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Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Rape charges dropped in Duke case ť

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   Rape charges dropped in Duke case

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Topic: Rape charges dropped in Duke case (Read 289 times)

Julia
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Rape charges dropped in Duke case
« on: Dec 22^nd, 2006, 11:59am »

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Rape charges dropped in Duke case By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago

Prosecutors dropped rape charges Friday against three Duke University lacrosse players accused of attacking a stripper at a team party, but the three still face kidnapping and sexual offense charges, a defense attorney said.

Joseph Cheshire and attorneys for the other players have said for months the woman told several different versions of the alleged assault.

Cheshire said Friday that the accuser now says she does not know if she was penetrated, which he said led District Attorney Mike Nifong to dismiss the rape charges.

Nifong did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The accuser, a 28-year-old student at North Carolina Central University, has said three men raped her in a bathroom at a March 13 team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper.

The players Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann all say they are innocent. Their attorneys have consistently said no sex occurred at the party and have cited a lack of DNA evidence in the case as proof of their clients' innocence.

"It's highly coincidental," Cheshire said, that the charges are being dropped a week after the director of a private DNA testing lab acknowledged that he initially, with Nifong's knowledge, withheld from the defense test results showing none of the players' DNA was found on or in the accuser's body.

Testing also showed that genetic material from several males was found in her undergarments and body.

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Dixie
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Re: Rape charges dropped in Duke case
« Reply #1 on: Dec 22^nd, 2006, 1:31pm »

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and now. they need to drop Nifong.

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Julia
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Re: Rape charges dropped in Duke case
« Reply #2 on: Dec 22^nd, 2006, 1:35pm »

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I agree they need to do something about the DA... This whole process was ridiculous and poorly organized. They arrested and embarassed three men (who I believe did nothing wrong) and their families, destroyed their reputation and wrecked their university experience.

Nothing the dancer said made any sense at all.. I wonder if she went after the rich boys in an attempt to get some quick money, not expecting it to blow up like it did..

But I also think the DA rushed because of pressure, his job is political. Perhaps he rushed and botched everything in the attempt to increase his political personality. A DA who prosecuted three rich white boys who committed a crime against a boy african-american single mother.. Looks good on the political part... (I am so not trying to be offensive to anybody here)

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Rhune
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Re: Rape charges dropped in Duke case
« Reply #3 on: Dec 23^rd, 2006, 12:28pm »

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I suspect it's the looking into Nifong that caused him to drop this case, not anything she said...

The sad part is that this is one that should have played out a little in court, I think, to help redeem those falsely accused. It would have been good for the public to see all the evidence that showed they were innocent. These boys are going to continue to struggle with this the rest of their lives and I think that would have given them some closure that this won't. In their situation I would have a strong desire to utterly prove them wrong publicly, after they slandered me publicly...not just leave things hanging like this with an I don't remember...

« Last Edit: Dec 23^rd, 2006, 12:30pm by Rhune »

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Bumper
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Re: Rape charges dropped in Duke case
« Reply #4 on: Dec 23^rd, 2006, 2:17pm »

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"Closure" and QUIET closure at that, is something that I think the infamous Mr. Nifong would like very much. He's so far over the edge both from an ethical and judicial standpoint that he will be one lucky lawyer to come out of this without being scantioned.

I have followed this case from the very start and it was a bunch of crap from the beginning. Nifong was a long-time assistant Prosecutor in the Durham office and was initally appointed . . not elected . . . to fill the slot after the elected Prosecutor resigned.
When election time rolled around, Nifong, a Democrat played the "race card" in a city (Durham, NC) that has a large black population, who are mostly Democrats. He barely won a run-off election. In other words, he pandered to the electorate.

The presiding Judge granted Nifongs motion to dismiss the rape charges but Nifong wanted the other charges to still stand. As of this date, they still do.

I suspect Nifong will explore the possibility of taking the case to court IF he can surpress the victim's sexual history, her conflicting statements regarding the rape, etc. That's not a very big window for Nifong to shoot for, but the possibility does exist.

Even if he is able to do that, and the case does make it to court, I don't see it even making it as far as a jury. These young men will be vindicated and the accuser (she is definitely no victim!) will have to answer for her lies, most likely in a civil proceeding.

Nifong's much bigger worry is that he will probably still have to answer to the Federal authorities and the State Bar for his actions in this case.

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Jim_Colyer
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Re: Rape charges dropped in Duke case
« Reply #5 on: Dec 23^rd, 2006, 6:02pm »

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I knew those guys were innocent.

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