Police destroyed evidence in Duke Lacrosse case

[CondorFlight]

UNREPORTED by any of the major media, but--

Apparently police have already destroyed evidence in the Duke lacrosse case :

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/

"...the "highlight" of the Duke Hoax hearing came with the announcement by the prosecution that the recordings of all Durham Police Department radio calls for March 13th and 14th had been destroyed.

"It seems Durham Police Department tape use policy calls for tapes to be reused after 60 days. So, even though tapes were requested in April 28th motion by the defense, and ordered by Judge Stephens on May18th,

"the prosecution now maintains that the tapes were destroyed on or after May 13th, just five days or less before Judge Stephens’ order. Yep, we believe that! The defense indicated that they could call all the officers to testify as to their recollection of those radio calls.

"This was met with the assertion that the police could not be expected to recall their radio communication with accuracy at such a late date. LieStoppers can only wish that all police officers had the same “amazing” memory and recall powers as Sergeant Gottlieb does!"

[jocon307]

You make a really excellent point. I would think you'd keep tapes like that for at least a year.

[Alia]

Ping.

[Political Junkie Too]

Nixon should have tried that...

At least for more than 18 minutes.

-PJ

[Binkmeister]

In DA law school they must learn the fundamentals of putting together a good case. This entails selecting and "preparing" evidence and witnesses. This involves shaping, forming, and carefully molding it to fit the case theory. There is also the process of elimination in which nonconforming evidence is mislaid, lost or destroyed "accidentally". There is the careful and often fruitful working and reworking of the "story" ie, testimony. This entails the threatening of the witnesses, the offering of unsavory deals, the promising of further punishment for those requesting a trial by jury, and the effort to remove any competent defense attorney from the case. Tape erasing as taught by Ms. Lincoln has been replaced by document and evidence removal taught by Mr. S. Burger. As always, the rule is this: it is not the quality of the evidence, but the seriousness of the charge that is important.

[Ken H]

Some links to go with this thread:

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2006/09/duke-hoax-hearing.html

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/09/das-tough-day.html

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2006/09/sue-rose-goes-to-duke-hoax-hearing.html

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2006/09/enemy-of-people.html

[R.W.Ratikal]

The "innocent" boys are suffering the consequences of their own acts. Let's put it into perspective.

A bunch of college students hired a couple of hookers to perform at their party. Inevitably it got out of hand. The hookers were not paid what they thought they should have been paid and so one of them tried a trick she had tried once before, run to the police and claim you were raped. It too got out of hand.

In the meantime a politician tried to get votes from Blacks by "defending" this "young woman" who had been taken advantage of by 46 men.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

So they got orders from higher up that the whiteys were to be convicted at all costs. Nothing the left does surprises me.

[hoosierham]

Just like paper ballots,tape is independent of the machine breaking down,and is more difficult to fake.

Too many people think digital is now the only answer;you need to look at what features of the old system you lose with the switch.

[ml/nj]

you need to look at what features of the old system you lose with the switch

I lost noise, and the inconvenience of a fixed length of tape. I record live operas (mostly Met Broadcasts). My recordings sound almost as if I were sitting in my accustomed spot in the orchestra. I gained virtually free media, and ease of duplication. Sometimes newer is better.

As for faking digital audio, I'm not sure it's as easy as photoshoping a picture.

ML/NJ

[ladyjane]

Nifong is a huge embarrassment for the state of North Carolina. Why the governor, who appointed Nifong, allows the circus to continue is a mystery.

[Ken H]

The "innocent" boys are suffering the consequences of their own acts.

Why the "" around innocent? Is there any question in your mind that they are innocent of the rape charges? They are suffering the consequences of racial and gender politics by a DA pandering to a RAT mob.

Let's put it into perspective.

Yes, let's (see prior comments re a RAT mob).

A bunch of college students hired a couple of hookers to perform at their party. Inevitably it got out of hand.

They asked for strippers, which is not illegal in Durham County or NC, AFAIK.

The hookers were not paid what they thought they should have been paid and so one of them tried a trick she had tried once before, run to the police and claim you were raped.

What is the basis for making that claim, or are you just speculating? Don't you think it more likely that she made up the rape story to avoid involuntary confinement?

In the meantime a politician tried to get votes from Blacks by "defending" this "young woman" who had been taken advantage of by 46 men.

Congratulations on getting that one correct. Regrettably, it cannot salvage the rest of the post and I am forced to give it an F.

[hoosierham]

The stack of tapes in the cabinet continue to hold their information even after the recorder croaks. When the weeks old digital recorder croaked at my industrial site we lost all the security videos (the installers had NO idea how to ,or if, the video could be recovered.
Sometimes newer is both better and worse.At least horse manure was good for crops unlike automobile exhaust.
We just need to be sure of all the tradeoffs.

[Sue Perkick]

I'm still trying to figure out why he appointed Nifong in the first place. Surely there was some other dummyrat lurking in the shadows of Durham far more qualified to try criminal cases.

[Cicero]

Evidently they have some old equipment.

It had occurred to me that they could put the relevant parts of the two tapes into digital form and then put it on CD, with witnesses to testify that nothing was altered.

But there's nothing like the original evidence to convince a jury. Otherwise, the Prosecutor could probably persuade them that it wasn't reliable.

[mewzilla]

Good gad.

[streeeetwise]

You are a sick person. At least two of the Defendants did not hire anybody and just showed up and had a beer with teammates and then left.

[ladyjane]

And I don't understand why they allow this to continue. A lot of parents are not going to send their children to Duke because of this. Duke was dipping into their waiting list almost immediately.

I would never drive in the area near Durham. I wouldn't want to get involved with their kangaroo courts and their corrupt police.

[AnAmericanMother]

We struck Duke off our list immediately (and they had scholarship money and my mom is an alum.)

Mom's mad as fire and has stopped giving to her alma mater, and I would never send my daughter into such a corrupt place (where the university authorities went right along with Nifong's charade and didn't even attempt to defend their students.)

[Sue Perkick]

I agree. Duke should have stood by these boys. Until the evidence proved otherwise, they had an obligation to do that. But Broadhead & the school couldn't bail fast enough. They sold them out & I'm ashamed of them for it. Broadhead should be fired. I don't think he could receive enough public humiliation to make up for what he's done. No parent who loves their child should even consider Duke at this point.

I had planned to go to Durham next spring for an anniversary. But I wouldn't dream of it now. Might get pulled over for a broken tailight and never find my way back out of the system.

[AlexandriaDuke]

The stack of tapes in the cabinet continue to hold their information even after the recorder croaks.

Audio tapes die too, I'm afraid. And I'm told, CD's and hard drives deteriorate, eventually.

:(