Two Duke University lacrosse players were arrested Tuesday morning in connection with rape allegations by a Durham woman.
Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were arrested and charged with first- degree forceable rape, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual offense. An officer at the Durham County jail said the players were to be released Tuesday on $400,000 bond.
The defense attorneys seem eager to present their case to the media, and the prosecutor is up for reelection, a mix guaranteed to keep this in the public eye for months.
And when are done, no matter the evidence or result, a notable percentage of people from the 'losing side' will refuse to accept the final ruling. A fact the is both depressing and telling about the current state of affairs in this land.
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Mark my words, these boys will be found innocent.And I hope they'll go after the accuser, DA, and Durham fr defirmation.
Nifong claims the boys are “stone walling”, but when the accusation was made, the police questioned the three boys who lived in the house for over six hours, not one asked for a lawyer. When the entire team was told they had to submit DNA samples, they didn’t call their parents or fight the warrant.
The boys cooperated completely. These aren’t the actions of guilty boys. Only when their parents witnessed the circus-like atmosphere created by District Attorney Mike Nifong, the boys were advised to remain quiet.
Nifong nationally proclaimed that he will indict the entire team for aiding and abetting. He doesn’t care whether anyone is innocent or guilty, or if he has to bulldoze over 50 boys to get to one. Nifong portrayed all of these boys as rapists while claiming that they’re hiding information because the only information they have is that the rape never occurred, and DNA evidence supports the boys’ story, and the second stripper coincides with the boys account of events, but it doesn’t matter.
Because of Nifong, these boys have already been convicted in the media. Their reputations destroyed as their names and pictures are widely distributed with hate slogans labeling them as rapist.
Nifong will get an indictment to avoid facing the racial tensions he stoked to near riot levels, then he will leave this “powder keg” to the next elected DA to handle the fallout, and when this case presents itself to be unfounded and accusations of “white privilege” force racial tensions to explode, I predict Mr. Nifong will be somewhere far far away on vacation.
When we think of a single mother, we picture a woman struggling to support herself and her children. Laura Grissim [Letters; April 14] plays on this stereotype to portray the Durham rape accuser/stripper as a stereotypical working single mom.
It’s amazing how just by claiming a person to be a “mother” puts a “halo” on her head. Ms. Grissom claims that some women have no other option to provide for herself and her children which paints a picture of a selfless martyr, but this is misleading especially regarding this particular “single mom”. This single mom and her children live with their grandfather so the threat of being homeless or hungry is unlikely. This single mom has been arrested in for larceny and evading police, which doesn’t fit the mold of “martyr”. This single mom arrived at the party inebriated and was found drunk and disorderly in a parking lot, but looking at this woman as an individual instead of a sexist stereotype reveals a more realistic picture of this single mom which dims her halo.
Ms. Grissom goes on to rants that criticizing this woman “hinges on blaming the victim”. This single mom is not a victim. This single mom is an “accuser”. There’s enough evidence to question her integrity and whether a crime actually occurred. I find it hypocritical that Ms. Grissom so easily gives this “single mom” the benefit of the doubt while condemning a group of boys who happen to be on a sports team. People should avoid stereotypes and focus on each individual, including the “accuser”, as a person.
The actions of District Attorney Mike Nifong have been reckless and irresponsible in playing out this case before the national media. This has inflamed racial stereotypes throughout Durham which makes it more important that everyone take a step back and let the police do their job. If this woman lied; thus exposing Nifong as a fool, then she should be prosecuted for this crime, which have destroyed these young boys’ lives and reputations. Being a “single mom” shouldn’t be an excuse to condone this type of behavior.
Rape shields were created in the 1970s to protect the alleged “victim” from having her reputation ruined by baseless assumptions, unfair judgments, public humiliation, and character assassinations, but any of this could describe what’s happening to every member of the lacrosse team.
Irresponsible “special interest groups” have held protests everyday holding the name and pictures of anyone on the lacrosse team, to having their pictures and hate slogans pasted all over school. The actions of these groups against these men are nothing short of harassment and unfair character assassination.
The boys are being tried in the national media before there is any charge are made. Nifong stated that someone else could have assaulted the 27 year old stripper, yet he publicly damned the men’s lacrosse team and only the men’s lacrosse team as gang rapist, and still not knowing whether or not the “alleged victim” was telling the truth, or if the three men sought are on the team, Nifong claims the team is stonewalling to protect its own.
In response, daily protest are held with hate comments made directly to the lacrosse teammates, pictures of the teammates with rape slogans are plastered all over Duke’s campus, and now gang members are driving by the east campus threatening students.
Nifong’s circus-like antics to perform for the national media has put the whole campus in danger.
Nifong proclaimed in the national media that the DNA sweep of 46 boys would find the guilty and clear the innocent. DNA tests prove that the boys of the lacrosse team were telling the truth, but Nifong wants to go ahead with the case only weeks before his election against a woman and a black man. There should be laws in place to prevent unscrupulous politician like District Attorney Mike Nifong from bulldozing over 47 innocent boys just to bask in the international media spot-light.
THe news that there’s no DNA evidense to link the boys to the stripper is not as curious as there’s no DNA to suggest a crime was ever cmmitted! Where’s her DNA?
Stripper claims: three men raped her on the bathroom rug,
Fact:
• No vaginal or seminal fluid, no skin, blood, or hair were found anywhere in the bathroom, bath towels, bath rug, door handle, bathroom floor, basin, water faucet handle, etc.
• A man cannot take off a condom and not get DNA from himself or the female on his hands and not transfer it to everything he touches?
• Accuser claims she was vaginally penetrated; accuser claims she was panicked and thought she was going to die; Where is her vaginal fluid, urine, or blood anywhere in the bathroom? Does her body defy basic physiology capable of keeping any ejaculate from spilling out?
• Accuser claims she was anally penetrated; Where’s her fecal material or scat smears in the bathroom? Does the accuser have inhuman anal sphinter control that prevented any of the ejaculate from dripping out?
• Accuser claims she was orally sodomized; where is DNA from her saliva and tears? Did she lick up every drop and swallowed any evidence?
Stripper claim bruises were result of an attack from three boys:
Fact: Time-stamped photos prove stripper arrived bruised and cut while drunk.
Nifong stated that a condom was used, if this is true than where is the spermicidal lubricant evidence? Where are the condoms? Where are the condom wrappers? Where is the empty condom box?
If no DNA material were present on the stripper, than why were DNA samples taken? The District Attorney vigorously claimed that these DNA evidence will clear the innocent.
The second stripper stated that she didn’t notice any rape, and when they got back in the car the “accuser” didn’t mention anything about being rape.
We have to consider the fact that this may be a common “false accusation of rape”, and she must be prosecuted for the harm she’s done to these men and to the entire Duhram community.
I was surprise of how many false rape accusations have been made by several independent surveys reveal that 42% to approximately half of all accusations made are false. Most cases involve divorce battles involving the custody of children, some for revenge for withdraw of affection, monetary gains, an excuse for infidelity, or misidentification.
• According to the FBI, one of every 12 claims of rape filed in the United States are later deemed 'unfounded,' meaning the case was closed because the alleged victim recanted or because investigators found no evidence of a crime.
• Howard County Police classified one out of every four rape allegations as unfounded in 1990-91.
• The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers says around 600 teachers a year are falsely accused - a trebling since the 1989 Children's Act.
• Citing a recent USA Today article, discussing the miracle of DNA and FBI studies of sexual assault suspects, DNA testing exonerated about 30% to 35% of the more than 4,000 sexual assault suspects on whom the FBI had conducted DNA testing over the past three years.
• Purdue sociologist Eugene J. Kanin, in over 40% of the cases reviewed, the complainants eventually admitted that no rape had occurred (Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1994).
• 1985 the Air Force conducted a study of 556 rape accusations. Over 25% of the accusers admitted, either just before they took a lie detector test or after they had failed it, that no rape occurred.
• 1996 Department of Justice Report, of the roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases analyzed with DNA evidence over the previous seven years, 2,000 excluded the primary suspect, and another 2,000 were inconclusive.
• Linda Fairstein, who heads the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit. Fairstein, the author of Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape, says, "there are about 4,000 reports of rape each year in Manhattan. Of these, about 50% simply did not happen."
Craig Silverman, a former Colorado prosecutor known for his zealous prosecution of rapists during his 16-year career, says that false rape accusations occur with "scary frequency." As a regular commentator on the Bryant trial for It seems that every feminist wants thise stripper to have been raped because if she was, this is good as gold when political groups lobby the government for more money for women-only programs, but what feminist don’t want is to lime-light the problem of the flase accusations of rape that occurs more frequently that is known.
There is a simple way to end the racial hysteria surrounding the Duke Lacrosse team. Simply tell people it was El Duke,
not Duke players that were accused the rape of a white woman, and the same civil rights leaders who are lynching the Duke Players would lynch the racist DA.....
I can see it now, "racist DA perpetuates black rape myth." And of course the nails were planted by a racist cop, "If the nails don't clip you must acquit."
Dag
Anonymous has to be one of the players mom.
They were not boys, a 20 year old is a man.
You were right John, no matter what is ever decided in the court, many people have already made up their minds.
All I can say is KOBE..... I can guess that your feelings where different when it came to KOBE. The tables always seem to turn when it has to do with an upper class individual that is being accussed. WHY? You have pointed out that the alleged victim is possibly lying, but what about the boys? Has it ever crossed your mind that they are lying? NO - I DON'T THINK SO. What if this was your daughter - the STRIPPER? wHAT WOULD YOU DO? Did you say "Mark my words" in the KOBE case, that he was innocent? NO - you just sat back and drank one of your fruit drinks and said another ONE of them wanna be's acting up again. So spare me the poor little boys fron DUKE story - something happened and we must all wait to see what it was and yes that includes you - Mr. Know it all....
Race tension will rear its ugly head in situations of mainly BLACK and WHITE. It's a shame that as a nation of humans manners & sense seems to be delegated by what's politically correct. Accountability, personal or otherwise seems to be falling by the wraist side in this society. Things that should be tried in a court, are now tried in the court of public opinion. This sort of wayward "law" does no society any good and it henders all.
signed: sense & sensability in NJ
What I find astonishing is the rallying of black nationalim groups to the defense of the accuser. I don't for one minute believe the accuser's allegations, but even if she were telling the truth, statistics show that 15% of white women who are raped are raped by black men, while something like 1-2% of black women are raped by white men. Imagine the hue and cry if white americans were to imply that black on white rape was a racial or hate crime...
I BELIEVE THE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO DO EVERY AND ANYTHING TO DEPICT THIS WOMAN'S CHARACTER SO THAT SHE WILL BACK DOWN BUT LONG AS I'VE BEEN LIVING "NO" MEANS "NO".......
Well, aren't you literate? Depict her character as...what?
Lawyers are waiting in the shadows for lucrative civil suit
A man stands in the shadows of the Duke Lacrosse 'rape' case…watching and waiting. While the three wealthy, white male students remains in criminal court, he is not likely to step forward.
Even at this early stage, the stripper’s mother is "very much interested" in "getting Willie E. Gary is a litigator renowned for winning huge settlements.
The stripper’s parents met with Gary in April. The meeting was facilitated by civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Gary acts as a family adviser, and the parents are laying groundwork to make a civil bid. Public opinion can be a large bargaining chip in obtaining a lucrative settlement. Earlier, the parents spoke freely; now they’re being more media savvy.
Essence Magazine featured three articles by Kristal Brent Zook. Each is sympathetic to the accuser. (1st) "Family Defends Daughter's Painful Past", (2nd) "Nowhere to Turn," depicts the accuser as living in terror. (3rd) is basically an announcement of Willie Gary's appearance in the case; it concludes by stating that the parents "worry that their daughter may…need additional legal guidance."
Civil law deals in torts or harms inflicted by one person upon another; its purposes are compensation for actual or perceived damages.
A "guilty" verdict in criminal court can be used to establish liability in a civil one but if the verdict is "not guilty" or the charges are dropped, a civil case can proceed independently.
Kobe Bryant settled out-of-court settlement. Such settlements are not necessarily admissions of guilt. After months of media blitz, Bryant may have been embarrassed to settle, so civil suits could be lucrative even if the “accuser’s” claim is completely fabricated. The Duke students will face the same choice?
Civil suits can be lucrative, and they’re easier to win; standards of evidence and other legal protections enjoyed by a defendant are significantly lowered in civil court.
Clearly, her parents wish to explore a civil proceeding. Gary is conspicuously available.
Kobe was guilty as sin.
But, his lawyers (like the Duke players lawyers) decided to villify the girl in an effort to create doubt in the public mind.
I suspect that these men are rapist, but at this point only the evidence that these men want out is being presented.
If they are found guilty, I hope a civil case follows. If they are found not guilty, a civil case shoudl also include the action of their lawyers and those supporting these men.
Kbe was guilty of having sex with a lying woman who wanted to use her body to get money. Since she wasn't good enough to keep Kobe as a meal ticket, she cried rape.
Evidence in the records released by the DA:
When investigators questioned the stripper after DNA tests on the semen found inside her vagina and rectum didn’t match any of the Duke players, the stripper admitted to having had sex with at least three men around the time of the alleged rape. The stripper named her boyfriend and two men who drove her to Duke.
• When questioned, the “drivers” said they would drop her off at several places, including hotel rooms.
The stripper lied, her family lied, and it seems that she's not only a single mom of a bastard child from another man during hre mariage, she's a woman who has sex with three men for rides to her stripper shows.
This woman is a depraved person in almost every way! Lets hope her parents do a better job of raising those little unknown-father children.
If this black family is trying to smell a big paycheck, they better learn from all their mistakes in this case, and accuse black athletes from NCCU of rape. They may not get a huge settlement, but at lest they would be able to get their paychecks garnished the rest of their lives.
THis is the most bungled false claim of rape in history. Even most feminist are running away from these idiots!
Racism, and Racism.
I can see why so many don't leave their names, few people would want to be tied to some of these racist rants.
She may be poor, black, a stripper, and easy, none of that means that some of the players from Duke didn't actually rape her.
They are pampered rick kids who are se to getting what they want, and use to having the parents money bail them out without causing them much harm.
Just the kind of background that, when combined with some beer, and other team mates urging them on, can lead to gang rape.
If they are guilty I hope they hang, and that their parents are sued for every thing they own.
If they are not, I hope they prove it.
I bet the trial will not make this clear one way or the other.
The stripper originally claimed that the second stripper helped with the rape!
Just when you think this case hit rock bottom, there’s about 50 feet of crap, then you find a sub-basement.
If Mike Nifong doesn't get disbarred after this, then there really is a corrupt system in Durham that protects rich white guys. In Nifong's case - stupid rich white guys with transparent political agendas, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Nifong can turn a pig's ear into a silk purse.
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