Bad News for Duke

[FLALAX]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/ ... 7-22-52-59

[Sonny]

Duke lacrosse Q & A

Q: Will Duke field a men's lacrosse team next year?
A: Hard to say. There is certainly pressure on the school from the community to drop the sport. Duke senior associate athletic director Chris Kennedy told Newsday last week that such a decision will not be made until May. Even if there is no team, Duke has said it will honor the scholarship obligations to current players and high school seniors who signed letters of intent.

Q: What options will be presented to current Duke players who are not implicated in legal charges?
A: There are plenty of college lacrosse coaches figuartively lined up outside the gates of Duke waiting to snatch players as they leave the Durham campus. Duke had one of the deepest, most talented rosters in the nation with players who could help nearly every team in the nation. No current Duke player has expressed a public interest in transfering, and they probably won't until the future of the program is decided next month.

From Long Island's Newsday:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/lacrosse/ ... -headlines

[Sonny]

Why is Jackson pushing his way into Duke situation?
BY STEPHEN A. SMITH
Philadelphia Inquirer

Some people just need to go away. If not forever then at least for a little while.

I'm talking about the kind of people who've had their time. The kind of people whose substance has dwindled. The kind of people who've contaminated their own good deeds with bullying tactics and manipulation - all in the desperate pursuit of nothing but air time.

I'm talking about the one and only Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In Durham, N.C, a 27-year-old black female, a stripper-for-hire, alleges she was attacked on March 13. The alleged incident occurred at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., a home being leased by three members of Duke University's lacrosse team.

After the allegations, 46 players rendered DNA samples. None of the samples connected any of the players to an attack on the woman, who is a student at North Carolina Central University.

The case for District Attorney Mike Nifong reportedly has been augmented by the woman's identification of two of the alleged assailants, while being 90 percent positive about a third.

Eventually, the hope is that the truth will come out.

But what difference will it make, ultimately? Especially with the presence of Jesse Jackson?

But if local ministers and officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are handling matters, and individuals such as the Rev. Al Sharpton have the good sense to offer counsel without becoming directly involved publicly, why is the Rev. Jackson grasping for airtime with everyone from ESPN to CNN?

Why is the Rev. Jackson ingratiating himself into a situation that requires neither his presence nor input? Why publicize that his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago will pay for the accuser to finish her education?

With the Rev. Jackson, we know why.

Opinion Piece from San Jose Mercury news:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 364068.htm

[Gregg Pathiakis]

Surprised none of this has been posted yet.

DURHAM, N.C. - Two Duke University lacrosse players were arrested early Tuesday on charges of raping and kidnapping a stripper hired to dance at an off-campus party, and the district attorney said he hopes to charge a third person soon.

The indictments, unsealed Tuesday, did not indicate what possible evidence or arguments led the grand jury Monday to indict Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, both 20. District Attorney Mike Nifong would not discuss the evidence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060418/ap_ ... e_lacrosse

[SLUDoubleDeuce]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0418061duke1.html

The inditements are up on smokinggun.com. My question is why if they were handed up by the grand jury yesterday, were the motions to seal them signed by the DA on the 12th of April? Anyone shed some light on that?

[OAKS]

Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens sealed a manila envelope containing the indictments shortly after the grand jury finished its business Monday. The judge cited a state law that requires everyone involved in a case, including witnesses, to keep the indictment secret until a suspect is arrested.

http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/429871.html

My guess is that the DA had to sign them to be sealed as routine paperwork just in case they came down.

[Sonny]

April 18, 2006 — When Brian Loftus heard his twin sons were not the two Duke lacrosse players indicted by a grand jury today, his first reaction was relief, the second despair.

"I got word that my two kids weren't two of the kids being indicted. It was like, you know, one of those bittersweet things, a relief," Loftus told ABC's Chris Cuomo in an exclusive interview. "But right now, I'm sick to my stomach. … I'm not an emotional person, but I was crying earlier today because those two kids' lives are ruined, I mean totally ruined. For the next six [months] to nine months, they're going to be scrutinized as criminals and I know these kids. It's the furthest thing from that."

Duke sophomores Collin Finnerty from New York and Reade Seligmann from New Jersey turned themselves in this morning. They are charged with first-degree forcible rape, first-degree sexual offense and kidnapping. Lawyers say they're charged with crimes they didn't commit, and Loftus, who lives in Syosset on New York's Long Island, said his sons had been telling him the same thing ever since a stripper told police she was raped at a party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team more than a month ago.

"Both my sons vehemently, all they ever told me was, 'Dad, nothing happened. Nobody did anything,'" Loftus said. Loftus added that the "Blue Wall of Silence" was a myth, and that all the players were willing to cooperate with authorities.

"These kids were willing to take polygraphs. These kids were willing to take blood tests. They were willing to come down and give statements," Loftus said. "They did everything. They gave their DNA. We thought once we give that, that it was going to be over. … But every night, every day, all we see on the TV is, we're hiding something. Obviously there's nothing to hide."

LINK:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=1853956

[gobblerlax05]

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/medi ... lisher.com and there cold b a third

[SLUDoubleDeuce]

DURHAM, N.C. — Defense lawyers in the Duke lacrosse rape case say they have evidence that may prove at least one, maybe two, of the players arrested Tuesday are innocent.

A source close to the case told FOX News that there are credit card receipts, ATM receipts and/or taxi cab receipts that may establish that one or both of the accused players were not at the off-campus Durham house in which the alleged rape took place at the time of the alleged attack.

Defense lawyers are meeting Tuesday afternoon and may release a statement with more details.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192162,00.html

Things that make you go hmmm....

[semilaxed]

In her statement she said that she was raped by 3 men named Adam Bret and Matt. Collin and Reade don't even rhyme with those names.

I know this when Im stealing beer from a frat's keg on a football game day and they ask me who I know? I usally use a name like adam bret or matt. In any group of guys your going to find one of those names.

Don't you think that if you weren't guilty and someone else on the team was now would be the time to sell that person out? Its hard to say that because he didn't roll on anyone else than hes guilty.

one last thing: The duke paper is reporting that the police sent an email out to the team from one of the players email addresses saying that he was going to go to the cops. I know it's legal for them to do that but doesn't that put any emails sent by the team in question?

[SLUDoubleDeuce]

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - They grew up in privileged surroundings in the suburbs of New York City.

Collin Finnerty of Long Island and Reade Seligmann of New Jersey both come from a world of golf courses and multimillion-dollar homes and were educated at exclusive all-boys Catholic prep schools.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12373301/from/RS.2/

Someone please tell me how the contents of this story has any relevance in this situation, other than to try and stoke the fires that are already raging in the Durham community? But then again, i've come to expect this type of bias from MSNBC.

[Brent Burns]

I know that most of the Duke laxers will take a wait and see approach as to what the future of Duke lacrosse would be like. Is Duke supposed to make a decision next month from what I have read and heard about or did I get that wrong?

The burning question on my mind is Dankowski. I know his dad is the head coach of the Hofstra Pride, so the question is- will Danko jump ship? Will he elect to stay put? Of course, all that depends on what the Duke administration decides. If Danko does jump ship, will he go to Hofstra?

[gibertjs]

This whole thing is being handled inappropriately. Mike Nifong, the D.A., is the biggest jerk in the world. The whole team's rights are being trampled. This is AMERICA. since none of their DNA matches, why don't we line up every lacrosse player in the state. Nobody ever considered she got beat up by her boyfriend and then saw a lawsuit against a bunch of rich college kids.

[Adam G]

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - They grew up in privileged surroundings in the suburbs of New York City.

Collin Finnerty of Long Island and Reade Seligmann of New Jersey both come from a world of golf courses and multimillion-dollar homes and were educated at exclusive all-boys Catholic prep schools.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12373301/from/RS.2/

Someone please tell me how the contents of this story has any relevance in this situation, other than to try and stoke the fires that are already raging in the Durham community? But then again, i've come to expect this type of bias from MSNBC.

This entire article makes me sick. A perfect example of how the media is continuing to depict lacrosse as an eliteist, upper-class sport. What relevance does the median income of Essex Fells, NJ or the tuition of Chaminade HS's collegiate-track program per year have to do with the goings on in Durham last month? The arrest of the two players? Balderdash.

[Matt_Gardiner]

This is one of the most comprehensive article I have read so far. It points out some glaring weaknesses in Nifong's case.

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/5515998