Prosecutors Drop Charges in Duke Case

Solat13

About time in my opinion. I'm surprised no one one has brought this up because it was such a big topic of discussion when it happened.

Here's the first part of the story.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070411/D8OEJ3VO2.html

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Prosecutors dropped all charges Wednesday against the three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party, saying the athletes were innocent victims of a "tragic rush to accuse" by an overreaching district attorney.

"There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a damning assessment of Durham County District Mike Nifong's handling of the sensational case.

Cooper, who took over the case in January after Nifong was charged with ethics violations that could get him disbarred, said his own investigation "led us to the conclusion that no attack occurred."

"I think a lot of people owe a lot of apologies to a lot of people," Cooper said. "I think those people ought to consider doing that."

---

Now I wonder if Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton will apologize to these Duke students after pretty much declaring them guilty without any basis for facts and leading protest rallies which further divided the area. Or are they too busy leading their new cause for the day?

I also hope the original DA prosecuting the case, Mike Nifong, gets disbarred and charged with criminal charges. He used the case as a vehicle to get reelected.

brain of c

the falsely accused spent three million on lawyers.

thank god major league lacross will make up for that.

somebodyelsessky2020

the real nappy headed ho has finally been located!!!

fanch75

Which churches do the Reeeeeeeev-uh-ruhnd Ja-aaaaack-suhn and Shahp-tuhhhhhn preach at?

know1

I always wondered why they didn't just charge them with soliciting prostitution.

inmytree

know1 wrote:

I always wondered why they didn't just charge them with soliciting prostitution.

or underaged drinking...or providing alcohol to minors...

farfromglorified

This was a ridiculous series of events. It's a shame that the foolish and childish lies of a fool can infect an entire society with hate, anger, and all things unreasonable.

vedderelf

Oh, my. What I wouldn't give to go back a year and see the threads on this one. I think these young men are owed one gigantic apology. Jesse and Al can start. Oh, they're still to busy with Imus, huh?

The accuser should definetely spend some time behind bars.

farfromglorified

vedderelf wrote:

The accuser should definetely spend some time behind bars.

Two wrongs won't make a right.

Pacomc79

vedderelf wrote:

Oh, my. What I wouldn't give to go back a year and see the threads on this one. I think these young men are owed one gigantic apology. Jesse and Al can start. Oh, they're still to busy with Imus, huh?

The accuser should definetely spend some time behind bars.

I'd rather see them go after that jackass DA who tried to use this case to get elected. She's already pretty SOL as far as life goes.

Michael Nifong should be sweating bullets.

Solat13

I really liked this column:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070412&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Apology to Duke lacrosse players not enough

By Jemele Hill
Page 2

I never wrote it, but I felt it -- which is just as bad. I said it in private discussions with friends, some of whom tried to get me to see the whole picture, not just the picture I wanted to see.

My being a black woman, my knowing too many athletes who treat women like items to be purchased in a vending machine, and my witnessing enough athlete rape trials where accusers are overwhelmed by their fame and fortune -- it all tainted my perception and made me doubt your innocence.

I feel stupid now.

I could blame Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong, but that would be too easy. Oh, he's a lout, no doubt. He played upon the emotions of a community and its long-held hostilities, and put his reelection bid above morality and common sense. He played all of us and should be punished with nothing less than disbarment.

I could blame Jesse Jackson, who I have hoped for years would disappear to a faraway land where CNN won't follow. As usual, Jesse showed up and showed out. He incited the masses and then left everyone else to sort out the wreckage. And if Jesse wants to gain an ounce of the credibility he no longer has, he would find the nearest camera -- and we know he's good at that -- and express sorrow with all the sincerity he can muster. But the day Jesse apologizes for causing a scene is the day Rosie O'Donnell wears a muzzle.

But if there is anything to be learned from Don Imus' fall, it's that real apologies are never accompanied by rationalizations.

So to Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, the three Duke lacrosse players whose lives were mangled by an unsupported rape accusation, I say two of the hardest words in the English language:

I'm sorry.

It's not enough, and I won't pretend that it is. For the last year, your lives and those of your families have been more difficult than any of us can possibly imagine. I'll never know what it was like walking around normal society labeled a rapist. I'll never know what it's like to lose everything -- your school, your program and your life -- because of one unproven accusation.

You deserve all of that back and then some, but unfortunately, you won't get it. You have every right to not trust anyone and think less of people. Duke University abandoned you. An overzealous prosecutor tormented you. A community, a nation, didn't believe you. Journalists everywhere, sensing ratings and salivating over the salaciousness of black strippers and white athletes, chose to keep you under attack.

Not that this is a contest to see who was wronged the most, but the Rutgers women's basketball team at least received justice, because Imus was suspended and dropped by MSNBC, which simulcasts his morning show. Plenty of people are outraged on their behalf.

But who is outraged on your behalf? What justice will you receive? Will the same networks that willingly aided in destroying your reputations now give you airtime to vent your frustrations? Will Jessie Jackson now offer the three of you a free scholarship like he did the "victim," since he helped assist in your battered reputation?

Maybe the only modicum of fairness you have received is that the News & Observer in Raleigh decided to print the name of your accuser. I don't normally advocate that the names of alleged victims be printed, but it feels right in this instance.

I know I'd certainly like to ask your accuser a few questions, even though she stood by her story as North Carolina's attorney general vehemently proclaimed your innocence. Does she understand she has tanked not only her credibility, but that of other women, too? Does she understand the next time a woman comes forward with an allegation this serious, all of our minds will scroll back to this case, and we will be less inclined to believe her? Does she know women with legitimate sexual-assault complaints will look at this furor and decide silence is best?

I can't deny that your race, gender and class have everything to do with how you were treated then and how you are treated now. Some people believe white men are exempt from sympathy and incapable of being maligned, so they will not swallow their pride and offer you the decency you should have received in the first place. Yes, you made an unwise decision to entertain strippers at a residence, but that just makes you guilty of being like 90 percent of college males.

There will be a lot of finger-pointing in the coming days and weeks about whose fault all of this was. The media will analyze each other. Civil-rights leaders who claim to be against all injustice will stay silent. Hopefully, you will be able to regain a fraction of the life you once had.

I'm glad the story of your innocence and the Rutgers situation unfolded the same week. If anyone felt a sense of victory over Imus' rebuke, they should look at what happened to you and know it will be a long time before we can truly celebrate.

Jemele Hill, a Page 2 columnist and writer for ESPN The Magazine, can be reached at jemeleespn@gmail.com.

mammasan

I will admit I was one of the people who rushed to judge these three kids. As time passed and more information surfaced I realized that I was probabably wrong. I'm glad that the truth has finally come forward and that three innocent kids didn't have their lives completely destroyed by a society, myself included, who where quick to judge them.

sponger

I just remember thinking that lacrosse players are usually virgins and that the only reason they would've been in the bathroom was to jerk off after watching her do the striptease.

JD Sal

farfromglorified wrote:

Two wrongs won't make a right.

What is the 'other' wrong?

Taft

mammasan wrote:

I will admit I was one of the people who rushed to judge these three kids. As time passed and more information surfaced I realized that I was probabably wrong. I'm glad that the truth has finally come forward and that three innocent kids didn't have their lives completely destroyed by a society, myself included, who where quick to judge them.

Your damn right you were too quick to judge, and don't forget it, hopefully you learned a lesson. People like you are the problem with this society, and people like you ruined these kids lives, and their family's for over a year. And that isn't hyperbole.

mammasan

Taft wrote:

Your damn right you were too quick to judge, and don't forget it, hopefully you learned a lesson. People like you are the problem with this society, and people like you ruined these kids lives, and their family's for over a year. And that isn't hyperbole.

Thanks for the beautiful words.

Taft

mammasan wrote:

Thanks for the beautiful words.

I had to read your "beautiful" words back in March-April of 2006 about this case, so take it, like you give it. Hopefully you can sitdown and reflect on your actions and not just make some lame post on a message board about it, pretending you actually care about these kids, when your previous words already expressed you did not.

mammasan

Taft wrote:

I had to read your "beautiful" words back in March-April of 2006 about this case, so take it, like you give it. Hopefully you can sitdown and reflect on your actions and not just make some lame post on a message board about it, pretending you actually care about these kids, when your previous words already expressed you did not.

If I didn't feel remorse for my actions back then do really think I would be opening myself for attack like I am now. Usually I wouldn't stand for someone talking to me the way you are, but I am in the wrong, or was in the wrong, so I will take my lumps like a big boy. I'm not usually the type of person to jump to judgement so quickly, I did this time and can't really express or know why I did.

Taft

mammasan wrote:

If I didn't feel remorse for my actions back then do really think I would be opening myself for attack like I am now. Usually I wouldn't stand for someone talking to me the way you are, but I am in the wrong, or was in the wrong, so I will take my lumps like a big boy. I'm not usually the type of person to jump to judgement so quickly, I did this time and can't really express or know why I did.

Fair enough.

Pacomc79

mammasan wrote:

I will admit I was one of the people who rushed to judge these three kids. As time passed and more information surfaced I realized that I was probabably wrong. I'm glad that the truth has finally come forward and that three innocent kids didn't have their lives completely destroyed by a society, myself included, who where quick to judge them.

People make decisions based on the information they have, everyone is wrong sometimes. Luckily they had the resources to defend themselves. I think it says more about you as a person that you appologise than to have misjudged them to begin with. I'm so happy they had the resources to defend their innocence.

blackredyellow

Pacomc79 wrote:

People make decisions based on the information they have, everyone is wrong sometimes. Luckily they had the resources to defend themselves. I think it says more about you as a person that you appologise than to have misjudged them to begin with. I'm so happy they had the resources to defend their innocence.

That's what bothers me the most about this case (and the death penalty in capitol cases). These guys obviously had the money and resources to fight these charges (I've heard $3 million in legal expenses). What happens to the poor person who is charged with a crime by an over zealous prosecutor, who has the budget for "expert" witnesses and can get someone wrongly convicted?