I Am Not A Lawyer, Yet, But Does This Not Strike People As Odd?
The Duke Lacrosse team has been accused of raping a stripper who was "purchased" for a party. And today, as Breitbart reports, the prosecutor has admitted that the accuser has not given him her side of the story of that night:
The district attorney prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a woman at a team party said during a court hearing Friday that he still hasn't interviewed the accuser about the facts of the case.
"I've had conversations with (the accuser) about how she's doing. I've had conversations with (the accuser) about her seeing her kids," Mike Nifong said. "I haven't talked with her about the facts of that night. ... We're not at that stage yet."
Nifong made the statement in response to a defense request for any statements the woman has made about the case.
"I understand the answer may not be the answer they want but it's the true answer. That's all I can give them," the prosecutor said after the hourlong hearing.
Defense lawyers said outside court that they found Nifong's statement surprising.
"One of the most interesting things to me of course is Mr. Nifong did admit that he in fact has basically never talked to this woman and has absolutely no idea what her story is, and yet he has chosen to continue to go forward with this case," defense lawyer Joseph Cheshire said.
Nifong said none of his assistants have discussed the case with the woman either and only have spoken with her to monitor her well-being. They have left the investigation of the case to police, he said.
This is rather odd. Are prosecutors not supposed to make sure a crime has been committed before moving forward with a case? This would mean that, at some point, the accuser has to have been talked to about the details of that night. ABC News, as I recall, posted time-stamped photos of theat night, which included a couple showing the accuser outside at the time the rape supposedly took place. Other people at the party stated that the bruises and scrapes she said she received during the rape were already present on her when she showed up.
When we first touched on this issue (which I wish our archives would bring up the past posts regarding this case) we said that this is a "he said, she said" case. And thus far the revelations that have occurred has bolstered the defense's case. Mr. Nifong has a case that is systematically being shredded by those dirty little facts that keep popping up. And based on what we have read about this case, there is no case for Mr. Nifong.
This latest admission by Mr. Nifong speaks volumes to the community. You are still moving forward with a case where you have not even discussed the details with the accuser. Towards the end of the story, Mr. Nifong admits that the last interview he had with her she would not make eye contact with her, and she "barely said fifteen words" throughout the whole interview. I have bad news for him: That is not going to fly in court. The defense attorneys for the players are going to destroy her on the stand. She is not going to be able to play the victim card in court. The attorneys will demand answers, and request the judge compel her to speak if she refuses to answer them.
Tears are not going to help her. Biting her lip is not going to help her. And Mr. Nifong is not going to be able to hold her hand and tell her everything is going to be all right. If she has lied about the rape (and we are not saying that she did, but the information coming out seems to lean in that direction) then it will be exposed in the court proceedings, and it will not be good for her. If it did not occur, she can save herself a lot of hassle by dropping the charges now before this goes any further. Perjury and making a false accusation are still crimes that are punishable.
Marcie
The Duke Lacrosse team has been accused of raping a stripper who was "purchased" for a party. And today, as Breitbart reports, the prosecutor has admitted that the accuser has not given him her side of the story of that night:
The district attorney prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a woman at a team party said during a court hearing Friday that he still hasn't interviewed the accuser about the facts of the case.
"I've had conversations with (the accuser) about how she's doing. I've had conversations with (the accuser) about her seeing her kids," Mike Nifong said. "I haven't talked with her about the facts of that night. ... We're not at that stage yet."
Nifong made the statement in response to a defense request for any statements the woman has made about the case.
"I understand the answer may not be the answer they want but it's the true answer. That's all I can give them," the prosecutor said after the hourlong hearing.
Defense lawyers said outside court that they found Nifong's statement surprising.
"One of the most interesting things to me of course is Mr. Nifong did admit that he in fact has basically never talked to this woman and has absolutely no idea what her story is, and yet he has chosen to continue to go forward with this case," defense lawyer Joseph Cheshire said.
Nifong said none of his assistants have discussed the case with the woman either and only have spoken with her to monitor her well-being. They have left the investigation of the case to police, he said.
This is rather odd. Are prosecutors not supposed to make sure a crime has been committed before moving forward with a case? This would mean that, at some point, the accuser has to have been talked to about the details of that night. ABC News, as I recall, posted time-stamped photos of theat night, which included a couple showing the accuser outside at the time the rape supposedly took place. Other people at the party stated that the bruises and scrapes she said she received during the rape were already present on her when she showed up.
When we first touched on this issue (which I wish our archives would bring up the past posts regarding this case) we said that this is a "he said, she said" case. And thus far the revelations that have occurred has bolstered the defense's case. Mr. Nifong has a case that is systematically being shredded by those dirty little facts that keep popping up. And based on what we have read about this case, there is no case for Mr. Nifong.
This latest admission by Mr. Nifong speaks volumes to the community. You are still moving forward with a case where you have not even discussed the details with the accuser. Towards the end of the story, Mr. Nifong admits that the last interview he had with her she would not make eye contact with her, and she "barely said fifteen words" throughout the whole interview. I have bad news for him: That is not going to fly in court. The defense attorneys for the players are going to destroy her on the stand. She is not going to be able to play the victim card in court. The attorneys will demand answers, and request the judge compel her to speak if she refuses to answer them.
Tears are not going to help her. Biting her lip is not going to help her. And Mr. Nifong is not going to be able to hold her hand and tell her everything is going to be all right. If she has lied about the rape (and we are not saying that she did, but the information coming out seems to lean in that direction) then it will be exposed in the court proceedings, and it will not be good for her. If it did not occur, she can save herself a lot of hassle by dropping the charges now before this goes any further. Perjury and making a false accusation are still crimes that are punishable.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 1:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home