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McKinney signs bill praising Capitol police By BOB KEMPER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 05/17/06 Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who faces possible charges of assaulting a Capitol police officer on March 29, this week signed on as a co-sponsor of a House resolution praising the work of the Capitol police. McKinney, of DeKalb County, officially became a co-sponsor of a bill intended to "express the gratitude and appreciation" of the House for the department's "professionalism and dedication." There are 40 other co-sponsors, though those lawmakers signed on in early April when the resolution was first introduced as a way of chastising...

Defense lawyers suggested Wednesday that the District Attorney's Office may have shown favoritism as early as 2002 to an exotic dancer who claimed she was gang raped during a Duke University lacrosse party in March. In a written motion filed in Durham County Superior Court, attorneys for indicted rape suspect Reade Seligmann asked why the dancer received "such a favorable plea bargain" for criminal charges arising out of a drunken, stolen-car, high-speed police chase in June 2002. Court records show that even though the woman was charged with four felonies and numerous other traffic violations, the offenses were plea-bargained down...

It's always interesting to see which story blows up in the national news and races across the land like a prairie fire. No, this isn't about Elliott Yamin. We're talking about the Duke University rape saga, which has become the latest reality crime drama to spontaneously combust in our collective consciousness. Two rich white boys, members of the Duke lacrosse team, were indicted in the alleged rape of a black stripper at a party March 13. It's a Molotov cocktail of race, class, sex, sports, booze and politics. New developments in the Duke rape scandal! We're tantalized with a flood...

Americans love to poll, test and otherwise assess themselves. A news item barely hits the wires before a poll follows indicating Americans' reaction. Applying for a new job? Just fill out this short questionnaire to determine whether you're racist, sexist, homophobic, heterophobic, ageist, height-ist, or a fat-o-phobe. In that spirit of sensitivity, I submit the following pop quiz to gauge your bias as a news consumer. After reading the following characteristics, please select the college group that most likely fits the description: The group has a 100 percent college graduation rate. Sixty percent have a 3.0 grade point average or...

WASHINGTON It all seemed darkly funny at first. Eric Haskett was merely taking a nap in a car when he roused suspicion in a rural Frederick County neighborhood. A neighbor traced Haskett's license plate to an address once used by a registered sex offender. Then his girlfriend's parents told him to scram; law enforcement officials, including three FBI agents, began investigating; and Haskett began fearing that the suspicions could cost him his job at a gag shop that sells such kid-friendly items as whoopie cushions. "It blew me away that a federal agent was sticking a badge in my face....

FIGHTING MAD: Rape victim Kathleen Ham was livid when Sheldon Silver tried to slip a provision into a bill that would remove the criminal statute of limitations from rape cases. EXCLUSIVE Three decades ago, Kathleen Ham was raped and shamed into silence. Now, she is nail-spittingly furious at a man she says will do anything to help violent attackers get away with it. "Sheldon Silver is the rapist's best friend!" Ham said to me unflinchingly. "He's still living in this '60s mode," Ham said of Silver, the powerful state Assembly speaker. "He thinks the rapist is the victim! It makes...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A second round of DNA testing in the Duke University lacrosse rape case came back with the same result as the first -- no conclusive match to any member of the team, defense attorneys said Friday. Attorney Joseph Cheshire, who represents a team captain who has not been charged, said the tests showed genetic material from a "single male source" was found on a vaginal swab taken from the accuser, but that material did not match any of the players. "In other words, it appears this woman had sex with a male," said Cheshire, who spoke at...

A judge has begun delivering the verdict in the trial of ex-deputy president Jacob Zuma as supporters rallied outside the court to hear whether the man they see as South Africa's next president will be found guilty of rape. Once the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma is accused of raping an HIV-positive woman at his Johannesburg home six months ago, a charge he denies, testifying that he had unprotected, consensual sex with the woman. AFP photo A guilty verdict could see Zuma spend between five and 15 years in jail, and bury the career of one of South...

DURHAM, N.C. - Mike Nifong emerged from his first campaign for public office with a victory and a confident smile, saying he was eager to get back to running the district attorney's office. He also spent plenty of time during the campaign shunning questions from reporters about the rape investigation against two members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team. It's a task he'll have to get used to considering the long road ahead. Nifong said he doesn't expect the case to come to trial before next spring, setting up an intense and lengthy standoff between sides that have refused...

A 13-year-old girl who told Zion police she was raped by seven boys in an apartment complex laundry room last month has recanted her original statement that she was forced to engage in the sexual activity. Authorities are only pursuing charges against the eldest boy involved, who at 17 can be prosecuted as an adult for having sexual contact with a minor, Zion Police Chief Doug Malcolm said in a statement. No other charges will be filed. The youngest boy linked to the April 19 incident in the 2600 block of Gabriel Avenue is 12. The boys were interviewed separately...

The boy who cried wolf had it coming. I mean, exactly how retarded do you have to be to keep screaming a lie-a lie that you know damned well is a lie--at the top of your lungs, causing the community to froth itself into an uproar over that self-same lie, pissing them off, thereby rendering yourself unbelievable and unreliable, and doing so to the point that it leads to your horrible demise and endangers the very group you were supposed to be protecting? I don’t know…why don’t we ask the Feminists? After all, they appear to be the only group...

We are with you. We are outraged with you. We will fight back for you..... .Rest assured, we will not rest until justice is done, especially the strong brothers. (snip) Single mothers sometimes bring their kids to class, setting them up with juice and crayons in the back of Mass Comm. (snip) The most mundane beginnings explain her life. The youngest of three children, she grew up in Durham. Her father drove trucks and worked a second job cleaning cars on an auto lot. Her 1996 graduation photo from Hillside High School shows a girl with shoulder-length braids and a...

On April 4, 2004, Sara, an 18-year-old UW freshman, says she was sexually assaulted by two members of the crew team. By her account, she was drunk, the two men took her to an apartment, removed her clothes, and one of the men briefly penetrated her, despite her pleas for him to stop. The other man put a stop to it, though Sara said he also took part in the assault up to that point. By any conventional standard, the incident Sara described is a rape. On Wednesday, the UW Police Department referred the case to the District Attorney's Office,...

rape allegation involving Duke students. Police said the rape allegedly happened after a party at Koehane Dormitory on Duke's campus. According to a police report obtained by WRAL, the accuser reported the alleged sexual assault the day after it happened on April 27

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCERhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/183007_crimelab22.html Rare look inside state crime labs reveals recurring DNA test problemsThursday, July 22, 2004By RUTH TEICHROEBSEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERFor the detective working the case, it looked like a sure thing. The 58-year-old suspect had confessed to raping his young niece. He had a prior sex-crime conviction. related features - DNA testing mistakes at the State Patrol crime labs - Produce lab error rates, some urge - How DNA is tested in crime labs (PDF; 165K) - "Shadow of Doubt" special report DNA evidence extracted from the 10-year-old girl's underwear would be the clincher.Charged with child rape, the road-crew worker...

A federal jury has found former Deputy City Attorney Henry A. Dillon III guilty of raping and violating the civil rights of two women. The verdict comes just two days after U.S. District Judge Lance Africk sent the case to the jury. Dillons' trial now moves on to its sentencing phase, where he faces life in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be formally sentenced August 3 by Africk. According to the indictment, Dillon violated the victims' civil rights by sexually assaulting each victim. Prosecutors said Dillon lured the women to his office by telling them they had to...

They stated, "Every year since 1989, in about 25 percent of the sexual assault cases referred to the FBI where results could be obtained, the primary suspect has been excluded by forensic DNA testing. Specifically, FBI officials report that out of roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases since 1989, about 2,000 tests have been inconclusive, about 2,000 tests have excluded the primary suspect, and about 6,000 have "matched" or included the primary suspect." The authors continued, "these percentages have remained constant for 7 years, and the National Institute of Justice's informal survey of private laboratories reveals a strikingly similar 26 percent...

Accused Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann's attorneys want Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong thrown off the case. Today, they filed a legal motion specifically asking for it. "DA Mike Nifong neglected his duty as a prosecutor to seek the truth and a fair prosecution," the defense's motion reads. The motions were filed just 24 hours before Nifong's Tuesday election in which he's fighting to keep his seat. Nifong is being challenged by former prosecutor Freda Black and private lawyer Keith Bishop

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Duke Rape Prosecutor Shares Evidence with Black Panthers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jim Kouri May 2, 2006 Malik Zulu Shabazz, an attorney with the New Black Panthers, told Fox News Channel Tuesday that the prosecutor in the Duke rape case shared information and evidence with the Panthers during a meeting. In an interview with Fox News Channel's Brian Kilmeade and Juliet Huddy, Shabazz said that members of his group, who are protesting the treatment of the alleged victim of a rape by the Duke University lacrosse team, met with the prosecutor to review his evidence against the students. Shabazz claims the evidence...