifong extension to respond
By John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun
January 22, 2007 11:59 pm
DURHAM -- District Attorney Mike Nifong has obtained a reprieve on filing a response to N.C. State Bar allegations that he violated four ethical rules in his handling of the Duke lacrosse sex-offense case, including a rule that prohibits "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation" by lawyers.
Nifong originally was required to answer the complaint within 20 days of the date it was served, Jan. 3.
But his response apparently won't be submitted today.
David Freedman of Winston-Salem, Nifong's lawyer, said Monday an extension of time has been granted. He said he didn't have the new deadline at his fingertips.
In addition, Freedman cautioned observers not to read too much into Nifong's recent withdrawal from the lacrosse case, which was handed off to two special prosecutors from the state Attorney General's Office.
"He regretted having to leave the case," said Freedman. "It was no indication of his views on the strength or weakness of the case. It was in no way a concession to the allegations against him."
Rather, the ethics charges against Nifong created a conflict of interest that forced him to step aside, according to Freedman.
snip
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/
Paper helped Nifong
How ironic that the editors quote approvingly those from the CNN forum who want to "move on" in the Duke lacrosse case. Mike Nifong, acting almost single-handedly, created this embarrassment for Durham, and The Herald-Sun became his co-conspirator, fanning the flames of the current unpleasantness.
By supporting him while he moved forward with these baseless charges, The Herald-Sun not only abdicated the duty of the press to speak truth to power, it helped Nifong give Durham its current reputation. Are you suggesting you are actually surprised that Durham now finds itself where it is? Will you make this mistake again?
DOUGLAS L. BROOKS
Atlanta
January 23, 2007
DA election plan?
North Carolinians, Durhamites, wake up! The Republican Party recently took a big hit nationally and perhaps deservedly so. On our watch we got involved in a troublesome war and were beset with scandals. We lost credibility and many people lost faith.
This is exactly how we Republicans feel about what the Democrats are doing in North Carolina and in particular, Durham. There has been scandal after scandal, our finances are in an abysmal state and our taxes are pathetically high. We in Durham continue to shake our heads in bewilderment at the level of service that we receive from our government.
The district attorney debacle further evidences this complete lack of accountability. Why wouldn't the Democratic DA believe they were untouchable in Durham? These problems occurred while the Democrats were in contol. I ran for DA against Mike Nifong because I believed it was the only way to wrest away the corrupting power of the absolute power-hold that Democrats have in our community.
A Democratic political appointee would not do that. The Democrats were scared of losing power to a "clean-house" Republican and so the power-hungry Democrats came up with a plan to ensure that a Republican would not serve. Ironically, it appears now that Nifong's victory at the polls may, in fact, be his undoing.
We need a change. Just think before you pull that straight Democratic lever next time.
The writer is chair of the Durham County Republican Party.
STEVE MONKS
Durham
January 23, 2007
Kudos to K.C. Johnson
I'm afraid Orrin Starn [Forum, Jan. 17] picked on the wrong blogger when he showed us one of "many" gaffes the bad K.C. Johnson supposedly published. The African-American Studies Web site lists 14 professors, assistant professors and associate professors. Let's get Starn to list a few more of Johnson's mistakes and one-sided "stories." Starn's example was silly and irrelevant. Loved the KC and the Sunshine Band reference, though.
Johnson has apparently exposed too many weaknesses involving the non-rape case. His common sense is a little too extaordinary for the Group of 88 to stomach as well. It is only natural that Starn would try to discredit Johnson. Starn should try separating the wheat from the chaff. I can do it with a high school education. But since you want to play silly with us, Johnson is the wheat. The chaff are the uneducated racists who email Group of 88 members with the uncalled-for or ugly diatribes. Or the almost-but-not-quite racist Group of 88.
CRAIG HUNTER
Greensboro
January 23, 2007
The sensitive professor
How sad that Professor Orin Starn has been subjected to name-calling on the Internet [Herald-Sun, Forum, Jan. 17]. One blogger even referred to him as a terminal part of the anatomy. Ouch. Professor Starn is equally sensitive to others involved in the Duke lacrosse case who have been called names. The accuser, who was found to have the semen of four different men in her bodily cavities, was actually said to be a "whore" by one blogger.
Of course, it would be easier to engender Starn-style sympathy for the accuser if she had not tried to destroy the lives of three men she falsely accused of rape, kidnapping, and sodomy. Nor would bloggers and others who have followed this case be so inclined to denigrate Starn and his colleagues had they not so publicly assumed their own students to be guilty of a crime which anyone with a grade school education could tell never happened.
GRAHAM HAYES MARLETTE
Durham
January 23, 2007
http://www.emorywheel.com/media/storage/pa....emorywheel.com
Discontent in Durham
The real victim in the Duke Lacrosse scandal? Forget the players or the dancer. It's the judicial system.
Andrew Swerlick
Posted: 1/23/07
Amid much criticism, a lack of DNA evidence and inconsistent eyewitness testimony, Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong has finally dropped the rape charges against the three Duke lacrosse players accused of assaulting an African-American exotic dancer at an off-campus party. The students, all three of whom are white, still face a number of serious charges - including kidnapping and other sexual offenses - but these charges may be dropped as the prosecution's case continues to unravel. In fact, it's becoming clear that there never really was a case at all.
Poor police procedure, suppression of evidence and constant media baiting allowed Nifong to stir up a press frenzy that led to protests, expulsions, firings and other disciplinary actions even before the boys went to trial. What was it that allowed Nifong to get away with this? Why was it that the media went wild over a case with little evidence, with no substance and all style? Ultimately, it was because the case became a symbol for something far beyond itself - a symbol of race and class relations in a divided town.
The city of Durham is 44 percent black and has a poverty level that surpasses the national average. As Salon.com put it, "The median income of a Durham household is roughly equal to the annual tuition for a Duke student (about $44,000)." Tensions between the wealthy, mainly white, university students and the town's working-class residents have always been a problem. Raucous off-campus parties disturb the neighbors who respond by calling the cops, which leads students to accuse the residents of being out to ruin their fun.
Tensions in Durham run high between Duke and nearby North Carolina Central University, the alma mater of the victim with a primarily black student body. Given the somewhat rocky social history of the two schools, it's no surprise that the rape case caused an explosion in the town. Last April, two Duke students were assaulted while off campus. Their assailants were yelling that the Duke students were on "Central Territory."
snip
http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/s...gepublisher.com
This year, ALE has not targeted off-East house parties. In past years, the agency has written up dozens at these bashes.
http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/s...gepublisher.com
Time for understanding, not caricatures
Leather-bound books
Dave Kleban
Posted: 1/23/07
A particularly strange aspect of the lacrosse case-in essence, a story about a dishonest prosecutor's stubborn and personally motivated pursuit of a tenuous rape accusation-is that it has generated a noisy battle over academia itself.
As the tide of the case has turned in favor of the three indicted students, members of the "Group of 88" professors have been under increasing pressure to withdraw their support from the "Listening" advertisement they placed in The Chronicle soon after the story broke.
This pressure, says Provost Peter Lange, has come in the form of "viciously personal" and "openly threatening or racist" attacks via e-mail. Cathy Davidson, vice-provost for interdisciplinary studies and a signatory to the advertisement, said the aim of these "blog hooligans" is to "make academics and liberals look ridiculous and uncaring."
Indeed, many of the angry comments posted to blogs and to The Chronicle's web site focus on the "liberal" character of academia (especially of the particular departments that signed the ad), as if such a label is informative or relevant to a legal case in which, I hope the commenters would agree, ideology should take no precedence over actual facts and individual actions.
President Richard Brodhead is correct in noting that the 88 professors have seen their views "caricatured"-portrayed much differently than what it appears they intended. (It is worth noting, however, that this became far easier to do when the advertisement was conspicuously removed from the African and African-American Studies department web site.)
snip
Bless those mothers. They had it figured out from the beginning.
Could this be a sign additional charges were filed last week?
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-811825.cfm
"State Bar grants Nifong extension to respond
By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun
jstevenson@heraldsun.com
Jan 22, 2007 : 11:59 pm ET
DURHAM -- District Attorney Mike Nifong has obtained a reprieve on filing a response to N.C. State Bar allegations that he violated four ethical rules in his handling of the Duke lacrosse sex-offense case, including a rule that prohibits "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation" by lawyers.
Nifong originally was required to answer the complaint within 20 days of the date it was served, Jan. 3.
But his response apparently won't be submitted today.
David Freedman of Winston-Salem, Nifong's lawyer, said Monday an extension of time has been granted. He said he didn't have the new deadline at his fingertips.
In addition, Freedman cautioned observers not to read too much into Nifong's recent withdrawal from the lacrosse case, which was handed off to two special prosecutors from the state Attorney General's Office.
"He regretted having to leave the case," said Freedman. "It was no indication of his views on the strength or weakness of the case. It was in no way a concession to the allegations against him."
Rather, the ethics charges against Nifong created a conflict of interest that forced him to step aside, according to Freedman.
Meanwhile, a conference is slated for Wednesday at State Bar headquarters in Raleigh, during which administrative details will be ironed out for a May hearing against Nifong. The hearing could result in anything from exoneration to a warning letter to disbarment for Durham's chief prosecutor.
State Bar executive director L. Thomas Lunsford II said Monday that Nifong did not have to attend the conference.
"He's certainly welcome, but it's not a command performance," said Lunsford. "It would be very surprising if anything dramatic occurred. I do not believe anything of substance will be discussed in reference to the allegations [against Nifong]."
Lunsford had no comment on widespread speculation that the State Bar might bring yet another charge against Nifong before May: an allegation that he colluded with a private laboratory director to withhold DNA results favorable to three indicted defendants in the Duke case.
Those results indicated the accuser, then an exotic dancer, had DNA on her from several other men, but none from any lacrosse players.
Defense lawyers didn't learn that information until late last year, even though the pertinent tests were conducted months earlier.
Nifong said he would not discuss the State Bar action or anything else involving the lacrosse case.
In fact, a plethora of media statements about the case last spring is what got Nifong into legal hot water in the first place. Among other things, he characterized some Duke lacrosse players as "hooligans" whose alleged sexual assault was racially motivated.
In its complaint against him, the State Bar alleged that such statements violated important ethical rules, including:
-- A rule that prohibits lawyers from making out-of-court statements that might be disseminated by the media and prejudice a case.
-- A rule forbidding prosecutors from uttering "extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused."
-- A rule prohibiting conduct that involves "dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation."
-- A rule banning behavior that is "prejudicial to the administration of justice."
Nifong has long since said he would shun the national media if he could start the case over again. Law school gave him no training in dealing with reporters, he conceded. The lacrosse case arose after an exotic dancer claimed she was sexually attacked during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March 2006.
Nifong soon got three Duke students indicted: Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans.
The three originally were charged with kidnapping the woman by restraining her in a bathroom, raping her and committing another first-degree sex-offense against her.
Nifong dismissed the rape allegations last month when the accuser changed her story, but the other felony charges are still pending.
Evans graduated from Duke in May 2006. Finnerty and Seligmann were sophomores at the time of their indictment and were put on administrative leave from the university. They recently were invited to return in good standing. "
as the mother of a son, my heart breaks for these mothers.
Indeed, many of the angry comments posted to blogs and to The Chronicle's web site focus on the "liberal" character of academia (especially of the particular departments that signed the ad), as if such a label is informative or relevant to a legal case in which, I hope the commenters would agree, ideology should take no precedence over actual facts and individual actions
I'll wager Kleban was sobbing as he wrote this article, muttering under his breath as he wrote: "you brutes, You mean homophobic, racist, boorish, non-liberal brutes! How dare you use ideology to trump actual facts and individual actions when that special right ONLY belongs to the very special Professors comprising the Group of 88".
Abb, that article was *very* grotescque.
Nifong has long since said he would shun the national media if he could start the case over again. Law school gave him no training in dealing with reporters, he conceded.
Conceded? Hmph. It's the media's fault, and we all know President Bush "controls" the media, therefore it must be President Bush's fault.. blah blah.
STOP DIGGING THE HOLE, NIFONG!
Steve Monks had the balls to write than crap?
"There has been scandal after scandal, our finances
are in an abysmal state and our taxes are pathetically
high. We in Durham continue to shake our heads in
bewilderment at the level of service that we receive
from our government.
The district attorney debacle further evidences this complete
lack of accountability. Why wouldn't the Democratic DA believe
they were untouchable in Durham? These problems occurred
while the Democrats were in contol. I ran for DA against Mike Nifong
because I believed it was the only way to wrest away the corrupting
power of the absolute power-hold that Democrats have in our community."
---from Monks letter to Herald-Sun, January 23, 2007 .
My use of the word "crap" was directed at him.
He is the reason Nifong won. He was the spoiler. He knew he had no way of winning,No way,no how.
Agreed. All those behind the scenes meetings of party leaders
in Raleigh restaurants, lawyers offices and at the courthouse
suggest the election was not about the DA's office alone.
Police: Murder suspect may have stalked officer
BY BRIANNE DOPART : The Herald-Sun, Jan 24, 2007 : 12:18 am ET
DURHAM -- The woman who is accused of murdering N.C. Central University graduate student Denita Smith may have been stalking Smith's fiance, Greensboro police officer Jemeir Jackson-Stroud, according to warrants filed by Durham police Investigator S.M. Pate and made available Tuesday.
Smith's body was discovered outside her Campus Crossings off-campus apartment at 1400 Cornwallis Road on Jan. 4, two hours after Durham Police received reports of gunshots heard in the area. Shannon Elizabeth Crawley, a former Greensboro emergency 911 dispatcher, has been charged with the slaying.
Crawley, Jackson-Stroud told investigators, was most likely the woman a Campus Crossings groundskeeper saw leaving the complex moments after the gunshots sounded. His statement, made public within the warrants released Tuesday, marks the first time Smith's shooter has been linked to Jackson-Stroud.
According to warrants, the groundskeeper heard a shot at 8:18 a.m., and one minute later, saw a woman walking around the building in front of which Smith's body was later discovered. The woman was driving a burgundy Ford Explorer with a gray stripe, according to warrants. The groundskeeper noticed the woman was crying, warrants said, and asked the woman if she was OK. The woman "just continued to cry," the warrants said.
The groundskeeper told police he asked the woman if she heard shots and she nodded, at which point he said he was going to call police. The woman then drove away, despite the groundskeeper's request that she stay.
Upon hearing the groundskeeper's description of the woman and her vehicle, Jackson-Stroud told investigators he knew a woman who drove such a vehicle and that she had been " 'stalking' him for a while" warrants said. He told investigators Crawley had seen Smith before and would know who she was.
On Jan. 6, investigators searched Crawley's residence and Ford Explorer which, according to warrants, was still parked outside Crawley's place of employment. They seized Crawley's uniform, a phone bill, a computer tower, an envelope containing photos, a print-out of e-mails and a floppy disk. They also performed two gunshot residue kits, warrants said.
While the warrant describes the events of Jan. 4 in detail, no mention is made of Durham police officers' attempts to search Campus Crossings Apartments after the 8:18 a.m. reports of shots fired. Police did not return to the complex and discover Smith's body until 10:01 a.m., according to the warrant, when they were again called to the complex in response to reports of "a subject down."
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-812204.cfm
* At least the H-S is keeping up with this story.
The groundskeeper is at the scene at the time and
the body is not found until two hours later.
Witnesses describe shooting
By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Jan 23, 2007 : 11:26 pm ET
DURHAM -- The sister of a teenage murder victim testified Tuesday that suspect Lamar Bass threatened her just before her brother was shot, and another relative told jurors he saw Bass pull the trigger.
Bass, 17 at the time of the incident in a Northgate Mall parking lot during December 2005, is being tried on a charge of first-degree murder in the slaying of 16-year-old Lazarren Tyqwan McLean. He also faces charges of going armed to the terror of the public and attempting to murder a second victim who was injured but survived.
Bass faces an automatic penalty of life in prison without parole if convicted of the homicide charge.
Shenalda McLean, Lazarren's sister, testified Tuesday that she and her brothers, along with others, had just gotten off a bus at Northgate Mall when the incident began.
"We took like six steps from the bus," she said.
Suddenly, Bass threatened to "snatch" her, Shenalda McLean added.
She said her brother told Bass authoritatively that no snatching was going to occur, and Bass replied that he was "just playing." But Lazarren McLean continued to question Bass about the remark, according to his sister.
Shenalda McLean testified that she advised her brother to turn around and walk away, and shots rang out when he complied.
"I didn't see who shot because my back was turned," the sister added. "The gunshots was real loud. You could feel the sound going through your body."
David Barnhill, the dead youth's brother, testified that he did see who the gunman was.
"He was coming from behind me, walking up and shooting," Barnhill said of Bass.
However, Barnhill indicated that it may have someone other than Bass who "disrespected" his sister before gunfire erupted.
"Him and my brother was like arguing face to face," said Barnhill. "Then we turned around and started walking. That's when the shots were fired. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow ... I seen my brother laying on the floor. His eyes was rolling. I said, 'I love you. I love you, brother.' "
Barnhill said he didn't think McLean comprehended the words.
There also was testimony Tuesday from Quinzell Nahdee Williamson, who was wounded by gunfire but did not identify Bass as the shooter.
Williamson said he still has a bullet in his neck because physicians thought complications might occur if they attempted to remove it surgically.
The trial continues today.
Defense lawyer Woody Vann told jurors in an opening statement Monday that the case was one of mistaken identity, and that Bass was not the shooter.
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-812171.cfm
* Murders, witnesses and credibilty in the Durham courtroom- another case study.
Hell, the groundskeeper
-heard the shots
-saw the suspect crying, walking arounf the building in front of where Denita's body was found. [Does that mean the front of the building or the building in front of the building]
-asked that she stay, only to have her drive away
Cops come, fail to find a body.
Oh yeah, didn't maintenance workers or maybe the groundskeeper find the body?
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