Duke Rape Trial: Just End This Farce

Testifying under oath today the head of the private DNA testing company that tested the DNA samples in the Duke Lacrosse rape trial claimed that he and DA Mike Nifong agreed not to report results that were favorable to the victims…err defendants.

Brian Meehan, director of DNA Security of Burlington, said his lab found DNA from unidentified men in the underwear, pubic hair and rectum of the woman who said she was gang-raped at a lacrosse party in March. Nurses at Duke Hospital collected the samples a few hours after the alleged assault. Meehan said the DNA did not come from Reade Seligmann, David Evans, or Collin Finnerty, who have been charged with rape and sexual assault in the case.

To withold this information strikes me as grossly inappropriate on the part of a District Attorney. This article indicates that DNA from multiple males was found. The DNA matched none of the samples provided by Duke Lacrosse players. This looks really bad for the prosecution, and if they did know it prior to filing charges against Seligmann, Evans and Finnerty is shows that Nifong is extremely dishonest. It also indicates quite strongly that the accuser was lying about her sexual history leading up to the supposed rape.

Meehan struggled to say why he didn’t include the favorable evidence in a report dated May 12, almost a month after Seligmann and Finnerty had been indicted. He cited concerns about the privacy of the lacrosse players, his discussions at several meetings with Nifong, and the fact that he didn’t know whose DNA it was.

The translation is that Meehan new he was being a complete reprobate in not including this information. After all Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans have had their privacy invaded in a way that few could comprehend. So this excuse is simply lame ass covering on the part of Meehan.

Under questioning by Jim Cooney, a defense attorney for Seligmann, Meehan admitted that his report violated his laboratory’s standards by not reporting results of all tests.

Did Nifong and his investigators know the results of all the DNA tests? Cooney asked.

“I believe so,” Meehan said.

“Did they know the test results excluded Reade Seligmann?” Cooney asked.

“I believe so,” Meehan said.

Was the failure to report these results the intentional decision of you and the district attorney? Cooney asked.

“Yes,” Meehan replied.

And Representative Walter Jones has asked the Department of Justice to open a case to investigate whether or not Nifong has violated the civil rights of Seligmann, Evans and Finnerty.

And to increase the bizzare nature of this case, the woman who claimed to have been gang raped is pregnant and about to give birth (some news reports claim she has given birth and tha that the Judge in the rape trial has ordered a paternity test–given the DNA evidence above, that is probably a good thing).

FILED UNDER: Law and the Courts, Race and Politics, , , , , ,
Steve Verdon
About Steve Verdon
Steve has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended graduate school at The George Washington University, leaving school shortly before staring work on his dissertation when his first child was born. He works in the energy industry and prior to that worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Division of Price Index and Number Research. He joined the staff at OTB in November 2004.

Comments

  1. just me says:

    The more holes that get poked in this case the more I think Nifong would lie, cheat or steal to get a conviction.

    I hope when all this is over and the charges are either dropped or those players are aquitted that they sue the pants off Nifong and his accuser. In addition, while I don’t know exactly what a prosecutor has to do in order to be criminally prosecuted for misconduct, my guess is this is pretty close to that line.

  2. Steve Verdon says:

    I don’t know just me, there is some sort of immunity that DAs and cops have when it comes to doing their jobs. Which is a good thing when the DAs and cops are doing an honest stand up job. We, the public, don’t want them bogged down with sensless lawsuits. But the downside is when you get such scurrilous naives as Nifong who will turn a case into a racial issue simply to help his re-election campaign. Truly despicable.

  3. It just shows that a white man can not get justice under a democrat. (This is snark by the way).

    Seriously though, this is looking like a prime case of civil rights abuse. I suspect that Nifong will be getting to meet some old acquaintances at the grey bar hotel.

  4. DL says:

    Where was Bush the night this occurred? I just know he must have had something to do with it.

  5. Vagina Bowl says:

    SO is Mike Nifong going to test DNA from the entire Duke Football team or the NCCU’s Football team to find out who’s the lucky chef who added to the soup.

    I wonder how much sperm one vigina can hold!