Thursday, January 11: Post closed to commenting but continue discussion at Stripper-Accuser’s New Version of Gang-Rape Fantasy.
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Note: Post and article round-ups at The Johnsville News and LieStoppers.
GUILTY Until Proven Innocent
Reade Seligmann, one of the Duke lacrosse players indicted for “raping” a stripper, is going through what countless others have gone through. Falsely accused of a heinous crime, he’s had to face the possibility of prison, see the disappointment and worry in his family’s faces, and endure negative media attention, all because an egomaniac race-baited his way against a brick wall.
Seligmann didn’t rape, assault, or kidnap the stripper-accuser, and he has the paper trail to prove it. But for almost a year he’s lived under the curse of a rogue prosecutor intent on making an example of him.
Seligmann spoke to Newsweek about what the past year has been like for him and his family. An excerpt:
Seligmann now awaited a call from the prosecutor that would tell him if he was one of the players she’d singled out. He felt certain he would be cleared. The call came. Reade, 20, was being indicted for first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. He had a strong alibi—cell-phone records would show he was busy calling his girlfriend at the time the alleged crime was taking place—but the D.A. declined to hear it. As he heard the news, Reade looked at his dad. It was the first time he’d ever seen his father cry. Then it hit him: how was he going to tell his mom? Kathy Seligmann was home in New Jersey with her three other boys. He dialed her number. “Mom,” he said, “she picked me.”
Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans are learning a hard lesson. Actions have consequences. For future reference, I advise them to avoid the kind of women who strip and slut themselves out for a living. They will be exonerated because Mike Nifong does not have a case against them. He’ll succumb, eventually, to professional pressure to drop the case and resign from office. Until then, the families must remain confident that justice will prevail.
Media Awakens, Cover-Up Revealed, Backlash Ensues
Mainstream media (MSM) have turned against Mike Nifong. It’s funny how they “reported” his version of events as though it were gospel in the beginning. Never have I seen left-leaning journalists parroting a district attorney and cops the way they’ve done in this case. They weren’t simply reporting facts. They wanted to believe three white men gang-raped a black woman. Compared to how they covered the “Duke rape,” MSM virtually ignore black-on-white rapes and intraracial crimes in general. Deathly dull.
Who among them could resist incessantly reporting on and editorializing about an “oppressed” black woman being brutalized by “rich” white men? Nifong played the race card to the hilt, even going so far as to speak at the black college the stripper-accuser attended. One pea-brained black student said the men should be prosecuted whether they committed the crime or not. “It would be justice for things that happened in the past.”
For those who cover the crime beat in the Durham area, it must have been like striking gold: a black victim stripping for a living “to feed her kids,” loud, rude, and drunk white athletes, race and class divisions, town-and-gown issues.
But it couldn’t last because Nifong doesn’t have a case; he never had a case. At first he was confident that the woman was raped, saying, “There won’t be any arrests before next week. I have decided not to make arrests until DNA evidence is back.” Nifong intended to arrest lacrosse players all along, so he pulled a CYA maneuver before the results came back. Even if there were no match, he said, it wouldn’t necessarily exonerate anyone. “The attackers could have used condoms or might not have been team members.” (Source)
The problem is that the stripper-accuser said no condoms were used, and Nifong knew or should have known what his own witness told doctors and nurses. But as I said, he intended to arrest and indict someone who attended that party, and we’ll probably never know why he risked his career and his freedom to do it.
Once that first round of DNA tests came back negative, those who branded the men guilty waited for Nifong’s assurances that a gang-rape indeed happened at the party. They were bolstered by the second round, which was “inconclusive.” It turns out that David Evans’s DNA was found on top of one of the stripper-accuser’s fake fingernails (retrieved from the bathroom trashcan), not underneath, where you’d expect to find it if she had been fighting off an attacker. Considering that Evans lived in the house and used the bathroom, Nifong’s new “evidence” was just as weak as his character.
By this time, people who still wanted to believe Nifong had a case assumed that he had “something up his sleeve,” a smoking gun he’d dramatically reveal. But in real life, it doesn’t work that way. Prosecutors are required to turn over evidence in a timely manner, and if Nifong had anything dramatic at that point — helpful or harmful to the defense — he was obligated to reveal it.
But we all know he didn’t have anything against the lacrosse players, not one shred of evidence linking them to any gang-rape. Determined to find some kind of DNA match between his lying witness and the men he indicted, Nifong sent the DNA to Brian Meehan’s laboratory for more stringent testing. Nifong was gonged again. No match between the players and the stripper-accuser.
But there was a match between several men and the stripper-accuser, and Nifong withheld this information from the defense. Under cross examination, Meehan confessed: Nifong and I agreed not to report it.
That’s when the leftist national media woke up from its man-bites-dog trance. Nifong had no choice but to drop the rape charge. The Washington Post went on record: It’s time to drop all charges. The Los Angeles: Ditto. [Update: Yesterday, the Ashville Citizen-Times apologized for its biased coverage.]
Nifong’s colleagues filed charges against him and asked him to recuse himself from the case. Still shameless, he’s holding on. After his swearing-in last week, he had the nerve to say this: “I don’t feel that I’m part of the problem. I feel that I have assisted in revealing the problem. Durham has some healing to do. And I need to be part of that healing process, and I need to have something to do with how we move forward.” (Source)
What does one say about such a man? Nifong obviously is the problem. Armed with the sharp edge of race and class division and his own issues with Duke University and lacrosse players, Nifong sliced through innocent lives and re-opened wounds of existing racial tensions. He appealed to the depraved part of the human heart that wants to see others fall, whether guilty or not, out of envy, jealousy, resentment, and anger.
The consequences of Mike Nifong’s abuse of power will reverberate throughout Durham for years to come. And the people who voted the scoundrel back in office will deserve every bit of the fallout when he’s finally forced to resign in disgrace.
(Second photo credit: The News & Observer)
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Great summary! I’m going to quote some of it on some other boards.
The only problem I will have is picking out which portions to quote, because it’s all so good!
(I know, flattery will get me nowhere, but I might a well try…
)
Never have I seen left-leaning journalists parroting a district attorney and cops the way they’ve done in this case.
Usually it’s the other way around : the press won’t believe the cop’s version and denigrate the DA for prosecuting.
And, never has a city government and its politicians remained so silent in support of their cops and their DA like they have in Durham; not one word of criticism from any of them. People from all around the nation (and the world) have criticized Nifong, but evidently he is held in such esteem in Durham that they just can’t bring themselves to join in.
Or maybe he just knows where all the bodies are buried. . .
This situation is beyond a tragedy in so many ways.
I believe that the professors expected to be applauded for going against these young men. In fact I believe they still would like to be thought
of as progressive and strengths to the university. How dare these young men rape a poor girl of color, who was doing the best she could in a society dominated by whites.
No matter that the team is innocent. The professors jumped on the bandwagon of political correctness showing how racist they truly are.
When will time reveal that under these condescending tones are masked racists. Those who stand and rally against white on black discrimination, truly believe that the blacks are too ignorant to take care of their own.
It embarrasses me to think that in 2006/2007 with Condi Rice in the position she is in(and Nancy Pelosi for that matter) to see a woman strip for anyone. As for what I believe is the root of the strippers’ problems is for another day.
It’s time to stop crying racism for every situation. True, there is genuine racism, such as the racist and judgmental bias that the team has experienced.
LaShawn,
I posted last night on your old Duke story about my meeting Sunday night with my Bar friend. I thought I would re post it, since most did not see it. He is on the Grievance committee of State Bar, they will meet again THIS week. He had previously suggested that Nifungu might be surrendering his law license soon, which made no sense to me. It is starting to make sense.
Greivance committe is meeting before Jan 16th meeting, and at that time they will make recommendations to bar for action. It has been suggested that Nifungu’s best hope is a 5 year suspension of this license, which sounds doable to the Bar, IF 1. He resigns immediately, and 2. Duke cases are dismissed. Civil suits will follow and I think Fed criminal cases will to, but Mikey needs to take this shot. His only other chance is surrender his license saying he is disabled, which most people would believe!
Bottom line, this is going to be over VERY soon!!
Kemp
I disagree with one point. Crime reporters routinely parrot the DA/police line. That is the only way they can get their leaks and stories.
Usually, though, the story is a local concern only. So no one really notices what happened when an innocent man is released years later.
BTW, Durham is also not unique when it comes to giving bad prosecutors a pass. Very few ambitious DA’s have paid a price for cutting corners and framing the wrong guy. (See John Grisham’s latest AN Innocent Man for just one example.)
Ms. Barber, I rarely disagree with you, but –
Nifong obviously is the problem.
Nifong is obviously a big part of the problem. But he conspired with police and Meehan to create a false lineup, suppress lab DNA results, and arrest and suborn perjury from an alibi witness – Moez Mostafa
The fact that the people around Nifong were willing to go along with this clearly illegal activity suggests that this was business as usual for Durham Law Enforcement.
I lived through the LAPD Rampart debacle. It was well known on the street that LAPD cops were crooked, were planting evidence, extorting people, robbing and dealing. We had an honest DA – and it still took years to get the housecleaning started. If Durham has a corrupt department AND a corrupt DA, it will never happen a short of a complete federal takeover.
Our top story tonight:
The New York Times is still dead!
“LAPD cops were crooked”
False. There was never anything wrong with the LAPD, and there didn’t need to be any “housecleaning”.
Back then.
Although, these days….now that the LAPD has almost 40% women on patrol…… maybe there does need to be an overhaul.
One good thing about this Duke mess is that it is definitely shedding a huge light prosecutor misconduct, a big problem.
It is usually the supposed black perp who is treated like these white kids in this type of scenario.
Hopefully some changes can now be made in the system.
Why is Cash Michaels covering the Duke case for the Black press instead of La Shawn Barber?
Sexism?
I hope Tiki Barber is as perceptive as La Shawn now that he will receive an ABC megaphone.
So where are the feminists, the “new” Black Panthers, the NAACP, Jesse and Al and others who claim to speak for Blacks? Is the good “Reverend” Jesse still going to pay for this lying tramps education?
A very well written summation. I also agree with one of the commentors above that there are other conspirators to this travesty of justice and all should be investigated and punished for any legal wrongdoing. Furthermore, Duke’s administration should hang its head in shame. I hope both of the undergrads publically refuse Duke’s offer of reinstatement.
i wonder if nifong is going to call tawana brawley, alton maddox, and c. vernon mason to help him bolster his “case”.
My only question is: can no one stop this man? Where is the judge stepping in saying this is all a farce and case dismissed?
I am willing to bet that at the February hearing, the judge on the case actually ALLOWS the lineup evidence and the case moves forward.
My feeling is that the entire justice system there in Durham is “thick as thieves” with the emphasis on “thieves”.
I recall right after this all happened that I was talking to a policeman from Durham who worked out at my gym. He told me in confidence that the whole police department knew there was no rape and that Nifong was out of control.
Wanna know what I am dying to hear?
I am dying to hear from the Grand Jury members about what Nifong actually presented to them as evidence to get an indictment and did he knowingly withhold evidence from them?
I know a Grand Jury will “indict a ham sandwich”, but with the lack of evidence in this case, even a ham sandwich looks guilty by comparison.
I would go further. I would say that the votors who reelected Nifong have chosen to support the tort losses when the upcoming lawsuit clobbers the city and taxes have to be raised or services cut to pay off the lost lawsuit.
Is it really necessary to refer to the woman accusing them as a “stripper-accuser” over and over again?
We know she’s a stripper. We also know that she has falsely accused these men of raping her. Constantly reminding your readers of the fact that she’s a stripper is nothing more than an attack upon her character.
The facts of this case speak for themselves. She LIED. That is what is important. She is also a stripper, which is not important. It wouldn’t matter if she’d been stipping since she was 12 and turned more tricks than Xaviera Hollander. It is her honesty that is relevant to this case, hot her sexual history.
#19 Lee reminds us that Crystal’s profession is insignificant. It is only important, in terms of the case, that she lied.
I guess I can not really argue with that, but I am terribly hung up on the “nuance” of the whole mess.
The rich, devil-may-care white boys on the Duke lacrosse team did not hire Crystal to come show them how to knit blankets for infants born to third world babies in the high climes of Chile or Tibet.
It is also not important that Crystal has just had her third child born to known or unknown fathers and cared for by who knows whom as she takes her talents as an “escort”, stripper, exotic dancer or drug use companion on the road as a paid occupation.
Here is my opinion: Crystal is a whore. She has whored her mind, her body and her self worth for a few coins. A bit of a Judas, she is. But, according to Lee, she LIED on top of it all. Well, now, doesn’t that take all? Everything else is her business, but telling a lie is the clincher.
Remember Monica Lewinsky? She did her Crystal thing on Slick Willie and Slick Willie made it possible for sweet, young, naive Monica to come back for repeated encores. And what did they nail Slick Willie on? The LIE.
Geez, Louise, Lee you certainly see it all in perfect perspective.
Pardon my ardor, but I have had moral relativism up to the gills.
“Constantly reminding your readers of the fact that she’s a stripper is nothing more than an attack upon her character.” Lee, at 19.
Um, what character?
Don’t forget the assistant DAs. They are Law school graduates and should have no significant problems getting remunerative employment. It is unconscionable for them to stand by. They have only one choice–to resign. Send them a fax. They are all listed at http://www.ncdistrictattorney.org/mikenifong/da_staff.htm. Their fax number is (919) 560-3220 . Send them individual faxes insisting that they resign.
This is Mike Nifong’s fault but he couldn’t operate for one day without his legal staff. They are complicit. They do not have any “I was following orders defense.
La Shawn or Kemp, will anyone look at the accuser’s tax returns? Sounds like she was making a lot of money. Do you think it was all reported as income? Just asking.
La Shawn, great post! One comment struck me -
“Never have I seen left-leaning journalists parroting a district attorney and cops the way they’ve done in this case.”
Bob Wilson, a retired NC journalist (ex-Durham Herald-Sun) compared the early DukeLAX coverage to that of the Sam Shepard case.
http://johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2006/12/ashley-didnt-learn.html
I googled some coverage of the Shepard case, it was stunning what the Cleveland papers printed. I’ll post a link when I find it again.
Lee,
Actually calling Crystal a stripper is polite. She is a prostitute that had the DNA of FIVE different men in her vagina, anus and panties.
Let’s agree, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Crystal from now on will be referred to as that LW,lying Wh**e, or the DAP, drug addicted prostitute.
OK
Belle,
Just saw your post, Tax returns? What tax returns, LW’s , see above post, don’t file and we couldn’t see them if she did.
Kemp
The facts of this case speak for themselves. She LIED. That is what is important. She is also a stripper, which is not important. It wouldn’t matter if she’d been stipping since she was 12 and turned more tricks than Xaviera Hollander. It is her honesty that is relevant to this case, hot her sexual history.
Lee
Well, for years feminist ideologues have tried beating it over people’s heads that whatever a women did in their lives has absolutely no impact in their credibility as a witness. Because a drug addict could be robbed of their welfare check and need more funds, and a crack whore could be raped and “devestated” by the violation.
The problem is it isn’t true.
At least in witness credibility.
Lifestyle choices that cover a wide spectrum of criminality are predicated on lying, lying often, lying so much that for the perp lies and truth blur into one. Embezzlers, whores, drug addicts, con artists, live lives built on lies. They get good at it.
Whores lie to family, lie to customers, lie when they make declarations to welfare, to student aid at NCCU (for example), and on tax returns that hides their whoring income. Not to mention, in Mangum’s case, a previous false rape accusation, a less than honorable discharge from the Navy on morals and deceit charges, and a criminal record based on grand theft and attempted assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon.
And in court, that past criminality and it’s attendent lying can be impugned in instructions to jury in assessing witness credibility.
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La Shawn – Great summary, especially for those not tracking the case closely.
I would add that all those involved in this up to their eyeballs besides Nifong (police officers Gottlieb, Himan, certain asst DAs, Mangum, certain Duke Faculty and community activists) would like nothing more than to skate out of any culpability or consequences by scapegoating Nifong alone. And, with his head hoisted on a Pike, make seet words about the need to forgive, forget, not sue anyone, no other job losses or punishments. All so “the community can heal, put this past us, and obtain the PC sacrament of KA-LOZE-URE”
Kemp, that’s what I mean. I personally don’t want to see them, but it sounds like she was making a lot of money doing her, ahem,…”thing”.
Isn’t it required that you report your income, even if it is earned doing your “thing”? Isn’t that how they got Al Capone?
#30
Isn’t it required that you report your income, even if it is earned doing your “thing� Isn’t that how they got Al Capone?
Do you mean that Precious, Brian Taylor, Olatoye, et. al., ought to be investigated under the RICO statute?
My, the feds are going to be so busy. . .
Love your writing! Thanks.
Yes, a prostitute can be raped. But in THIS CASE, I think it’s pretty safe to say that she lied through her teeth, with ever-changing stories, on a repeated basis. And women who lie about rape as she did do a disservice of major proportions to women who really ARE raped, particularly women of color who have enough problems dealing with the legal system, especially in the South.
The Durham D.A. has conspired with the police and labs to conceal evidence from the defense. That alone should be a criminal offense and if it isn’t – who do we see about that!?
Nifong has prosecuted his case in the media to an extent that is criminal.
Nifong has indicted 3 innocent young men DESPITE exculpatory evidence and total lack of EVIDENCE and clear and convincing evidence that this young woman – whatever her profession – was spreading her legs for LOTS OF MEN that night! None of them Duke lacrosse players and none of them her boyfriend.
Nifong should be removed from the case forthwith. 1 hour from now is too late as far as I am concerned (my patience ran out by the first of April of 2006). Then he should have his license to practice suspended in perpetuity. And he should be forced to do community service cleaning toilets in the Duke lacrosse team’s locker room at least 10 hours per week for 5 years.
Lawsuits against Nifong personally, as well as all governmental bodies involved in any way (including President Brodhead and the University) in this travesty should follow the dismissal of all charges – which ought to have already happened.
I don’t normally feel this strongly but so much about this case is so incredibly WRONG.
Heliotrope: “Geez, Louise, Lee you certainly see it all in perfect perspective.
Pardon my ardor, but I have had moral relativism up to the gills. ”
ROTFLOL
And kudos to Chris Ford about how all criminality is tied to lying.
Only thing I wonder about are the Feminists. Talk about having cake & eating it.
The whole premise of feminism is essentially this: “Don’t sell a woman short because of her gender.” A woman should be able to do anything she wants by stint of will & intellect, and not on basis of beauty/sexuality.
This is in direct response to the notion that a woman ought to be barefoot, pregnant & in the kitchen. Naturally, the only ‘career’ options left to a women in ye olde dayf is a) marry, b) maid & c) the oldest profession – whoring.
In spite of all gains made, or perhaps because of it, by sufferagettes and Libbers, it appears the pinnancle of success is to be bare-a**ed, ’safe-sexed’ and on your kitchen screen.
Granted, there are some feminists outspoken about the girls-gone-wild mentality, but the lure of easy money, has got a very strong appeal.
To decry the flesh market from Playboy Bunny to Heidi Fleischman to Paris Hilton on down to Crystal ‘Precious‘, is to be looked upon as a right-wing fanatic and feared by the likes of Rosie. The irony of why she lambasts the Donald trumps all.
But then again, limousine liberal elites can’t get too worked up about the stellar efforts of the UN to keep developing world women and children in their ‘place’. As any other case, before they expend one dime, it all depends on whose crime if they’re gonna do the time. For instance, if Halliburton, or say a GOP personality, so much as had one incident, you know the MSM would be all over it like flies on stink.
This is a comfort to the liberals; if they should slip up and get caught with their pants down, there’s always a chance for ‘mercy’ and redemption from peers, leading to no change in personal status.
So much for the sex revolution, long live the slaves to the sex machine!!! [/sarcasm]
This was posted at the Citizen Times article comments.
By fu1time; “Interesting apology, Ms. Ihne. I guess technically you did say you were sorry for jumping on the media bandwagon that’s gone a long way toward making these young mens’ lives a living hell, but you still couldn’t keep yourself from closing with yet another moral judgment on their dastardly deeds of drinking alcohol and hiring strippers. More than a little prudish, especially considering you nowhere held the stripper involved to the same standard. Or one that even comes close to it.
Where’s your moral outrage at her making up felony charges that could put these kids in prison for decades? They hired a stripper – how about her actually being a stripper (and a prostitute, apparently)? Or being so intoxicated herself that night she couldn’t stand or speak? Or having a child out of wedlock recently, or having sexual intercourse with several men that weekend who weren’t Duke lacrosse players?
Mind you – these aren’t my personal issues. I think “moral” judgments about the party itself are ludicrous and I couldn’t care less. But since YOU brought it up, Ms. Ihne, maybe you should be fair about it. Surely the fact that that the kids are rich and white and she’s black didn’t help you aim your barbs. Nah, not at the ACT.”
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When I read that alleged apology had it been my keyboard it would have been kiting the same keys!
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Fox news had some talking heads going on about how Nifong is going down with the ship. Setting himself for massive lawsuits, disbarment, possible criminal charges and jail time. One big point they did make was he would be called upon to compensate the boys families for the huge amounts they have spent defending against unfounded charges.
Kemp says the day of magic will be the by the 12th, I hope he is right! Then the real legal work can get underway!
I’m so delighted I found your blog Lashawn.
My husband is a “white” professor at the college this “accuser” used to attend. He remembers the day the students were salivating and trying to get him to release them from his class so they could “MARCH” in protest/fury at duke. He eventually gave up trying to reason with any of them because they were all spitting fire even though they didn’t even know this woman. He didn’t attend the day Nifong gave his talk to the student body but he heard comments like “nifong better hope he fries those $%^$$%#$ !!” and other comments like that.
AT first he tried his best to reason with his students because he believes the kids are good kids, but they had fallen victim to the Mob mentality. Nifong just fueled the flames. If he woulda just kept his mouth shut these 2 colleges wouldn’t have had to come to a screeching halt for months. Funny how NOW.. TODAY.. not 1 mention of this case was made at my husband’s college.
I hope Nifong loses his license to practice law and is removed from the DA office. I would also LOVE to see 3 very substantial cases for slander against this horrible woman who seems to LOVE to accuse men of rape. (she accused someone in 1998 too)
I have BAD news. Many of you know I have been talking with a Bar heavy weight. I was lead to believe after a beverage or 6 that something would happen this week.
Tonight we again discussed the case, NOTHING will happen this week, or until the Jan 16th Bar meeting. Nifungu is not even on the agenda, but he will be brought up and the charges against him will be amended to include more damning stuff.
I am really disappointed that something would not happen this week, and I am getting nervous about the Bar’s resolve.
All this is not good for a quick end, but it will end soon enough.
Let’s hope on the 5th the case is dismissed and on the 7th the BB team wears innocence wristbands and beats the hell out of the tar poots.
Kemp
I hope that the assistant DAs are branded for life as “Nifong’s assistant”. Jerks like Nifong dodn’t get away with this garbage without help. Assistant DAs are not secreatries. They are not conscripts or members of an underclass. They are graduates of accredited law schools. They are professionals. They are members of the bar. They have ethical obligations that transcend “obedience”.
Kempermax #38…
Thank you for your posts keeping us up to date on the Bar’s reaction.
“Mike Nifong does not have a case against them. He’ll succumb, eventually, to professional pressure to drop the case and resign from office.
I don’t believe he’ll “sucumb” until he’s forced.
I’m hoping they take his law license and not merely force him to resign.
Again, ironically enough, he is the only one who can actually be shown to have broken the law in this case.
Let’s checklist for 2007
1. Don’t travel to North Carolina
2. Stay out of jail
3. Drunk strippers are bad strippers.
4. Don’t bet on Ohio State again
5. Assume Prosecutors can nifong just about anyone.
6. Assume DNA labs can out nifong nifong
7. Advise friends not to travel to North Carolina
8. Vegas
What I would like to see is a poster of the Duke 88 with their email addresses. How can a good education go so bad.
Amazing that this website: Our Hearts World is still up supporting CGM. They actually believe her story and that she was drugged and raped. Liberal conspiracy theories are pretty creative and entertaining.
Nifong ought to be disbarred and possibly even criminally prosecuted for conspiracy to violate the defendants’ civil rights. I hope the three defendants bankrupt him in the coming civil suit for malicious prosecution. ’nuff said.
I agree with La Shawn that the boys (and their teammates) should learn a lesson from this: lie down with dogs and you get up with fleas. What the team did was deplorable – hosting an underage booze party with strippers. Does that justify ruining their lives with transparently false charges of rape? Of course not. But the lesson is still a valuable one.
“Actions have consequences. For future reference, I advise them to avoid the kind of women who strip and slut themselves out for a living.” (LaShawn)
“I agree with La Shawn that the boys (and their teammates) should learn a lesson from this: lie down with dogs and you get up with fleas. What the team did was deplorable – hosting an underage booze party with strippers. Does that justify ruining their lives with transparently false charges of rape? Of course not. But the lesson is still a valuable one.” (DBI)
Exactly right.
Even though stripping and hiring strippers, or going to strip clubs is “legal,” they certainly aren’t ethical, moral or decent actions.
It’s merely not “criminal.”
Actions certainly do have consequences a false rape charge by a woman who visited a South Bronx firehouse, ultimately resluted in the firing of three firefighters and charges of filing a false report filed against her.
In those firefighter’s case, they were fired for having violated various FD regulations. The city demanded they be fired for their part in brining disgrace to the FDNY and the Union pretty much had to capitulate given the circumstances, even though there were a few who inanely argued, “If it weren’t for a false rape claim, none of the other things would’ve come to light to embarrass the city and the FDNY.”
That’s immaterial! Therefore it’s no argument at all.
In the Duke case, Nifong is the only real villain. He knew that the police had heard numerous versions of the account from the accuser. he knew that the second stripper didn’t back up the accuser’s claims. He rigged a line-up and withheld vital information from the defense. He engaged in willful malicious prosecution for his own political gain.
No one else did anything illegal that night. Nothing illegal was done by either party (the LAX players or the strippers) until the next day, when the accuser filed an apparently false charge. In fact, on both sides that’s the only actually illegal thing done period. Even the guy’s breaching their contract, as alledged by both strippers, wasn’t illegal, just ill-conceived.
I still believe that Nifong will have to be removed from office, hopefully AFTER having been disbarred.
I recently published a copy of my letter to the N.C. Bar on my blog. I actually received a response dated 1/2/07. I quote the pertinent part: “We expect that our case against Mr. Nifong will be tried publicly in 2007. A specific date for that trial has not yet been set.”
Clearly they are serious about these charges. Bar Associations are notoriously dainty when commenting on ethics and disciplinary matters. I live in hope!
Thanks, Gayle. Feel free to include links to posts in your comments. I don’t mind.
- Admin
“Reade, 20, was being indicted for first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. He had a strong alibi—cell-phone records would show he was busy calling his girlfriend at the time the alleged crime was taking place—but the D.A. declined to hear it.”
Maybe I’m missing the point, but to those who say the boys should learn a lesson about lying down with fleas and who you associate with–it seems to me, when a boy has ATM receipts and photos showing he wasn’t at the house, he was already doing the right thing by not associating with this behavior. What more could he do to avoid contact other than NOT be at the house?
(I’m not sure if this is the right one of the 3 who wasn’t at the house during the alleged rape.)
Louise B
Some splendid remarks today by Duke Engineering professor Gustafon (excerpts) :
http://www.xanga.com/DukeEgr93
The evil of rape is of such an immense magnitude that I would think people who have sworn themselves to support rape victims would also recognize the enormity of a false accusation.
The party was not some elemental force of Man exerting its dominance over Woman; it was not a universal declaration of Rich over Poor; it was not the coming together of all the forces of the cosmos to represent repression in any and all forms.
one of the most poignent quotes over these many months was from Reade Seligmann – “Mom, she picked me.”
The team, writ large, should not be treated like they were the topsiders on the Amistad – such a hyperbolic response has done nothing but incite one part of the community and desensitize another.
I can’t get anything I write or say onto ink. So I blog, and hope that in the act Mr. Evans, and Mr. Finnerty, and Mr. Seligmann know that there are those of us who will say THIS cannot stand.
these men are NOT those forces – these men are individuals deserving of our ear for their story and our pens for their rights.
“Maybe I’m missing the point, but to those who say the boys should learn a lesson about lying down with fleas and who you associate with–it seems to me, when a boy has ATM receipts and photos showing he wasn’t at the house, he was already doing the right thing by not associating with this behavior.” Louise B
Without question, Reade Seligman’s plight is the most odious of any of the Duke players accused because, as he has shown, he wasn’t at the house at the time the accuser puts him there.
The fact that despite proofs (ATM receipts) and a witness (the cab driver who drove him there), Mike Nifong wouldn’t consider his a case of “mistaken identity,” adds to the evidence that this was a malicious prosecution conducted by Nifong.
#51
Without question, Reade Seligman’s plight is the most odious of any of the Duke players accused because, as he has shown, he wasn’t at the house at the time the accuser puts him there.
From what I understand, you can add Finnerty to that, since his alibi is supposedly much stronger than Seligmann’s. That would make for two of the accused not present for the three-man half-hour violent struggle (with choke holds) and gang rape (now reduced to a one-man five second sexual assault?)
Whatever. Nifong can just make it up as he goes along. . .
I haven’t seen anything on Colin Finnerty’s alibi, but as I said earlier on, I don’t believe a rape was committed, just as there was no rape in the 2004 Bronx firehouse scandal.
The woman who made the false charge should eventually be charged with filing a false report, Nifong should be disbarred and removed from office, and the falsely accused should be able to move forward with Civil Suits against Nifong’s office.
I believe Mr Evans said “…and she’s destroyed two other families and brought shame to a great University,” I hope they all rethink that last phrase, because that’s exactly what the falsely accused firefighters said in 2004 – that a woman’s “false charges brought shame on the Department not us.”
They were, of course wrong and so is Mr Evans, in that it was that party (with the underaged drinking, the strippers and other poor behavior)that brought the shame to Duke, the false charge merely brought all that to light.
Actions have consequences. If Mr Seligman wasn’t at the party then he share’s none of the burden of the shame it’s coming to light brought to that team and the school, but those who were at that party do share some culpability for the embarrassment it brought to Duke, just as McFadyen’s email was the reason that Mike Pressler resigned.
Nifong is the sole villain here.
The accuser is a woman with a history of emotional and psychological problems, who was used by Nifong. The fact that he didn’t interview her for months shows that he saw her as not only unreliable, but perhaps looking to rescind her charges early on, which would’ve ended his free publicity meal-ticket.
There was bad judgment and poor behavior all around, but only Nifong has actually mangled the law here…and for that he should pay.
Sorry, but I can’t resist noting Ann Coulter’s quips about the case :
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18875
Well, that was one of the several versions of events the accuser has offered police to date, although my personal favorite was the one in which Elvis came back from the dead and sexually assaulted her.
This is the second time this woman has accused a group of men of gang-raping her. One more time and it’s officially considered a hobby.
And yet despite the vast privilege, untold wealth and bright shiny whiteness of the defendants, they are still under criminal indictment in this case. Three of the players face up to 30 years in prison for a crime every sane person knows they did not commit. Ah, the life of the privileged!
If poor black women are constantly being raped by rich white men, then how about they produce one case?
You know, I don’t understand what the outrage about the strippers being at a party is all about. Don’t get me wrong here, I believe that if you associate with trash, you will end up in the gutter. But what I don’t get is why all the outrage that these guys hired strippers. I worked at Duke a while back and I happen to know that certain Doctors who worked there would visit strip places while attending annual Medical Meetings. I know because they would talk about it, when they returned to Durham. Talk about piggy. At least the lacrosse players could offer up their youth as a partial defense, the people I worked with were in there their thirties and older. The only defense they could offer was that they were garden variety low life pigs. All these holier than thou powers that be!! They look the other way when it is their peers who patronize those places and people, but point the finger at these dopey kids who didn’t really know what they were getting themselves into. I think many of these people are hypocrites.
I don’t believe there’s any rational person who believes or believed an actual rape took place tat night…including Mike Nifong.
He ran with a charge he almost certainly knew was false, because he saw it as a way to resuscitate his flagging electoral campaign.
That’s why he should be disbarred, removed from office and criminally prosecuted for his deliberate mangling of the law.
Most of the “outrage” directed toward the players over the alcohol and strippers at the party is coming from the direction of the leftist trendies who had been vigorously attempting to use this case as a springboard to further their social/political agendas. Now that the case has blown up in their faces and exposed the moral bankruptcy of their ideology, they’re scrambling for cover. By condemning the boys’ hiring of the strippers, they’re implicitly advancing the notion that the boys “deserved to be prosecuted even though they might be innocent of the specific charges filed against them.”
The hypocrisy of it all is astounding. Note that of those on the left criticizing the players for hiring strippers, not a single soul has criticized the accuser for apparently being a crack whore and welfare mom. Moreover, they’re the same people who sing the praises of nude cocktail parties at Yale, and form lesbian “knitting” cirlces at campuses nationwide. Fornication and sodomy are among the sacraments of the High Church of Leftist Orthodoxy, yet the parishoners faint at the thought of a stripper. Ridiculous! It’s just another stick with which to beat heterosexual caucasian males.
I don’t much about the Leftist “trendies,” but I do know the workings of a very similar case (the one in the Bronx) and I had to go on record supporting the firing of those guys (also guys who had never been in trouble before and, in fact, in their case broke NO Laws), but they’re behavior that night in dealing with that woman one of them had met online was reckless and irresponsible and in the process, though they broke no laws, they violated a number of Departmental regs – enough to get them all fired.
The one firefighter I felt some sympathy for was the one who was fired for simply refusing to cooperate with investigators (he wouldn’t turn over his co-workers to investigators, the others did) – he was fired for, among other things, “obstructing an investigation.”
While neither the strippers, nor the players did anything illegal that evening (just as neither that woman nor those firefighters did anything illegal), there were was a lot of reckless, irresponsible and embarrassing behavior on both sides.
The argument in both cases that “There’d have been no embarrassment to Duke/the FDNY,” is inane and specious.
Stripping and hiring strippers are equally immoral, indecent acts, though NEITHER is illegal. Trying to argue “which one is worse,” is like debating which is worse a prostitute or a “john?” There is no “worse,” both are equally reprehensible acts and if anything, the “john” (if Married) is more reckless and irresponsible for subjecting his wife to the possibility of a disease via that prostitute. There was little or no decency on either side that night, indecency is not “criminal.”
I don’t see either the strippers nor the players as “criminals” in this case (though the accuser should probably ultimately be charged with filing a false report), ONLY Mike Nifong is a true villain.
His deliberate evil far overwhelms any of the recklessness and indecency engaged in by either side in the actual dispute.
If Nifong had even a shred of decency, this case would’ve been immediately dropped and the monetary dispute mediated.
Obviously he didn’t and he should have to pay for his deliberate mangling of the law for his own personal gain.
Latest inanities from the accuser (which is also what happens when the DA refuses to give you a Bill of Particulars as to who is to be charged with what (meaning, he can keep changing his ’story’ to fit with the evidence) :
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/531253.html
The woman adjusted the timing of the assault to earlier in the evening, a time point preceding the well-documented alibi of one accused player, Reade Seligmann. The defense, however, introduced yet more alibi evidence for Seligmann: he was on the cell phone with his girlfriend during the height of the attack as the accuser now times it.
The new version of the events comes from a Dec. 21 interview by Linwood Wilson, chief investigator for Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong. . .
(snip)
The statement layers new and contradictory accounts over the woman’s previous statements:
* In her latest statement she said the attack ended at midnight.
In previous accounts, the woman said the gang-rape ended shortly before she left in the car driven by Kim Roberts, the second dancer. Roberts called 911 as she was driving away at 12:53 a.m., according to police records. This new account leaves 50 minutes unaccounted between the end of the rape and the departure from the party.
The new statement runs contrary to time stamped photos of the party, which show the two women dancing between 12:00 and 12:04 a.m. in the living room of the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
* In the latest statement, the woman says she arrived at the party at 11:20 p.m. on March 13 and that the rape began at 11:40 p.m. Her cell phone records show that she was on phone with her father and others up to one minute before the rape allegedly started.
* The woman now said her alleged assailants used multiple names.
In previous accounts, she said she was assaulted by three men named “Adam”, “Brett” and “Matt.” She has given conflicting descriptions of the three men and contradictory accounts of how they assaulted her.
In the Dec. 21 interview, she said for the first time that the players used multiple names. “Dan, Adam and Brett was used by Dave Evans,” Wilson wrote. “Adam and Matt was also used by Reade Seligmann. She does not remember a name being used for Collin Finnerty or if he was called by a name.”
* The accuser has changed her description of Evans. On April 4, she viewed a photograph of Evans and said it looked like one of her assailants, except that the assailant had a moustache. In the Dec. 21 statement, the woman said the assailant had a five o’clock shadow, not a moustache. Evans has a visible five o’clock shadow in the photograph.
* In her recent statement, the woman said that Evans stood in front of her and made her perform sex on him. In past statements, she said that Seligmann did this.
Nifong could not be reached immediately for comment today.
Joseph Neff can be reached at 829-4516 or jneff@newsobserver.com
There’s a GREAT article in the WSJ on “The Nifong Scandal at http://www.opinionjournal.com/medialog/?id=110009507
In it the author compares it to the abusive prosecutions of a number of daycare providers on false charges of child abuse, but she seems to see Nifong as an overzealous prosecutor motivated by being “a product of the political times, a prosecutor who has absorbed all the clues about the sanctified status now accorded charges involving rape, child sex-abuse and accusations of racism.”
I think that gives Nifong far too much benefit of the doubt.
He was motivated, according to Jackie Brown (his campaign manager) by money – seeking three more years to qualify for his pension and lacking the funds needed to turn around a flagging campaign.
I don’t believee Mike Nifong merely misguided, but deliberately malicious.
Dang! Those pensions will get you everytime.
From the defendants’ motion :
“Rather than attempt to identify her attackers as Matt, Brett and Adam, the accuser used the names of the Defendants in her most recent telling of her story. Specifically, the investigator noted that ‘Inv. Wilson asked Crystal Mangum to tell him whose names the guys were using on March 13, 2006 since she knows their real names.’ The State has repeatedly represented to this Court that no substantive discussions of this case took place with the accuser from April 6, 2006 until this last interview. The fact that the accuser now “knows their real names†indicates that she has learned their names from the extensive publicity that this case has received, publicity that has necessarily included the Defendants’ faces as well as their names. It cannot be known at this time with any reliability what else she has learned from this publicity. This, in turn, means that the accuser’s present recollection of who allegedly attacked her and how, has been irreparably tainted by this publicity and weighs strongly against any in-court identification by her of the Defendants.â€
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