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October 27, 2006
LaCrosse Players Still Being Charged With Rape
"The district attorney prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a woman at a team party said during a court hearing Friday that he still hasn't interviewed the accuser about the facts of the case. "I've had conversations with (the accuser) about how she's doing. I've had conversations with (the accuser) about her seeing her kids," Mike Nifong said. "I haven't talked with her about the facts of that night. ... We're not at that stage yet." WHAT, NOT AT THAT STAGE YET!??? NIFONG YOU'RE AN INCOMPETENT IDIOT! THAT RAPE WAS 6 MONTHS AGO AND YOU STILL HAVE NOT INTERVIEWED HER TO ESTABLISH HER CREDIBILITY? UNBELIEVABLE!!! Sorry, that just slipped out...continue reading....
Nifong made the statement in response to a defense request for any statements the woman has made about the case.
"I understand the answer may not be the answer they want but it's the true answer. That's all I can give them," the prosecutor said after the hourlong hearing.
Defense lawyers said outside court that they found Nifong's statement surprising.
"One of the most interesting things to me of course is Mr. Nifong did admit that he in fact has basically never talked to this woman and has absolutely no idea what her story is, and yet he has chosen to continue to go forward with this case," defense lawyer Joseph Cheshire said.
Nifong said none of his assistants have discussed the case with the woman either and only have spoken with her to monitor her well-being. They have left the investigation of the case to police, he said.
Attorneys for indicted player Dave Evans wrote in a letter to Nifong earlier this month that they believed he had talked with the accuser based on a court motion in which Nifong stated the woman told him she had not taken the drug Ecstasy on the night of the March 13 team party for which she was hired to perform as a stripper.
In response to a claim by a lawyer for an unindicted player, Nifong said he called the accuser to ask her whether she had used the drug.
"She said, 'I've never taken Ecstasy,'" Nifong said. "That was the extent of the conversation because that's all I had to know."
Nifong said he met with the accuser and an investigator on April 11, but didn't discuss details of the case because the woman was "too traumatized." Nifong said the woman didn't make eye contact with him and often seemed on the verge of crying. Their discussion centered around how the case would develop, he said.
"She probably did not speak 15 words during the meeting," Nifong said.
Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md., was charged in May with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. A month earlier, a grand jury indicted players Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y., on the same charges. The accuser, a student at nearby North Carolina Central University, told police she was raped in a bathroom by three men at the off-campus party.
The players' lawyers have strongly proclaimed their innocence.
Posted by Post Scripts at October 27, 2006 08:43 PM
Comments
This shifts the topic a bit but the thing that occurs to me is...why are we even hearing about this? The story has social implications, which I suppose is the driving force for reporting it, but there isn't really anything new...is there? so why is it back in the news? anyone?
Posted by: Tina at October 29, 2006 09:16 PM
I think it's news because this DA took this case for his political gain, not on the merits of the case.
The slim testimonial evidence has been refuted by hard evidence that places several of the suspects far from the scene at the time of the alleged rape.
The DA was hot to trot on this case while it was in his political interest, now that part is over and he has not even discussed the case with the victim. Meanwhile the futures of a number of "presumed guilty" Ivy League males hang in the balance. There is no justice for anyone in this case.
Posted by: Jack at October 30, 2006 01:11 PM
There was a time not so long ago when women were fearful of reporting rape because they would be portrayed as being "loose" or as "asking for it" with their behavior or history. Now it would seem the imbalance of justice leans heavily against men.
Posted by: Tina at November 2, 2006 09:28 PM