It gets increasingly difficult to follow the twists and turns in the lacrosse
case, but even by those standards, the events of Friday are enough to take one's
breath away.
As a quick summary: we learned that DNA Security chief Brian Meehan and
D.A. Mike Nifong agreed to not report that DNA from several other men was found
in the alleged victim's underwear, vagina, and rectum.
Attorney Jim Cooney asked: âWas the exclusion of material the result of a
specific agreement between you and representatives of the state of North
Carolina?â To which Meehan said "yes," which raises the question of
conspiracy. But the possibility of conspiracy probably beats the
near-certainty of perjury.
Meehan testified that he had not followed the standard procedures DNA
Security requires. He also revealed a pattern of sloppy record keeping.
Perhaps most astoundingly, according to the L.A. Times, he
even contaminated the DNA samples with his own DNA.
The defense also filed a request to move the trial out of Durham. The
specific reasons for the request: a local prejudice against the defendants which
makes a fair trial impossible, and Nifong's own comments about the defendants
and the alleged crimes.
The motion also cites comments and editorials from the Herald-Sun as
prejudicial, and points out, according to KC Johnson, that "...[e]mployees
of the countyâs largest employer have repeatedly, publicly, and viciously
condemned the players. Those employees? Professors of Duke University."
Note: James Armstrong does not share in these attacks on the Duke faculty.
Finally, the judge ordered a paternity test for the alleged victim (AV), who
is expecting, but who has not delivered, as was reported yesterday.
So now you have a case where the alleged victim (AV) has had wildly varying
stories and significant trouble identifying the alleged rapists, where the only
known witness has changed her story so often that she's lost all credibility,
where there is no evidence and exculpatory evidence has been withheld, or where
the District Attorney has failed to even consider it, where lineup
procedures were ignored...there are other problems, but you get the idea.
It's just unbelievable.