| Viewing Single Post From: When Did Nifong Learn About Crystal's Rape Claim? | |
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| sceptical | Jun 14 2009, 10:05 AM |
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(Here is my own comment) sceptical said... John, Your contention that courthouse buzz insured that Nifong would have known about Mangum's charges is logical but not entirely persuasive. In the first few days of the incident there was a lot of confusion about who lived at 610 N. Buchanan, whether they were Duke students, what Duke sports team was involved, etc. In retrospect everything is clear, but at the time there was the law enforcement equivalent of the "fog of battle." Furthermore, B. Jones and John Shelton of the Durham Police, Chris Day of the Duke Police,and others at the scene had concluded that there was no evidence to proceed on Mangum's charges. Jones had planned to close the file. At the Duke ER, Mangum was left to lie on a gurney for hours until the day shift arrived-- no one there took her seriously (seven nurses and physicians) until ultra-feminist Tara Levicy R.N. got involved. Now remember I am just talking about the first two to three days after the party. Once Sgt. Mark Gottlieb became engaged with the case on March 16, the situation changed. But before then, I doubt there was much "buzz" because of the skepticism concerning Mangum's claims by Duke ER staff and by the Durham and Duke Police who responded. There was also the initial confusion as to who held the party and whether they had a connection to Duke, let alone represented a Duke sports team. Your information about the Durham courthouse crowd is important and interesting. But the incestuous connections between police, prosecutors, and attorneys do not prove that Mangum's charges were a topic of conversation early on. The first mention of the case in the press was the brief notice in the N&O on March 18. There is no mention of any connection between the incident and Duke students other than to say it happened near the campus. The N&O's second report on March 19 quotes Gottlieb and say it happened at a party involving both Duke students and non-students. Again the explosive racial connotation and athlete connection were not mentioned. Even the Trinity Park listserv sent out by Gottlieb would not necessarily raise eyebrows: "Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:15 am "The Durham Police District 2 Criminal Investigations Violent Crimes Unit is conducting an investigation concerning a rape of a young woman by three males at 610 N. Buchanan that was reported on 3/14/06 in the early morning hours." In retrospect, the Mangum's charges were a big deal, but just after the incident Mangum's claims were not unlike dozens of other claims of sexual assault the police deal with all the time. So, while your conjectures concerning courthouse buzz and Cy's connection are plausible, I still do not think they PROVE that Nifong knew about the case before March 23 (when he claims he saw the NTIO application) and March 24 (when he talked to Capt. Lamb about taking it over). Teaser: I am working on a post that will show he knew about the case at least by March 22-- stay tuned. sceptical 10:07 AM Edited by sceptical, Jun 14 2009, 04:17 PM.
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| When Did Nifong Learn About Crystal's Rape Claim? · DUKE LACROSSE - Liestoppers | |
9:36 PM Nov 27
