Duke Players Innocent
See Durham-in-Wonderland for a summary of the North Carolina Attorney General's press conference.
The Attorney General was very clear that the players are innocent and that D.A. Mike Nifong was a "rogue prosecutor" who may be guilty of criminal misconduct.
My compliments to Durham-in-Wonderland's KC Johnson, as well as John in Carolina and the other bloggers, reporters, and commentators who worked so hard to understand and explain this case to the public. I believe they played a key role in Nifong currently facing charges from the Bar -- and possibly, in future, the State -- and in exonerating these players.
Justice at last.
Update: John in Carolina raises an interesting point I'd wondered about when listening to the press conference: Where was Nifong's staff during the last year? Why didn't one Assistant D.A. come forward and blow the whistle? Did they place career over justice? Did Nifong act completely alone?
Further Update: The transcript of the Attorney General's statement has been posted at Michelle Malkin's site.
posted by Laura @ 1:06 PM
6 Comments:
I also would like to know where the notorious Group of 88 are with their public apology printed in the newspapers for all to see? Their behavior was hateful and unconscionable. Let's see if they have any flicker of a backbone.
I wonder if the Group of 88 could be sued for slander?
You're absolutely correct about their behavior and the need for a printed apology.
I wonder if any of the players will return to Duke. I don't think I would...
Best wishes, Laura
Your link to the Johnson blog had statements from two of the players and they both indicated that they looked forward to returning to the team and school in the fall.
I assume a lawsuit will follow and these boys will get some money. It would be better if the losers of the suit (Nifong, the 88, the accuser) were ordered to go on a tour of apologies to re-establish the reputation of these boys.
Although the statements talked about returning to college or playing lacrosse, it was a bit murky to me as to whether they meant at Duke...I'll be interested to know one way or the other.
You are 100% correct that Nifong, the Gang of 88, etc., should be out there on a tour to restore the boys' reputations.
One final thought that has rolled around in my mind: putting aside for the moment the travesty of justice in this case, young people in particular could learn a different kind of lesson from this incident, and remember that putting yourself in potentially dicey situations -- like being out in the wee hours and/or being at a party with alcohol and strippers -- generally doesn't lead to anything good and can lead to bad. I'm thinking not only of what happened to these Duke students because they chose to attend the party, but also of USC basketball player Ryan Francis, a nice guy everyone liked who was shot and killed last year while riding in a friend's car in the early morning hours in Louisiana.
Bad things happen unexpectedly, but it may help if you try to avoid questionable situations in the first place.
Laura
There is wisdom in the old saying that "nothing good happens after midnight."
Really good thoughts. I have often thought to myself when I hear of bad things happening to people in early morning hours, "what where they doing out, or there, or whatever at that time?"
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