updated: 10:40 p.m.
Everyday brings new confirming information that the Durham D.A., Mike Nifong, is pulling off a legal horror show. Now we're learning that there were two three(?) police lineups for the accuser, Crystal Gail Mangum.
The lineup done on Tuesday, April 4, 2006, is the one where Ms. Mangum identified her alleged assailants, including Mr. Evans with "90% certainty." She actually picked four persons. That's the lineup where the transcript was released. See - Duke Lacrosse Rape: The Faulty Lineup.
The other lineup, actually the first, was done a week after the March 14th incident and there was no identification of Mr. Evans in that one. The transcript from the March 21st lineup is somehow missing from the "complete" case file given to the defense on May 18th.
What is so scary about this case is the steady stream of confirming information that these ID's made by Ms. Mangum were totally random.
Crystal Gail Mangum was doing an eenie-meanie-miny-moe with the Duke lacrosse players. She was aided by the Durham police department, who threw their own rules and common sense out the window.
The April 4th lineup was done in violation of police department and Department of Justice lineup guidelines that require "fillers" be inserted in all lineups to help establish the credibility of a witness.
The three men Ms. Mangum eventually picked out of the April lineup are very distinctive looking. Mr. Seligmann is very good looking. Mr. Evans has a more rugged look. Mr. Finnerty is tall, 6'-3" and distinct looking. Kim Roberts, the other stripper, remembered Mr. Finnerty too. She described him as the "little skinny one." All three men had easy faces and/or body types to get noticed in a crowd or a stacked lineup.
D.A. Mike Nifong then takes these flimsy ID's by Ms. Mangum and an ambiguous medical exam and flys with them like a bat out of hell to a rubber stamp grand jury. Mr. Nifong doesn't bother to do any due diligence in gathering corroborating evidence. He doesn't want to see or listen to any exculpatory evidence from the defense attorneys. He then quickly indicts and ruins the lives of these three young men.
Every guy who has ever gone to a keg party has to think, "there but for the grace of the almighty goes me" - doing a perp walk and having my mug shot posted on every news website in the world, because of some twisted D.A.
How scary is that? It's criminal, unless Nifong has one hell of a "smoking gun." It's a modern day reality horror story. Fictional evildoers like Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees strike randomly and finish their young victims off quickly.
Mike Nifong has no doubt that he is the good guy. Mike Nifong struck very quickly and it seems very randomly. He now lets his young victims twist slowly in the wind for months as he dedicates himself to ruining their lives.
This random case seems to have been his lucky springboard to getting re-elected in Durham. Random acts of evil are especially scary when the "good guy" is the perpetrator.
"It's always been important for me that the district attorney's office in Durham represent the absolute peak of ability and integrity." [Mike Nifong interview, FoxNews.com, May 3rd]
WRAL.com - Duke Lacrosse Defense Attorneys Want Details Of Second Photo Lineup:
Evans’ defense team says the state has not turned over all the evidence. Specifically, they say there were actually two photo lineups.
During one lineup done three weeks after the alleged assault, the dancer identified Evans with 90 percent certainty, saying the picture of the man was her attacker if he had a mustache.
However, Evans’ attorneys say there was a second photo lineup done just eight days after the woman says she was raped. In that lineup, attorneys say Evans was not chosen at all.
The motions also talk about information from the first officer to see the dancer. The motions say the officer had to use an ammonia capsule to rouse the unconscious woman.
The police report also says the alleged victim first reported that she was groped but not raped, but later changed her story and was taken to the hospital.
other sources:
Photo lineup made public in Duke lacrosse case [newsobserver.com, May 26, 2006]
Rape case lineup facts are sought [newsobserver.com, May 27, 2006]
Lacrosse defense: Stories changed [herald-sun.com, May 26, 2006]
updated - from defense motion:
Thus, eight days after the alleged assault, and two weeks before the April 4 identification procedures in which she selected the Defendant with 90% certainty if he had a mustache, the complainant viewed a picture of the Defendant in this case and did not identify him as one of her alleged assailants.
There are indications in the defense motion that there were two earlier lineups - one on March 16th and another on March 21st. Does that mean the April 4th lineup was their third attempt to pick someone on the team? Included with the motion is a photocopy of the picture of David Evans used for the March 21st lineup. It looks like a very good picture - his individual lacrosse photo.
Request for Discovery and Motion to Comply (pdf file), 21 pages, filed by attorneys for David Evans, May 26, 2006
