What will it take for District Attorney Mike Nifong to admit he got it wrong?

Friday, January 12th, 2007
UPDATE: State Attorney General Takes Duke Case

Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office office agreed Saturday to take over the sexual assault case against three white Duke University lacrosse players at the request of the embattled district attorney.

“I wish I could tell you this case would be resolved quickly,”. “Since we have not been involved in the investigation and prosecution, all of the information will be new to our office. Any case with such serious criminal charges will require careful review.” Cooper said at a news conference Saturday.

Cooper said Jim Coman, a former director of the State Bureau of Investigation and head of the attorney general’s Special Prosecution Section, and Mary D. Winstead, a prosecutor in that division, would now oversee the case.

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Duke Accuser Says One Player Didn’t Assault Her
Judge Orders Paternity Test for Woman’s Child

When this story first broke I was outraged by what was described as racist, violent, dehumanizing behavior carried out by a group of white rich kids, against two woman who grew up without equivalent privilege and opportunities. So when the district attorney Nifong announced his promise to “Bring the guilty parties to justice”, I applauded his dedication and echoed his sentiment. It was so easy to believe, but in the days that followed and more information came to light, doubt began to creep in.
The accusers story was shown to be inconsistent with that of eyewitnesses, the other dancer hired for the party, and most important, inconsistent with earlier versions of her own story. It was clear that her description of events was in a state of flux. The time line changed, the number of attackers changed, the descriptions changed, even whether or not she was penetrated changed.
At the same time the defense was steadily both chipping away at the woman’s credibility while confirming difficult to dismiss evidence helpful in proving that these three men could not have done that of which they stood accused. One of the three, Reade Seligmann. was able to show records and photos taken from an ATM machine, a credit card slip, cell phone calls as well as a coded entry into his dorm room all time stamped and all inconsistent with guilt. But in a shocking display, the district Attorney, refused to meet and look at the evidence.
It also came to light that the accused was only show line up pictures taken out of the Duke Lacrosse book, and that her person and underwear confirmed that she had engaged in sex, but the DNA was from men other than the Duke athletes To quote from Alice in Wonderland Things just keep getting “Curiouser and curiouser,”
The accuser in the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case told prosecutors in December that one of the three players charged did not commit any sex act on her during the alleged attack, according to papers filed Thursday by the defense.
The attacker identified as Reade Seligmann was repeatedly urged to take part in the alleged attack, she told an investigator, but he said he could not because he was getting married, the papers said. “The accuser’s most recent recollection of events demonstrates clearly that she cannot accurately recall and describe her attackers and that any identification made by her is necessarily unreliable,” the defense filing said.
A defense spokesman said The new description of Seligmann’s role in the alleged assault in March was one of several changes the accuser made in her story during a Dec. 21 interview with an investigator from District Attorney Mike Nifong’s office.
During that same interview, the accuser also said she was no longer certain she had been penetrated vaginally by a penis, a necessary element of rape charges in North Carolina. It was that statement that forced Nifong to dismiss rape charges against Seligmann and fellow defendants Dave Evans and Collin Finnerty.
Thursday’s motion added to a previous defense attack on the photo lineup in which the accuser identified the three players. The defense plans to argue at a Feb. 5 hearing that the lineup should be tossed out. Experts have said there appears to be little evidence outside of the accuser’s testimony to support the charges, and without the photo lineup, they argue Nifong would probably have to drop the case.
Which leads to the question, why has this case not been dropped months ago/
It seems that Mr.Nifong, thought he had an issue he could use to play for the votes he needed in his reelection bid. The plan worked but clearly the time to pay the piper has arrived.

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