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Can you imagine how much angrier such people are now that the rape charge has been dropped-and how enraged they'll become if all charges are dismissed?

I have felt all along that the only way to end this is with a trial that absolutely beyond a doubt proves their innocence and the accuer's and Nifong's complicity.

I understand the risk that entails to these boys, but in my mind, the only way sane people will ever be sure they are innocent is to see it laid out in front of their very eyes day after day.

Then, after their vindication, any "uproar" caused by certain segments of the town will be seen as what it is -- demand for pandering.

If you can guarantee the verdict of a Durham jury then I'll agree with you. Other than that I'm gonna have to disagree. Nifong's last line of defense is if he can get some charge any charge in front of a properly selected Durham jury. If he does that he'll get a conviction and be able to argue that, despite all his "missteps", the whole thing was justified because they were actually guilty of something.

I do agree with you-it would be the best of all possible scenarios if the Duke 3 were found innocent in a court of law of all charges. But (to paraphrase Thomas Sowell) all Nifong needs is one juror with a racial score to settle. Or a feminist woman who firmly believes "No woman ever lies about being raped!" and holds that belief with such fervor no evidence will change her thinking. Or just a juror who thinks finding the boys guilty , perhaps of one lesser charge, would head off any post-trial riots ....

It can be shown in trial against Nifong (and a separate one against the accuser, if need be) without putting the boys in jeopardy. It's sort of analogous to taking the WoT to the ME, such as Iraq, instead of letting the enemy come to our soil. :)

Nifong has already admitted that the only evidence he has is the accuser's statements, which are dissolving, yet the risk of a racist jury of black Durhamites deciding they want to convict no matter how obvious their innocence is is great. If it was your son, would you take that risk, especially when it has become obvious anyway to every sentient person that he is innocent? You'd risk him being sentenced to forty years in prison by a bunch of racists? No defense attorney worth a dime would allow that if avoidable.

The most essential flaw in this case has been NC criminal procedure. There is no mechanism for a probable cause hearing. If there was, it would have been apparent long ago that Nifong did not have anything remotely approaching the needed elements to even show that a crime occurred, let alone that these boys committed it. In a probable cause hearing, Nifong would have had to set forth what he claims happened, who did what, when, where and how. The lack of evidence, multiple stories and alibis would have come in and blown him out of the water, and probable cause is a lesser burden than beyond a reasonable doubt. In a normal state, Nifong would first have to show that a crime occurred, but that's not the case in NC because of the way the law is (or isn't) structured, and that includes their hokey indicting grand jury system.