Duke Lacrosse Case ESPN Documentary

Parent Cafe
1

Did anyone else see the ESPN documentary about the 2006 Duke Lacrosse Case that made international news? I saw it a few nights ago and I am still shocked by the behavior of the police and Durham, NC DA Mike Nifong (who was later disbarred).

Basically, Nifong made himself out as the champion of the poor and disenfranchised people of Durham and literally presumed the innocence of the rich white spoiled college jocks. That is bad enough. He assumed they were guilty in an effort to curry votes in his next election. But then, to top it off, he literally doctored and lied about evidence to convict them had the thing gone to trial. He LITERALLY knew they weren’t guilty but was going to take the case to trail anyway!

Now, if that doesn’t shock you nothing will. And it wasn’t just Nifong. One of the police detectives in Durham doctored his notes to make sure that the suspects fit the description of the three players the police ended up arresting. This same detective ended up committing suicide a few years later, after the truth came out.

It is absolutely shocking to me that people in positions of authority would do that. These aren’t just regular people either. They are trained as professionals in their respective fields (DA, Detective) and yet that basically means nothing anymore. Couple this will all the police malpractice that we hear about in the news nowadays and it really does make you wonder.

How about the alleged victim?

She made false accusations. She wasn’t charged with anything, once the truth came out, because people realized she had a whole array of problems. They didn’t help her get any social service either they just didn’t charge her for the false allegations. That was nice of them. That is “justice,” I guess. Kind of. So, anyway, she is in jail now for 15-18 years because she ended up killing her BF a few years after all this happened. That is sad. Her whole life is sad, from what I can tell. I am not picking on her just commenting on how one thing leads to another and a lot of what we call social problems start when one isn’t educated and honest and, therefore, gets themselves in a bad position.

If she had had a job and/or career she wouldn’t have been doing what she was doing to make a living and support her child. She is as much a victim as anyone in this case.

And what about Duke’s straight A kind of guy Lacrosse coach at the time? Oh, well, he was forced to resign and I don’t know what happened to him after that. This case also illustrated how really, really bad the mainstream media is. I do NOT want to talk about politics or race unless it is friendly. This post is not about race directly. I am very interested in other people’s opinions about this case or the ESPN documentary about it. It was outstanding TV.

2

I saw this also and was very moved by it.

The statement that resonated with me was at the end by one of the accused. He said that he was one of the lucky ones because they had support and had the means to hire good representation.

3

This was discussed to death here on CC back when it happened. I think the original thread somehow got deleted but it was revived in this one.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/288805-duke-lax-case-discussion-continued-p1.html

4

I am sure it was discussed to death in 2006 and 2007.

But the ESPN doc just came out. Is it okay we discuss that? I hope so. The misconduct is shocking. What everyone thought was true was not true. The willingness of the cops and the DA to frame people regardless of what the evidence showed should be required viewing for everyone even remotely involved in the criminal justice system all the way down to the janitors that sweep the floors.

I just read up in Nifong on Wiki.

He filed for bankrupcy a few years ago. That seems fitting. I am stunned, literally, that he has a law degree from UNC. I didn’t think anyone that stupid could get an advanced degree. Mayeb we should merge this with the grade inflation thread and regardless of grades, you can be smart all day and all night, but it means nothing if you do not have ethics and integrity to with it. That is why it reminds me of grade inflation. Teachers need ethics too. Without ethics, grade inflation happens on a widespread scale.

On top of the idiocy in the PD and the DA’s office, you had the media just completely sensationalizing everything which is still very, very true today.

5

It’s all about the clicks as far as the media is concerned. Getting the story right … who cares?

6

Well, this topic interests me, so I’ll say the two parts of the ESPN Doc that sticks out to are:

  1. The young defense attorney calls around to find out how to impeach or even understand DNA testing and evidence. Someone at another law firm recommends a book on Amazon. They buy it. The young defense atty reads it late into the night. Law school didn't prepare him for that. Day after day the more experienced lawyers are going home and he is still there, in the conference room, head in the book trying to figure it out. They have a hearing and unexpectedly the state's DNA expert is there. The defense lawyers all huddle up. They decide they can't ask for more time. It is now or never. So, under great pressure, the young lawyer who taught himself gets up there and gets the state's DNA expert to admit that his work was exculpatory. Stunning. Bomb shell. After all the things the DA has been saying to the media including the blatant lie that the DNA evidence did implicate the players this is as stunning as it gets in open court. Nifong is in court and it melting like the witch at the end of the Wizard of Oz as it happens. Just extraordinary.
  2. When the Duke La-X captain told the media what they were reporting was a bunch of lies. His entire statement was amazing. He was scared and not used to public speaking so what do you do? You speak from the heart. That was as good as it gets. If I was that young man's dad I would have hugged him heard enough to break his ribs.
7

My brother, who has been involved in lacrosse for 40 years and is involved professionally now, cried watching the show. He knows how much it meant to each kid, each coach.

I’ve read people making comments even here on CC about the Duke lacrosse situation and mistakenly still blame the players. It’s still out there and people still think the players were guilty. Those involved can never be made whole.

8

I tuned in late and only saw part of this but it was well done. Apparently nothing happened to the faculty who made libelous statements about these students.

The documentary also did not say what happened to the coach who lost his job. I would have liked a ‘where are they now’ epilogue as to how the students falsely charged are doing.

9

The Duke lax coach, Mike Pressler, is now the head lax coach at Bryant (and has been for about 9-10 years). He’s a very respected coach - kids who play for him (including one of my relatives) adore the guy. There was a great 60 Minutes interview with him last year.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-duke-lacrosse-coach-on-rape-scandal-60-minutes/

10

Watched this special and was impressed. And this is why I always remain skeptical when some huge story involving accusations against athletes or fraternity members comes blasting forth from the media. Even after Duke lacrosse, many believed the Rolling Stone UVA story without hesitation. Sometimes these horrific stories are true, but sometimes they are complete fabrications.

11

Those boys were innocent and Nifong’s conduct was incomprehensible. However, what gets lost in trying to understand the the maelstrom in Durham that year was is that it was a unfortunate mix of race, class, politics and frankly, the record of bad behavior by the lacrosse team prior to the case. Sure, that doesn’t condone the District Attorney’s bad actions or justify the injustice that the players endured. Educate yourselves folks; the criminal justice system in the U.S. has horrendous flaws and it’s been that way for a long, long time.

12

Hopefully the original thread is gone. People said terrible things about sports and a Lacrosse. I stayed away from it because i had a high school lax player who was thinking about continuing into college and it just got me too, too angry. Worse than even Nifong were the professors and students who harassed and presumed so much that should not have been presumed by seemingly intelligent people. A cautionary tale about jumping to conclusions.

13

I’m having a hard time thinking about any authority system that actually does work efficiently and/or as intended. Maybe I’m an anarchist, I don’t know. Nifong was a gigantic idiot, almost painfully stupid. I LOVED the part were he was squirming in his seat as the young defense lawyer impeached his DNA guy. I think that was the exact moment that Nifong knew his entire career, not just this case, but his entire life’s work was over.

He was literally squirming.

That was the moment when the hunter turned into the hunted because his mind boggling stupidity opened him up to not only being disbarred but to be eventually bankrupt. That is sweet revenge. But I doubt even that makes the Duke players feel whole. The season was cancelled. The Duke AD at the time is the AD at LSU now. That is crazy too. He paid no price at all for assuming the players and coach were in the wrong and pressuring the coach to resign.

I feel sorry for the accuser but not that sorry because she lied. She lied big time. And she got caught lying so I have not much sympathy for her. Then, once she made a false accusation, the media jumped all over it and as the documentary said “like people hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree” people came out of the woodworks to assume the Duke players did it and all the other stuff they wanted to complain about came out.

As #7 said, some Duke faculty got up on their soap box and made statements … libelous, I don’t know … but they should know better, as educated people, than to assume facts beforehand. A lot of it goes back to Nifong though. He knew the accusers statements kept changing, he knew the DNA evidence was exculpatory, he probably knew the lead detective doctored his notes to make the descriptions fit the three arrested and he STILL WENT FORWARD with the case! Unreal!

I wonder how Nifong felt when he was informed he was taken off the case and the legal authorities were going to have hearings to disbar his legal license. I wonder if he wished he had paid attention in school a little more. He had to know it was over then. Did you folks see the part where one of the defense lawyers, using cell phone records, basically proved that the accuser could not have been assaulted by the men arrested at the time she said. Even if the DNA evidence had stood up there was clear evidence that the three arrested were 100% absolutely innocent.

For the cop who took his own life a few years after this event …

I wonder how many other police reports he doctored. I can’t say I am sad the way his life ended. Nifong is still alive but he probably realizes now that one’s actions damned sure have consequences.

14

Nifong had his dilemma - prosecute and get elected, or not prosecute and be out of a job.

Calling him an idiot carries the implication that he did not fully understand the consequences. What he did was illegal and unethical, calculated but not idiotic.

You didn’t grow up in my neighborhood. I am rarely shocked.

15

Sorry #14.

No way on earth you can justify what Nifong did. No way. Yes, he was a world class idiot. He is facing $180 in debt and he has $230K in assets according to Wiki. Further proof that he is an idiot. I don’t care what he was facing or why he did it there is no way on earth any sane, honest respectable soul can defend what he did and no I am not saying you are not those things. No one forced that fool to do all those press conferences discussing the case! You never do that! He was educated and trained in his field! He knew better!

So, even if he did miscalculate, once the evidence started to tell a different story why the hell did he double down and continue on with the case? To get elected? No! You can’t send innocent people to jail to get elected. It makes no sense. Complete total one hundred percent sheer idiocy squared of the highest order.

16

Todd and Magnetron are correct. Nifong is not an idiot. He knew what he was doing. He simply bet that if he lost, not much would happen to him. If you look back at some of the televised statements he made, he was surely grandstanding, pandering to the crowd. Remember, the lax players were not the most popular people on campus or among their neighbors. No one is justifying Nifong’s conduct, however.

17

Even if what Nifong did was done as a calculated gamble he still qualifies as an incomprehensibly dumb idiot in my book. I hope the documentary makes him relive all his past sins and if anyone around him was unaware of the real seedy parts of it, like I was, I hope they see him in a new light. The hell he must live on a daily basis is justice IMHO.

I like police officers. They have a tough job. Then, all the videos of cops doing bad things started to come out. Defending them became much harder. And it isn’t just the cops, some of these cases involve, once again, other people, such as DA’s, being fully complicit in the lying and doctoring of evidence or ignoring clear cut evidence to protect the cops. I used to always say that police officers are well trained and these incidents are the one in a million exceptions.

I don’t believe any of that anymore.

It is far higher than one in a million. The justice system is a joke and it stinks to the core. It is slanted against low income folks. That is where I stand on it now. The Duke case wasn’t that way, but my point is there are lots of Nifong’s out there except most do not get caught.

18

Give it a rest…every sane person condemns the District Attorney’s illegal and unethical conduct.

19

No, they really don’t and why don’t you give it a rest? How many DA’s get disbarred in this country annually? Not many. Do you actually think ordinary citizens even know when a DA or the cops are acting illegally? We kind of have to trust them to do their jobs right. It seems more more they don’t really do that. They pretty much convict whoever they want, for the most part, although, yeah they get some cases right.

But it is time to say it stinks if it does stink. I wouldn’t want my fate on the line in this country. I have the resources to defend myself which basically means I’d get fleeced on my life long earnings and still probably screwed over.

20

I also saw the documentary and thought it was well done. The one thing that I still had a question about was the second exotic dancer - did she testify? What was her story?