Posted on 11/12/2007 5:41:48 PM PST by NCjim
Burlington — The head of a private laboratory where DNA evidence in the Duke lacrosse case was tested no longer works there.
The move comes less than a month after the former defendants filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Dr. Brian Meehan, former District Attorney Mike Nifong and several others involved in the investigation.
Civil attorneys allege they were part of a "DNA conspiracy" and purposely withheld potentially exculpatory evidence that could have been used to clear their clients of the criminal charges against them.
Neither Meehan nor his attorney would talk Monday about why he was replaced.
DNA became the focus of the yearlong investigation against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Selgimann, and, ultimately, helped clear them of the charges they faced. Making misrepresentations about DNA evidence in court also sent Nifong to jail for criminal contempt.
Meehan helped found the Burlington lab, DNA Security Inc., in 1998 and served as its director. He was the one who tested the 46 DNA samples from the 2006 Duke University men's lacrosse team and found no matches to DNA collected from the exotic dancer who claimed she was raped, sexually assaulted and kidnapped at the March 14, 2006, lacrosse team party.
He did, however, find male DNA on evidence collected from the accuser, Crystal Mangum, and her belongings that did not match any of the lacrosse players.
During a North Carolina State Bar disciplinary committee hearing into allegations of unprofessional conduct against Nifong, Meehan testified the district attorney never told him to hide the evidence but never told him to highlight it either.
"Why I didn't do it, it was poor judgment on my partm at the time when I drafted that report," Meehan testified in June.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
chickens coming home to roost
If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.
The Gang Of 88 must go down for justice to be done.
They aren’t immune to civil suits.
Fixed.
The three accused players came to terms with the university and the terms covered liability for the 88 super losers so that the sum of money in question had to be pretty large. There are however others in the picture who could yet sue the 88.
Evans, Finnerty, and Selgimann Biomeasurements, Inc. will have no use for Meehan.
It has to be way more than poor judgment. If he won't tell the truth, he needs to go to jail for a long time.
If he does tell the truth, he needs to go to jail for a little less.
“Why I didn’t do it, it was poor judgment on my part at the time when I drafted that report,” Meehan
My God, Magnum!
Meehan didn’t report the “bad news” because he wanted to get national attention for his company.
If you are an independent testing agency, you do the test and report the findings no matter how good or how bad they are for the local district attorney! To do anything else is to lie about your “independence”.
Meehan, like Nifong, knew exactly what he was doing and knew it was WRONG.
“Poor judgment” be da…..
I don't buy it. Just out of the blue, he decided to withhold exculpatory evidence against 3 total strangers putting at risk the business and reputation he's been building for decades.
SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE!
Next : The Gang Of 88 ?
Oh Festus -— YOU be bad!
Bad to the bone......but very very good!
I know I will be pilloried for this comment, but in the world of expert witness’s, look up the term, fiduciary responsibility.
ping
The evil that was done to these innocent young men has turned into justice for real evildoers. Bravo!
I Hope so. They need to be sued as individuals, not as university employees.
Yah good luck with that.
Aside from the fact that it would be hard to prove actual damages in a case against the 90 liberal professors, if these boys and their families want to, they can use some of their money received from their lawsuits to destroy these people. I won’t get into how, but I can guarantee you that it it possible. Frankly, I would ask a jury to award that they eat shit for a week and nothing else!
Nicely sanitized. Here is the more accurate version.
He did, however, find male DNA from five or six different men on evidence collected from the accuser, Crystal Mangum,
Very nice!
Based on what I’ve seen...the three students can’t touch any member of the school for a lawsuit. I don’t know what the university had to offer in compensation...but I’m pretty sure that they were guaranteed some “free” degree for keeping their mouths shut. You won’t see these guys at some graduation ceremony but they probably got a free piece of paper with “degree” written on it.
As for the 88...I thought some member of the lacrosse team would eventually come up and sue them...but this has yet to occur. Based on press comments...none of the 88 have left the university and are still employed there. My guess is that the university gave them a strong hint of things that might come in the future and how they are simply to lay low and wait this out.
Sue the bastards!
Gee, what’s the rush?
I am still mad as hell that Nifong got off so easy. 24 hours in jail? Loss of law liscense. Big deal!!!
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.