There's not a lot of lacrosse news right now, but Lewis
Cheek will announce his decision about running Thursday morning at a press
conference at the Durham County Board of Elections. It's hard to imagine
he'd have a press conference there to announce he's not running.
Also, here's President
Brodhead's response to the Friends Of Duke, an accounting of giving
to Duke since the scandal broke, and Cash
Michael's latest.
Michaels, who has made it clear he'd like to hang the three accused players
regardless of any evidence to the contrary, has some more biased and
inflammatory language in his latest article:
- "...the phalanx of high-priced defense attorneys"
- "The Defense attorneys...filed questionable motions whose sole intent
was to bait the press with damaging and scandalous discovery information
about the alleged victim that challenges her veracity about her
allegations." - "[the] Duke defense attorneys have not returned phone calls for
comments from Black newspapers, and have made no attempt to reach out to the
Black Press, fearing, perhaps, a less than favorable reception for their
negative spin campaign against the Black female alleged victim." - "D.A. Nifong left the courtroom saying nothing to reporters, which
has been his practice for months." - Meanwhile, reaction continues to the exclusive report here a month ago of
the alleged victimâs allegation that âalums of Dukeâ attempted,
through her family, to offer her $2 million in hush money early in the case,
if she would just âmake the case go away.â - Her cousin Jakki, who cautioned that she had no firsthand knowledge of the
alleged attempt and was relating what the alleged victim had told her, said
then that her cousin wants her day in court to testify truthfully as to how
she was beaten and sodomized.
Anyone who stands accused of a crime is entitled to the best defense they can
get. If Cash Michaels were on trial, he'd do what anyone else would do -
namely, hire an attorney who could clear him. The cost is irrelevant at
that point, frankly. One of the funnier/pathetic things you see
periodically is when an anti-Semite or white supremacist gets in trouble and
hires a Jewish attorney. No point in taking chances!
In the second item, he doesn't identify the questionable motions, but in
almost any case, the defense will seek to discredit the accusers or witnesses
for the accuser. That's just the way it works, for better or worse.
Michaels is correct here: the defense attorneys cannot expect to gain much
from talking to the Black Press. However, they are not the "Duke
attorneys." They are the attorneys for three accused Duke athletes.
It's an important distinction.
Nifong has held his tongue, true, but partly, it would seem, because the
questions aimed at him are distinctly hostile. And moreover, his behavior
otherwise has supported the impression that he is a man under pressure:
the attempt to ban reporters from the D.A.'s building; the scene where he was
reported to curse and yell at defense attorneys in the hallway, and legitimate
questions about things like the lineup procedure and so forth.
We're sure people would love to ask about other stuff, like the alleged
comments by the alleged victim about taking Flexeril and drinking. But
that'll have to wait for trial.
Michaels has trumpeted the suggestion of attempted bribery, as he does here
too, even while he quotes the AV's cousin as saying that she had "no
firsthand knowledge" of bribery. He doesn't even try to confirm it,
but rather accepts her assertion on face value.
There is almost certainly an argument against the lacrosse three, but
ignoring possible prosecutorial malfeasance and other significa like Reade
Seligmann's rather well-documented alibi tends to undercut one's attempt.