Lane Williamson provided a refreshing dose of common sense in explaining Mike Nifong's apparent intent in putting Dr. Meehan on the stand--and getting in one of the best lines of the hearing.
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Comments and analysis about the Duke/Nifong case (2006-2014).
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June
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- The Bitter-Enders
- Brodhead Wins a Sheldon
- Cline on Quadruple Homicide Case
- The Group in Action
- 9-22 Transcript
- The Meehan Deposition
- Smith Sets Date
- Nifong Hearing
- Nifong Deposition: Personal Issues
- Nifong Hearing Tomorrow
- Freedman: Communication Matters
- Assorted Deposition Items
- Responding to Syl Jones (and Nifong)
- Linwood Bails on Nifong
- Nifong Deposition, Part II
- Nifong Rationalizes His Statements
- More from Wonderland
- Nifong Deposition, Part I
- Linwood Is Out
- Ethical Dimension
- More Foolishness
- Nifong Hearing
- Weekly Roundup
- "Mr. Obfuscation" in Action
- The Herald-Sun: Wrong Again
- "Mr. Obfuscation"
- The Gottlieb Deposition
- Nifong as "Unique Person"
- The Wacky World of Dr. Meehan
- WRAL Headline Saturday
- Still Foolish
- Nifong: An "Old-Fashioned" Guy
- The Sanctions Motion
- Eviscerated
- The Worst of Witt: "Egregious" Mistakes
- The Worst of Witt: The DNA Evidence
- The Worst of Witt: The Neophyte Defense
- Hardin's Choices
- Nifong: What?! Non-Laxers Were There?
- Nifong: "I Don't Read Discovery Requests"
- Nifong Explains His Approach to DNA
- Nifong & Emostafa
- Chronicle Op-Ed
- "Something Happened"
- Judge Tjoflat's Perspective
- Nifong: Politics and the Press
- Jones Renews Call for Federal Inquiry
- Easley: Hardin as Interim DA
- When Suspects Aren't Suspects
- The Great Dissembler
- Nifong Defends the "Old-Fashioned Way"
- The Origin of Hooligans
- Nifong's "Law Enforcement Purpose"
- McClain: Group of 88 Defiant, Despite Settlement
- On the Bookshelf, II
- Montgomery-Blinn and NC "Innocence"
- Praising Beth Brewer
- Lane Williamson
- A Wild Day
- Nifong Is Out
- Nifong and Williamson
- Easley: Nifong Should Go Now
- Bannon on Absolute Innocence
- Duke and Three Families Settle
- Nifong Resigns . . . Eventually
- Marsha Goodenow Testimony
- Professor Bannon's Lecture
- Reflections on the Hearing
- More from Wonderland
- Beard on Nifong
- Nifong Defends Linwood Wilson
- The Himan Smoking Gun
- Brad Bannon on Nancy Grace
- Williamson Remarks
- Sunday Hearing Roundup
- Findings
- Nifong Accepts Disbarment
- MaryEllen Finnerty
- David Evans
- Bar Character Witnesses--Jerry Parnell
- Verdict
- Brocker Follow-up
- Freedman Closing
- Nifong: "Old-Fashioned Guy"
- Nifong Closing Statement
- Nifong Inconsistencies
- Nifong and DNA: Closing Statement
- Nifong False Statements
- Bar's Closing Statements, Continued
- Closing Arguments: "Minister of Injustice"
- Nifong's Selective Memory
- Mike Nifong's "Flexible" Apology
- Nifong Trial, Day Four
- Bar Rebuttal
- Nifong Character Witnesses
- Tara Levicy
- Nifong: "Something Happened"
- Nifong: "I Don't Read Files"
- N&O: Nifong Is Out
- More Nifong Cross
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- "From the Scottsboro Boys to Clarence Gideon, some of the most memorable legal narratives have been tales of the wrongly accused. Now “Until Proven Innocent,” a new book about the false allegations of rape against three Duke lacrosse players, can join these galvanizing cautionary tales . . , Taylor and Johnson have made a gripping contribution to the literature of the wrongly accused. They remind us of the importance of constitutional checks on prosecutorial abuse. And they emphasize the lesson that Duke callously advised its own students to ignore: if you’re unjustly suspected of any crime, immediately call the best lawyer you can afford."--Jeffrey Rosen, New York Times Book Review
Links
Motions and Documents
- Attorney General's Report
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- Change of venue motion
- Bar amended complaint/Nifong response
- December 15 hearing
- State Bar v. Nifong
- Brewer removal motion
- Nifong December 28 letter to Bar
- Nifong January 16 letter to Bar
- Group of 88 statement (removed from Duke website)
- Group of 88 membership
- Transcript of relevant sections, April 4 "identification" "procedure"
30 comments:
Lane Williamson authored several great lines during the hearing. I would not want to face that man in court. I would also not want to be his kid coming home late after breaking curfew. Bullshit has a short shelf life in his presence.
Yes, it's called "hiding in plain view" or perhaps in not so plain view with more than a thousand pages of documents. It gave the appearance of co-operation in the absense of any purposeful or real co-operation. Why this man Nifong did not use exculpatory evidence to provide his community with justice and perform the required and sworn duties of his office is beyond me? His duty was more important than the not so latent racism of Duke University or the community he served. His, Nifong's, duty was to the law, and that duty was transcendent.
Seems way past time for a more balanced look at this. See
http://www.triangletribune.com/editor_nifong.html
And this as well...thank goodness someone points out the inequities and imbalances of this matter.
http://www.triangletribune.com/news_blacks.html
Both articles make me sick. Injustice for one American--any American--is just plain wrong.
To refer to Mangum as a "young lady" is to misused the word "lady."
Despite her unsavory behavior and lifestyle choices, had Ms. Mangum been assaulted or raped, her attackers would have been prosecuted. Think of the movie, "The Accused."
To judge the true victims, the LAX players, as having to be guilty of SOMETHING because they're rich, white, and male, suggests an underlying racisim that is truly disgusting.
gotc
This is turning into a trend. Everyday the H-S entertains letters like this one. Too out-of-touch for reality.
NAACP's_Rev_Gatewood
Debrah
Debrah, would you please cut and paste the letter? I'd rather not register to read it.
Thanks.
gotc
KC -
From the Minneapolis StarTribune, another person looking foolish:
http://www.startribune.com/562/story/1263217.html
The letter D. refered to:
Why is Nifong hated so?
While Durham continuously beats the dead horse of Mike Nifong's tenure as district attorney, black males continue to be arrested at more than double the rate of whites who commit the same drug crimes.
Propaganda will never give black men a world stage to say "I didn't do it" while discrediting their accuser and prosecutor. As recently as June 7, a local news anchorwoman claimed "the allegations of rape turned out to be false." You would think a woman in such a powerful position would be more sensitive to the fact that a woman's allegations of rape are not "false" just because she lacks sufficient proof.
And in a city where many leaders are descendants of slaves, Durham is acting as if the world's greatest judicial injustice has been committed by Nifong, who sought to charge rich white men with raping a black female. Without charges of rape, there remain probable acts of underage drinking, racial epithets and stripper patronage. Such behavior should in fact cause staff dismissals and student expulsions
Despite his innocence, Darryl Hunt spent 18 years in prison. Yet he receives no such undisclosed settlements, firing of DAs, changing of laws, as that being received by elitists who avoided court and never spent a day in jail. If the woman said they raped her, Nifong was right to charge them!
The Rev. CURTIS E. GATEWOOD
Oxford
June 24, 2007
To 2:4 and 2:49
You must be the gang of 88
How do you define "balanced"
Here's the quote from the paper
"Regardless, the most Nifong should have gotten was a long suspension, not disbarment. Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, and the rest of the lacrosse team are not 100 percent innocent. The reason people found the rape charges so easy to believe is because of their past behaviors. "
Read the US Constitution
While Durham continuously beats the dead horse of Mike Nifong's tenure as district attorney, black males continue to be arrested at more than double the rate of whites who commit the same drug crimes.
Propaganda will never give black men a world stage to say "I didn't do it" while discrediting their accuser and prosecutor. As recently as June 7, a local news anchorwoman claimed "the allegations of rape turned out to be false." You would think a woman in such a powerful position would be more sensitive to the fact that a woman's allegations of rape are not "false" just because she lacks sufficient proof.
And in a city where many leaders are descendants of slaves, Durham is acting as if the world's greatest judicial injustice has been committed by Nifong, who sought to charge rich white men with raping a black female. Without charges of rape, there remain probable acts of underage drinking, racial epithets and stripper patronage. Such behavior should in fact cause staff dismissals and student expulsions
Despite his innocence, Darryl Hunt spent 18 years in prison. Yet he receives no such undisclosed settlements, firing of DAs, changing of laws, as that being received by elitists who avoided court and never spent a day in jail. If the woman said they raped her, Nifong was right to charge them!
The Rev. CURTIS E. GATEWOOD
Oxford
TO gotc--
My post is 3:27PM; however, i see that someone else has already posted a copy.
Debrah
To all who keep blathering that the Duke players are not "100% innocent"...
Are you? No?? Then STFU! There is not one of you who can claim the moral high ground...and that goes for you too, "Reverend".
Duke 1990
Why is it that some people want equality when it suits their purposes but not for all? Rather than decrying the prosecutors of the cases where the men were improperly convicted and imprisoned, we're supposed to believe that there is some kind of quota that should have been met. We can name 3 black innocent guys who were sent to prison so we need 3 innocent white guys to even things out.
Wrong is wrong. True equality will never be attained with attitudes like that. Dwelling on the past--that's how the Jessie's and Al's of the world keep their flock following. Wake up.
One of the main thrusts of the Civil Rights Movements of the 60's was for education. Unfortunately, too many today don't have any value for that education. It is the way out of poverty. And that goes for ALL people of poverty--no race has a lock on poverty. Class--one type is a direct result of working to better yourself. This is more like Dr. King's mantra.
Class--the attitude kind--is what these three rape hoax guys have. The asserted their innocence, turned themselves in for testing and questioning, and went through the system to prove their innocence. Did they have the means to hire top notch attorneys? Yes. Are they from hard-working, honest families? Yes. Is that to say that Hunt, Gell, or Cotton don't come from good families? Absolutely not. Hopefully, they have gotten their lives together and will continue to live full lives.
Save the daggers for the prosecutors--All of them who are not honest and forthright.
BTW--have you offered to help CGM?
Here's a good one as well. LOL!!!
It has been reported that Mike Nifong boasted that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl. Well, Durham sure won't be known for that. Thanks to Nifong, Durham will be known as the home of a venal, unethical former prosecutor.
Durham is also now known to have an abundance of people who are easily duped and who quickly and reliably respond at any pretext to support the self-promoting purveyors of divisive race politics.
R.S. Selvidge
Los Angeles
June 23, 2007
Debrah
The Duke players are 100% innocent of all the crimes with which they were accused. Full stop.
Thanks to Debrah and the other poster for the letter.
gotc
The subject at hand is RAPE.
They are 100% innocent. This is not usually stated, but the AG wanted to make a big impression on everybody. 100% INNOCENT.
Why don't some of you get it?
I've tried to find the "At Issue" segment at NBC17's website from this morning; however, they haven't put it up yet.
I definitely want you guys to see it. It follows Tim Russert's Meet the Press usually, and panelists include Cash Michaels and Donna Martinez--the wife of N&O columnist Rick Martinez.
Cash has mellowed tremendously regarding the lacrosse case, although grudgingly I'm sure.
Woody Vann was a guest, and let me just say that he is the most pathetic man I have listened to all week long on any news show.
What an unadulterated pansy...just an obfuscating creep.
When Donna Martinez asked some very pointed questions about Mangum...indicating that she felt she should be charged, Woody-Wood-Pecker's responses were even more insipid than his previous exchanges with Greta.
I hope they put it on the website soon.
Debrah
The Star Tribune op-ed does make one good mention: Genarlow Wilson, the Georgia man who (17 at the time) was sentenced to a 10-year minimum sentence for receiving oral sex from a 15-year old, after which he has to register as a sex offender. GA law has since changed to make the crime a misdemeanor without sex offender status, so a judge recently changed the conviction to a misdemeanor and ordered Wilson's release.
Not done, the attorney general (a black man, for those reading the racial metanarrative) appealed the ruling to enormous criticism.
Reasonable people may disagree, but I think the kid's sentence is grossly excessive and unfair. The case connects with Duke in one way - prosecutors and other lawyers who seem obsessed with locking people up. And another way - as commentators remind us that this guy is "not a choirboy," citing video of the party in question where a girl fornicated with several of the boys - they were later charged with rape and acquitted, but tagged with the oral sex charge.
The prosecutor sneeringly told Wilson that the boys who accepted plea bargains "took their medicine."
re: 4:12
I wonder if that prosecutor had a Michelle Delgadillo problem. Mr. Hilton certainly has the resources to investigate the Delgadillos to see what skeletons they have in their closets. Nasty stuff going after rich folks. I'm surprised that we didn't hear a few skeletons in the judge's closet given that his behaviour was certainly over the top.
Seems to me that prosecutors are out there to score points moreso than to administer justice. Perhaps the personality type necessary to win the job isn't the personality type necessary to do a fair job.
Works that way in politics.
to 4:12
There is nothing wrong with prosecutors who seem obsessed with locking up people who have committed crimes. In this case, Wilson committed at crime according to the law. You used the word "fornicated" because it does not paint a picture. What happened was that several (5 or 6) guys had this 15 year old girl do oral sex on them and taped it. That's the picture that people see as awful. I'd be pretty obssesed if she was my daughter.
I might agree that 10 years is too long, but not if you are going to compare it to the Duke case. They were facing 30 years.
re: 4:37
The legislature didn't intend for the law to cover Romeo and Juliet cases and have since changed the law.
A prosecutor should use some amount of judgement.
The judge that decreased the punishment to something lesser gave him a much short sentence (a year or two) which he has already served.
Governors are talking about mandating Gardasil vaccinations for girls starting at 9 or 10 years old as an acknowledgement that kids are sexually active much younger now.
As far as being obsessed about your daughter goes, what would you say if it was your daughter that went after the guys for sex?
to 4:50
"As far as being obsessed about your daughter goes, what would you say if it was your daughter that went after the guys for sex?"
Interesting you wrote that. I understand that many pedophiles make the same point.
re: 5:05
I assume that many pedophiles would tell you that 1+1=2 as well. Outside of that, you're just making an adhominem attack.
So now that we've dispensed with your ad hominem fallacy: As far as being obsessed about your daughter goes, what would you say if it was your daughter that went after the guys for sex?
Wilson committed a crime according to previous and current Georgia law, so I'm not comparing it to Duke as if it were a hoax. What does exist is a prosecutor who seems more interested in his own conviction count than a just ajudication.
Even guilty people (which the Duke 3 are clearly not) are entitled to a just punishment. That the Georgia legislature has seen fit to redefine a just punishment, thanks to the publicity of this case, and that the prosecutor refuses to admit any correction might be necessary, shows a Nifong-like ethical compass.
What's interesting about the STrib column is that it argues that prejudging the Duke boys because of strippers at a kegger is legit, because Genarlow Wilson is locked up beyond a reasonable jail term - in other words, this injustice is warranted by a previous one.
Wouldn't it make more sense to cheer the Duke exoneration, and use that as ammo to correct the Wilson case? Instead the writer wants the innocent players to admit to a 'mistake' in the same way a guilty man has in asking for reasonable clemency for his crime.
To paraphrase one of the accused after they were declared innocent by the AG, the answer to injustice is never injustice.
The metanarrative lives...a quote from the strib:
>>
Those stories will likely not include sentences such as "It was stupid of us to rent a stripper in the first place,"I made a terrible mistake even being there that day," or "I disgraced my family by participating in a frat boy sex party."
<<
Reade Seligmann, for one, wasn't there that day. Not to mention it wasn't at a frat. This guy is an idiot.
This is a message for KC Johnson:
RE: Your upcoming book
Along with most of us here,I am eagerly awaiting your upcoming book. However, most of the readers of your book with have at best only followed part of this case (indeed, the only reason I have paid much attention is due to a friend who is a Duke grad).
I worry much of your good work/material/research/insights will be "left on the cutting room floor".
History will suffer if much of the smaller/less well known information is not published. Or the various clips you are showing here are lost/forgotten.
I am currently reading Bugliosi's book on the Kennedy assassination. He got around this problem by placing a disk in the back of the book with additional research/documents/etc. Perhaps you have thought of this, or its a bad idea for other reasons.
KC - I have 2 kids--> I want them to be able to know the truth in 20 years (thats a long time for the MSM to rewrite history).
Please seriously consider this idea.
I repeat, many pedophiles use the same excuse. The law says that minors at that age cannot consent. In a court of law, that is not accepted as a defense.
My comment is not an ad hominem fallacy.
It was a sarcastic remark to make a point. I don't have a daughter.
re: 9:08
[I repeat, many pedophiles use the same excuse.]
Pedophiles believe that 1+1=2. You do too. Therefore you are a pedophile.
[The law says that minors at that age cannot consent. In a court of law, that is not accepted as a defense.]
The law was changed to something that required far less time and no sex offender registry. The kid has already served the amount of time for that. What's your problem?
[My comment is not an ad hominem fallacy. ]
Yes it was.
[It was a sarcastic remark to make a point.]
Lousy way to make a point.
[I don't have a daughter.]
Then why did you bring it up. I have a daughter and a son and want to ensure that they don't wander into the crap that prosecutors throw nets out for.
Is Linwood Wilson a Communist?
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