An attorney representing a Duke University lacrosse player accused of rape demanded the district attorney's removal from the case Monday and accused him of using it to help his election prospects.
District Attorney Mike Nifong faces a primary election Tuesday that could decide whether he remains in office. He has denied any political motivation behind his aggressive investigation."They don't want to go up against me," Nifong said when asked outside court Monday about the defense request for his removal.
In one of several motions filed Monday, defense attorney Kirk Osborn, who represents indicted lacrosse player Reade Seligmann, wrote of Nifong: "He created an actual conflict between his professional duty to search for the truth and his personal, vested interest in getting elected."
Osborn also asked the court to throw out the photo identifications made by the accuser…He called the police photo lineup "unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistake and misidentification" because the accuser was only shown photos of lacrosse players. Osborn said Nifong was improperly involved in the lineup and led police to violate their own policies.
In recent days, the defense has been attacking the accuser's credibility.
Osborn's motions referenced a 1996 rape allegation made by the woman, which did not lead to any charges, and a report she made in 1998, in which she accused her then-husband of threatening to kill her. Osborn's motion said she later failed to appear at a court hearing on the complaint, which was dismissed.
"Their way of trying a case in the media is not to call press conferences, but to simply file motions and court papers that contain outrageous or false statements and assume that people will report them as if they were facts," Nifong said.
Osborn also filed motions seeking to reduce Seligmann's bond, now set at $400,000, to no more than $40,000; to obtain access to the accuser's cell phone records; and to order the state to save all DNA samples.
Osborn also asked the court to throw out the photo identifications made by the accuser…He called the police photo lineup "unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistake and misidentification" because the accuser was only shown photos of lacrosse players. Osborn said Nifong was improperly involved in the lineup and led police to violate their own policies.
In recent days, the defense has been attacking the accuser's credibility.
Osborn's motions referenced a 1996 rape allegation made by the woman, which did not lead to any charges, and a report she made in 1998, in which she accused her then-husband of threatening to kill her. Osborn's motion said she later failed to appear at a court hearing on the complaint, which was dismissed.
"Their way of trying a case in the media is not to call press conferences, but to simply file motions and court papers that contain outrageous or false statements and assume that people will report them as if they were facts," Nifong said.
Osborn also filed motions seeking to reduce Seligmann's bond, now set at $400,000, to no more than $40,000; to obtain access to the accuser's cell phone records; and to order the state to save all DNA samples.
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The New Black Panther Party Demonstrates Peacefully near Duke Campus
Malik Shabazz, National Chairman of the New Black Panther Party
1 comment:
Imagine the complete opposite: A white girl is allegedly raped by a group of black athletes and the KKK shows up and suggests guilt without trial for the black defendants.
We would all be sickened and outraged.
I don't really see much difference between that example and the black panthers demonstration.
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