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March 19, 2016

10 Years Ago

Time goes by so fast. For almost sixteen years now I have been working for our local county prosecutor and one of the cases that still pisses me off is one that occurred in a county 600 miles away.

I'm referring to the prosecution of the Duke lacrosse team by Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong.

In March of 2006 three young men were railroaded by a coke whore, a corrupt prosecutor and an entire university faculty. Even though justice was finally served and they were cleared of all charges, the entire incident and it's aftermath still stinks.
The story scratched every social-justice itch, and everyone seemed more than happy to scratch away, despite a lack of evidence. A little more than a year after the alleged assault, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper took the unusual step of declaring the three accused men “innocent,” after a “tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations,” and prosecuting Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred and convicted of contempt.
How badly did this case go? 
Read Fantastic Lies: 10 Appalling Moments From The Duke Lacrosse Case

The legal settlements reached by Duke University, Durham County and the City of Durham are confidential, it cost all involved plenty:
Roy A. Cooper, North Carolina's attorney general, took over the case after Nifong was removed, and after reviewing sealed court files, including records of Magnum's mental health, dismissed charges of rape, kidnapping, and sexual offense. The three men have since settled with Duke for what is rumored to be $20 million each, and Vanity Fair estimates that the entire case, including the legal fees, settlements for the falsely accused players, and other public-relations related issues, cost the university $100 million.
I hope their alumni donations bottomed out.

Three years after the case was thrown out of court, the lying coke whore, Crystal Magnum, was arrested on charges of attempted murder, first-degree arson, assault and battery against her boyfriend, Reginald Daye. A year later she stabbed him to death him and is now serving out her 18 year sentence in the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh.

H/T Lucianne.

4 comments:

Doom said...

At that same time, a case in Georgia (I think) was completely ignored by the press. A young white couple were out. There car broke down in a bad part of town. Both were gang raped by a group of blacks, including some women. He was murdered on the spot, she was taken to a gulog and raped to death, or nearly, then had bleach and other caustic material forced down her throat in an attempt to hide the evidence. Nothing about that was ever reported. So, for me, it wasn't just the one, or the other, but both.

sig94 said...

It was on 6 January 2007, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The victims were Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23, and Channon Christian, 21.

Fredd said...

Our justice system is both the best and at times the worst in the world. It grinds slowly, but usually gets it right.

But virtually anyone can file a claim at any time for any reason, whether any merit exists to the claim or not. And in the fullness of time, they all get heard, the frivolous with the valid.

And, unlike Hillary Clinton, you can indict a ham sandwich in this country.

sig94 said...

Fredd - right, "usually" is the operative descriptor. And then there's always the OJ trial.