Thread: All charges now dropped against Duke Lacrosse players

Its been a long time coming.
What a travesty of justice.


Attorney General says prosecutors case was over reaching and a rush to judgement and that there was never enough good evidence to bring charges.
He also proposes a new law that will allow a case to be removed under certain circumstances from a prosecutor who is mishandling it.

And the other travestries of justice now need to be righted. Concerning our BP Agents and Deputy Sheriff who are languishing in prisons for doing their jobs.

Well, media attention and public outcry did a lot towards getting those kids out of that mess. Otherwise, they might still be facing trial.

The same applies to the Don Imus situation. I heard on the news tonight that MSNBC will no longer air his show. AND product sponsors are pulling ads.

So lets hope that all the media attention and the public outcry about Ramos, Compean and Hernandez will force their cases to be corrected too. I am making as much noise as I can, as often as I can! Each day that these heros sit in jail is a sin.

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Posted on Wed, Apr. 11, 2007



A look at the key players in the Duke lacrosse case


Associated Press

A look at key figures in the case dropped Wednesday against three Duke University men's lacrosse players whom a stripper accused of raping her at a March 13, 2006, team party:

ROY COOPER

Elected North Carolina Attorney General in 2000 and re-elected in 2004, Cooper took over the case Jan. 13. On Wednesday, he went beyond dismissing the case: he called the players innocent. "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."

MIKE NIFONG

From the earliest days of the investigation, the Durham County district attorney drove the case - calling the players "a bunch of hooligans" and predicting with confidence that DNA would find them guilty. That evidence never materialized, and Nifong is now accused by the state bar of ethics violations, including improperly keeping some DNA test results from the defense.

An appointed prosecutor, he was elected to the job for the first time in November - but will stand trial in June on the ethics charges that could end his career. "This case shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor," Cooper said.

READE SELIGMANN

A lacrosse midfielder, the 21-year-old from Essex Falls, N.J., had perhaps the most solid alibi indicating he could not have participated in the alleged attack. His attorneys produced ATM receipts, cell phone records and other evidence suggesting he was somewhere else at the time.

COLLIN FINNERTY

A former attackman on Duke's nationally ranked lacrosse team, the 20-year-old from Garden City, N.Y., was taken into police custody along with Seligmann in April. Finnerty was convicted in July in an unrelated assault case in Washington, D.C., and sentenced to six months of probation. In the past year, he has been taking classes at Hofstra University in New York and volunteering as an assistant coach at his high school alma mater.

DAVID EVANS

A 24-year-old former co-captain of Duke's lacrosse team, Evans was indicted a month after Seligmann and Finnerty - the day after he graduated from Duke. The accuser in the case had trouble identifying him, telling police she would be 90 percent sure he was among those who assaulted her only if he had a mustache. The defense said Evans has never worn a mustache. Before he surrendered to police, he told reporters, "You have all been told some fantastic lies."

MIKE PRESSLER

Pressler coached Duke's lacrosse team for 16 seasons, winning three Atlantic Coast Conference titles. He resigned in April 2006, soon after it was revealed that in an e-mail sent hours after the party, a member of his team wrote that he wanted to kill and skin strippers. Pressler is coaching at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., and is writing a book about his experience.

THE ACCUSER

A black, 28-year-old single mother who attended North Carolina Central University, she has spoke publicly only once about her allegations. Even though she was savagely criticized by defense attorneys as an unreliable witness, she wanted to move forward with the case. "People have done worse than this, even if you call her a bald-faced liar," said Woody Vann, a Durham attorney who once represented her.

KIM ROBERTS

The second dancer at the lacrosse party, Roberts told police the accuser's allegations of rape and assault were a "crock." Her attorney, Mark Simeon, said she quit dancing after the lacrosse party and is now working a "regular job" and raising her young daughter. "She's trying to maintain some sort of degree of anonymity," Simeon said.






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© 2007 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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