Wednesday, December 27: This post is closed to commenting. To discuss recent case developments, see 2007 Prediction: Mike Nifong Will Drop All Charges.
Update II (12/23): From a reader:
Dear LaShawn,
There are so many things I don’t agree with in your blog, however, you and I have seen eye to eye on the Duke scandal.
As a black woman, I was so annoyed and frankly embarrassed at people jumping to conclusions and lining up to defend this woman and drag these men through the mud. This was a disservice to black causes and to women’s causes. This was a disservice to humanity. To automatically judge a case based on people’s melanin content and whether they have a uterus or a penis is truly a disgrace, and the perpetrators of this are now laying low, hoping the whole thing goes away. I guess crow is a meal better eaten silently.
Thank you for staying on this case the way you did. I am glad those fake civil-righters and lame pseudo-feminists have been proven wrong. Since most of them lack a moral compass, I doubt that they will learn from their lessons but, hey, I can dream.
Jaded in California
Update (12/22 @ 3:33 p.m.): The Smoking Gun has posted the dismissal order. It seems the stripper-accuser may claim she was penetrated by something other than a penis. Under NC law, that’s not rape. Although I don’t believe she was penetrated by anyone or anything at 610 N Buchanan on March 13, 2006, the rape charges can’t be sustained based on the latest version of her gang-rape fantasy.
Commenter Richard Nieporent wrote:
It is perfectly obvious what Nifong is doing by not dismissing all of the charges. He is holding the three Duke Lacrosse players hostage in an attempt to prevent their lawyers from filing criminal and civil charges against him. Nifong knows that it’s much easier to convict the Duke Lacrosse players of sexual assault because DNA evidence is not needed. He is hoping that by holding these remaining charges over their heads they will be amenable to a quid pro quo of Nifong dropping all charges if they do not pursue a criminal or civil case against him.
***
Unbelievably cool. More here and here.
Merry Christmas, Dave, Collin and Reade!
Later…but they’re still charged with kidnapping and sexual offense! So much for the “Merry Christmas.” 
The stripper-accuser, who said she was beaten, raped, sodomized, and forced to perform oral sex, now says she “doesn’t know” if she was penetrated. Uh…how can one be sodomized and not know it? Hmm…
Reade Seligmann has a paper trail supporting his story that he wasn’t even there at the time of the so-called offense.
Mike Nifong conspired to hide exculpatory evidence. Dropping the gang-rape charges doesn’t change or mitigate that fact. In the past two weeks, I’ve been interviewed for two stories about this case. I hope my quotes make the cut. I’ll link to the stories either way.
Are you blogging this latest development? Trackback to this post, and I’ll link to you.
***
Blogger (and non-blogger) coverage:
Betsy Newmark: “I still don’t see how Nifong can go ahead with the other charges. The accuser will still be the main witness and she has zero credibility. And this new development will just be one new version of her story that will be open to some powerful cross examination.”
Power Line: “How the DA hopes to get a conviction on those charges (or any others), given the history of the case and the accuser’s shredded credibility, is anyone’s guess.”
Durham native Mary Katharine Ham: “It’s Durham. It’s full of a bunch of liberal white people who love to get yelled at by black people, and a bunch of liberal black people who are happy to oblige them. This story scratched that white guilt itch soooo good, they just couldn’t let it go, even though it was pretty clear from the beginning that the story was a little off.”
Tapscott’s Copy Desk @ The Examiner, Michelle Malkin, Independent Conservative, Talk Left (briefly discusses legal ramifications), The American Pundit, Diggers Realm, Hot Air, A Blog For All, Outside the Beltway, OpiniPundit, Lead and Gold, NixGuy.com, Sensible Mom…
More bloggers: The Bitch Girls, The Johnsville News (lots of linkage), Hoystory, Rhymes With Right…
And more bloggers: Blue Star Chronicles, Irons in the Fire, AOL Elections Blog…
Non-bloggers: Rabbi Aryeh Spero asks, “Where’s the ACLU to Defend the Duke Lacrosse Players?”; Thomas Lifson says, “Nifong may be too embarrassed to drop all charges at this point.”
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Note to first-time and new readers: Check out the Duke Rape Case archives (going back to April - sometimes the “Next Page” link at the bottom left of the middle column doesn’t show up in the IE browser unless you move the cursor near the small dash) and two columns I wrote for Townhall, The Most Absurd Rape Story of the Year (original title) and Scottsboro Revisted.
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Not interested in this case?
Check out my post on one Christian’s efforts to ban the Harry Potter books from government school library shelves.
How long do you reckon before Nifong is forced to drop the other charges?
Comment by DragonLady — 12.22.06 @ 12:45 pm
Thank God! I just hope some of the damage that has been done to their reputation can be restored.
Comment by Dkelsmith — 12.22.06 @ 12:46 pm
Hasn’t dropped em all, YET… If Nifong doesn’t drop ALL of it, HE is as ruined as the lives of the Duke boys…
Comment by TexasFred — 12.22.06 @ 12:52 pm
As the other charges (sexual offense and kidnapping? ) have not been dismissed, this is not total cause for joy. Nifong rightly recognizes that when even his accuser can no longer state that she has been penetrated, he is up a creek. Yet, he still refuses to give it up and goes for the jugular. The true vindication will come when the families are remunerated for the exorbitant costs and heartache they have endured at the hands of an unjust prosecuter and accuser.
Comment by jan — 12.22.06 @ 12:54 pm
Nifong needs to be slapped silly! This guy should go to jail for this blatant miscarriage of justice!
He needs to dropp all charges, give a formal apology to all involved, especially the accused! Then go off to prison in handcuffs.
The so called “victim” should be outed and publicly shamed for her lies as well.
Like the officers from the Rodney King fiasco, the REAL victims may never fully recover from this experience. Sad.
Comment by Jerry McClellan — 12.22.06 @ 1:00 pm
When do we get to charge Mike NiFong? He should rot in jail for a long time!
Comment by Shawn — 12.22.06 @ 1:04 pm
What I want to know is how do these three young men EVER get compensated for the year of their lives that they had to endure this? For the disruption of their college careers? For their loss of earnings for not being able to graduate until a year past when they were scheduled? For their legal expenses? They can’t sue her, she doesn’t have anything and never will. Nifong has immunity, perhaps Durham County? This case is a travesty and does such a great disservice to women who really are raped. Outrageous.
Comment by MJ — 12.22.06 @ 1:09 pm
Forcible Rape Charges Dropped In Duke lacrosse Case, Kidnapping, Sexual Assault Charges Remain
Forcible Rape charges have been dropped in the Duke lacrosse team case. Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong moved to drop the charges after the plaintiff told investigators that she couldn’t testify “with certainty” that she was raped. Reade…
Trackback by Diggers Realm — 12.22.06 @ 1:12 pm
If nothing else, this will make the jury, and the public in general, question the credability of the story even more then they currently are. If this charge is false, what about the other charges? Could they be carrying the same amount of credability, none? It is becoming less and less likely everyday that the team members will be serving any time.
Pingback by The American Pundit — 12.22.06 @ 1:14 pm
I hope they’re already planning a lawsuit.
Comment by Walt Schulte — 12.22.06 @ 1:31 pm
Does anyone know the sentencing guidelines for the other charges in N.C.? I believe they’re still considered felonies with substantial prison terms. Hopefully these charges will also be dropped, but ya never know what could happen.
Comment by dianne — 12.22.06 @ 1:36 pm
This is NOT necessarily the good news you may think it is, sorry.
He is NOT dropping the case.
He can STILL convict, but this gets him around both the timeline problems and the DNA.
He’ll say the woman was ‘abused’ in some way; that she only ‘thought’ she was raped, when really she was only being ‘touched’ in some provactative way.
She misunderstood what was happening to her, but she was nevertheless forcibly held and abused.
And THAT carries almost the same sentence as rape.
And for those who want to believe that SOMETHING must have happened in that house,
this is the perfect compromise.
And there have even been rumors that Nifong will coerce some of those at the party to at least testify to not having seen the three indicted for a few minutes–that they were gone from the party and out of sight. And that the AV was gone at the same time.
So now we will have still another totally ‘new’ story of the ‘rape’
And this can happen because there was no Bill of Particulars granted, which would have made Nifong
lay out his theory of the case.
He’s clearly been planning this all along as a fallback position, and THE JUDGES OF NC HAVE LET HIM DO IT!
Sorry, but this is NOT over yet, not by a long shot.
Comment by Seahawk — 12.22.06 @ 1:42 pm
Rape Charges Dropped in Duke Case
This has to have been a real bad month for Mike Nifong. First came word that he withheld key DNA evidence showing that the three charged individuals did not have relations with the accuser. Now we learn that he’s dropped the rape charges against Dave…
Trackback by A Blog For All — 12.22.06 @ 1:49 pm
Rape Charges Dropped in Duke Lacrosse Case
If Nifing thinks this meaningless action will take a bit of the heat off him he’s monumentally misguided.
Durham — Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong moved Friday to drop rape charges against three Duke University lacrosse players.
Trackback by Opinipundit — 12.22.06 @ 1:51 pm
But…
The Duke Lawyers filed motions to suppress (or throw out don’t know which) the photo line-up which could mean that if she can’t identify them for rape, she can’t identify them for any of the charges….
Comment by dianne — 12.22.06 @ 2:00 pm
So, they can’t generate any charges based upon a lack of DNA evidence. Fine. So they say, ok, they didn’t “penetrate” her but they did everything else.
I mean, my God, Nifong must either be the most evil or the most stupid DA of all time.
She claims that she was raped and sodomized by three men during a party for months and NOW she says she isn’t sure she was penetrated?
WHAT!!!?
Ok, ok, everything I have said to this point is a total lie, but this part is still true, kinda.
We always knew that Nifong would try to squirrel his way out of this by having the accuser refuse to testify.
Nifong desperately needs this case to go to trial in some form to avoid being sued civilly by the accused.
This man is evil.
Comment by Bill Mitchell — 12.22.06 @ 2:09 pm
It’s progress!!! Hot dang!!
Query: If ya been paid 800 bucks to enter a house willingly and engage in your occupation, how is that “kidnapping”? While I’m the civil litigation attorney on the board here, I’m not sure if I’ve seen “kidnapping by voluntary hire” in the statutes…. might have to do a little legal research over the Christmas Weekend to see if I can find this one…
Is it “sexual assault & battery” to “touch” while stuffin’ a dollar in a garter?
TaterCon
Comment by TaterCon — 12.22.06 @ 2:14 pm
Question to those who know:
When it is proven that an accuser has fabricated horrible lies and ruined the lies of these accused, can she be pursued criminally for that or just civilly.
I mean, my God, there must be a law against making false accusations.
Nifong is the DEVIL.
Comment by Bill Mitchell — 12.22.06 @ 2:14 pm
“Sexual offense” - just what is that? Sounds like a kind of prosecutor’s consolation prize for Nifong. Reminds me of the “appearance of wrongdoing” charges the MSM and Democrats are fond of when real charges flop.
And “kidnapping” - well, I am no lawyer, but if the rape charges has tanked, can this be far behind? “Sexual offense” is probably the straw Nifong is frantically squashing in is hands right now.
I look forward to the day (probably the year 2009 or so) when Nifong charges the Duke defendants with income tax evasion. I can hear it now: “Your Honor, they locked this poor, brave black woman in a room against her will and forced her to fill out their 1040 forms in an effort to defraud the Federal government.”
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi — 12.22.06 @ 2:15 pm
Ding Dong Nifong Drops Rape Charges in Duke Lacrosse Case! (Video)
Word is that the stripper accuser told an investigator Thursday, that she was not able to testify with certainty that she was raped. For us following the case for a long time this is no surprise. Because if you’ve been following along, an offi…
Trackback by Independent Conservative — 12.22.06 @ 2:24 pm
La Shawn has an excellent roundup in keeping with her excellent coverage of this case. See here and keep scrolling to get updated.
Pingback by NixGuy.com — 12.22.06 @ 2:30 pm
Duke lacrosse: Bombshell!
So how can he go forward with the other charges in light of this?
Trackback by lead and gold — 12.22.06 @ 2:36 pm
#18
“When it is proven that an accuser has fabricated horrible lies and ruined the lies of these accused, can she be pursued criminally for that or just civilly.
I mean, my God, there must be a law against making false accusations.”.
This is NC we’re talking about. IRRC, the maximum penalty for making a false charge is $1000 fine and 200 hours of community service. (This is not actualy perjury on the witness stand, but just making a false accusation about someone to the police.)
After all, we wouldn’t want to discourage women from making charges of rape, would we?
Comment by Seahawk — 12.22.06 @ 2:36 pm
Duke Rape Hoax VI
While the rape charges have been dropped, which is great, District Attorney run amok, Nifong, has not dropped the kidnapping and sexual offense charges even though no DNA from the payers has been found in or on stripper. And so
Trackback by Sensible Mom — 12.22.06 @ 2:52 pm
Kidnapping in Oregon (and I can’t say for certain if it’s the same in NC, but I imagine it’s similar) includes not only taking someone from one place to another, but also keeping someone against their will. I imagine the theory is that the defendants kept the “victim” in the house after she told them she wanted to leave.
Having worked for both a Republican and a Democrat DA, I’ve found that Republican DAs, while they may make decisions the public finds harsh or may disagree with, those decisions are based on a moral compass. Democrat DAs, it seems, are only interested in how it looks, and overcompensate for their liberal tendencies by going over the top. Common sense doesn’t come into play.
Comment by Cecil Franklin — 12.22.06 @ 3:01 pm
According the NY Times, the stripper, um–hard-working single mother forced into degrading herself to support her family–cannot testify with any certainty that a male sexual organ penetrated her. That something penetrated her is still up for discussion.
I have no trouble believing that a woman traumatized by a sexual assault could be confused about exactly what entered her body during said assault. What a horrible subject to ponder. However, didn’t she also accuse these guys of forcing her to perform oral sex? I will avoid the obvious graphic question, but I will ask: Doesn’t suddenly changing that story lends a far less plausible twist to the whole shebang?
Comment by Eric — 12.22.06 @ 3:02 pm
You can’t imagine how much I celebrated in my car when this news came over the radio. La Shawn Barber, who has been all over this case, is collecting posts from around the blogosphere. People are pointing out that with even though the prosecuter is sticking with the other two charges, the facts that have come out so far point to a pretty easy case to raise reasonable doubt. Of course people are properly disgusted with the timing of this to minimize media coverage. Damn, I might have to watch Nancy Grace tonight to watch her choke over reporting this news.
Pingback by The Bitch Girls — 12.22.06 @ 3:04 pm
#27
“the facts that have come out so far point to a pretty easy case to raise reasonable doubt.”
Nifong plans all his moves far ahead. He has avoided the consquences of the Gell case by saying he didn’t speak to the AV. And he has planned these moves to get around losing a photo-ID and the DNA.
He can try for a conviction on sexual assualt by showing the jury only that it MIGHT have happened.
The jury will be a selection of people who don’t read newspapers or use computers–so that they won’t have formed opinions about the case.
But they will know that rich, white, preppie kids from Duke disrespect them (both white and black, but poor Durhamites).
Working from that, Nifong can show they are hooligans, with previous convictions and a bad reputation, and with computers that have porn on them and have visited all sorts of unsavory sites.
Once the jury loathes them properly, it will be easy for them to decide that the assault on the woman MIGHT have happened. And that is all they need to follow their urge to ’send a message’ or ‘teach a lesson’ and convict.
That is what Nifong is counting on–emotion, not evidence. That was Darrow’s old strategy; and it is Nifong’s.
This case is far from over yet.
Comment by Seahawk — 12.22.06 @ 3:19 pm
It is perfectly obvious what Nifong is doing by not dismissing all of the charges. He is holding the three Duke Lacrosse players hostage in an attempt to prevent their lawyers from filing criminal and civil charges against him. Nifong knows that it much easier to convict the Duke Lacrosse players of sexual assault because DNA evidence is not needed. He is hoping that by holding these remaining charges over their heads they will be amenable to a quid pro quo of Nifong dropping all charges if they do not pursue a criminal or civil case against him. This is a last desperate act on the part of this evil and despicable person to save his own hide. May he get the justice that he tried to deny to the Duke Lacrosse players.
Comment by Richard Nieporent — 12.22.06 @ 3:41 pm
These latest developments are truly unbelievable. Nifong is evidently bound and determined to prosecute demonstrably innocent people, apparently out of spite, since there is no cogent reason for him to persist in this prosecution. This case continues to gain in infamy, and will undoubtedly be remembered centuries hence as the most notoriously abusive prosecution in the history of the United States. The only conceivable “justice” that could possibly come out of this whole sordid mess would be for Mike Nifong to be publicly cast down to spend the rest of his miserable life in prison. Anything less would be a travesty.
To look into this soul-less apparatchik’s eyes is to gaze into the evil heart of Stalinist tyranny. It was petty bureaucrats like Nifong who sent innocents by the untold millions to their deaths in the Gulag. For that matter, he could just as easily have filled the shoes of Roland Freisler, who, as President of the People’s Court in Nazi Germany, transfomed the rule of law into an agency of state terror. For the sake of the republic, this man and his evil must be utterly destroyed.
Comment by SteveDinMD — 12.22.06 @ 3:47 pm
At this point, anything short of disbarment for Mike Nifong would be a grave injustice.
He deliberately and calously used (and possibly manipulated) an inflamatory charge brought forward by an angry (the Duke party didn’t refused to pay the full fare for their abreviated “act”) and unstable (family acknowledges she’s bipolar) accuser who changed her story to investigators no less than five times for his own naked political gain.
Nifong has wantonly and needlessly wounded the city of Raleigh, NC, Duke University, the three apparently innocent men he’s dragged through this process and race relations nationwide, for his own personal gain.
Nifong withheld vital information from the defense (the initial DNA results) and set up a line-up that was not within legal limits - he’s bent, folded and otherwise broken the law.
Allowing him to resign and keep his law license would be a travesty of justice. He should be disbarred first and THEN forced from office on the grounds that he no longer has the required law license to serve in that capacity.
Comment by JMK — 12.22.06 @ 3:51 pm
The unfortunate news is that charges of sexual assault and kidnapping still stand — proving that Nifong continues to put his political career ahead of justice.
Pingback by Hoystory — 12.22.06 @ 3:55 pm
A reporter has now interviwed Irv Joyner, the law professor at NCCU appointed by the NAACP to keep watch on the case.
He is saying that Nifong’s decision to drop the rape charges actually could strengthen the case for sexual assault and kidnapping because it will de-emphasize the importance of DNA results that failed to provide evidence of rape.
He reports that in North Carolina, the criminal penalties for first degree rape and first degree sexual assault are the same, meaning the accused men are in no less peril.
“If her [the accuser’s] testimony is that she was moved from one part of the house to another against her will and there was sexual touching, then he [Nifong] can build a case on those charges,†said Joyner.
“But Joyner, who said this week that Nifong should consider recusing himself from the case, said that defense attorneys probably will use the accuser’s confusion about whether she was raped to undermine her credibility in the eyes of jurors.
“The ability of the state to prove its case is going to be burdened by the inconsistent statements. No doubt about that,†Joyner said.
Comment by Seahawk — 12.22.06 @ 3:56 pm
Recently, I saw a lawyer on C-Span say that trials begin and end with jury selection. To me, that is an abhorent commentary of our criminal justice system. We have become an appallingly “emotionally based” culture. This is a dangerous road to traverse.
Comment by jan — 12.22.06 @ 4:08 pm
“This is NC we’re talking about. IRRC, the maximum penalty for making a false charge is $1000 fine and 200 hours of community service. (This is not actualy perjury on the witness stand, but just making a false accusation about someone to the police.)
After all, we wouldn’t want to discourage women from making charges of rape, would we?”
So in other words, any vindictive woman who feels in any way jilted by a man, can make up any charge she wants against that man, thereby ruining him forever and once it is proved she made it up, she gets a slap on the wrist?
That’s it, i’m NEVER leaving the house!
Comment by Bill Mitchell — 12.22.06 @ 4:39 pm
Luckily, I can say I have never been sexually assaulted. However I cannot imagine how one could ever, EVER, forget being forced to perform oral sex on someone.
This woman is a liar. Plain and simple. And I always felt that way. I’m infuriated by this case, as a woman - and especially as a black woman. Do we need to give bigots more fuel??
I have my own theory for why the “rape” part was dropped: The secret pregnancy. That was the biggest whopper of them all…who gets raped, ends up pregnant by the perpetrators, and HIDES IT???? Why would you hide the smoking gun? Obviously the paternity tests were going to prove none of these people was the father. Then you get the question of who is violently raped and THEN has unprotected sex with someone else within a week? Her credibility was even further down the drain.
Shaking my head. This makes me SO mad.
Comment by DW — 12.22.06 @ 4:43 pm
So in other words, any vindictive woman who feels in any way jilted by a man, can make up any charge she wants against that man, thereby ruining him forever and once it is proved she made it up, she gets a slap on the wrist?
There are two parts to any such offense: criminal and civil. The $1000/200 hours is the maximum penalty for a criminal prosecution. That doesn’t mean that the falsely accused have no recourse.
In fact, this is what defamation/libel/slander (a civil action) is all about. The standards are fairly high, but my non-lawyer mind thinks that there is a definite chance that we might have something here.
The stripper’s assets might be enough to pay a couple of hours of the accused men’s lawyers. Nifong, on the other hand, when he’s done facing criminal charges, might have enough assets to get somewhere. Ditto the county of Durham.
One famous case involving false accusations to police turning into a successful prosecution for defamation is the case of Steven Pagones vs. Al Sharpton et al regarding the Tawana Brawley affair. Pagones, himself a prosecutor, was awarded $345,000 for the defamation.
Comment by Michael Chaney — 12.22.06 @ 5:10 pm
If he’s trying to strongarm a settlement that way he’s even dumber than he seems. In most states, that qualifies as felony extortion — using criminal charges to get something of personal value (release from risk of lawsuit).
Comment by Dave Hardy — 12.22.06 @ 5:47 pm
“…a far less plausible twist to the whole shebang?”
—- Eric’s closing question, at 26.
Eric!! There was no “shebang”!! That’s what the lacrosse players have been saying all along!!
Oh, wait. With the DNA of five or so other men in her, I reckon there had to have been a “shebang” sometime (before her arrival), somewhere (but not at the Evans Street house), somehow (let’s leave it to the imagination) and with five as yet unknown somebodies (certainly not lacrosse players).
It’s no wonder the poor girl couldn’t dance worth a dang!!!
TaterCon
Comment by TaterCon — 12.22.06 @ 6:39 pm
I won’t run off on a spiel on how screwed up this whole mess has been. Suffice to say that I agree with Cheshire’s point that the DA’s effort to strip any use of DNA at the trial after he, 2 cops, and the owners of a lab were caught red-handed concealing exculpatory evidence but keeping charges he does not rely on DNA to make looks mighty, mighty suspicious. If he dropped the whole case he would be conceeding that he was engaged in a conspiracy to railroad the Duke players. His keeping charges is to try and prevent disbarment by placing the blame on the accuser for being “wrong” on some of the details, but right on the assault - he’s crazy - of course. The ID procedure and the collapse of the accuser’s credibility will end up in those charges tossed - but Nifong things if he can stretch it out, he and the 2 cops can perhaps negotiate and avoid the worst consequences…like dropping the last charges in return for no complaints to the Fed or the Bar and no inquiries for police misconduct where the cops give up Nifong for their own lieniency deal.
But I will add a very germane item of news onto the actual case news.
That being that Google has just released their annual zeigist of top hits by search term category. In “controversies/recent news” Google reports that the Duke Rape case was not just the top search done globally, it occupies the 3 top spots out of 5 nationally and in international “controversies/recent news” searches done in 2006.
Which indicates to me that the media may have not realized the enormous level of interest and how many people were hitting the Internet regularly the last 9 months for updates on events and controversy. And it indicates that the impact of the Duke Rape case is potentially broad and deep on the American psyche, and significant fallout may happen from the Duke case.
It may have a major effect on:
1. The image of American justice, here and abroad.
2. Duke’s reputation, applicant pool. A loss of trust in the support and loyalty that Duke affords its students.
3. A more negative perception by a considerable portion of the American public on the abilities of black/feminist liberal activist advocacy groups to render rational judgments.
4. National harm to the efforts of North Carolina to promote itself as a modern, progressive state, image of the South..
5. More suspicion about the integrity and ethics of lawyers and cops - especially if people see Nifong and his 2 cop henchmen escape any civil or criminal consequences and conclude a cabal of powerful lawyers/state officials always encircles a fellow member of The Club with Good Ol’ Boy protection a mere civilian does not get in the American justice system.
6. Far greater suspicion of women claiming rape, particularly black ones in the underclass.
7. More belief that the liberal media is automatically biased “non-minority, non-victim identity Americans - all to support the PC crowd. More trust in bloggers to get to the truth.
8. More suspicion that the grand jury system sucks and is simply a secretive rubber stamp tool of the state and a convenient way to dispense with checks and balances in favor of unfettered power of prosecutors to manipulate gullible layman and lie to indict whoever they wish. (The exact opposite of what English Common Law intended grand juries to do before prosecutors figured out how to “game” them.)
9. Realization that identity politics, which splits campuses and communities up into opposing “classes” or presumed noble victims and presumed evil oppressors is a cancer on America.
Comment by Chris Ford — 12.22.06 @ 6:40 pm
And I’d add it is about time for the Accuser’s name and photos to be openly aired.
Comment by Chris Ford — 12.22.06 @ 6:41 pm
Some Charges Dismissed In Duke Rape Case
But corrupt Prosecutor Mike Nifong has still left two heavy-duty felony charges in place, even after dismissing the rape charges because the alleged victim suddenly can’t recall if she was ever penetrated by a penis — regardless of her earlier…
Trackback by Rhymes With Right — 12.22.06 @ 7:25 pm
Nifong started out trying to break Messrs. Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans, even though he is bright enough to know the accuser’s story was false.
Now Nifong has been elected, but he and his case have been so discredited that he is trying to make the Three blink–that is, agree to a ceasefire.
For America’s sake, I hope the Three
Insist upon achieving COMPLETE VICTORY!
They shouldn’t be framed.
He must be tamed.
It’s a crime, prosecutorial abuse.
Nifong should not be on the loose.
Comment by Michael J. Gaynor — 12.22.06 @ 7:29 pm
La Shawn Barber provides additional commentary and an extensive link roundup of blogger reax.
Pingback by Sister Toldjah — 12.22.06 @ 8:00 pm
Nifong is a reject. However, he is playing a form of chess that includes a few surprise moves. That does not make him “a force to be reckoned with.” It would be a terrible mistake for the accused to face him in court with a team of solid, respectable lawyers. They need to unleash a meaner, smarter junkyard dog on Nifong.
This case is not about justice; it is politics at the street gang level.
Comment by heliotrope — 12.22.06 @ 8:08 pm
LaShawn Barber, as usual, is on the ball with this story. She’s been my number-one source for news on this shameful disgrace to the American justice system.
Pingback by csott.com — 12.22.06 @ 8:45 pm
I already track-backed my posted sentiments about Nifong and the devastation to three innocent young men with bright futures solely for his own benefit. I heard a well known writer, so well known I can’t remember his name now, on Court TV tonight. Let’s just say that he was more than unkindly toward Nifong. He has extensively researched the case and its participants. He said that Nifong has spent his entire career as a state employee. Nifong got his job when the elected DA took the bench. Nifong had never stood for election or had his performance tested before. He had merely moved along the state system via the “Peter Principle” (the theory that employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent - see answers.com). The handwriting on the wall was that Nifong was slated to lose the May election to a well known female DA he hated and had fired when all of a sudden in March, 2 months before the election, this lifesaver case came along. Nifong needed to suppress the DNA information and not present it at the grand jury to jeopardize the indictment.
I agree with many of the previous posts especially those that call for the the accuser to be identified and face public scrutiny. We deserve to know her and she no longer (if she ever did) deserve the continued anonymity and protection.
Comment by Donna Goldman — 12.22.06 @ 9:32 pm
Merry Christmas,
Remember, Jan 16th NC Bar Disciplinary committee meets. If Nifungu doesn’t give it up by that date, he is going to be in deep s***. Actually, he already is in deep S***. The question now is just how much time he is going to get for conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the boys. I said it before, I’ll say it again, the only person going to jail over this event, is Nifungu.
I guess the question is how can this man be this stupid, oh, I forgot he went to UNC-CH.
Take that tatercon, Merry Christmas, Kemp
Comment by kempermanx — 12.22.06 @ 11:04 pm
Ref the Duke ‘rape’ case
I think one of Barber’s commenters is right: he’s hoping to use pressure from them to keep the actual victims of this mess from suing his ass off for all he now or ever will own.
Trackback by Irons in the Fire — 12.23.06 @ 12:14 am
My applause! Well said, Donna Goldman (post #47)…
Thanks for your very intelligent and insightful post. I only hope that this monstrosity of justice will come to some reasonable conclusion soon. I also hope that the three young men indicted in this bogus case will survive the next suffering of Mike Nifong’s “socially maladaptive†reconstruction of the truth… He continues to change the rules of the game by introducing what appears to be a new variable to influence others. I’m not surprised. He must construct a fantasy to save face.
I am so ashamed of the legal system where I live. It’s painfully obvious that the color of one’s skin takes precedence over the truth… White guilt is no longer an issue for me after dealing with this case…
Comment by Tate — 12.23.06 @ 12:14 am
Crystal Gail Mangum, who isn’t a rape victim, claimed in graphic detail that she was gang raped vaginally, orally, and anally by three men in a bathroom - medical and police evidence never supported such a claim, yet Mike Nifong rail roaded three innocent boys, destroyed their reputations, and dragged this case out for almost a year. Ms. Mangum swore under oath months ago that she was 100% sure that two of the boys raped her and 90% sure that the other one raped her. Crystal destroyed the lives of innocent boys and Mike Nifong had a great part in the propogation of this rape lie. They both deserve prison time
Comment by Betty Friedan — 12.23.06 @ 12:17 am
The Rape of the Duke University Lacrosse Team
Durham North Carolina District Attorney, Mike Nifong has dropped rape charges against the three lacrosse players accused of raping an exotic dancer at a fraternity party last winter. The players still face charges of kidnapping and sexual offence.
I ca…
Trackback by Blue Star Chronicles — 12.23.06 @ 1:38 am
Thank you Betty….it is about time everyone began using the real name of this false accuser. Her sad circumstances have inclined us to give her the courtesy of anonymity long after we were all certain that she was lying. I wanted to believe she simply got caught in a self-serving lie and was caught off guard when taken seriously by Gottlieb and Nifong. But perhaps it is about time she is given more respect…as in believing that she is not simply some dimwitted, drug-addled pawn in Nifong’s scheme, but a full-fledged adult participant, completely responsible for her life choices and for her VERY detailed accusations (surely the “embroidery” was not something Nifong scripted - although he has been happy to use it to the fullest). Crystal Gail Mangum…..when is the MSM going to show you the respect you deserve and make your name and any photos available to the public? (Congratulations to FOX for taking a step in the right direction.) What have you got to be ashamed of?
These three men have withstood the intense media scrutiny precipitated by the various and sundry “memories” of Crystal as she went about her chosen career activities/chemical ingestions one night last March. Why, in this case, are the MSM and some blogs hesitating in allowing an obvious liar to enjoy the full force of the devastation and humiliation her lies have caused others? Poor traumatized little female??? Economically disadvantaged? Race? Which reason is her excuse for needing to be treated as less than an adult, less than a responsible human being, frankly, less than a person?
Comment by Lisa McLaughlin — 12.23.06 @ 2:08 am
Kemper - I said it before, I’ll say it again, the only person going to jail over this event, is Nifungu.
While focusing only on one man and demonizing him for all problems (a la bin Laden) is convenient and what the media actually prefers in its laziness - you don’t get a mess this big without collusion by others in criminal behavior or a pack of moronic enablers and ideologues.
What Crystal Gail Mangum did was criminal and violates Federal civil rights law. What Nifongs two cop henchmen did - and they were with Nifong at every decision point - was false grand jury testimony, manufacturing evidence (Gottliebs suspect description notes), violating state and local ID protocols, searches without warrants, intimidation of witnesses, co-conspiring with Nifong to conceal evidence.
Both Himan and Gottlieb have no immunity, no shield of Good Ol’ Boys of the Bar protecting Nifong.
They are wide open to the Federal Law Enforcement Misconduct Statute and can drag down Nifong and any other Durham PD, town officials also conspiring to violate civil rights to save their own asses and pensions.
Fixating on Niphong is perhaps the worst strategy - given his multiple protections - The best anyone who has tracked this case can hope for is the Feds come in force and drive right by Nifong’s Durham courtroom offices to drag a number of cops, Meehan, and Mangum in for interviews and frank talks with Federal prosecutors. Then to get a Fed court order to query each of the 18 grand jury members on Mangum’s rape case to see if Nifong or his only two witnesses (Himan & Gottlieb) lied under oath to the jury. Then to defense lawyers for all the info they have and basis for Federal civil rights allegations. Then to interview Nifong’s DA assistants. Then back to Durham PD to investigate other allegations of a pattern of misconduct the town, state of NC failed to correct. To Duke and N&O to investigate who made and distributed the vigilante posters.
All while Nifong sits and stews, suspended as DA by court order pending the Fed investigation completion and indictments.
Then and only then to Mikey, starting with his public lies meant to taint the jury pool at the beginning, his lies in open court. Then if they have Himan or Gottlieb turned - to explore if Mike Nifong engaged in conspiracy to rig an election, conspiracy to defraud the state of funds on pursuing charges he knew were lacking probable cause, and his actions as a conspirator to violate the rights of the Accuser (possibly), Kim Roberts, the taxi driver, the 46 Duke students initially accused and unfairly villified, and finally the 3 indicted suspects.
That black voters kept Nifong in power despite an avalanche of news that the rape was bogus reflects very poorly on them and there’s no escaping that. If white voters had overwhelmingly backed Nifong in prosecuting black men obviously innocent of rape charges, every media center and every black leader in the nation would not be as willing to overlook the role the electorate plays in all this as they have been.
Comment by Chris Ford — 12.23.06 @ 9:46 am
Chris,
Very good points, I hope the Feds get’em all. You are right they probably will crack the cops first, but Nifungu is symbol and I think they’ll indict him with the cops. By then he’ll be an out of work law clerk in Kansas, cause no one in NC is going to hire him.
Comment by Kempermanx — 12.23.06 @ 10:37 am
The Duke Rape Case and Politics
Why bring this up on a political blog, you may ask, simply because the District Attorney used this case to win re-election and thus it was not only a racial case since the accuser is black and the players are white, it became highly political.
Trackback by AOL Elections Blog — 12.23.06 @ 10:42 am
First off, Nifong is not going to be prosecuted. He won’t even be censured. First, it is almost impossible to rein in an out-of-control DA, no matter how egregious his conduct. He cannot be sued, either, because it is almost universal that Prosecutors are protected against lawsuits stemming from acts in office. In North Carolina, there is also no real oversight of prosecutors. Only the Bar, and it just got through handling a case where two prosecutors freely admitted they not only hid evidence from the defense, but actually manufactured incriminating evidence to put an innocent man on Death Row. Their punishment after all was said and done? One is now a Judge, and the other is still a DA. No disbarment, no sanctions, nothing.
Comment by Mark — 12.23.06 @ 12:29 pm
On the positive side, this case is one more hit below the water line for the main stream media and their stranglehold on news and information, and will hasten their downfall as their reputation disintegrates. Consider, for example, ‘The New York Times,’ which continues to draw blistering criticism for its ridiculously inaccurate reporting on the Duke case. For at least fifty years, the Times has been nothing more than the New York Bureau of ‘Pravda,’ yet has been routinely acclaimed as “the paper of record.” Only now, though, is the public at large finally beginning to catch on, due to the rise of the blogosphere. The NYT, in fact, was never more accurate in its reporting years ago than it is today, nor did it adhere to any higher standards of journalistic integrity or ethics. It only seems that way because up until very recently almost no one had the means to independently verify the paper’s accuracy. It is my hope that people everywhere will now come to recognize the true definition of JOURNALIST — noun, any idiot with a printing press.
Comment by SteveDinMD — 12.23.06 @ 1:01 pm
Mark, you are absolutely wrong.
No immunity exists for State DAs if the Feds come in and pursue Federal conspiracy charges related to obstruction of justice, a pattern of misconduct under color of law by law enforcement uncorrected by state agencies, election rigging, or civil rights abuses.
Biggest obstacle? It might be the 2 Republican Senators and the Republican governor begging Gonzales not to embarass their state further after all the recent Fed investigations.
Comment by Chris Ford — 12.23.06 @ 4:03 pm
#28 Seahawk said… “That is what Nifong is counting on–emotion, not evidence. That was Darrow’s old strategy; and it is Nifong’s.”
Even mentioning Mike Nifong in the same sentence as Clarence Darrow is just wrong. Clarence Darrow was an American treasure. Mike Nifong is a corrupt DA.
#57 Mark said… “First off, Nifong is not going to be prosecuted. He won’t even be censured.”
Unfortunately, I’d have to agree. While Broadhead’s statement on Friday showed that rats are beginning to leave a sinking ship, the NC State Bar has shown anything BUT a state of moral outrage at the conduct of one their members. While Kemp and Tatercon have advanced theories why this is, I’ll maintain that a state bar while remains silent while witnessing criminal activity by one of its members is, in fact, sanctioning such activity.
I know that sounds harsh but really, what other conclusion is the general public supposed to draw from the NC State Bar’s silence?
Up until the testimony under oath that Nifong conspired to suppress evidence the Bar could maintain its Pontius Pilate approach under the guise that it could not interfere with an on-going trial. Once sworn testimony was given about Nifong’s criminal activity, the Bar’s silence became and remains an endorsement of such tactics.
Comment by RebelPOW — 12.23.06 @ 4:40 pm
Chris we don’t have a republcian governor haven’t had since 1988
Comment by Kempermanx — 12.23.06 @ 6:29 pm
Friday, December 22, 2006
Now Duke University’s President Wants Nifong to Step Down!
After initially jumping in on the side rushing to judgment, now Duke University’s President (Richard Brodhead) is joining calls for Mike Nifong to resign!
Nifong should be disbarred for violating the law he was elected to uphold.
For that reason, anything short of disbarment for Mike Nifong would be a grave injustice.
He deliberately and calously used (and possibly manipulated) an inflamatory charge brought forward by an angry (the Duke party didn’t refused to pay the full fare for their abreviated “actâ€) and unstable (family acknowledges she’s bipolar) accuser who changed her story to investigators no less than five times for his own naked political gain.
Nifong has wantonly and needlessly wounded the city of Raleigh, NC, Duke University, the three apparently innocent men he’s dragged through this process and race relations nationwide, for his own personal gain.
Nifong withheld vital information from the defense (the initial DNA results) and set up a line-up that was not within legal limits - he’s bent, folded and otherwise broken the law.
Allowing him to resign and keep his law license would be a travesty of justice. He should be disbarred first and THEN forced from office on the grounds that he no longer has the required law license to serve in that capacity.
Two great bloggers on this are LaShawn Barber http://www.lashawnbarber.com/
and K C Johnson at Durham-in-Wonderland http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/
LaShawn Barber has a great article on these new developments at; http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2006/12/22/duke-rape-charges-dropped/
Comment by JMK — 12.23.06 @ 7:09 pm
It is good to see Crystal Mangum’s name being used - we need to see her picture without it being blurred out, as well. I for one, am looking forward to seeing her out and about here in this urine soaked hell hole, also known as Durham.
Nifong will probably never face any difficulty over his handling of this case. It doesn’t work that way here.
Also, as a registered voter, I am looking forward to serving on any jury that handles any case resulting from this abomination.
Comment by JM — 12.23.06 @ 10:24 pm
I would say that all the anti LAX people from Duke and Durham that misused positions of authority in this case… They all need to be rounded up and punished…. Every single one of them from the teaching assistant, the university president, to the DA. This case has national exposure. It does affect how citizens look at rape, race, prosecutors, and integrity. Why should I trust my local DA if I ever get accused of anything? Why should I respect the judicial system? Why should I believe any cries of “Rape” What should I not think racial complaints are just bullshit. The inability of the screamers and yellers to back off and apologize and then advocate true justice puts all this in a power situation. A white male at a southern academic institution is foolish to participate in any sort of multicultural activity.
Should I assume that the Micheal Richards stuff is being overblown? That Mike Tyson was probably also set up? That Kobe Bryant is also innocent?
Once the legal system realizes a false complaint has occurred, they need to gear back and punish the accuser and let the accused free. Otherwise we will only have kangaroo courts here. And justice will end up in the hands of the individual instead of in the hands of civilization. People will only take so much of this crap. Pretty judge and lawyer language will carry no weight.
Comment by Jd — 12.23.06 @ 11:22 pm
Stephen Smith column in the Philadephia Inquirer :
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/16310572.htm
Injustice has spoken in the Duke lacrosse case
By Stephen A. Smith
“When prosecutors dropped rape charges on Friday against three Duke University lacrosse players. . . There was no hype to speak of. . .
“Perhaps there should have been, though. . . Maybe mea culpas, tinged with hyperbole and accentuated by self-promoting individuals who have appeared to shed their titles as activists eons ago, should be placed on the front pages, apologizing to the three who were accused. . .
“Not so much for presuming their guilt before all the evidence came in. Mainly for using it to promote a black cause without giving a damn.
We have serious problems all across America, but nothing compared to the kind that exists in the black community, and the perverse pleasure it evokes from those who watch from afar.
(snip)
The black community has a bigger problem: Ourselves. Our sensibilities. And, primarily, our judgment.
Specifically from those who claim to be leaders in our community.
“A stripper claiming she was raped by Duke students, suspect in ways crystallized by DNA findings, is worth an investigation by the proper authorities and even some media coverage.
But an issue like this is not worth another referendum on race relations. . .
(snip)
It’s time for a morality check. By every one of us.
Don’t look at the white man. This is a black man talking to you.
Merry Christmas!”
Comment by Seahawk — 12.24.06 @ 9:23 am
While Broadhead’s statement on Friday showed that rats are beginning to leave a sinking ship, the NC State Bar has shown anything BUT a state of moral outrage at the conduct of one their members. While Kemp and Tatercon have advanced theories why this is, I’ll maintain that a state bar while remains silent while witnessing criminal activity by one of its members is, in fact, sanctioning such activity. — RebelPOW at 60.
Dadgummit, Reb, I’m not advancing a theory — I’m setting forth explanations why the NC State Bar can’t join the chorus in the press while the events are unfolding, no matter how apparently correct the chorus has proven itself to be. There are limits on its power, and thank God for that. As the body created by statute that will be passing judgment on Nifong’s license to practice law when this whole mess in the Durham County Courthouse is over, IT CAN”T MAKE PUBLIC PRONOUNCEMENTS ABOUT NIFONG’S GUILT OR INNOCENCE UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF THE ACTUAL “TRIAL”, OR HEARING, WHEN HIS LICENSE IS AT STAKE!!!!!!!!
What you’re doing now is urging the State Bar to throw due process out the window because you want it to agree with you now, sooner than later. You’re convicting our State Bar of complicity and “sanctioning” this mess, just because its officials aren’t expressing the outrage you think they must.
To draw upon an analogy from this very case, your demand for a quick show of outrage is as off the mark as Chancellor Brodhead and the Duke administration’s show of outrage in running off a perfectly fine lacrosse coach while events were still unfolding. Brodhead’s and Duke’s credibility is suffering because they acted way, way too early. Our State Bar is exercising the restraint that Brodhead should have exercised, and it’s because it must.
So …. cut the trash talk and junk about Pontius Pilate and “endorsements of Nifong’s tactics”. It’s almost occuring to me that you’re doing this because it’s easy to whack a lawyer’s organization — for in most all instances, one doesn’t see anyone come forward in the lawyers’ defense.
Comment by TaterCon — 12.24.06 @ 5:12 pm
So, tatercon, how many Bar Counselors can you get to, to the give them some advice, I got 2 of the 32 covered. You need to help out down east. Merry Christmas, Kemp
Comment by Kempermanx — 12.24.06 @ 6:09 pm
Chris,
One more point, I know both our Senators, they have ABSOLUTELY, no say in state judicial affairs.
I doubt either would get involved with a federal case, certainly not Dole, but Burr on the other hand has a son at UNC who knows the whole story, so he might be inclined to get involved.
Tatercon all I can guess is he couldn’t get his son into Duke, but he did get into the Phi Dels.
Comment by Kempermanx — 12.24.06 @ 6:21 pm
…..all I can guess is he couldn’t get his son into Duke,… Kemp’x, right above me.
And a Merry Christmas to you and yours, as well!
Now for the retort: Might it have occurred to you that there are folks whose children did not want to attend the Gothic Rockpile seven miles to the east of the Southern Part of Heaven? That there are kids who wish to go to UNC-CH, rather than Rutgers U-Durham campus?
As the T-shirts say in the stores on Franklin Street: Friends don’t let friends go to Dook.
I’d give you a big humbug, but sometimes my sense of humor constrains my initial instincts.
Comment by TaterCon — 12.25.06 @ 1:14 am
We live in a checks and balances system. Both other branches of the government have some type of say so in the affairs of Nifong. At his level, at the state level, and at the federal level.
But at times of crisis, like this is for North Carolina, the Governor should be stepping up to bat. Unless you think it’s only a small thing this is. To me it’s an all out assault on every American’s rights. Just because a DA lacks integrity.
Too often we enjoy the tedious process of the law and bore people to death instead of taking on the spirit of the country and serving justice correctly.
While lawyers are valuable, when they twist the system like this and think they are tilling new legal ground, they are wrong. We need less of these type of people holding the reins of justice in any part of our country.
Comment by Jd — 12.25.06 @ 5:07 am
NORTH CAROLINA IS A WEIRD STATE!
Hi Folks,
I live in North Carolina. This state truly does many many things in weird ways. It makes me wonder how many Congressmen have been taken out to strip bars by lobbyists to get some of these laws passed.
Recently my car was totalled by a hit and run driver. People witnessed it happen, but it was dark and no one got a license plate. The car was totalled.
I was insured and expected that I would not have to pay a collision deductible since ASSUREDLY Uninsured Motorist would cover a hit and run, as it does in every state I have ever lived in.
But in NC, Uninsured Motorist ONLY covers in a hit and run (now get this), IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY THE PERSON THAT HIT YOU!
Ok, maybe I am wrong, but the idea of hit and run is YOU DON’T KNOW WHO HIT YOU!
This state’s laws are from some other parallel universe where they actually make sense.
Comment by Bill Mitchell — 12.25.06 @ 8:33 am
So, they finally dropped the rape charges in the Tawana Brawley, I mean, Duke stripper case. The next step (after dropping ALL THE CHARGES) is dropping Nifong out onto his sorry butt.
Comment by BlueJeanPreachin — 12.25.06 @ 4:13 pm
Nifong doesn’t deserve to be dropped on his butt! He needs to be put in prison and have those lonely prisoners punish his but so he can really appreciate the meaning a rape!
oooh! such language, and from a lady.
Comment by Betty Friedan — 12.25.06 @ 11:44 pm
Bill (at 71), Uninsured Motorist Coverage in North Carolina covers your personal injury damages (medical exp., wage loss, disfigurement, pain and suffering), not property damages.
Your collision coverage, I’m afraid, is what you’ll need to turn to in order to cover your property damages in a hit and run instance. “Collision” covers your own car’s total loss or “fix-it” costs when you’re at fault for your own accident (as in, your daughter drives your car, runs off the road, hits the restaurant sign pole) or when she’s not at fault (as in, where your daughter’s car is sideswiped in a college parking lot). (Do these
analogies ring from my own experience, perhaps?)
If you could identify the driver or owner of the car that damaged yours, you would have a claim against that driver and his/her “liability” insurance carrier’s coverage, and you could recover the fair market value of your total loss.
This coverage scheme is pretty much uniform across the country for property damage loss, with minor variations from state to state. There are many more variations when it comes to coverage schemes for personal injury — med pay, no-fault, uninsured, under-insured, etc. etc.
Hmmmm …. Methinks TaterCon is turning into a defender of all misconceptions about North Carolina…..
Comment by TaterCon — 12.26.06 @ 8:19 am
Funny how the black race mongers and the white class envy crowds have gone into hiding since this news broke. I wonder do the “New Black Panther”, Jesse “I have a sceem” Jackson, Al Sharpton and others still support the stripper even after all this? Nifong has gotten himself in way too deep with this case. His credibility is totally shot. People now want him investigated for his actions. He has to take the case to trial just to give the appearance that he truly believe a crime was committed against the stripper. Frankly, I would take the word of the likes of Bill Clinton over this stripper any day of the week.
Comment by Tyrone — 12.26.06 @ 5:14 pm
Once again, Ted Williams, one of Greta Van Susteren’s regular legal panalists, argued in favor of the Duke case proceeding to trial. He could express no cogent reason behind his contention, just that it should be so. For my part, I can’t detemine whether his opinion is motivated by blind racism or plain stupidity.
Comment by SteveDinMD — 12.26.06 @ 10:42 pm