Friday, March 30, 2007

The Accuser and Law Enforcement

As we move past the one-year anniversary of press coverage of the case, the Liestoppers forum has been running remembrance threads, reproducing articles from the Herald-Sun, N&O, and New York Times. In this early period, the most significant piece was the March 25 N&O article, in which reporter Samiha Khanna portrayed the accuser as a courageous exotic dancer, an unquestioned “victim” of a heinous, racially motivated crime.

How would that story have played with the police photograph of the accuser from March 16, 2006, two days after the alleged “attack,” showing that she had no facial bruising or swollen eyes, as her father and Sgt. Mark Gottlieb would repeatedly claim? I suspect that most N&O readers would have looked skeptically on the accuser’s recollection that “my father came to see me in the hospital. I knew if I didn't report it that he would have that hurt forever, knowing that someone hurt his baby and got away with it.”

They probably would have looked even more skeptically on this recollection had they known—as we know now—that no evidence exists of the father coming to visit the accuser in the hospital.

Of course, neither Khanna nor the early reporters for either the Times or H-S could obtain access to the police photos. Duff Wilson, on the other hand, could and—according to his claim that he read all 1850 pages of the then-discovery file—did for his August story. For reasons that remain unclear, he decided that these police photographs showing the accuser with no bruises was not a significant item to mention in his August 25 story.

But all early reporters on the case could have ferreted out the accuser’s police record. Try reconsidering any of the one-sided March 2006 articles with a sentence that included a mention that the accuser was well-known to law enforcement, since in June 2002 she was indicted for “willfully and feloniously” assaulting a sheriff’s deputy by attempting to strike him with a motor vehicle. Such a sentence would have made it impossible to portray the accuser as a virtuous college student, moonlighting as a dancer to put food in the mouths of her children.

Now, imagine any of these March 2006 articles with any of the details below from the publicly available police report, prepared by Deputy John Carroll, of the accuser’s 2002 activity:

The suspect was driving a blue taxi cab [which she had stolen]. She was completely left of center within my sight without any lights on the vehicle. She then crossed back right and off the road into the shoulder and turning up dirt. [After traveling 70mph in a 55mph zone,] the suspect was then traveling south in the northbound lane . . . She traveled east until it came to a dead end. She then attempted to turn left and run through a fence but was unable to and it appeared that she was not going to go any further. I put my vehicle in park and exited it, and approached the suspect—telling her to turn the car off and get out.

When she saw me approach, she was laughing and put the vehicle in reverse and backed across the road and into the woods. It appeared that she was stuck. I had to run around my vehicle to get back to the driver’s side door, and as I began to approach the vehicle she put it in drive and drove towards me. I jumped out of the way to the right and she missed me. The suspect then struck the right rear quarter of my patrol vehicle . . . and then proceeded west on Briar Creek Parkway, almost striking Deputy Goss in his patrol vehicle.

After eventually being boxed in by pursuing police vehicles, the suspect

was boxed in. Deputy Goss and I approached the vehicle with our guns drawn, pointing at the suspect, giving verbal commands to exit the car. She refused until we were directly next to the car.

She then opened the door and would not get out, with her hand on the steering wheel and leaning out to the rear of the car. She finally got out of the car and laid down on the ground. She was taken into custody at that time. I put her in the back seat of my vehicle. She kept attempting to lay down but was advised to sit up. [Does this behavior sound familiar?] She was given an alcosensor and submitted, giving a 0.19 reading, and at the same time, while getting all the information together, the suspect passed out and was unresponsive. [Does this behavior sound familiar?]

Of course, publicizing this information in March would have prompted cries from Wendy Murphy that, as women never lie about rape, the accuser’s past record was irrelevant. But even the Group of 88 might have thought long and hard about linking their agenda to such a figure. The transformation of the case into a metanarrative might have been slowed.

The accuser ultimately pled guilty to two counts of driving while impaired, one count of assaulting a government official, and two misdemeanor accounts of fleeing arrest. In the sentencing guidelines, the accuser had four aggravating factors and no mitigating factors. The report noted that her aggravating factors “substantially outweigh” her mitigating factors.

Imagine any of the March 2006 articles with this material, coupled with a mention of the accuser’s ultimate sentence: two weekends in jail and probation. Such a seemingly mild sentence for the offenses in question might have led some people to ask whether Durham was Wonderland, and what kind of justice system the city really had.

The accuser’s criminal record was first reported on April 7. By then, Mike Nifong’s pre-primary publicity barrage had crested, and the outcry over the McFadyen e-mail and the cancellation of the lacrosse season minimized the impact of the information. The press, eager for new stories, never really returned to the item, and the accuser's record passed into the background as one of the many items in the case that should have caused people to, at the very least, slow the rush to judgment.

69 comments:

Gary Packwood said...

Duke in Wonderland would also work...after reading that.
Amazing.

Anonymous said...
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David said...

Re: "what the "f____" is taking the NC AG's office so long???"

Uh, professional courtesy?

Anonymous said...

OK.

I've had it.

This past week I had an exchange with someone and discovered that this case is really beginning to drive normal, logical-about-most-things, and justice-driven people mad.....literally mad!

What KC has posted concerning the early aspects of this hoax shows why the average person on the street believed---and many still believe---that the lacrosse players committed some sort of crime.

And no amount of discussion of the facts will alter their opinions. Even now.

What the media did right from the start...assisted by so many players with whom we are so familiar....was to ring a crucial bell that cannot be unrung.

Come to the dinner gong.....!

And many are still feeding at that table where so many deliberate lies were fed to them.

I was shocked....and then I became angry a few days ago when someone whom I thought I had known to be an intelligent woman surprisingly showed her bizarre side.

A female graduate student in art history lives nearby. She must be in her mid-to-late 20's. We had become casual friends and she has asked for my advice and help on several occasions.

I erroneously assumed that she was an enlightened and somewhat educated woman until I brought up the lacrosse case and that I was hoping that all charges would be dropped soon.

The discussion then ventured toward how lousy the criminal justice system is.......etc.....etc.....

She then began to list all the reasons why the lacrosse players deserve some kind of punishment: They were drinking, many of them underage...she was really opposed to underage drinking. And my goodness!.....they even hired strippers!......they must be really rotten guys!

The last gem she threw out was that these are the type of guys she would never date.

LOL!

Initially, I was stunned that this woman was so ignorant of the facts of the case...even though she is on a university campus everyday of her life. (Perhaps that's the very reason for her ignorance.)

Then I was repulsed that she would take such a holier-than-thou stance.

But the thing that angered her the most was that they hired strippers. She would not get beyond that in condemning their character.

By this time, I could hold back no longer. When she said that they were the type of guys she would never date, I told her that she wouldn't have to worry....they probably wouldn't ask her out anyway.

She then shut up very quickly and asked what I meant.

I told her that they were excellent students....most headed to Wall Street and the like, and that they would probably be more attracted to rich girls.

Ha!

She then wanted to know why I think she's not rich......a question I declined to answer because my main focus was how this woman obtained her information about this case and what factors have kept her tethered to the idea that the lacrosse players must have done something really, really bad.

Or else, why would Mike Nifong and the Duke professors have gone after them the way in which they did?

Why then haven't all the charges been dropped?

This woman represents the average thinking out there, especially among women who fantasize about "mean, mean men" lurking, just waiting to rape someone.

This woman is about as run-of-the-mill ordinary as Selena Roberts, although she's not as fat as big, bad Selena.

Women like this are usually the loudest screamers against men.

Women who would never know what being pursued...(to truly be hot enough to produce strong desire).....is all about.

Something the late and troubled actress Jean Seberg used to call "fuckable".

IMO, when these women realize that they aren't desired all that much, they release their anger toward men in all areas as best they can.

Hell hath no fury like a woman needing a torrid night beneath the silky veils of ardor.

Debrah

AMac said...

The Group of 88 is right about one thing: the Hoax does have meta-narratives. This post illustrates one of the issues that is of greatest importance to the Fourth Estate and its 'news-consuming' public.

Has the advent of the Internet changed the ground rules for journalistic misconduct?

What happens when a story is grossly misreported? Until recently, the debate was limited to the small group that owned one of the printing presses, or had the passion and the resources to gain access to one. However significant a case or outrageous the misconduct, most potentially-engaged people lacked knowledge of the facts, or were not willing and able to devote the energy to share what they did know with a broad audience.

To members of the general public, most issues ended up resembling an impenetrable thicket of accusations and countercharges. Viewing source documents would typically require a trip to the library--perhaps at a university--and hours leafing through The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, or spooling at the microfilm reader. And assuming that a wronged party had made a compelling case, that converted member of the public would, from the perspective of most people, simply have been converted into another voice in the general din.

Contrast that with what we have been witnessing and, in some cases, participating in, with the Duke Lacrosse Rape Hoax. One notable example is the Listening Statement. KC Johnson and others have made assertions about its text and its plain meaning. Hoax enablers have made competing, contradictory claims. What is truly novel is that anyone with an Internet connection can, with only a slight committment in time and energy, locate the primary source document and read it. (Applying the rules of logic to the document in its context is, admittedly, more challenging.)

To most reasonable people who do make the effort, the correctness of Johnson's interpretations becomes obvious. Re-reading the enablers' excuses gives an eerie glimpse into the fantastic nature of how such people view the world.

We are all human. We all carry our prejudices and ingrained habits and preferences and emotions with us. Thus, even when in posession of all the relevant facts, each of us can reliably anticipate making mistakes at times, and being initially unaware of them.

What about Society at large? What about people who have taken on the role of truth-seekers and truth-tellers, in the institutions of Journalism and the University? Will the combination of the Hyperlink, broadly-available high-caliber analysis, and the enabling of collaborative efforts fundamentally change the calculus of how information is presented, interpreted, and acted upon? Or are these changes more cosmetic than they seem, such that things will stay pretty much the same?

That's one of the questions that intrigues me, and, I suspect, many of the folks who have come to follow this story of politics and political correctness run amok, with its clear-cut elements of prosecutorial abuse, faculty misconduct, and journalistic malfeasance.

james conrad said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

With starving, abused and murdered children, I can not get worked up about strippers. Please in the future rent a film and leave the real thing at home. U hope the stripper business is down - it is to dangerous to hire strangers to do this stuff in your house.

David said...

Debrah's experience indicates that this war won't be won with facts, much less logic.

It's one thing to set the record straight, but quite another to decompress the purely emotional mind.

KC's upcoming book may very well be the very last chance to inform the chronically misinformed.

With "feeling" and emotion in mind, and given the low value of logic, I suggest a change in the title...

from:

"Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case"...

To:

"RAPE, RAPE, RAPE! Outrageous Injustices in the Duke Lacrosse Case"

Better:

"The 'Lady' Cried Rape"...

If the idea is to undo the damage, the title (book) must reach beyond the choir - but to accomplish this, it needs the equivalent emotional impact/appeal. Then, the facts will take care of themselves.

Anonymous said...

I'm on board with most of KC's arguments and I know the facts, but the argument here seems to be that the accused deserved due process, fairness, and a presumption of innocence because the accuser is a lying, thieving, public endangering whore. This is a parallel to the argument that they deserve those things because they are innocent.

This all misses the point that the accused deserve fairness even if they are guilty and the accuser is a saint.

MTU'76 said...

I discussed the Duke Hoax with some of my trailer park trash acquaintances down at the washateria the other night and we were so fascinated by the discussion we talked some more after bowling last Thursday (morning league) while feeding on french fries and cheese burgers. Yep, we're all fat and homely, wear polyester, shoes with good support, and some of us go to church and some of us don't. But even though we must have a very very "low rating on the fuckable meter" as defined here on DIW (our husbands and boyfriends might like to argue that point) we somehow manage to understand right from wrong, and innocent until proven guilty.

duh

james conrad said...

RE: mtu'76.....lol, dead funny, point noted. the sad thing about this whole affair is not that colleges are hiring emotionally disturbed/ immature people with questionable academic backgrounds who teach mostly nonsense, its that they are promoting these folks to positions of authority

Anonymous said...

"The 'Lady' Cried Rape"...

An assertion not supported by evidence. On two counts.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I'm convinced there's a reason for CGM getting such favorable treatment after her crime spree and trying to murder a policeman -- beyond the glut of crime and criminals, and shortage of jail space in Durham.

She's obviously a prostitute, and prostitutes often -- maybe usually -- have some kind of working arrangement with the police. Cops leave them alone, and in exchange....maybe the prostitute serves as a snitch aginst more "serious" criminals. Or maybe she just provides sex, to cops who are able to copulate while holding their noses and squeezing their eyes shut.

Something like this was going on, or she would have done real prison time.

It seems to me the papers reported that the lacrosse defense lawyers had requested the police and DA's entire "file on" CGM, and that this request was denied by the Judge. There's a history there, going back before her taxi theft -- the defense can smell it, and the cops and prosecution are hiding it. And it helps to explain why the prosecution has treated her like a queen, whose word is beyond question.

Anonymous said...

A message to posters;

I believe this is a case that will change America’s media forever. In the future when there is discussion of what killed the current main stream print and television news they will point to this case and this website.

My question to you; do you want to go down in history known for what you had posted on this thread?

Tom E.

Anonymous said...

Yes Debrah, I feel your pain. I have been having similar exasperating and mind-numbing experiences with people who just don't get it and are zombies to the media and fed a steady diet of misleading half-truths. Yeah, media zombies indeed. My concern is that the people I have been having the same trouble with are not college students, they are our political leaders in congress who think pretty much on the same lines. We are in deep.

The information about CGM's police record has been discussed by bloggers/activists on the net since last April. The media knew. They are "selective."

Anonymous said...

". . . .the argument here seems to be that the accused deserved due process, fairness, and a presumption of innocence because the accuser is a lying, thieving, public endangering whore."

3:51: I think the point of today's posting was that if the media had exposed more about the Accuser's true character and history at the start (rather than falsely portraying her as a saintly, hard-working young mother), then the potbangers and Idiot 88's would not have been so eager to embrace her as their poster child, and the public in general would not have been so quick to assume that the LAXers were guilty.

Anonymous said...

KC

Your columns have started to bore me. Instead of endlessly replowing old ground, why don't you tell us what you think is going on now? You've been very quiet about Cooper's endless investigation and the defense's meek acquiescence in it.

Or is silence the price of access? Saving it for the book?

Anonymous said...

8:50

Take your boredom elsewhere - clearly this travesty of justice is just not enough to hold you attention. Go read something else - check out what celebrities are doing - that's always exciting.

Debrah - that's Durham for you - stupid people walking around loose. Do not feed them nor try to confuse them with facts. Nor point out their obvious hyprocacy or lack of attractiveness - it will only raise your blood pressure and not change their little bitty mind or body mass index. Remember, Crystal went to school here, too. And the Rice diet does great business here, too.

KC - keep up the good work - I hope this case ends soon.

Anonymous said...

I think it is important for the media to 'splain to the public how hard it is to be a D-1 (or even D-II) lacrosse player. The hours and kinds of training for years on end, 12 months a year. This sport takes unbelievable stamina, quickness and skill. As the parent of a D-1 athlete (not lacrosse) at one of the highly selective colleges (not DUKE) I was shocked at how much time all varsity athletes devote to practice and training...while other students are playing "grab ass" and drinking lattes. These guys didn't get to be D-1 varsity athletes by chance, good looks, or luck. It was years of commitment, practice and plain hard work, and certainly innate athletic ability.
tmpr.

Anonymous said...

To 8;50
The reason that the defense is quiet about the on-going SP investigation is that the SPs are actually investigating the facts of this case. Since all of the facts favor the defense, why should they get in the way?

Gayle Miller said...

I am a woman. I say that to preface these remarks so that nobody confuses my opinion.

I have been on this planet for over six decades. I have seen a lot of women in action over the years in good times and bad.

I attended a major public university at a time prior to women's lib when women and men mostly accepted each other the way they were and the only agenda was finding a temporary or permanent companion. Everybody was mostly on the same page.

Women do lie. And anyone who thinks they don't is utterly deluded. We lie about sex (including faking orgasms). Some women use an accusation of rape as a weapon. Far too many do that (and I define "far too many" as ONE because every false accusation makes a real charge more difficult to prove). Women lie about supposed child abuse in order to get their own way in a custody dispute or to punish a man who perhaps is sick of being tormented by a woman for the simple sin of having been born male. Women lie to men about purported fatherhood - either as a weapon or as a way of gaining child support. What's worse, some venues continue to hound hapless men for child support, even when DNA testing PROVES that the woman is lying.

Somehow, through the entire "women's liberation" process, the perception of "woman as madonna" has persisted to some small degree, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

No, certainly not all women - or even most - do this. But the fact remains that it does happen and my fury at the accuser in this case stems more from the damage she is doing to other women with legitimate reasons to charge rape is incalcuble. I completely agree that even the worst prostitute has the right to say "no". I do not, however, agree that just because she has made this charge, she should automatically be believed, which is what that unbelievable troll Nifong apparently did - for whatever reason! He proceeded from a point of falsehood and compounded it - over and over and over again, thus turning the lives of three INNOCENT young men into a living hell. For this, he should be punished, and punished in such a way that OTHER prosecutors who are tempted to behave in the same way are given pause before they act so shamefully.

As to the Group of 88 - they are clear proof of the Peter Principle in action - they have all reached their level of incompetence and, what's worse, they are PROUD OF IT.

Anonymous said...

9:02 (KC's Mom) said:

Take your boredom elsewhere - clearly this travesty of justice is just not enough to hold you attention.

I think you missed the point. This travesty of justice is ongoing. Instead of talking about the wrongs committed a year ago, why not talk about the wrongs being committed today?

There was no crime. What could possibly justify Roy Cooper dragging this out as long as he has? Why has KC given the man a pass?

Anonymous said...

hman said...
To 8;50
The reason that the defense is quiet about the on-going SP investigation is that the SPs are actually investigating the facts of this case. Since all of the facts favor the defense, why should they get in the way?


What facts of the case? The exculpatory DNA evidence? The accuser's constantly changing story? The rigged lineup?

All matters of public record before Cooper took over the case.

Cooper's so-called "investigaiton" is pure political whoredom -- and KC hasn't said a word.

Anonymous said...

"...and at the same time, while getting all the information together, the suspect passed out and was unresponsive. [Does this behavior sound familiar?]"

Does this also sound familiar--"Three men kidnapped me and dragged me into a house and raped me"--(Creedmoor)?

Anonymous said...

Had a particularly unsettling evening which knocked me out of my DIW - LS - JinC wunderworld. About 200 of the top movers and shakers in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area (including CitiBank execs, Duke, Wake and Rex hospitals,) for annual awards --- and NOBODY read: NOBODY knew anything about the case oyther than "Oh, did they ever find those boys guilty or what?" Most, including all 11 at my table, were unaware of anything but the most general year-old impressions. All expressed ignorance of the current state of the case. About 1/3 had even heard Nifong was still facing ethics. Top talent from allover the Triangle, and nobody is following the case OR frankly cares. I am delusional. I thought other people knew. it's just us. They looked at me like I was talking about a soap-opera episode.I'd confused with reality.

Anonymous said...

The police officer stated,when she saw me approach,she was laughing. I believe she is still laughing.

Anonymous said...

As much as I want to see a quick dismissal of the case, at least it appears to be in the hands of a competent, non-biased prosecution. Although most of it is surely drivel, Nifong's 'discovery' consists of thousands of pages of ducuments. I hope Cooper reads every page beginning to end. That way when the kids are exonnerated, they can assure the public that no stone was left un-turned.

Anonymous said...

"...and at the same time, while getting all the information together, the suspect passed out and was unresponsive. [Does this behavior sound familiar?]"

Does this also sound familiar--"Three men kidnapped me and dragged me into a house and raped me"--(Creedmoor)?"

Exactly, if you put her criminal history together with the fact that she made a previous allegation (which by the way her father claims did not happen)you have some serious issues.

Also, anyone who believes that a group of 46 college age guys would all condone a rape and not come forward to turn in those they thought responsible for such behavior is out of touch to say the least. College student athletes are thinking about their futures. They would not hesitate to turn in fellow students and teammates they thought were guilty of rape.

If you believe that 46 guys would all agree to jeopardize their future careers and risk lying because some of their buddies raped a stripper, I am worried about your perception of our society.

I have been on teams like this and played college lacrosse. If a rape had occurred or some players were alone in the bathroom with this woman, the majority of the guys at this party would be screaming it to the high heavens.

Anonymous said...

From gayle miller:
I do not, however, agree that just because she has made this charge, she should automatically be believed, which is what that unbelievable troll Nifong apparently did

This is what I once thought. But I've now come around to the idea that Nifong never really believed her.

The defining moment was when he learned that the DNA of non-lacrosse males was found. If he actually believed that a sexual assault took place, is it even possible that he would not have pursued that evidence? Instead, he suppressed it. I think there can be no explanation for this other than that he knew that no crime had occurred, yet found it expedient to proceed with indictments in defiance of the truth.

And since that moment, few to none of his actions have been those of someone who genuinely thought he was investigating a crime. All, in fact, are consistent with someone participating in a frame-up.

Gary Packwood said...

Anonymous 9:16 said...
...I think it is important for the media to 'splain to the public how hard it is to be a D-1 (or even D-II) lacrosse player. The hours and kinds of training for years on end, 12 months a year. This sport takes unbelievable stamina, quickness and skill. As the parent of a D-1 athlete (not lacrosse) at one of the highly selective colleges (not DUKE) I was shocked at how much time all varsity athletes devote to practice and training...while other students are playing "grab ass" and drinking lattes. These guys didn't get to be D-1 varsity athletes by chance, good looks, or luck. It was years of commitment, practice and plain hard work, and certainly innate athletic ability.
tmpr.
____

Statement of Appreciation for Student Athletes.

I think you have focused on part of the problem that can be solved in the future.

I have racked up many years of teaching experience with these athletes as students and you are absolutely correct.

These kids spend more time and energy on their sport that anyone would ever imagine.

And...they never know what the next competition will bring with respect to winning or not winning a game...or whether or not they are going to be injured.

If a university supports varsity athletics then the university needs to include a highly visible statement of appreciation for these athletes.

I would favor an annual publication with a web site to showcase athletic excellent on campus. A web site with Quick Time 'type' action movie clips and pictures of the young men and women in uniform and street clothes.

Likewise, I would favor a similar publication and web site about the work activities of students who are working more than 15 or 20 hours each week in order to afford the cost of earning an education.

I might even ask the communication professionals on campus to be creative and propose that those publications be combined into a single publication and web site for all students to see and appreciate.

If the university is not going to make the statement of appreciation then I'll bet 'the farm' that the kids are going to have a party with dancers and 'beer bongs' to appreciate ...each other!

A publication fund for such a project might bring support from Duke graduates who understand what you and I are talking about with respect to those students who give and give and give in order to earn that degree.

Anonymous said...

8:50 says:
Your columns have started to bore me. Instead of endlessly replowing old ground, why don't you tell us what you think is going on now? You've been very quiet about Cooper's endless investigation and the defense's meek acquiescence in it.

What you're really saying is that you'd like something new and juicy every day. So would we all. But the case doesn't always generate that.

KC has engaged in some speculation, but it's not a primary feature of his blog, which is widely cited as having broken new ground and will likely be studied for years to come. I say he's doing well and is not called on to change his approach at this point.

Anonymous said...

Re: 8:50's:

"Debrah - that's Durham for you - stupid people walking around loose."

A few days ago I attempted to post a response to Debra's own screed against the people of Durham as mostly morons. (KC was kind enough to send me an email explaining that he didn't post my response then because he wanted to "shut down" the whole "Debra" discussion, which he said had gotten out of hand.) In any case, I pointed out that other cities -- LA, Chicago, NYC, for example, -- also have had, and regularly have, serious problems with police corruption, and that those cities must be happy to have Durham as a scapegoat to take the heat off them for a while.

I have supported the players for months, having sported a "Recall Nifong" sign in my PC neighborhood, and having posted regularly on this and Liestoppers. There are many people in Durham -- Beth Brewer, Bob Harris, and the women's lacrosse coach to name three notables -- who are opposed to the Lacrosse prosecution.

A also want to say that, IMO, it's pretty easy to complain that people in Durham are doing little to stop this prosecution. A lot of you may find this hard to believe, but many of the people who support Nifong and the Group of 88 are otherwise apparently sane and normal people who we have to live and work alongside every day, and who, in many cases, have been our friends for years.

While I am truly grateful for the out-of-towners helping us root out this injustice, it does not help to post blanket insults of Durham. So quit it!


Durham Lawyer

Anonymous said...

Carolyn says:

Anonymous at 10:13: I'm having the same depressing reaction from the attorneys in my large law firm. They all give the same 'yeah, but' response. Yeah, they'll agree Crystal lied her ass off (and a few other things with that butt as well), yeah, they concede Nifong deserves disbarment and jail sentence, yeah, they concede DNA proving players' innocence was lied about - but then my attorneys will say (and this gets really really depressing) 'BUT those players shouldn't have been hiring strippers' - 'but they shouldn't have been drinking' - 'but they shouldn't have been yelling racial slurs', etc. But, but, but, but...

It's not just one of my attorneys - it's all of them. Their eyes look past my face to the wall as I earnestly outline the facts, the figures, the cites, the evidence, the history, the hell the players and their wretched families have gone through, the history of Crystal and Kim, the brutal attack of the Gang of 88, the potbangers and the 'castrate' signs, etc. - my attorneys sigh even when I outline what I am certain should strike a chord with them, i.e., legal corruption of Nifong and the cops, the lab, the judges, etc. But the instant I finish speaking, my attorneys open their mouths - and the 'yeah, but' comes out.

My attorneys can feel sorry for Salvadorian refugees, prisoners in Guantanamo, Palestinians, and Cindy Sheehan, etc.

But they can not and will not feel sorry for white male lacrosse players.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Miller 9:23

Your excellent post has captured one of the supreme ironies of radical feminism. They complain that they are not regarded as equally human to men. (Catharine MacKinnon wrote a book entitled "Are Women Human?")

At the same time, with respect to morally degenerate tendencies, they would insist that women really aren't as "human" as males.

Of course, we are all human. Very human. Sometimes, too human.

Of course, many of these radical feminists have not hit 60 yet.

SAVANT

Anonymous said...

I've only been successful in changing the opinion of non-believers of Reade, Collin and Dave's innocense when they have time to read DIW and several other articles I have printed in adobe and saved on my computer. These are busy people involved in their own lives and the issues of the case haven't obsessed them or made them curious enough to dig for information. We have a 20 year old son who once played lacrosse and is at a college outside of our state and this lead to my curiosity and their innocense led to my obsession. But the friends that I've converted wonder why they haven't heard or read what I show them in the MSM they read or view. Having KC and Stuart Taylor's book available to show them (and then gift them a copy), coupled with MSM exposure extended to authors can't come quickly enough.

Carrie

Anonymous said...

Durham lawyer, anonymous 9:02 here - and let me assure you I am not some out of town carpet bagger - I have lived and worked in Durham for decades.

This is KC's blog, he can control the comments, and if you don't learn to spell Debrah's name correctly, trust me, there will be even more deleted comments.

It is Friday - has anyone heard anything in the rumor mill about this case being dismissed? Have the planets aligned correctly? Are the omens and auguries good? Have the document processors in Raleigh been working overtime? Have the politicians sought cover? Is the news cycle properly synched up with the lunar cycle?

Anonymous said...

Durham lawyer:

Let me underscore this for you. The fact that you would use a personal e-mail exchange between you and KC and post it here reveals more about you.....and your lack of class....than you know.

Why don't you just post your real name as some of the rest of us do and you and I can have an honest discussion?

It takes no courage to attack a female anonymously who has gotten the best of you. Hope your courtroom strategies are slicker that this display.

FYI, what we have all witnessed in Durham cannot be denied. No citizen there is innocent. If I were a resident of Durham, I would not rest until the rooftops were lifted off city hall and the Durham courthouse to protest what has gone on for over a year.

Also, I have an older brother who practiced law there for a few years just after getting out of law school.

He said that Durham was the jumping off place. Very corrupt and seedy.

Now, please come at me like a man next time. Don't use a personal e-mail where you were crying to KC to attack me.

It will make you look less Durham-like.

Debrah

Anonymous said...

Correction: In my 10:55 post, I inadvertently spelled Debrah's name as "Debra."

I apologize for the error.

Durham Lawyer

Anonymous said...

10:44 said:

What you're really saying is that you'd like something new and juicy every day. So would we all. But the case doesn't always generate that.

Tomorrow it will be 11 weeks since Roy Cooper's press conference taking over the case -- and not one comment from KC on his eternal investigation. You have a strange idea of "every day."

Do you have to know something "new and juicy" to say there's nothing in this case that could possibly justify dragging this out so long?

Every day this case remains on the court docket the State of North Carolina is smearing three innocent men and keeping them and their families in hell.

Anonymous said...

KC hit one of the most peculiar facts in the Duke lacrosse case. How did the accuser end up with such a light sentence for what appears to have been a serious assault on a peace officer? An assault using an automobile would seem to be to be one in which, at the very least, grievous bodily harm was intended.

Anonymous said...

"When she saw me approach, she was laughing ... I put her in the back seat of my vehicle. She kept attempting to lay down but was advised to sit up."

---

I was also told, by a credible source, that when she was in the police car (after the high-speed chase and her murder attempt), she tore off her blouse, and was shaking her breasts at the officers, laughing. I was also told that she tried to kick out the windows of the police car. Nice, eh?

Nope I can't prove it, but it's consistent with her other behavior that night, and somewhere out there are people (including the cops) who know it is true. She is truly wack-o.

E-mail: said...

[quote] ... "early aspects of this hoax shows why the average person on the street believed---and many still believe---that the lacrosse players committed some sort of crime. And no amount of discussion of the facts will alter their opinions. Even now".

That may be true for some. A lot of us got sucked into believing what the media threw out. After listeing to the overwhelming evidence (in here) regarding their innocence, how could any reasonable person dispute it? (thanks, kc, for educating me).

Now then, even from the "get go", in the back of my feeble mind was the nagging question of "why would guys like this put their health at risk by raping a stripper?"

gayle miller: I, too, have been on the same planet for over 6 decades, and I agree with you that women lie (usually about different things then men) ...

but, during your years in college, how many campus rapes were reported? I remember none. For the woman, it would mean social suicide.

Anonymous said...

Please, I am so tired of people repeatedly saying within this blog that no crime occurred. Of course a crime occurred, several in fact, beginning when Crystal uttered the work "rape". Making a false police report is a crime, unfortunately one not often persued unless the falsely accused is either famous or a member of the police department.

Also, another little note. Crystal. Made by adding lead to glass to increase the index of refraction. I suspect she ate a little too much lead paint as a child.

Bill Alexander

Anonymous said...

9:23 Like you, I am a female and have been around for awhile. As a nurse most of my coworkers were women. What you say is true and when they cry - they did it.

Anonymous said...

Before retirement, I worked at our local felony jail for five years, There is not enough room for the real criminals. The jails are filled with illegal drug folk - making,selling, taking or distribution, A sane drug policy (like the end of proabition would sure help and take the money out of illegal drugs.) I know this is a debate for another day but has some insight into the problems of incarceration, I would faint if KC emailed me - I would assume he was kicking me off the blog. No emails KC

Anonymous said...

11:55 Cedarford said "...Durham is on it's way..."

Durham is already there.

Anonymous said...

Re: Debrah at 11:20 and cedarford at 11:55

First, let me say that if I violated some kind of internet protocol by mentioning an email, then I aploogize to KC, Debrah, and everyone else.

Debrah, as to your comment that if you lived in Durham, you'd be protesting until the roof came off the courthouse and city hall, I am sure that many people will regret what they did or did not do during this episode. I personally have written letters to the Governor and the AG, in addition to posting my "Recall Nifong" sign in my yard. I will continue to consider what else to do.

cedarford, your point about Durham getting a bad reputation over the lacrosse case is well-taken. At this point, I hope that Durham might also get a rep for being a place that has learned from its mistakes, and possibly sparked some well-needed judicial reforms, such as requiring transcripts of grand jury proceedings.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

RAPE, RAPE, RAPE! Outrageous Injustices in the Duke Lacrosse Case"

I agree that a more inflammatory title is appropriate ("Castrate them!" ?)

The current title appeals to academics, but that is a small audience and ideological bias would shrink it further.

So KC, have a title worthy of Al Franken or Ann Coulter, and tell people Stuart Taylor chose it.

AMac said...

Anonymous 8:50am / 11:29am wrote --

Your columns have started to bore me. Instead of endlessly replowing old ground, why don't you tell us what you think is going on now? You've been very quiet about Cooper's endless investigation and the defense's meek acquiescence in it.

Point taken, Anon: you're bored by what's on offer here. I, for one, am concerned.

Fortunately, via its Blogger subsidiary, Google has an excellent solution. No innovation required, just follow Prof. J's footsteps:

1. Be some person
2. Get interested in a topic
3. Write about it
4. Garner a large, passionate readership
5. Write some more

The hidden feature is that you decide what's not boring (Steps 2, 3, & 5)! Alas, Step 4 does recall the Business Plan of the Underpants Gnomes. But you'll get it!

Anonymous said...

11:29 said:
Tomorrow it will be 11 weeks since Roy Cooper's press conference taking over the case -- and not one comment from KC on his eternal investigation. You have a strange idea of "every day."

I hope you won't be saying that in that 11 weeks KC has done nothing but plow old ground. For one example, who published the 16 March photo, showing all those "bruises"?


Every day this case remains on the court docket the State of North Carolina is smearing three innocent men and keeping them and their families in hell.

Indeed. And who has done more than KC to right this wrong?

Anonymous said...

The cult of KC here reminds me of the cult of Nifong over at TalkLeft. Pick around the edges, play word games, ignore the main point -- KC's silence about Roy Cooper shamelessly dragging out the investigation.

I also notice that the second paragraph of the 8:50 post has been left unaddressed. If you're writing a book and seeking access to the participants in events, do you have to pull your punches?

KC is the most prominent blogger on this case and the one most followed by the mainstream media. His silence is not harmless.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
kcjohnson9 said...

Re the 8.50/9.43:

I'm not quite clear what the commenter wants me to "say" about the AG's inquiry.

One thing I have tried to do in this blog is to offer informed commentary, rather than simply spouting my personal opinions. It is my understanding that the SP's have conducted a thorough review of the case, have interviewed as many as 15 people who were at the party, and met with defense attorneys to consider all exculpatory evidence. I also believe that the ABC report--that the accuser wasn't cooperating with the SP's--is accurate. (Indeed, I did two posts on this issue.) Finally, I am unaware of any procedural errors committed by the SP's.

It appears that the commenter has a negative view of the SP's handling of the case. At this point in time, I do not share that view. Of course, if new evidence comes to light, my view could change.

Anonymous said...

KC

You're saying that 11 weeks and counting is necessary for a review of this case?

Given what was on the public record before Cooper took the case, what is that complicated?

kcjohnson9 said...

From the start, defense lawyers said what they wanted was a thorough, impartial review of the case. (I have said the same thing.) That appears to be what the SP's are doing.

If and when the charges are dismissed, it will be worth examining what the SP's say. if they dismiss on the unconstitutionality of the lineup alone, this would be grounds for severe criticism, since they could have figured out the lineup was unconstitutional five minutes into the process.

If, on the other hand, they offer a comprehensive review of events, then it would seem they put their time to good use.

It's worth remembering: neither Nifong or the police, in effect, did any investigation. The SP's had no choice to start from scratch.

Anonymous said...

5:33

The political calculus is what is taking so much time. The case is simple - there isn't one. But how do you keep your base from rioting when you dismiss a non-case - there's the rub. Watch how it plays out - it will be democrat weasle-tude at its best.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe this farce is that complicated . There are not even that many people to interview. Enough is enough - I am a Democrat, but would vote straight Republician (except for the Senators) in NC just to get these clowns off the public payroll. Nifong, Stephens and Titus really know their State and corruption. Gonzales is getting his and hopefully the new AG will have better sense and investigate this case.

Anonymous said...

I moved to Raleigh 10 years ago and you simply cannot underestimate the magnitude of the political corruption and old-boy network. Here, 30 miles away, the consensus is that there is a real fear the "residents" of Durham will burn DUKE U down, not just their own city....which will happen anyway. Durham has been a pot waiting to boil over for years, and the corrupt police kept things under control by protecting the black crime and resulting local income.

Anonymous said...

KC wrote:

If and when the charges are dismissed, it will be worth examining what the SP's say. If they dismiss on the unconstitutionality of the lineup alone, this would be grounds for severe criticism, since they could have figured out the lineup was unconstitutional five minutes into the process.

If you know the ID is bogus five minutes into the process, how do you justify leaving the charges pending for another 11 weeks and counting. The ID is the only evidence.

The State of North Carolina has wronged the defendants in this case. I think Cooper had a moral, if not legal, obligation to end that wrong as soon as possible -- and five minutes into the process is about right. Every minute since then has just compounded the wrong.

I do agree, however, that it would mitigate the wrong if Cooper made a clear statement exonerating the defendants, said flatly that there was no crime and offered a comprehensive written report laying out the hoax that became a frame.

I don't think I'll try to hold my breath untilt that happens.

Anonymous said...

I don't claim to know Durham or North Carolina, but I find it hard to believe that dismissal of this case (1) would result in a riot or (2) would present any real political peril for Roy Cooper.

When this case broke, the AA community eagerly embraced the accuser. If it went to trial or just a hearing with Crystal on the stand, they would be deeply embarrassed. Surely most of the AA community is praying for the case to go quietly away.

If Cooper enters a vague dismissal, they'll have the best of both worlds. They can claim justice was denied a poor black woman by the white boys and their rich daddies, and they'll never have to see her accusations put to the test.

Anonymous said...

Carolyn says:

Anonymous at 10:13: I'm having the same depressing reaction from the attorneys in my large law firm. They all give the same 'yeah, but' response. Yeah, they'll agree Crystal lied her ass off (and a few other things with that butt as well), yeah, they concede Nifong deserves disbarment and jail sentence, yeah, they concede DNA proving players' innocence was lied about - but then my attorneys will say (and this gets really really depressing) 'BUT those players shouldn't have been hiring strippers' - 'but they shouldn't have been drinking' - 'but they shouldn't have been yelling racial slurs', etc. But, but, but, but...


Carolyn, you should tell your attorneys this is the same as saying of a rape victim, "but she shouldn't've been wearing that short skirt" and "but she shouldn't've been walking to her car alone at that time of night", etc. Then watch them backpedal (at least the ones with a sound conscience).

Anonymous said...

My attorneys can feel sorry for Salvadorian refugees, prisoners in Guantanamo, Palestinians, and Cindy Sheehan, etc.

But they can not and will not feel sorry for white male lacrosse players.


It's a pernicious form of racism, isn't it. I've heard it before in this case -- that Purdue professor (whose name eludes me for the moment) who briefly weighed in on this case made the same point. When he was asked (by AMac, I think) why whites who commit crimes should be treated more harshly than blacks, the professor answered, "because they (the whites) should know better."

This form of racism -- that because white men are inherently "better people" than other groups and so deserve harsher treatment for transgressions -- works only one-way. It rachets only AGAINST whites, never FOR them.

Anonymous said...

Carrie said:

But the friends that I've converted wonder why they haven't heard or read what I show them in the MSM they read or view. Having KC and Stuart Taylor's book available to show them (and then gift them a copy), coupled with MSM exposure extended to authors can't come quickly enough.

I, too, have noticed that this case has gotten LITTLE attention outside of DiW and the like. I haven't heard a word of it mentioned on talk radio, for instance, where you think it would be prominently featured. I wonder if Bill O'Reilly has even heard of this case.

As for the book, KC and Stuart should also be writing a screenplay. Of course, mainstream Hollywood won't make the movie, just as they wouldn't make "The Passion of the Christ" or "300" due to political correctness. But those movies got made -- and were blockbuster hits, and this one could, too, if a major contributor can be found to produce it.

Anonymous said...

I;ve changed my mind about the 11 weeks. A few years ago we bought an older home. We were careful to ask for documentation of service records, such as for HVAC. In the rush of closing and moving, they were all filed away. Lo and behold, 6 months later when the HVAC died, I pulled out the service receipts and contacted the repairman. He had never serviced the unit. Using clever scanner and Photoshop, the previous owner had crated the appearance of regular care, but never actually contacted the service. So my point is, just becasue the SPs see something in the records, it could be meaningless --- mayber that witness eas never contscted. Maybe the notes are faked (as we know they hae been. ) they literally DO have to recheck everything....or I would. Much of the police evidnce is probably faked. May take longer than 11 weeks to expose all the fraud.

Anonymous said...

Carolyb = Are these your attorneys or the firms attorneys?

Anonymous said...

and your point is? according to you, a person with a criminal record cannot be raped?


Are you insane?

nothing that you print about the taxi incident changes the fact that this woman still could have been raped/sexually assaulted at the drunken party given by the racist lacrosse players. it was a set up for a gang rape and anyone who knows anything about rape and crime knows that. there was a also racial hostility exhibited by the players and that was the motivation to harm her.

all this stuff about her previous crimes is to denigrate the victim, pure and simple.

guess you have got to keep that strategy going, don't you KC, as the defense has temporarily gone silent while the sp are interviewing (gasp) the lacrosse players!!! WoW, wonder why they are being questioned after all, to hear you tell it, KC, the actions of the players should not be questioned at all as The accuser has a criminal record and this case is ll about Nifong. well, some people think obviously think differently than you do about this case!