Letters to the Editor
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Internet detectives have never solved a crime yet
I remember the Jon Benet Ramsey frenzy. Nobody on the Internet solved that case and nobody on the Internet is going to solve this case either.
All you people who think you can prove anything about this case by reading and writing on the Internet -- you're all caught up in a state of emotional derangement.
We have a justice system in this country.
If you consider yourself a patriotic American, then you should shut the hell up and let the system do its job.
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Some Additional Facts
I just want to address some issues raised in earlier posts, having to do with some of the facts as we know them -- taken from depositions, discovery only recently handed over to the defense, police reports, and interviews with DA Mike Nifong and the various defense attorneys.
(I am not involved in this case, but follow it closely.)
* The alleged victim was an escort, not strictly a "stripper." The earlier poster who was angry that "stripper" had been conflated with "prostitute" might be relieved to know that in fact, the accused _did_ have sex for money in her work with the escort agency.
* The team members who called the escort agency, whoever they were, requested a white woman and an Hispanic woman to dance at their party. This might comfort those previous posters who believe that the members of the team had set out to exploit black women specifically.
* Weeks before the investigation became public, Durham police _did_ interview a number of lacrosse players. In the week before the first set of indictments, defense attorneys for the two men accused offered to meet with Nifong, to show him evidence they'd gathered that could be exculpatory, and to interview the accused themselves. Nifong refused. (Any of you out there who are trial attorneys will realize how extraordinary that is, to refuse the opportunity to talk to the accused.)
* During the first police interview with the second dancer, when asked whether the first woman had been raped, she said that was "bullshit." She also, in the initial interviews, said that the alleged victim had been inebriated on arrival, had stayed just a few minutes in the bathroom, and had ultimately required assistance of some of the lacrosse players to get her in the car. This is in the discovery. She said largely the same thing to defense attorneys when they first interviewed her. Subsequently, the DA arrested her on an old but still outstanding warrant for embezzlement. After that, she changed her story in public and, presumably, for the grand jury. After she appeared before the grand jury, and the day the grand jury returned the first two indictments, she was released on an unsecured bond. She has since contacted a PR agency for help in "spinning" the situation to her advantage.
* The Durham police recently arrested the taxi driver who claimed to be an alibi witness for one of the three accused. This alibi witness, coupled with ATM receipts and credit card receipts, seemed to show that one of the accused had not been at the house during the timeline presented by the state for the rape. The taxi driver said, instead, that he had driven the young man and some friends to a bank and to a late-night food joint at the time the rape was said to have occurred. (This was, by the way, some of the evidence that DA Nifong refused to hear.) The taxi driver was arrested on an old charge of shoplifting, which he had thought was dropped when he told police three years ago that he had received a call to pick up two women at their house and drive them to the mall. When they emerged from the mall bearing large bags, he drove them home. No one has ever accused him of actually shoplifting, or anything more than driving the taxi. When the police arrested him, he reports that the only thing they wanted to talk to him about on the drive down to the police station was the rape case. "Do you have anything you want to tell us?" They asked.
* OPINION ALERT: In my opinion, the preceding two sets of facts describe behavior that bears a strong resemblance to witness intimidation.
* The third man indicted in the case was not the only member of the team whose DNA could possibly have been that which was found on the false fingernails investigators found in the bathroom trash. There was another man, but he had not been picked out of the photo lineup. The fact that two unrelated men out of just a small sample of 40 were identified tells you all you need to know about how exact (or not exact) the DNA identification is.
* The photo lineup conducted with the alleged victim included only photos of the members of the lacrosse team. She was, in fact, told that the photos she was seeing included only lacrosse team members. This is a pretty significant departure from proper police procedure, and in fact may be the reason the identification of the accused men is ultimately thrown out. (It should also be noted that she insisted that one of her attackers had a mustache; none of the accused have ever had mustaches.)
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Somebody call for take-out
"* The team members who called the escort agency, whoever they were, requested a white woman and an Hispanic woman to dance at their party. This might comfort those previous posters who believe that the members of the team had set out to exploit black women specifically." -- defenseattorney
Team Captain: "Hello, is this the Happy Ending Escort Service? It is? Great. Say listen, I need some escorts for take-out. Um humm. Let's see, lemmie ask the guys, hold on a tic."
Team captain to raucus guys yelling in background:
"Hey shut up! I need to know what you guys want for escorts.
Team member 1: "Get pizza instead."
Team member 2: "I'll take one Black escort and one Hispanic."
Team member 3: "Yeah, get me a Hispanic, one Jew, and one fat Canadian."
Team member 4: "Ask them if they have any Diet Sprite."
Team member 5: "Jewish sounds good to me. Ask if she's Kosher. If not, I'll just take a Korean, with a shmear of Kim Chee."
Team member 6: "I'll just do leftovers, I like sloppy seconds."
Team member 8: "Hey, I got an idea. Instead of paying for it, let's get the women's lacrosse team over here. They'll do anything to support the guys."
Team member 9: "Nah, their a bunch of sweat hogs."
Team captain: "OK, OK. Listen up. All they got are two drunk Black chicks."
Chorus of howls from team: "Any ol' port in a storm, captain!" "Yeah man, all cats are gray in the dark, or somethin' like that." "Who cares, as long as they bring the pizza."
Team member 1: "How 'bout if they come smeared in pizza?"
Team Captain: "Guys, guys, let's maintain a little dignity, OK? After all, we're the pride of Duke University!"
Uh huh.