Saturday, June 16, 2007

End In Sight On Duke Lacrosse Case

The ethics trial for Duram, NC District Attorney Mike Nifong is ending the "guilt phase" today. Nifong, in a desperate attempt to influence the "penalty phase", told reporters that regardless of the outcome of the trial, he will be resigning as District Attorney following the trial. He is hoping to avoid loosing his law license.

A brief re-cap of what led to these proceedings: About 2 years ago, an exotic dancer (stripper) said that she was gang-raped by three members of the Duke Lacrosse team during a party at which she and another entertainer (stripper) were performing. Now, the first thing that got me thinking that the players were innocent was when the DA requested DNA samples from all the players, although their attorneys told them they didn't have to give the samples, the whole team marched down to the DA's office and gave them voluntarily (things that make you go hmmmm). There were quite a few other things like when one of the accused had a solid alibi for not even being there (he was caught on an ATM camera at the time the rape took place), the accuser changing her story 5 times, the photo line-up that the suspects were picked out from only contained pictures of guys on the team, the alleged victim had previously accused 3 men of gang raping her, none of the DNA samples taken being a match ... and it goes on and on. Finally, it came out that DA Nifong had exculpatory evidence that he never released. He sat on the fact that the DNA of three other men (none of which were Duke players) was found during the rape kit. Meanwhile, he continued to prosecute the young men in the press and legally. The North Carolina Attorney General stepped in, and cleared the young men, but not before they and their parents were put through two years of hell. Not to mention the Lacrosse team forfeited the season (they were ranked #1 nationally) and the coach lost his job.

Why would a DA do this you might ask ... well, the young men were white and came from affluent families and the young woman was black. The DA was in a tight race to retain his position and he needed the support of the African American Community to get it done. Of course the Rev Al Sharpton and Rev Jesse Jackson came down to put pressure on him as well. So someone that is charged with seeing justice done ... did the opposite. And for that reason, Mike Nifong should loose his law license. It is totally unfair that prosecutors can not be held legally liable for what they do in office (unfortunately it is the law), because he needs to spend some time behind the bars that he tried to put these young men behind.

One last thing ... why the hell was the accuser in this case, Crystal Gail Mangum never charged with making a false report or anything else?

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please remember this. Sharpton and Jackson only go to places where there are a lot of TV camera's and microphones. They only defend the African/American Community to get their racist views broadcast on National TV. And the Main Stream Media takes the bait. These two men who call themselves Reverends should be ignored by everyone in the media.

My opinion
Bruce from Florida

Paul Champagne said...

Hi Bruce ... These guys are the worst thing to happen to the Black Community. They use the politics of race to gain money and power, and they really don't care about the people that they are supposed to represent (sounds like our politicians). The Black community should embrace leaders like Bill Cosby and Roy Innis and his son Nigel. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Anonymous said...

Why do we need the so-called "African American Leaders?" ... do we have Irish Leaders, Italian Leaders, Anglo Leaders, Etc Leaders? Some time ago [many many years ago] those two guys did some good for their "followers" before they were totally discredited, but now their time is up. It is time for the African Americans to find some "leaders" with an ounce of credibility in their souls. Just the un-biased opinion from a political satire type of guy. tlrb

Paul Champagne said...

tlrb ... actually, they did have Irish and Italian leaders back in the day. They were union bosses and they fought to ensure a fair wage and working condition for their people (and anyone else that was doing the same job). That was back when we actually needed unions. The African American community still needs leaders in my opinion. There are still inequalities that have to be addressed ... even if white people like to believe they don't exist. These inequalities may have more to do with economics than race ... but race still plays a part. They need leaders ... just not those two.

B said...

Hi

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for your comment. I love the fact that you can discuss political issues and still not turn up your nose to some tabloid fun- nice!

I will take some time tonight while on my night shift to read through your blog.

have a great week end

Paul Champagne said...

b ... this blog actually started as commentary on the news (front page and page 6). It's about stuff I read that pisses me off ... lately that's been politics. Welcome aboard.

David said...

I am so glad he is getting his butt kicked on this. I am tired of people politically grandstanding and ruining other people's lives just to win an election!

Tapline said...

Hi Paul,,,You know we had a court involved with this whole situation,, why didn't they step in and stop this insanity. There were lawyers getting rich, by all parties, why were'nt they petitioning the court on behalf of their clients. This whole process stunk from the get go. Since when do you convict someone without a trial. These young men were convicted by the MSM from the start and the School and town followed suite....just my thoughts...Now the law suits start and rightfully so......

HAR said...

You gotta love Al. My favorite thing about this guy is how he got everyone to forget the racist BS he spewed about jewish people. Tricky guy. How did he do it?
We also can't forget the Tawana Brawley case. It happened when I was young and I still remember.
What I don't get is how does the media give this bonehead any credibility.
Please don't blame it on the liberal media. The american people are too lazy to shut this guy up.

Paul Champagne said...

david ... and people wonder why so much faith has been lost in the American Justice system. Thanks for stopping by.

tapline ... people are tried and convicted by the media everyday ... it's not right, but if the public didn't demand this kind of journalism ... it wouldn't happen.

har ... the African American community needs real leadership, not these two bozos they have now. Bill Cosby, we need you.

HAR said...

The African American community where I live is not interested in what Bill Cosby has preached in the past.

Paul Champagne said...

har ... are we talking about the gangstas or the law abiding people hiding out in their homes?