TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE DURHAM WAY!
I confess to deeply felt confusion over why, in the name of all that is logical and just, the entire set of charges against the three wrongfully accused Duke lacrosse players have not been dismissed and a formal apology tendered to their parents. It has been estimated that the legal costs to the families is running in the neighborhood of $80,000 PER MONTH PER FAMILY and remember, this case has been dragging on for nearly a YEAR, with no end in sight. Part of the reason for this excessive cost, according to the enormously readable KC Johnson at the Durham-In-Wonderland site is that the defense attorneys are having to do the prosecution’s job for them in terms of actual investigation of this entire sorry non-incident. When the prosecution doesn’t even interview the complaining witness until a full NINE MONTHS after the supposed assaults occurred, that in itself is, to me, ample proof that there is no case, nor was there ever a case.
I confess to deeply felt confusion over why, in the name of all that is logical and just, the entire set of charges against the three wrongfully accused Duke lacrosse players have not been dismissed and a formal apology tendered to their parents. It has been estimated that the legal costs to the families is running in the neighborhood of $80,000 PER MONTH PER FAMILY and remember, this case has been dragging on for nearly a YEAR, with no end in sight. Part of the reason for this excessive cost, according to the enormously readable KC Johnson at the Durham-In-Wonderland site is that the defense attorneys are having to do the prosecution’s job for them in terms of actual investigation of this entire sorry non-incident. When the prosecution doesn’t even interview the complaining witness until a full NINE MONTHS after the supposed assaults occurred, that in itself is, to me, ample proof that there is no case, nor was there ever a case.
I would also commend to your attention an extraordinary column written by Joan Collins which continues the theme of the outrageous victimization of these young men, a victimization which can be seen as a hate crime committed against them BECAUSE they are white and the accuser (serial liar) is black. Let’s be very clear here, I am not disbelieving the accuser because she is black. I am disbelieving this woman because she has told multiple, conflicting and utterly non-believable stories that do not fit with the exculpatory evidence produced by the defense (ATM receipts, cell phone records, restaurant receipts, etc.) and the absence of ANY DNA of the true victims, the Duke lacrosse players under indictment and the PRESENCE of the DNA of five UNRELATED men in or on the accuser’s body or clothing the night of the supposed rape.
The accuser may not be a paragon of virtue, but if she had suffered the violence of rape, I would certainly want to see the perpetrators punished to the full extent of the law. But whatever happened that night, there is NO EVIDENCE that it involved any of the three young men whose lives are, at the moment, utterly shattered. In fact, there is convincing evidence that at least two of the young men were not even on the premises at the time that this accuser says something or other happened. But then how would the prosecutor have ever known that? He refused concrete and unmistakable exculpatory evidence offered to him by the defense from the very beginning and he NEVER attempted to interview the three young men that were subsequently charged with a crime that likely never happened and, if it did, certainly not at their hands.
The fact remains that this case is an absolute disgrace and if the parents of the three indicted-though-innocent young men do not sue the City of Durham and Duke University (whose administration’s behavior throughout has been despicable) for every cent they can get, then I will be disappointed in them.
The accuser may not be a paragon of virtue, but if she had suffered the violence of rape, I would certainly want to see the perpetrators punished to the full extent of the law. But whatever happened that night, there is NO EVIDENCE that it involved any of the three young men whose lives are, at the moment, utterly shattered. In fact, there is convincing evidence that at least two of the young men were not even on the premises at the time that this accuser says something or other happened. But then how would the prosecutor have ever known that? He refused concrete and unmistakable exculpatory evidence offered to him by the defense from the very beginning and he NEVER attempted to interview the three young men that were subsequently charged with a crime that likely never happened and, if it did, certainly not at their hands.
The fact remains that this case is an absolute disgrace and if the parents of the three indicted-though-innocent young men do not sue the City of Durham and Duke University (whose administration’s behavior throughout has been despicable) for every cent they can get, then I will be disappointed in them.
2 comments:
Could not have said it better. What an absolute disgrace for the State of NC, City of Durham and Duke University. Yes, someone should pay and pay big. Without the enablers of the University, Nifong would have gone no where with this case. Shame on higher education!
It may well be the fear of a lawsuit that is keeping this alive for the prosecution. One way or another this case is going to cost the state big time! And it should. Nifong should be prosecuted himself for malfeasance, nonfeasance, and fraud. But I'm not holding my breath. There's too much politics alive here.
Post a Comment