Duke Rape Case: You Talking About Me?

by La Shawn on 06.19.06

in Bloggers, Duke "Rape" Case

DA Mike Nifong and railroaded lacrosse player Reade SeligmannThursday, June 22: This post is closed to comments. The Wilmington Journal reports that “alums of Duke” offered the stripper-accuser $2 million to drop the case. Do you believe it? Discuss here.

Update III (3:00 p.m.): The journalist’s private info has been redacted. Download the PDF at will!

I heard a rumor that Nifong will make a public statement soon. True? Later…I heard Shep Smith say it himself. If Nifong speaks, I’ll live-blog. Scroll all the way down to the bottom for that update. Even later…I don’t think there’s going to be a press conference. Shep Smith mentioned Nifong’s e-mail. I think that was the “statement.”

Update II (2:30 p.m.): Newsweek has asked me to black out the journalist’s private e-mail address and cell phone number in the PDF document. I don’t have the Adobe editing software to do that, so I removed the link. The media relations person asked Nifong to resend the press release with the info redacted. If/when that happens, I’ll re-repost the link…unless a reader knows where I can get a redacted copy.

Update (1:00 p.m.): In response to Newsweek’s story, Mike Nifong released a copy of his e-mail (PDF) [link deleted] Newsweek, in which he defends himself. Badly. (Hat tip: Robert KC Johnson)
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You know Durham DA Mike Nifong is getting desperate. He’s talking about the blogs!

I was delighted to read a Newsweek article on the Duke case yesterday about facts instead of the reporters’ opinions. Mainstream media’s (MSM) tendency to disguise editorials as news stories is why we conservatives are always ranting about “liberal bias, liberal bias!” The New York Times is notorious for editorializing on its front page, which is supposedly reserved for hard news.

My eye Objectivity, my eye.

Anyway, I love when journalists, politicians and controversial public figures say negative things about blogs (see Nick Coleman’s Blog Envy, ‘Manly’ Maney Says Blog Novelty Will Wear Off, and Ken Fuson’s Confusion).

According to the article, Nifong sent an “angry e-mail” berating the same media he was so eager to talk to a couple of months ago. His case isn’t going quite the way he planned, and the media tide has shifted against him. Nifong e-mailed: “None of the ‘facts’ I know at this time, indeed, none of the evidence I have seen from any source, has changed the opinion that I expressed initially.” He ranted about “media speculation” and said “it is even worse on the blogs.”

This makes me wonder which blogs Nifong has been reading. I’ve published at least 10 posts about the Duke case (see Duke Rape Case category), and my blog comes up high in most related keyword searches. History professor Robert KC Johnson has blogged about this case a lot. So has the The Johnsville News and Talk Left (left-leaning lawyer Jeralyn Merritt is also critical of Nifong). It’s possible that my “speculation” is contributing to his frustration.

And the thought gives me pleasure. :)

I haven’t said anything about Nifong on this blog (or elsewhere) that I would not say to his face. If he is perusing LBC, I hope he pays special attention to what I’ve written about his shameless race pandering and how angry I am that he’s using simmering racial tension and gambling with three men’s lives just to keep his lousy job. :x

After reading the defense motions and articles similar to Newsweek‘s, you’ve got to admit that his rape case is lousy, too. From the article:

It is possible, almost three months later, that the players are maintaining a conspiracy of silence. But it seems highly unlikely. Rather, court documents in the case increasingly suggest that Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong had very little evidence upon which to indict three players for rape. Indeed, the available evidence is so thin or contradictory that it seems fair to ask what Nifong could have been thinking when he confidently told reporters that there was “no doubt” in his mind that the woman had been raped at the party held by the lacrosse team.

Given legal and ethical considerations, it’s also unlikely that Nifong has a smoking gun yet to be revealed. He is required by law to turn over evidence. It is logical to conclude that he’s indeed turned over everything he’s gathered during the course of the investigation. If not, he has a lot more to worry about than media and bloggers.

I won’t parse the article. You can read. I just wanted to make you aware of it. If Newsweek, the same publication that instigated riots based on false information and its eagerness to side with the enemy and against the United States, is making the unprecedented move to report on the Duke case rather than editorialize it to death, Nifong’s days are numbered.

(Photo credit: Harry Lynch / The News & Observer-AP-pool)

Bloggers: Wizbang, Captain’s Quarters, The Johnsville News says, Show Us the Subpoena Timeline, Independent Conservative, Pirate’s Cove…

More bloggers: Coalition of the Swilling notes discrepancies with dates in the discovery documents, Customer Servant…

Are you Duke blogging? Trackback, and I’ll link.

Addendum: Republicans will challenge Democrat DA Nifong in November. He barely scraped by in the primaries, but he’ll have to run a real campaign to win the election. I suspected that Republicans would do something like this, which is why I predicted Nifong would continue with the case through November. I doubt a Republican can win in that district, but the competition will be good for the case. If you thought Nifong was pandering to blacks before, you ain’t seen nothing yet. :|

Commenter Greg writes:

It occurs to me from the comments of Montie in #2 above that this case represents sort of a test of consistency for those on the left side of justice issues. You know the ones. They argue for the release of people convicted of crimes like rape if DNA testing — not available when the accused were tried — subsequently fails to yield a match…It seems to me that this case has much in common with the cases of people having their convictions overturned based on subsequent DNA testing: no DNA match and a questionable identification.

Previous Duke posts below (format borrowed from The Johnsville News):

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