Posted on 04/06/2007 11:16:33 AM PDT by SmithL
Raleigh, N.C. (AP) -- For a few weeks, it seemed as if the only silence in the Duke lacrosse case came when lawyers on all sides paused to take a breath.
That was in January, after some criminal allegations were dropped, and ethics charges were filed against the prosecutor. But since the state attorney general took over the matter, attorneys on both sides have said little, turning a sexual assault case that once dominated headlines into a quiet wait for answers.
"There's no one on our side who is taking anything for granted or presuming anything," said defense attorney Wade Smith, who represents player Collin Finnerty. "We are hopeful that the attorney general would do what we know is the right thing."
Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans were indicted on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense last spring after a woman told police she was assaulted at a team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper.
But District Attorney Mike Nifong — who led the investigation for nine months — eventually dropped the rape charges in late December after the accuser changed a key detail in her story.
He then recused himself after being charged with several ethics violations tied to his handling of the case, putting the players' fate in the hands of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper.
The remaining charges still could bring more than 30 years in prison.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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So when do we get a perp walk on Nifong? I plan to Tivo that happy day!
And that was about the 10th key change of her story.
As the Iranians have shown us. A show trial on trumped up charges works best when you pardon the suspects before trial and proclaim your own generousity.
My prediction: Nifong gets away with using the full judicial and armed power of the state to falsely prosecute innocent people in order to promote his political career.
Nifong will not be prosecuted, tried or go to jail.
The powers in charge are waiting until a mind-numbed public forgets what happened, then they will drop everything and Nifong will go on to get higher political appointments.
I’ll bet they wait until school is out and drop the charges.
I’m pretty sure your scenario is what will happen. However I think that the parents of these students may have the wherewithall to continue persecuting Nifong. For now though these students are lightning rods and will be hounded where ever they go. I know, it happened to me. Even after the charges are dropped, friends, family, relatives, etc have suspicions and still gossip - over ten years later. The DA in my case continues on and continually is re-elected. My only supporter, my Father had just enough to pay for a Lawyer. I’ve since paid him back.
I am sorry for what you went through and thankful that you had a dad to stand with you. I have often thought that the system being called criminal justice was pretty ironic. The criminal gets the justice, the rest of us get, well, you follow my thought.
They’ll wait until passions have cooled, when no one is likely to riot, and when the students have left for the summer.
Last summer was too soon to meet those standards, but I’d expect this to be quietly killed off sometime after mid-May.
The trick will be to get this killed w/o making it a huge civil rights riot.....
Unfortunately, I think you are right. Out-of-control prosecutors are all over, not just there. The problem is that they are not professionals first and foremost — they are politicians through and through.
It could be argued that the lowest form of a lawyer is a prosecutor and lowest form of politician is a DA. I recently read a book about Chicago in twenties and thirties when the police who were not on the take did arrest somebody, then the cases seem to have gotten lost in the prosecutor’s offices.
As our country becomes more socialized the only people left to be pursued without repurcussion will be the common, decent folk. As it is now most Police units will not actively pursue criminal gangs for fear of being retalliated against. The only people left after this to justify their existence is us. And hey everyone has got to make a living. Lone criminals after doing a stint in prison know their only choice to survive is to prey on us, and they continually are revolving through the “justice system” without true cognition of why they are there. For further reference see the UK.
We better ALSO get a perp walk on Tawana Brawley 2006. Nifong doesn't even get to screw up if this piece of human excrement doesn't lie, deceive, attack, defame, etc... might I add she's a RACIST. I pray to GOD that everyone plasters her name and photo everywhere as the criminal she is.
Here's a photo of Crystal Mangum taken 3 days after the false accusation:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1806164/posts?page=1#1
What do you call skydiving lawyers?
Skeet!
What happened?
Yep. Nifong walks.
I sat your wrong. Nifong put the gov.and NC. on the hot seat Nifong is toast.
You are so right. And I don't foresee a pendulum swing in the right direction in the future.
And all the while the legal bills are mounting. Lawyers always win, even if their clients lose.
The riots will not be about civil rights. The riots will be about HDTVs.
Yep. The NC State Bar is going to rip him a new one. And that's just the beginning of his troubles.
BTW, foxnews.com reports that three U. of Minnesota players have been charged with sexual assault. I bet the football season will not be cancelled.
The thing is being delayed to give the black racists and other lunatics in Durham sufficient time to “get over it”. And because Duke University and the city of Durham are looking at legal liabilities big enough to shut both of them down.
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