Wednesday, February 28: Response Day for Nifong. I hear the best defense is a good offense. I can’t wait to find out what he has to say…
Later…In standard “mistakes were made” fashion, Nifong says he didn’t intentionally violate ethics rules. (Response in macromedia - anybody have a PDF copy?)
Even later… Nevermind. PDF copies available here.
Tuesday, February 27 @ 3:20 p.m.: The bloggers are buzzing about a new motion filed in the Duke sexual offense and kidnapping case. We know that DNA lab dud dude Brian Meehan testified that he and Mike Nifong conspired to withhold exculpatory evidence. Among the 1,800 pages of discovery, defense has uncovered more info.
In Addendum to Motion to Compel Discovery; Expert DNA Analysis (PDF) filed today, defense contends that Meehan failed to disclose that DNA found in the accuser’s rectum didn’t match the lacrosse players indicted for the crime or any other male tested. (Pardon me, but yuck) The DNA of at least two males was found inside the accuser, and 11 of the 22 rape kit DNA extractions were from males other than the accused lacrosse players. According to the motion, the defense is still waiting for more data from Meehan’s lab. Defense believes there’s a “statistical likelihood” that the missing information will prove even more exculpatory.
In other words, the accuser was loaded with DNA from men other than the ones she claims raped, sodomized, strangled, and beat her, but Nifong and Meehan didn’t think the defense needed to know all that.
I sure hate it. 
Sources and blogger reactions: KC Johnson, John in Carolina…
Earlier…I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during this conversation. Hopefully, all charges against Finnerty, Seligmann, and Evans soon will be dismissed, and the stripper-accuser will be charged with making a false police report, lying to officials, and whatever else they’ve got…
————————————————————–
The Duke “sexual offense” case saga is still ongoing, with something new happening every day. At most, I blog about the case once every week or two, and even then, only when inspired to write more than a few sentences.
Check out these “Duke bloggers” daily for up-to-the-minute information: The Johnsville News, Durham-in-Wonderland, LieStoppers, Forensics Talk, John in Carolina, and Crystal Mess. (By the way, if you frequently blog about the case, let me know so I can include you among the Duke bloggers.)
Nifong Hits the Circuit
Through no one’s fault but his own, Mike Nifong’s career and reputation are as good as ruined. Not only are his colleagues calling for his head and politicians demanding a federal investigation, appeals court judges are citing him as an example of prosecutorial misconduct in their court rulings. From the Herald Sun:
Internet bloggers and cable television pundits have long attacked Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong over his handling of the Duke lacrosse sex-offense case.
But Nifong only recently came under scrutiny from some of the loftiest legal sectors in the land.
Early this month, he was adversely mentioned in rulings from two out of 12 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, with one judge alluding to him as a prosecutor “run amok” because of the felony indictments he obtained from a grand jury last year against three Duke lacrosse players.
First, I’m proud to be among the “Internet bloggers” who “attacked” Nifong over his mishandling of the case. Second, the label “Internet bloggers” is redundant. There is no other kind of blogger than an Internet blogger. Blog is short for weblog, web is short for world wide web, and the world wide web is part of the Internet. To blog, one must use the web, which is part of the Internet. Therefore, being a blogger implies that you use the Internet.
Pardon the pet peeve alert, but I had to get that out.
That judges are citing Nifong in a negative context does not bode well for his career or reputation, to understate the matter. It’s worth noting that he was referenced in a dissenting opinion and footnote of an opinion, but still, the references generated press. In Nifong’s case, I don’t think the old saying, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” holds true.
Unusual Leftist Recommendations
I read on KC Johnson’s blog and in the Duke Chronicle that a group calling itself the Campus Culture Initiative Steering Committee (what? no blacks or feminists chairing the committee?), comprised of professors, administrators, students, and alumni, is set to release a report recommending changes to “improve the undergraduate experience†at Duke.
Before I get to the report, I have a couple of observations to share about CCI’s membership. Former committee member Karla Holloway, a black feminist English professor and Group of 88 member, quit her committees, including CCI, in protest of Duke president Richard Brodhead lifting Reade Seligmann’s and Collin Finnety’s suspensions. History professor Peter Wood already has slandered libeled the lacrosse team. [Wood's words were written, so he libeled the team, though he may have spoken similar remarks publicly.] Why were these two deemed qualified to recommend ways to “improve the undergraduate experience”?
Now, the report. Brodhead proposed several groups last year, prompted by the false gang rape allegations against the lacrosse players, and the committee is one of those groups. (Pictured: Chair Robert Thompson, Vice-Chair Larry Moneta, former member Karla Holloway, and “libeler” Peter Wood)
One of the committee’s recommendations is the usual mandatory, leftist, indoctrination-style race, class, and sex course. Predictable and trite. But two unexpected and unusual recommendations caught my attention.
First, one involves “raising the ‘low end of the admissions standards’ to ensure that all students are prepared and committed to engage actively in the intellectual life of campus.” Obviously, this is a reference to race preferences, the odious policy by which “minorities” with lower grades and test scores are admitted. I wonder why leftists are suddenly concerned about this and what it has to do with the lacrosse “sexual offense” case?
Hopefully, the report will elaborate, but my guess is that black students used the “rape” hoopla to vent frustration about feeling shut out of campus life academically. Ironically, it’s the administration’s fault that minorities have to deal with this. They’re admitted to these schools with lower grades and scores than their white counterparts in the name of skin color diversity, and the administration has little regard for whether they’re academically prepared.
The struggle to keep up with rigorous coursework is stressful in itself, but when you’re made to feel like some white liberal’s pet project and you carry the stigma of having been admitted under a separate and a lower-standards admission track, stress is tenfold. Perhaps Brodhead and the committee finally recognize that admitting students based on race despite academic readiness seriously undermines their campus experience and that raising standards will alleviate some of the alienation and stigma minorities may be feeling. We’ll know for sure (I presume) when the report comes out.
The second unusual-for-leftists recommendation is “discontinuing the practice of assigning housing to selective living groups and social/affinity/interest groups.” What does that mean? Since I don’t know the housing situation at Duke, I have to rely on readers who are. Are certain dorms reserved by race and/or ethnicity? Club affiliation? Athletics? This recommendation is particularly interesting if, in fact, there are dorms specifically for minority students. I’ve heard such things exist, but I don’t know if they exist at Duke.
Additionally, as people of the same race tend to self-segregate, the committee’s recommendation for a “change in the dining services model” must be an attempt to discourage the practice.
Despite the tone of this post, I admit that I’m optimistic about some of the group’s recommendations. Although a mandatory “diversity” course is unnecessary, administrators and faculty need to address the consequences of admitting underqualifed minority students and discourage self-segregation on campus, if the school claims to strive for diversity.
In my experience, when liberal types say they want to have an “honest” dialogue about “race and gender” differences, they don’t want to deal with differences that make minorities and women look bad. The point is to make the majority and men look bad. But if the committee aspires to meet its goal to “improve the undergraduate experience,” its approach must be honest and balanced.
Otherwise, the months spent deliberating and preparing the report will have been wasted, and the report itself useful only for wrapping fish.
Previous posts:
Addendum: Duke’s Group of 88 professors are getting a lesson in the First Amendment. They castigated the lacrosse players based on their own racial prejudices and used them to vent frustration about their own personal issues, and now they’re whining about receiving hate e-mail. Welcome to America, land of free speech! As a recipient of it myself, I know firsthand how unpleasant it can be. But I also recognize that my public expressions have consequences, and hate mail neither shocks nor upsets me.
Update: A Duke student writes (emphases added):
When white Duke lacrosse players were accused of raping a black stripper and student at North Carolina Central University, the “racial left”-those whose worldview is dependent upon that belief that America is a racially oppressive society-unleashed unholy hell.
Protesters swarmed our campus and the city streets, they screamed vulgar condemnations, they tarred the whole team as complicit in a stonewall cover-up, they put up wanted posters, banged pots and pans. They cried out for justice and vengeance, demanded suspensions, expulsions and incarcerations. Worst of all, as they feverishly disregarded due process, they helped create an atmosphere of hysteria and madness which could only serve to embolden an unhinged district attorney who had the power to breathe life into the fantasies of the growing mob.
But when a black man was recently accused of raping a white Duke student at a party hosted by members of a black Duke fraternity, suddenly these great defenders of virtue fell silent.
There have been no protesters, no signs, no one chanting and screaming in front of the house where at least one member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. live demanding they “come forward” with what they know. No one is demanding President Brodhead take action or that we cure a sexist and racist campus culture in response to these accusations. No professors are running ads that convey guilt or claiming, as they did before, to know the alleged crime was racially motivated.
Indeed, and we won’t see anything approaching the reaction to the first case, which I’m convinced had more to do with race and class envy than it did the “rape.” Anyone who can’t see that by now is willfully blind.
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The second unusual-for-leftists recommendation is “discontinuing the practice of assigning housing to selective living groups and social/affinity/interest groups.†What does that mean?
I get the feeling they dislike the lacrosse players having their own “house”.
Although a mandatory “diversity†course is unnecessary, administrators and faculty need to address the consequences of admitting underqualifed minority students and discourage self-segregation on campus, if the school claims to strive for diversity.
How long do you think it would be before that mandatory “diversity” training included denouncing any Biblical view of the homosexual lifestyle? The training would be leveraged by Liberals, to discourage diversity when the diversity is of a Conservative leaning. Stand against sin and they’ll call you a hate monger, instead of accepting you are a voice on campus.
Are you saying that you want the school to discourage self-segregation on campus?
I just love it when they unroll the “diversity” carpet and everyone is dragged in for a heart-to-heart meeting of the minds, acceptance of differences and praising of uniqueness. I just want to shout “hosanna” and start a rolling hug-fest. Then we can all leave and go hang Judge Judy and Dr. Laura.
I wonder if there is any backbone at Duke for going through the course descriptions and ditching the tripe and feel-good stuff?
I wonder if there is any interest in dumping some of the elites who only celebrate the diversity of their liking?
I wonder why the President of Duke is not looking for a job?
Oh, and I agree with LaShawn about the two points.
Yea, OK…
Like I would trust the group of 88 with anything important. Unlike our gracious host I hold little hope for the recommendations especially with the incredible balance in the groups selection…
It’s my favorite troll, “Steve Vaughn,” “Fair,” or whatever you’re going by these day. Commenting locally, I see: Heavy Hammer New Media Services, Annapolis, MD. – Admin
Sorry, Angel, but I closed the previous post for a reason. I e-mailed your comment to Helio so you can continue the discussion via e-mail, if desired by both parties. – Admin
Don’t know how I posted twice – Sorry
Cool.
Additionally, as people of the same race tend to self-segregate, the committee’s recommendation for a “change in the dining services model†must be an attempt to discourage the practice.
I find it amusing that the Diversity Police are taking on a new project. They thought it would be enough to get all the crayon colors represented on campus, only to find that the pink crayons are hanging out together, and the brown crayons are hanging out together, and now the DPs are blue.
So now they’ll try to make the dining services area look like a proper crayon box if it kills them. Because that’s what’s important.
LaShawn Barber wrote:
Since I don’t know the housing situation at Duke, I have to rely on readers who are. Are certain dorms reserved by race and/or ethnicity? Club affiliation? Athletics? This recommendation is particularly interesting if, in fact, there are dorms specifically for minority students. I’ve heard such things exist, but I don’t know if they exist at Duke.
When I was at Duke, there were two types of dorms: selective and lottery. Selective dorms were either run by fraternities, or were what they called “living groups” that were based on common interests. There was an “arts dorm,” for example, a selective dorm where all the residents had to express (to other student residents) an interest in the arts, and a “community service dorm,” where residents had to show their commitment to community service.
With both fraternity dorms and ‘living group’ dorms, you only got in by being friends with the people that already lived there.
The rest of the dorms on campus were open to random lottery. Groups of friends (and athletic teams) could attempt to get into the lottery dorms together, but there was no guarantee they’d all make it. Most athletic teams were scattered all around campus, with some members living in fraternity housing, some in selective dorms, and some in off-campus apartments.
Meanwhile, black students self-segregated to the third form of official university housing: a group of apartments that comprised “central campus.” Central campus apartments were not officially reserved based on ethnicity, but it did work out that way, because it was easier to keep groups together there.
So to (finally) answer your questions about whether dorms are reserved by race, ethnicity, or athletics, the answer is no, not in an officially university-sanctioned way, but yes, those groups did tend to cluster together if they could.
“unusual recommendations caught my attention.
First, one involves “raising the ‘low end of the admissions standards’ to ensure that all students are prepared and committed to engage actively in the intellectual life of campus.†Obviously, this is a reference to race preferences, the odious policy by which “minorities†with lower grades and test scores are admitted. I wonder why leftists are suddenly concerned about this and what it has to do with the lacrosse “sexual offense†case?” — Query by fearless leader La Shawn Barber
La Shawn, I’m not so sure that’s aimed at racial preferences. University professors have always been known to want to tear down football and other “dumb jock” programs on campuses all across the country. Calling for higher admission standards has been a standard mantra toward that end.
So how does this suggestion relate to the lacrosse “sexual offense case”? Well, I reckon the thinking is that, even though you’ve got a #1 team on the field, and the grade point averages for the LAX players were, by and large, very, very good — you’ve got to raise the academic standards to keep kids out who are going to act like college kids, who throw water, make noise, imbibe in golden suds and — above all, are too dumb to know they shouldn’t have hired strippers!!
So, in a roundabout way, since the stereotyped dumb jocks don’t respect women, they clammor for higher academic standards — ergo, it’s a librul feminist issue, but apparently not race!!
TaterCon
I was surprised initially at just how skilled some of the original 88 have been at defending their premature outbursts. They have so convoluted the ongoing commentary that the real story has diminished. This fiasco really is about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, and by the way, O.J.’s not guilty verdict was poetic justice.
But how could I forget that outrage fuels the fires of liberal academia? As hard work and traditional values continue to bear good fruit, while race pandering and victimology continue to oppress, AAS professors and their ilk must hunt farther afield for their prey. If they want to stay alive, they must become very good at what they do. And so they have, in a manner of speaking. That they jumped on the wrong bandwagon doesn’t really matter. Tenure requires publication, and those professors have some publishing to do!
Lashawn,
A brief Duke housing primer for all. Duke requires all students to live on campus until they are seniors. I think that is a great idea, because they bond much better than commuter schools. In addition, all freshman must live on East Campus, which is the old woman’s campus and actually the first campus, before Mr. Duke built West Campus. West Campus is split by the chapel. looking at the Chapel, all building to the left are student housing and to the right all buildings are classrooms, administration, and library. The student union is on the left. There is also a Central campus, between West and East, da huh. It is my understanding that many Black students self segregate and live on Central Campus. I think the Black Frats are on Central, but to be honest, I am not sure about all that.
On East Campus there are no frats, but there are classrooms for Freshman and a Freshman library. Students can not pledge until second semester. Over half of the students are in Frats or Sororities. There are 6 Black frats.
On West Campus, the building are built around quads and each quad has at least one frat or club in it. Each Frat has their own bench, built by the frat, and often burned, like Sunday when the Duke Women’s BB team beat UNC.
Frats use to have a permanent spot in a quad so that every year alum would know their Frat was in the same quad. Year’s ago it was decided that the quad assignments should rotate so that one Frat or club would not always have the best quad. I am not sure how often they rotate.
Of course, there is a bus line that goes between all three campuses. The athletic facilities are adjacent to West Campus, and West Campus is what you see when pictures of Duke are shown. West Campus was built by Mr. Duke in the 20’s and is modeled roughly after Princeton.
Hope that helps explain the layout. The CCI bitch about housing is about the Quads with Frats. Obvioulsy they are anti-Frat.
One more thing. The dorms are coed!! My son lived next door to two girls one year. VERY hard for me to understand. They have to walk to bathrooms on the hall. Not like when I was in school, that’s for sure. Having women on the hall means, of course, that not all the students in a frat’s quad will be in that frat, but almost all are.
Kemp
Here is a campus map which will make my descriptions make a little more sense.
http://map.duke.edu/
Kemp
If you are a hard working person who respects my rights and my country’s laws, then I am quite likely to be completely respectful and kind to you. HOWEVER, if someone means harm to me or mine (or my country), then I will be inclined to be darned insensitive! And they’ll have nobody to blame but themselves! Respect is a two-way street. You have to give it, to get it. Simple. Uncomplicated. It’s also something that people who riot over stupid cartoons do not understand!
As to the Gang of 88 – they are buffoons of the worst kind – in a position to influence the thought processes of the young. Not good.
I agree with TaterCon. It seems to me that the first recommendation–the one regarding admissions standards–is targeted at the athletic community. That sad fact is, college athletes don’t always pass through the same admissions process that regular students must go through. And some of these student-athletes would never have been admitted had they been required to meet the university’s standard criteria.
Still, it’s difficult to see how this would impact the lacrosse program, particularly. Generally, it is in sports like lacrosse that you find most of the legitimate student-athletes. On the other hand, it is in the big, high-profile, money-making sports like football and basketball that you find most of the athletes who may very well be students in name only–especially at the larger, state universities.
Gayle,
Sadly the gang of 88 is the rule and not the exception, but that’s another topic all together. But at least this discussion is more fruitful than one I’m having elsewhere about the big A…
Kemp, thanks for the guided tour of the Dook campus. Still, I learned all I needed to know about the Dook campus from Dr. Unks’s Educ. 41 at Carolina in 1974, to wit: “It’s the Gothic rockpile over in Durham….”
T.
I agree with what La Shawn has to say about nobody caring or making a fuss about a white woman being raped by a black man. Even though the white girl is a freshman student while the black girl was a stripper being paid to perform ??? (Not sure what $200.00 per hour is for.)
TaterCon says (11)(referring to the jocks):
“above all, are too dumb to know they shouldn’t have hired strippers!!”
I would change that to “Black Strippers”. If they were white strippers and claimed rape, no one would have given it a second thought, especially Nifong, who was catering to the blacks in Durham.
People would claim the white girl should not have been there taking off her cloths in front of 35 drunken male jocks. She was asking for it, etc.
Is that a racist statement?
Well after all, who started the name calling at the party? The stripper known as “Kim” claims that as she was leaving the party:
“I called him a little [expletive] white boy,” she recalls laughing. “And how he couldn’t get it on his own and had to pay for it. So, he was mad. And it ended with him callin’ me the n-word.
What does she mean “had to pay for it”. Does that imply she did more than just take off her clothes?
And what about the 6 “Black” Fraternities?
Is that not racist? How many “white” fraternities or sororities are there on campus?
Good: NAACP
Bad: NAAWP
Good: United negro college fund
Bad: United white people college fund.
Good: Black Caucus
Bad: White Caucus
Good: Black Miss America
Bad: White Miss America.
[Deleted]
Don’t see any of them protesting the Alleged rape of a white woman by a black man.
If Nifong keeps going this way, he’s going to enter the language like Gov. Gerry or Capt. Boycott.
LaShawn,
Go to Rantburg and read about the rape/murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom by five black animals. Ask yourself why this horrific atrocity hasn’t been heard of outside of Knox County (just like the atrocities the black Carr brothers committed in Wichita, KS were never heard of outside Wichita).
White on black crime is world and national news. Black on white crime, no matter how abysmally depraved, will never see the light of day through the MSM. Anyone who doesn’t see the MSM as having an almost insurmountable anti-white bias is simply refusing to see the obvious reality in front of them. This bias is just one more reason why the MSM is almost totally irrelevant and will soon be a thing of the past. Their political agenda causes them, as was famously said about the NYT, to “confuse the editorial page with the front page.” When they go their departure will be followed with curses and execrations–well deserved, I might add.
[I deleted the sentence in the previous comment, so I've deleted this one, too. - Admin]
That reminds me of a glorious statement I once read.
It said:
“The only group that generalizes are liberals”
I call it the self-destroying statement
“The only group that generalizes are liberals†– JohnD
Good one!
Jan,
This is Irony. Have you met?
Mac,
It’s too early for this. Anyway, how is black-on-white crime being ignored. It’s in the papers, TV, the radio, and the ‘Net. Nobody, especially the MSM is trying to hide it. I heard about the Carr brothers incident when it happened and I live in Boston.
Crime is crime. Mac, do you go out and hold a placard only for crimes in which the victim is white or do you sympathize with all crime victims? Crime is a horrible plague on our society, especially violent crime.
So many people who post here claim they are trying to heal the rift between blacks and whites. Okay, here’s a question for those folks. Does it matter to you what color the victim of a crime is before you get outraged?
What I would do to make it clear in everyone’s mind how crime impacts ALL of us is get rid of the hate crime laws. It’s pretty obvious that hitting some over the head with a lead pipe requires an element of hate.
Zorba,
If you want to start a United White College Fund, no one is stopping you. This idea that the only scholarships that are race-exclusive are those offered to minorities is insane. You really need to thumb through a book one of these days.
There are scholarships offered specific to white ethnicities as well. I don’t have any problems with that. It’s private money. People can do what they want with it.
Black Miss America exists. So what. There are also Irish, Italian and Greek themed beauty contests out there. Do they bother me or any sane person. No, so what’s the real problem?
La Shawn:
Nifong is far from being unemployed.
Perhaps he would be elected as Mayor of DC or Detroit, and welcomed as a hero of opposing “White Opression”.
No doubt he will apprar on Black talk shows and write a book about how he “fought for civil rights”. He might even be elected Mayor of Durham by the same airheads who elected him DA.
Cited in a commentary by the North County Gazette today :
In the landmark Supreme Court case of Berger v. U.S. 295 U.S. 78, the court wrote, “The [prosecutor] is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.
As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor-indeed, he should do so.
But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one”.
The American Daily
Some Films That Will Never Be at the Academy Awards
By Bruce Walker (02/27/07)
Earl of Duke. A documentary on the current rape-lynching of the Duke Lacrosse Team, arrested, imprisoned and charged for the offense of being white males (and probably Christians) in the realm of Mike Nifong, the Earl of Duke and inciter of lynch mobs, defender of perjury, advocate state sponsored persecution of members of a particular gender, pathological liar and all around nice guy.
Like Letters from Iwo Jima, this film could allow America to know the human side of Mike Nifong, although for that reason the film would have to be a very short documentary.
On a previous post I got into a debate with TVD about the cost of litigation. TVD insisted that the $3 million amount the boys have spent was too high. For all to read, an article on former Speaker, now felon, Black’s legal expenses, which proves my point NC lawyers sure know how to bill. Here’s the link Tvd:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/16791358.htm
Kemp
Zorba,
I mentioned 6 Black frats, because MOST liberal kool aid drinkers know nothing about Frats and think they are all white. They usually SHUT UP when they find that Blacks have their own Frats and that those Frat members are usually much closer that members of White frats.
A Black friend of mine died several years ago and I went to the visitation. He was an Omega. I was overwhelmed by the number of Omegas from all over the nation that had come to pay their respects. It was then that I understood that Black Frats are much more important to their members and that most Whites don’t have a clue.
Ask our Sigma friend who posts here.
Kemp
#22 Mac notes: “Black on white crime, no matter how abysmally depraved, will never see the light of day through the MSM.”
Please reconsider this remark. It is an absolute and it wrecks your assertion.
The mainstream media is mostly liberal and agenda driven. Even their own studies admit that. But they are not a bunch of information manipulating fascists. When we imply that they are, it weakens our case.
kempermanx, Here is a link with the $3 million dollar amount stated in the 11th paragraph. There are some good comments at the bottom of the article too.
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_7059.shtml
New motion by the defense to get the rest of the DNA evidence, which is STILL being withheld by the DA :
http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2007-02-27-0003.html
(snip)
Defense attorneys said additional DNA evidence not yet reported by DNA Security, the private lab hired by District Attorney Mike Nifong, shows that their clients are innocent.
In a motion filed Tuesday, lawyers said at least three additional samples taken from the accuser show male DNA.
That makes a total of 11 samples showing male DNA of at least five different men with no matches to the defendants or their teammates.
Now the defense claims the lab’s latest reports are still incomplete. They said even more DNA evidence — from an additional 11 samples — has yet to be reported.
(snip)
It is beginning to look like the Feds or the State of North Carolina are going to have to review each and every case handled by Nifong back into infinity if this is an example of Mr. Nifong’s skill! Larry, Moe and Curly would have done a better job – especially with some help from Shemp!
The Group of 88’s behavior is shameful, nearly evil. It’s downright scary. Hopefully, Nifong will get the max, I won’t count on it though.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
hate your own race
liberal bigots demand
that white people blame themselves
Most of you know, that have been following Lashawn’s great work on the case, that I have been talking with a Bar Counselor here in NC, the 32 C’s run the State Bar.
I talked to him tonight about the new motions and Nifungu’s still withholding DNA evidence.
He said without blinking an eye “If that’s true he is going to get indicted”
Put a fork in Nifungu, he’s done.
Kemp
#25
Angel;
Yes, we have met and I must say the acquaintance provides me with an inordinate degree of fun.
This woman has what…3 children…I feel really sorry for them.
Yuck, NASTY!!! Maybe Crystal will end up on Maury Povich with a long line of men waiting to be DNA tested. That could end up being a year’s worth of shows!!
#38 kempermanx:
“I talked to him tonight about the new motions and Nifungu’s still withholding DNA evidence.
He said without blinking an eye “If that’s true he is going to get indictedâ€
Put a fork in Nifungu, he’s done.”
From you lips to God’s ear, kemp.
Still, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Reb
“The entire time I spent in Chicago I was treated like a P.O.W.” – Lewis Grizzard
Imagine the confusion we’ll have on our hands if Meehan’s lab gets to analyze the DNA of Anna Nicole’s baby and all the men claiming to be her father….
Just thinking.
TaterCon
Defense attorneys now criticize Nifong’s chief investigator :
http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2007/02/28/News/Defense.Questions.Lax.Investigator-2748304.shtml
Linwood Wilson, the only current full-time investigator for Durham District Attorney
Mike Nifong, has drawn crticism from lawyers who challenge Wilson’s investigative
methods and his pivotal interview with the alleged victim.
Joe Cheshire. . . said the information Wilson retrieved from interviews with witnesses
has a pattern of contradicting the information provided in previous statements.
Several defense lawyers said new information obtained by Wilson in interviews often
paralleled the direction sought by Nifong in the case.
“All investigators are supposed to provide objective information to the lawyers that they’re working with, and if you have an investigator that does not do that then justice is not served,”
Cheshire said. “In this case it seems that the boss did not want objective information.”
Nifong responds (no intentional fouls) :
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1217557/
Durham — Attorneys for Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong tell the North Carolina State Bar he did not intentionally violate ethics rules when prosecuting the Duke lacrosse case.
(snip)
Nifong’s attorneys also tell WRAL they will file a motion to dismiss some charges that Nifong withheld exculpatory evidence from defense attorneys representing the charged Duke lacrosse players.
(snip)
“He still believes in the case. He just believes his continued presence would hurt her.”
Nifong’s response to the NC State Bar could be mistaken for an exercise in studied ridiculousness.
Steve DnMD, I agree with your initial impressions — on first glance, this appears to be an “I was obtuse, don’t convict me because I remain obtuse” defense….
I haven’t read the entire 49 pages — maybe won’t even find time — but will note that initial response pleadings in civil litigation often depend more on “denials” in order to simply put the plaintiff (or here, the State Bar prosecutors) to his/her/its burden of proof, rather than admit too much in the early going.
From first glance, though, it appears there’s a fair amount of “affirmative explaining” that, from first impressions, appears nit-pickin’, if not disingenuous.
But who am I to say? I haven’t read the file before preparing an answer, like I always do when I’m being paid!! (Sorry there, Lee Peters, but my time and advice is all I’ve got to sell to whoever will pay in our competitive market…)
TaterCon
You all will love this.
Bar Buddy quote this evening after hearing of Mikey’s reply to the Bar, “You mean it OK to lie before the trial, but not after it starts?”
He said it over for Mikey, just a matter of time.
“first the verdict then the trial” Alice in Wonderland.
Kemp
Nifong’s Responses to Paragraphs 212,231
(hat tip to Rick_J at Liestoppers for digging these out)
in which Nifong admits (if you read between the lines) that he was NOT interested in finding out
whose DNA was found on the accuser; he was ONLY
interested in tying the three accused to the rape.
IOW, he was focused on getting them convicted.
212. At the time that defendant (Nifong) met with Dr. Meehan, he was focused on the question of whether evidence had been discovered that corroborated the victim’s photographic identification of the two indicted Duke lacrosse
players as her assailants and whether there was any evidence to corroborate her near certain photographic identification of a third Duke
lacrosse player as a third assailant.
As such, as of the time of the meeting with Dr. Meehan …his attention was not focused on whether trace DNA from individuals not members the Duke lacrosse team which was found on certain items tested would be material evidence which would affect the outcome of any subsequent
trial.
Nifong’s response to Para. 231
231. Defendant (Nifong) admits that at the time that defendant served his initial discovery responses on May 18, 2006, he was aware …that trace amounts of DNA not matching the members of the Duke lacrosse team was found on certain items of evidence tested by DSI.
He knew there was exculaptory evidence before May, but did not turn it over until December, on court order.
He knew that there was no DNA from any lacrosse team member, BEFORE he indicted them in April.
He admits not being interested in DNA from anyone else but the three he had indicted.
Ergo, he was not involved in a search for a rapist; but only engaged in trying to prove the three to be guilty. Any other evidence was irrelevant.
Has anyone heard any reaction from James Coleman regarding Nifong’s response?
If I was a reporter, that would be my first call.
Reb
Mac (22) and Angel (26)
Mac, here is some data to support your post:
The Color of Crime – “Blacks are statistically 50 times more likely to attack whites than vice versa”
The rare white-on-black attack is always ‘front page’ and featured coverage by most news media while the daily black-on-white attacks are “disappearedâ€: Either not reported on at all, reported only by local newspapers, but “whited out†of local TV and national newspaper coverage, or reported without informing viewers of the respective races of the attackers and victim.
See supporting web pages:
http://www.newnation.com/NNN-Black-on-White.html
http://www.newnation.com/NNN-black-sports.html
Angel, did you read anything in the media about these:
1) NBA all-star Eddie Johnson arrested and charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl. (My note: She was a white girl, Johnson is black)
2) (07-10) 14:00 PDT Fresno, Calif.
The rape of an 11-year-old girl may have involved as many as 10 men, most of whom are football players at local community colleges, police said.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer described the case as “tragic” and “disturbing” and said other arrests were likely.
Police arrested two men in connection with the rape Saturday night, and officials said they identified eight others as persons of interest. Most or all are students at either Fresno City College or Reedley College, police said.
Seven Fresno City College football players who were in the apartment complex during the alleged assault spoke with police Sunday, an attorney said.
(My note: The athletes are black, the girl is white).
Angel, I seriously doubt this made any of the msm media. But just how savage does the black on white rapes have to be to get your ire up? Is it only white on black that gets your ire up?
Fresno did not have to cancel their season because of this incident. Duke LAX had to forfeit the whole season. Coach was fired. Fresno players got out on 100,000 bail for alleged rape of a little 11 year old white girl. Duke players paid out 400,000 for alleged rape of an adult black hooker.
Just imagine, big male adults in the 200 pound plus range raping little children of 8 and 11 years old. I just cannot imagine anyone behaving so savagely.
The blacks came out in mass to protest the alleged rape of a black hooker by 3 white kids. But the rape of 8 and 11 year olds by blacks barley makes a mention in the news. I don’t see Jackson or Sharpton showing their outrage as they did in Durham.
Remember how much of a stink they made when Tawana Brawley claimed she was raped by 5 white guys in NYC? Proved to be all BS. But the blacks almost started a riot in NYC, just like they did as a result of the current allegations by a hooker in Durham. The black pot bangers were out in force.
I don’t see the white community behaving like the blacks in Durham when white girls are raped. Why do think that is? Remember how the blacks stood up and cheered when OJ was found not guilty of killing 2 white people? White people did not start a riot and kill and burn buildings. Just sat there in disbelief. Remember how the blacks rioted when the cops were found not guilty in the Rodney King episode? They acted like savages. Killing people and burning down buildings.
#51, Your comment:
1) NBA all-star Eddie Johnson arrested and charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl. (My note: She was a white girl, Johnson is black).
That is incorrect. That was not the right Eddie Johnson. I saw the story and saw the follow up on ESPN. Get it straight.
Here is the article that you and everyone else consistently point the finger to the wrong man!
link
#51,
Let me clarify a bit more. The NBA all star is the Eddie johnson that is falsely accused. The Eddie Johnson that was charged was never an All Star and he was known as “Fast” Eddie Johnson. Yes the Fast Eddie Johnson is scum if he raped anyone. Even scum for hurting an 8 year old.
dexybet:
My sincere apologies to the All Star Eddie Johnson who was falsely accused on the ‘net where I got the info from. Also my apologies to all the readers of this blog, and my thanks to you for setting me strait. I can sense your anger and outrage about this false accusation.
But the words “falsely accused” echo ever so loudly in the Duke fiasco where three white players have been “falsely accused†by the black dancer/hooker.
With all due respect, while in Eddie Johnson’s case the truth surfaced that it was the wrong Johnson, it did not hurt his career to the extent that the false accusations by the black dancer/hooker have the Duke 3. These 3 are still waiting to have their charges dropped and get on with their lives. Charges of kidnap and sexual assault still loom over their heads with 20 year prison terms if convicted. And there legal fees are in the three million dollar range . . so far.
Which brings up the question as to why the black Duke student who was arrested for rape of a white freshman did not get charged with kidnap and sexual assault as the Duke 3 were charged. Has he been expelled? Has the fraternity been forced to shut down?
The black dancer/hooker has ruined so many lives with her false accusations. The reputation of a first class University, the Duke 3, the LAX team members, the former coach who was forced to resign, and even though I have no sympathy for him, Nifong may be (hopefully) disbarred. The gang of 88 who jumped to conclusions on the say-so of a hooker on drugs and booz, the President of Duke for his actions expelling the players trying to appease the angry mob that were chanting for his head. She is an embarrassment to Jackson and Sharpton who came to her aid, and all the decent, law abiding blacks of the country. The list goes on and on.
Add to the list victims the hooker’s children who were born out of wedlock. Was two, now is three. What type of life can they expect when they grow up with a mother like her? Probably born with a drug habit. She should be arrested and charged with lying to the police for what she has done. Not going to hold my breath on that one.
So, are you as outraged about the false accusation of the Duke 3 case as you are about my error regarding Eddie Johnson?
I sure hope so.
Zorba, I agree with you. I’m a Duke Fan. Didn’t root for Lacrosse until this year. More of a Duke B-ball fan. We lost last night, I feel hurt for the Duke B-ball team and those three that have to bear with an unjust system.
Tatercon,
When you read Mikey’s reply, let us know what you think of the Dec 28th letter that was included in the response.
Think that letter is going to help his case?
Kemp
Gov. Easley again attacks Nifong (in TV interview) :
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/548945.html
CHARLIE ROSE: He was appointed by you?
MICHAEL EASLEY: He was appointed acting DA by me. The district attorney, a very good district attorney, I appointed judge, and I wanted someone who wasn’t going to run, that was a long-term prosecutor, just to hold the office together until somebody was elected. And our staff interviewed him. He said he wasn’t going to run, and we didn’t think he would. And then he got out and started running.
There’s a totally different standard you set for somebody who is going to be the elected district attorney and get into politics, and then there’s somebody who you want just to run the office.
Because when you get out there and start making political comments, it requires a whole lot of different talent, a whole lot of different skills that obviously he didn’t have. And he would not have been appointed had we known he was going to run.
(snip)
MICHAEL EASLEY: Right now. What’s happened is the prosecution team at the attorney general’s office who I know is very, very competent. They’re looking at it, giving a whole fresh look, and they’ll make a determination. And if it is a good case, they’ll try it; if it is not, they’ll dismiss it and be done with it. But I can tell you, the crowd that has it now is going to do the right thing.
(He could have asked any lawyers or judges in NC
to review the case. He–or his AG–chose Coman and Winstead. That says it all…)
“(He could have asked any lawyers or judges in NC
to review the case. He–or his AG–chose Coman and Winstead. That says it all…)” — Seahawk, parenthetical ending at 58
Seahawk, our gov doesn’t appoint the AG to a cabinet; rather, it’s an elected position. Easley would not have had the authority to choose any particular prosecutors from AG Cooper’s staff, although you could speculate he might have made an informal suggestion in a separate communication after Nifong’s recused himself. And you could speculate Cooper might have listened, giving it some weight because Coman and Winstead worked under Easley when he was AG before becoming gov in Jan, 2001.
But it’s just speculation — authority to appoint the two lies in Cooper’s hands. I would have to check the statute books, too, but I’m not recalling any authority in the governor here in NC to appoint anyone from the judiciary or private bar “to review the case…” as, I suppose, a special prosecutor. The statutory process requires a local level DA to request the AG’s office take over a case when the local level DA perceives he/she can’t proceed with a prosecution.
(At this gawdawful hour, though, I’m not going to do any online research to confirm exactly what the statutes say — the golden retreivers have come back in from their, um, business outside…)
TaterCon
The suspect arrested in this crime was NOT a Duke student. It has not been reported whether he’s a student elsewhere, but I think I would have heard if he was a NCCU or other local college student.
One member of the fraternity lived in the off campus duplex/apartment at 405 Gattis, but the party was thrown by that fraternity. The house is close to some bad sections of that neighborhood, but the suspect was living elsewhere. It looks like it was a fairly open party and some of the wrong people wandered in. Could happen to anyone, and I wouldn’t hold the fraternity to blame.
However, you’re right that the protesters and vigils are conspicuously absent. You’d think the women’s groups would want to raise awareness in any case of rape, but that hasn’t happened yet. It may be that with the lessons of the Nifonged Laxers, people are waiting for the full story to come out, or it may be that with a white AV and a black suspect, they won’t get involved. I won’t jump to conclusions until the case gets further along.
A wise move. The second we do — we hop in the bus with the group of 88, et al…
I think it’s time we considered what the end game might look like. The Special Prosecutors have had the case going on a month now, and have given no indication that they intend to drop any or all charges. I frankly don’t expect that outcome. It could happen, but I’m pessimistic. There is simply too much political downside for all parties in decision-making positions for them to be expected to act responsibly. Everyone involved with this mess reflexively wants to kick the can down the road. The Governor, who appointed Nifong but refused to dismiss him as his malfeasance became evident, let the case fall into the AG’s lap by default. The AG’s office would prefer to leave the heavy lifting to the judge. The judge, who is also an elected official, wants to leave it to the jury, or, barring that, to an appeals court. It’s sad, really, that political self-preservation prevents clearly innocent people from receiving justice from those with a specific sworn DUTY to give it to them.
What, then, is the likely outcome? I believe that all responsible officials are secretly hoping for CGM to disappear. Frankly, this is a real possibility for her. She’s a prostitute living on the edge, and consequently can’t be relied upon to appear promptly for hearings and/or trial. Her untimely death, too, is far from a remote possibility, and would be a welcome relief for all concerned. I therefore expect the SPs to pursue delaying tactics to let such scenarios develop as they may. If CGM does, in fact, show up for an evidentiary hearing (I estimate some time in late Summer), regardless of how badly mauled under cross-examination, I expect the judge to disallow her photo line-up ID, but nevertheless allow an in-court ID by her of the defendants. Though legally incorrect, such a ruling would be politically expedient and correctable by a jury or appellate tribunal — but probably not on an interlocutory basis. It would also kick the can down the road to a trial (next Autumn or Winter?) by which time CGM again might die or otherwise fail to appear. The SPs, however, face risks in going to trial with the current charges in light of their required due dilligence in reviewing the case file. The SPs would face certain humiliation in court (regardless of verdict) and possible Bar sanctions if not careful.
From the standpoint of professional/political triangulation, then, their “best” recourse might be to modify the bill of indictment to reflect charges less explicitly refutable. Theft, Robbery, and/or Assault & Battery would make a MUCH better case for them to prosecute than the one they inherited. That’s not to say that the allegations would be in any way provable. That’s really not the point anymore. The new set of allegations would have the virtue not being explicitly DISprovable, which is all these people need right now to preserve both their professional reputations and political viability. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. The SPs have demonstrated a willingness to prosecute a provably INNOCENT person in the past, so I hold out little hope that they will break with tradition in this case.
Assuming jeopardy hasn’t already attached, the SPs, in moving to dismiss the sexual assault and kidnapping charges, might seek to do so WITHOUT prejudice. This would provide them with a fig leaf in retaining the (remote) option to re-file the charges at some point in the future should “new evidence” eventually be discovered. This tactic could also discourage or blunt civil litigation on behalf of the falsely accused. At any rate, defense counsel is compelled to afford the SPs a presumption of good faith, which will unfortunately allow them wide discretion in delaying final disposition of the case and/or in building a CYA prosecution that, though unprovable, would nevertheless be “ethically permissable” within the broad guidelines of prosecutorial discretion.
The defendants, I’m afraid, could yet face a long, costly ride to resolution. Ironically, they would likely have been far better off had Nifong NOT recused himself. The case would have been headed for trial in the next several weeks in a form well suited to a vigorous, fact-based defense. Now all bets are off. Who knows what charges they might face, and when? It’s truly astonishing that it could cost millions of dollars to defend oneself against allegations that any idiot could see from the outset were bogus on their face.
Back to Nifong hits the circuit, Nifong’s career and reputation will really be done when his name becomes a verb. Instead of Fisking an article we could have “those poor defendents were Nifonged”
Nifong: Grassroots Groups Trying to Run Him out of Office
Hee-hee!!!
Snips: Durham — In a letter to the North Carolina State Bar, the embattled former prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case complains about how grassroots groups are trying to run him out of office.
The Dec. 28 letter is an attachment to Mike Nifong’s written response filed Wednesday to an ethics complaint filed by the North Carolina State Bar.
In it, Nifong cites one group, Friends of Duke University — a group of alumni, parents and supporters of the school — that takes aim at how he handled the case and has also provided instructions on a blog about how to petition for the DA’s removal.
“A well-connected and well-financed (but not, I would suggest, a well-intentioned) group of individuals … have taken it upon themselves to ensure that this case never reaches trial,” Nifong writes in the eight-page letter to the State Bar’s Grievance Committee.
Nifong continues in the letter: “If this seems like paranoid delusion to you, perhaps you should check out Web sites… such as (Friends of Duke University).”
But the founding member of the group, University of Maryland law professor and Duke graduate Jason Trumpbour, offers no apologies.
“I think Mike Nifong has to realize he is the author of his own misfortune,” Trumpbour said.
“Given his conduct, he doesn’t deserve to be in office,” he added. “I got involved in this case, because early on, it became clear to me that these defendants were not getting a fair trial.”
Read more here: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1221259/
#63
This would provide them with a fig leaf in retaining the (remote) option to re-file the charges at some point in the future should “new evidence†eventually be discovered. This tactic could also discourage or blunt civil litigation on behalf of the falsely accused.
But in fact any ‘new’ investigation, of any charges, old or new, would be carried out by the same DPD, DA’s office, judges, etc., as before, with the sole exception being the absence of Nifong.
But Nifong did not act alone; his was not a conspiracy of one.
Ergo this would be simply the same attempt at frame-up as before, conducted by the same group as before, in merely a second attempt to get a conviction (for SOMETHING).
Which would be just as illegal as before (and prosecutable).
Tatercon,
When you read Mikey’s reply, let us know what you think of the Dec 28th letter that was included in the response. — Kempx, at 57
Sorry to take so long there, Kemp… took me some time to find a link to the letter.
I don’t think the letter helped him a bit. In fact, it was what, three weeks later that the Bar amended its initial complaint to slam him for the DNA shenanigans and the tangled web of comments to the court over several months? He pretty much threw down a challenge, too, telling the Bar the word on the street has been that it’s been waiting to go on a witch hunt of sorts to make an example of a prosecutor. Well, my little pretty — I think they got you, Mikey. And ToTo too?
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