Posted on 09/18/2006 5:19:53 PM PDT by abb
DURHAM - One of three people who saw the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case at the crisis center where she first reported being sexually assaulted kept notes of her observations, defense lawyers said in a motion filed in court today.
In the early hours of March 14, the accuser was taken to Durham Access Center because she reportedly met the criteria for involuntary commitment, defense lawyer Brad Bannon wrote in the motion filed in Durham County Court today.
While there for 40 minutes, the accuser interacted with three women on the center's staff, the motion says.
Gerri Lomuriel Wilkes, who was working at the center the morning the accuser came in, took hand-written notes of her observations, according to the motion.
Kirk Osborn, the lawyer representing Reade Seligmann, one of three lacrosse players accused in the case, found out about the notes while interviewing Wilkes, the motion says.
Defense lawyers are asking that the notes be turned over to them.
District Attorney Mike Nifong has told defense lawyers during discovery hearings that no notes were made at the center, that only a log existed from there.
In previous documents handed over to defense lawyers, there is no evidence that police tried to contact Wilkes about that morning.
Also, defense lawyers are asking the state for a bill of particulars in which they hope to get a more precise timeline of the alleged offenses and find out which bathroom at 610 N. Buchanan the gang-rape allegedly occurred.
They also are asking the state to specify which "sexual act" each defendant is accused of committing. Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or ablythe@newsobserver.com.
Pinging the DukeLax List with new thread and information...
Defense lawyers in Duke case seek additional notes about accuser
The Associated Press
September 18, 2006 5:26 pm
DURHAM, N.C. -- Attorneys representing three Duke lacrosse players charged with rape asked prosecutors Monday to turn over handwritten notes they said were taken by an employee at the mental-health facility where the accuser first said she was raped.
In their joint motion, defense attorneys also asked for copies of any radio communications between Durham police officers connected to the case made in the hours after a March 13 lacrosse team party. A woman hired to perform as a stripper told police three people sexually assaulted her in a bathroom of the off-campus house where the party took place.
A grand jury later indicted three players -- Collin Finnerty, David Evans and Reade Seligmann -- with rape, sexual offense and kidnapping.
The defense has asked several times for records from the Durham Access Center, where police took the woman for involuntary commitment in the hours after the party. She interacted with at least three staff members and was there for 40 minutes, according to defense attorneys, but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said there are no records of her time at the facility other than a simple log-in sheet.
In Monday's motion, defense attorneys said one of the staff members "took handwritten notes of her observations" of the accuser and that she intended to turn those notes over to prosecutors. It is unclear whether those notes were ever turned over to Nifong's office.
Nifong, who has generally refused to talk about the case, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
Attorneys representing Finnerty and Evans also filed a motion seeking a "bill of particulars," which would detail information prosecutors used as the basis for charging their clients. The motion specifically seeks the time and place of the alleged assault as well as "the specific 'sexual act'" for each defendant.
Seligmann's lawyers filed a similar motion in June. Attorneys for all three players have strongly proclaimed their clients' innocence.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-770868.html
BOOM shaka lakka lakka BOOM shaka lakka lakka BOOM BOOM! Yer goin down Nifong! Ya putz!
No notes, sayeth Nifong? Hm. Did he even bother to look? Or even bother to meet with the young mens' attorneys in the early days? Nope.
Nifong ran with a "By Any Means Necessary" modus in charging innocents with rape, etc.
Is Nifong the local legal terrorist? So driven by his hidden Allah, that he must win at any cost?
Didn't Nifong just want to win the Dem primary to retain his job?
The rat primary isn't the general election. And he won the primary a few months ago I think.
Right around the time he brought this case against the Duke students.
Either Nifong didn't bother to ask anyone at Durham Access if there were any notes regarding the accuser's time there (sloppy), or he knew there were notes and tried to hide them (scary).
Either way it's not a pretty picture. How any judge can accept any representations made by Nifong at this point is beyond me. If Nifong told me that the Pope is Catholic I'd check it out with the Vatican.
It also makes me wonder what else is out there floating around that Nifong is either hiding or didn't ask about.
Because there was no sexual assault, there's going to be more exculpatory evidence. Nifong can run but he can't hide. If the defense has talked to the Durham Access Nurse and they demanded notes, she has told them something further damaging to Nifong and now they are looking to confirm. As an added bonus, they caught Nifong in another lie. Of course, he can say he never saw them or some such weaselly words but the damage is done.
The hearing Friday has circus potential.
Thanks for the ping.
I just deleted myself from the Talkleft forums. Too much crap from PB and IMHO for me to remain polite anymore. Rather than say what I really think, I just left, because I'd be banned anyway.
A couple morons ruining a whole board....
"A couple morons ruining a whole board...."
Maybe that's their deliberate intention?
Same thing happened at Court TV--again, maybe deliberate.
(So the way to defeat that is to NEVER answer the trolls.)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2006
Twenty Questions
Today's N&O reveals the latest in the Durham Police's inexplicably shoddy investigation into the Duke lacrosse case. On March 14, police initially took the accuser to the Durham Access Center, where involuntary commitment loomed. Three people saw the accuser at the Access Center; one asked her if she had been raped; when she responded yes, this case took a new turn.
Mike Nifong long has claimed a single-page log sheet constitutes the only record of the accuser's 40-minute stay at the Center. A defense motion filed yesterday, however, asserts that at least one Access Center employee took handwritten notes of the accuser's arrival. No explanation exists as to why Nifong has not turned these notes over to the defense, as state law requires him to do.
Much more important, the defense motion contends that "months after the event" police hadn't interviewed any of the three Access Center employees who saw the accuser before she went to the hospital on March 14. It's hard to fathom an innocent explanation for this oversight:
[end excerpt]
why isn't the justice system kicking in here?........
District Attorney Mike Nifong has told defense lawyers during discovery hearings that no notes were made at the center, that only a log existed from there. (N&O)
"...but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said there are no records of her time at the facility other than a simple log-in sheet. (H-S/AP)
The Herald-Sun may be another casualty of the Duke rape hoax. The case has been an acid test for North Carolina journalists. It looks like the acid from this case may peel away the remaining dead flesh from the corpse of The Herald-Sun.
[snip]
One final link is to the Raleigh N&O's Editors' Blog post "Duke lacrosse latest: Gottlieb profile." Link to Melanie's blog
Scroll down and take a look at what reader/commenters are posting on the thread.
bttt
I didn't point out that that is a quote from The Johnsville News. JIC makes that clear, and has a link to TJN at the blog.
Updated Stories...
Lacrosse lawyers seek notes
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer
DURHAM - Defense lawyers have requested the handwritten notes from a security guard who observed the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case when she first reported being sexually assaulted.
Gerri L. Wilkes was working on March 14 at the Durham Access Center, a mental health and detoxification center, when police brought the accuser in because she met the criteria for involuntary commitment, defense lawyers said in a motion filed Monday in Durham County Superior Court.
The accuser interacted with three people at the center, according to defense lawyers, but it was not until recently that they realized one of the workers had kept notes from the 40-minute encounter.
Earlier this summer, District Attorney Mike Nifong told a judge that no reports of the encounter were made at the center and that an admissions log was all that existed.
The center is where the accuser, an escort service dancer, first reported being sexually assaulted while at a lacrosse team party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
Police drove her to the 24-hour mental health facility early on March 14 from the Kroger supermarket on Hillsborough Road.
Officers had found the accuser passed out in the passenger seat of a Honda Accord driven by the other escort service dancer hired to perform at the lacrosse party.
The accuser was unresponsive, according to police notes from the incident, so an officer drove her to Durham Access Center.
"During the check-in process, the victim was asked if something had happened to her and she said yes," officer Joseph Stewart wrote in his report. "She was then asked if she had been raped and she stated yes."
Kirk Osborn, the Chapel Hill lawyer representing one of the accused, found out about the notes while interviewing Wilkes, according to the motion filed Monday.
Wilkes declined to discuss details from that night when reached Monday.
Nifong has declined to discuss the case outside the courtroom. The next hearing is set for Friday.
Defense lawyers also are trying to get recordings from any radio exchanges among officers on secondary channels on March 14.
"Upon information and belief, a number of DPD law enforcement officials communicated over police radio frequencies about the response and the observations of the officers at the Kroger scene, as well as what happened after the accuser was taken to the Durham Access Center and then, later, to the Duke Hospital Emergency room," the motion says. "These communications occurred on various frequencies, to include secondary channels that are used to communicate among the watch commander, the district sergeant and officers."
The district attorney has provided defense lawyers more than 1,800 pages of documents. Under state law, prosecutors are required to open their files before trial.
The documents are only part of the evidence that could be introduced in a criminal trial. They do not include information still being gathered or testimony that might occur under oath.
Defense lawyers also want Nifong to give a precise account of what allegedly occurred that night. They demanded a more precise timeline of the alleged offenses. They asked the prosecution to specify which of the two bathrooms at 610 N. Buchanan the gang-rape allegedly occurred.
Lawyers also asked the prosecutor to specify which "sexual act" each defendant is accused of committing.
(Staff writer Joseph Neff contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or ablythe@newsobserver.com.
Staff writer Joseph Neff contributed to this report.
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/488098.html
acrosse case defense lawyers request notes on accuser
BY WILLIAM F. WEST, The Herald-Sun
September 18, 2006 10:39 pm
DURHAM -- Lawyers for three indicted Duke lacrosse players want District Attorney Mike Nifong to turn over handwritten notes from an employee of the mental health and substance abuse facility where the accuser first claimed she was sexually assaulted in March.
The defense attorneys -- in court papers filed Monday -- argued that Gerri Lomuriel Wilkes of the Durham Access Center indicated she intended to give her handwritten records to Nifong's office.
The lawyers argued they have yet to see any such paperwork and that they still have only Nifong's statements in court settings of there being just a blank check-in log and no substantive report by anyone at the center about the accuser's presence there.
Nifong declined comment Monday on the latest court filings made on behalf of accused 2005-2006 lacrosse players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.
The papers come in addition to court filings late last month claiming Nifong and Durham police hadn't provided several pieces of vital evidence in the case, as required by law.
Last month's filings came after Nifong, Durham County's chief prosecutor, told Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith and defense lawyers a toxicology report indicated the accuser had tested negative for the presence of controlled substances.
One of the attorneys for the players said those findings undercut public hints by Nifong in April that the woman might have been given a date-rape drug.
The defense has repeatedly pressed for answers about what happened in the hours immediately after the alleged attack, particularly regarding the accuser's trip with police to the Durham Access Center -- where she was taken from a Kroger grocery store on Hillsborough Road.
Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans maintain their innocence on all counts -- rape, kidnapping and sexual offense -- in connection with allegations surrounding events at a lacrosse team party March 13 at a house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., next to Duke's East Campus.
The accuser, who was hired to perform as an exotic dancer, claims she was attacked in a bathroom at the house.
Lawyers for Finnerty and Evans want to know in which of the bathrooms in the house the alleged offenses took place and the specific "sexual act" each defendant is alleged to have committed.
The lawyers for Finnerty and Evans argue "the defendants cannot adequately prepare or conduct their defenses without such information," including specific times and dates.
Lawyers for all three defendants also say they want copies of audio recordings of all communications on all radio frequencies about the activities and observations of all police officers involved in activities related to the case in the early morning hours after the alleged incident.
The lawyers' request includes not just communications between officers and the dispatcher on primary channels, but any radio traffic on secondary channels used by the watch commander, district sergeant and other officers to communicate among themselves.
The lawyers specifically want to know what was communicated over police radio frequencies about the response of officers at the Kroger, where the dancer arrived and a security guard at that scene who reportedly called 911 to say the dancer appeared to be drunk or intoxicated.
The accuser was taken to the Durham Access Center and later to Duke University Hospital.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-770973.html
Rich white males are America's new victims
Jimmy Haynes, [Letters, Sept. 16] like Mike Nifong, apparently has not been paying attention to the evidence in the Duke lacrosse hoax. Haynes says that if the defendants are innocent then why have they not come forward to support the alibis of the wrongly accused. They have come forward. All of the players have signed affidavits stating no rape occurred. And in the beginning, the three residents of the house fully cooperated with police without legal council and all three offered to take polygraph test.
I guess to Haynes, unless they lied and told authorities what Haynes wants to hear, then they are not cooperating. The Duke players were cooperating until they realized District Attorney Mike Nifong was not interested in the evidence, just like Haynes. Nifong had a primary election to win. Anyone that has been actually following the case would realize that there is not one. There is not one piece of evidence that supports a rape.
The only people that are supporting this travesty are people with agendas (race, sex or class) or individuals that are ignorant of the evidence. Just because the characters in this fiasco do not support the sex or color of society's definition of victimization does not mean it is not an injustice.
Just like Jews and blacks in the world's history the new group that society blindly allows people with agendas to discriminate against is rich white males.
RODNEY TURNER
Durham
September 19, 2006
Starn needs a Plan B
In response to Professor Orin Starn's article in The Herald-Sun on Sept. 15: I would certainly be interested in the professor's Plan B regarding athletic reform. Assuming, for argument's sake, Duke would drop its participation in Division I competition and offer only club sports, let's play out this scenario and some of its adverse consequences.
Duke would lose national exposure, suffer a considerable loss in financial support from alumni, lose all of the coaches presently on staff and most of the employees in the athletic department. Furthermore, Professor Starn's plan for athletic reform at Duke will bite off a portion of the hand that helps feed the academic prowess Duke enjoys.
Starn's proposal is hallmark thinking of a provincial ivory tower academic. Duke Athletics will weather this latest storm and be stronger for the effort.
Rather than displaying this divisiveness, which is not needed at this time when the University is attempting to heal, Starn should show some loyalty.
And while Starn is at it, he should come down out of that ivory tower once in awhile, look at the positive side of athletics and cheer for the Blue Devils.
FRAN HAMACHER
Durham
September 19, 2006
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/
Here's what Nifong said on June 22.
"The lawyers also awaited records from a Durham detoxification center, where the woman first reported she was raped. Nifong said that he is waiting for the record but that it would be only a single-page log."
http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/453751.html
Here's our thread on the date of that hearing (June 22)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1653541/posts?q=1&&page=251
WRAL's story from that day
http://www.wral.com/dukelacrosseheadlines/9409016/detail.html
Oh it's definitely their intention, CondorFlight.
You can only put up with it for so long, though.
So, they'll miss out on my e-mails to writers and they'll miss out on my always interesting opinions. :-)
.....Is Nifong the local legal terrorist?......
I think this is a brilliant statement.
The American legal system has degenerated to terrorism on both sides. Plaintiff terrorists have honed their tactics to television advertised fine art.
The President of the United States is subject to injury by IED's placed by Senators from his own party hoping for some marginal political gain.
Abb, the N&O article today says Gerri Wilkes, who Osborn discovered made notes of her observations of Crystal at DA, is a security guard. Security guard making notes of her patient observations? Sounds fishy to me.
The Islamics have studied and used the tactics developed and honed to a fine edge by American Jews and Blacks.
In America, even on Free Republic, mentioning the word Jew or Black produces howls of discrinination. Criticism, regardless of how minor is not allowed. Any descriptive that does not meet the PC style book currently in effect is pounced on.
Blame the American Jews and Blacks for the current mess. They created it by having thin skin.
Interesting. She could be an "admitting clerk/security guard?" Maybe the first person to see Mangum?
Nifong has yet to realize he's not in traffic court anymore.
Security Guard is probably NOT the best definition of this person but only one of her roles.
http://forums.go.com/abclocal/WTVD/thread?threadID=130926
To understand this issue one must understand Durham.
Where else must a black police chief back officers who were so blatently out of control in order to protect his daughter from being held responsible for the felony charges on crimes she committed?
Where else would the local paper and TV station be so culpable in protecting DPD sources that have leaked information in the past that they can look past obvious violations of the constitution and due process?
Where else would the city managers struggle to maintain the status quo where city employees can not safely work on the streets without being accosted by criminals yet the streetwalkers and gang-bangers can ply their trade with impunity?
Where else can one go and be brutally carjacked in a major shopping center while students have to worry about being abused by fat balding policemen with an ego as large as their belly because it is DPD policy?
Why is it that many of the headlines in other cities contain stories of individuals from Durham that commit crimes in these other cities? Is it because the only commodity that Durh has to export is criminals?
Durham is, has been and will continue to be a cess pit until the moral individuals within the town decide to demand better. Many of these moral people (including my mother and all of her family) have decided to leave Durham since the culture of corruption is so well ingrained. There are many upstanding members of the community in Durham whose voice holds little sway in matters. Durham - the "City of Medicine" should be the "Capital of Corruption."
Posted: 9/19/06 7:53 AM
Doesn't this statement by Chalmers imply that blacks may sometimes lie about racial slurs?
Another implication of his statement could be that the "blue wall of silence" is more protective of bigots than it is of abusive cowards.
Couldn't substantiate racial slurs at Blinco's , but could at 610 Buchanan? The latter certainly has been reported as fact over and over.
There's a reason why Chalmer's has been mum all along in regard to the Duke LAX case. Now he comes to bat for Gottlieb's Duke arrest record. Amazing how the "only" unsubstantiated fact in the Blinco's incident was the racial slur.
There's more here ...
bump
http://p206.ezboard.com/fhackedbannedandlockeddownfrm17.showMessage?topicID=2.topic&index=1
Can anybody tell me the source for this photo?
I agree... Personally I think Chalmers' statements are an attempt to maintain Gottlieb's street cred... If a black official comes out in support of Gottlieb then it gives permission to the black jurors to view him as less of a white devil than otherwise...
This case has been all along a race case right out of the Jesse Jackson shake down mold. Go after those with the most money, making the most bizarre accusations and hope for the big blackmail payoff.
I find somewhat suspect the claims that a group of liberal raised college students with black teammates present or police officers who work daily within a significantly black population with black peers present, screaming racial epithets. Not out of the question, but somewhat suspect..
However, if the DA does have them, because this employee told the defense they were turned over to the DA, then the DA is in a big heap of trouble because a copy was to have been turned over to the defense months ago. I would hate to think what would happen if the DA destroyed these notes?
I've removed that forum from my list of worthy "links" at CM.
Drivel.
I had to jump back and defend myself because imho tried to stab me in the back after I left.
Maybe I just took the bait again, though.
There probably is more to it. Correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm sure you will - :-)), but if a L.E. agent or member of the D.A.'s office has been shown to be corrupt in the management of a case (unlawful searches, prosecutorial misconduct, etc.), doesn't that automatically open up all cases the individual who has been found so guilty was connected with for judicial review? I've heard that is the case and that it is a major can of worms to open for the L.E. and Judiciary. No body wants ANYBODY on their L.E. team to be found with poopoo on their shoes, cause once you step in it, you can never get it off.
The contradiction is "NO DNA" of the boys consistent with 3 types of sex.
I agree. I think some of the other boards particularly CourtTV were ruined on purpose because certain people did not like how the evidence was coming down.
Yes, you are absolutely correct... read about Joyce Gilchrist, it will make you want to scream.....
The defense is demanding the notes from Nifong because they know he is lying and hiding exculpatory evidence. This is just one more bit of pressure on him to come clean.
I say, hmmmmmm, how many innocents are in prison now because of the "known" inabilities of the SBI labs? I'll bet there's a lawyer of two in N.C. re-looking at some DNA involved case files.
http://www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2006/09/19/News/Dpd-Duke.Acknowledge.Belmont.Snafu-2284673.shtml?norewrite200609191525&sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com
DPD, Duke acknowledge Belmont snafu
Both say watchman did not follow protocol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.