| Beaty dismisses claims against Linwood Wilson | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 19 2013, 06:21 PM (480 Views) | |
| Quasimodo | Aug 19 2013, 06:21 PM Post #1 |
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The rest of the article requires a subscription, which I do not have. "in what's left of one of the civil rights lawsuits"...-- but that says it perfectly. Edited by Quasimodo, Aug 19 2013, 06:25 PM.
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| Quasimodo | Aug 19 2013, 06:26 PM Post #2 |
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It's quite evident that nobody in Durham did anything wrong, or knew anything, or saw any wrongdoing, or remembers any wrongdoing; except for Michael Nifong, who managed the whole thing by himself...for sure. (that's their story, and they're sticking to it..) |
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| MikeKell | Aug 19 2013, 06:29 PM Post #3 |
Still a Newbie
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Judge dismisses lacrosse claims against DA’s investigator Aug. 19, 2013 @ 04:35 PM Ray Gronberg DURHAM — A federal trial judge has ruled an investigator employed by former District Attorney Mike Nifong can’t be targeted in what’s left of one of the civil rights lawsuits spawned by the Duke lacrosse case. U.S. District Court Judge James Beaty Jr. on Thursday dismissed claims of obstruction of justice and false public statements 38 former Duke lacrosse players had lodged in 2008 against one-time investigator Linwood Wilson. Beaty based the decision on a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling from last year that dismissed similar claims against Durham police. He noted that lawyers for the 38 players conceded in January the appellate court ruling on its face means “they cannot succeed” in targeting Wilson. The players nonetheless wanted Beaty to hold off on dismissing the claims because two other groups of former players have appealed the 4th Circuit ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Beaty refused, noting that the 38 hadn’t joined the other players in seeking Supreme Court intervention. “This court finds no reason to ignore the 4th Circuit’s mandate and hold this matter in abeyance based only on speculation as to what the Supreme Court may or may not do in another case at some point in the future,” he said. Beaty also directed lawyers for the 38 to file a “status report” by Aug. 29 that explains what they intend to do with the one allegation that remains from what started out as a 32-count lawsuit. It targets the city government and invokes a catch-all provision of the North Carolina constitution that guarantees the state’s residents equal protection under the law. The provision often figures in civil rights lawsuits filed in North Carolina as a fallback if, as the 4th Circuit did in this case, the courts reject claims anchored in federal law. The 38 players were caught up in the lacrosse case in March 2006 after stripper Crystal Mangum falsely claimed she’d been raped at a party thrown by Duke’s 2005-06 men’s lacrosse team. They were investigated by police but, unlike three of their teammates, never charged. The three who were charged with rape but later exonerated, David Evans, Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, have asked the Supreme Court to reinstate their federal claims against the city. The 4th Circuit allowed them to pursue only a common-law malicious-prosecution claim against two detectives. One other group of three players, represented by Durham lawyer Bob Ekstrand, has also sought Supreme Court intervention. Like the group of 38, the 4th Circuit allowed them only to continue the catch-all equal-protection claim against the city. Ekstrand’s clients are also pursuing legal action against Duke University. The 38-man group had also sued Duke but settled with it in February; Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann settled with Duke in 2007 before filing their lawsuit against the city. Wilson’s role in the 2006 prosecution was to check warrants and question witnesses for Nifong, on his own and not necessarily with police. His most notable act, late in 2006, was an interview with Mangum that saw the accuser change substantially her account of the ill-fated party. Rather than hiring a lawyer, Wilson has represented himself in the subsequent litigation over the case. He is not out of the woods, despite Friday’s ruling, as he remains a defendant in both of the other lawsuits. |
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| Quasimodo | Aug 19 2013, 06:38 PM Post #4 |
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[Thanks to Mr. Kell for the full text.] So the whole case comes down to just two detectives working a malicious prosecution? And the courts can't find grounds for anyone else at all to be defendants? How this should fill all of us with confidence that the justice system really works...  Edited by Quasimodo, Aug 19 2013, 06:44 PM.
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| Quasimodo | Aug 19 2013, 06:43 PM Post #5 |
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I await with baited breath to see how Beaty will manage to dismiss this claim also. (sarc/off) If I recall, Beaty has a very limited view as to what "equal protection" means in civil rights lawsuits. (MOO) Edited by Quasimodo, Aug 19 2013, 06:52 PM.
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| Bill Anderson | Aug 19 2013, 08:58 PM Post #6 |
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So, Linwood Wilson strong-arms witnesses, forces them to sign affidavits that everyone knew were false, and then he makes false statement about his December "interview" with Dearest Crystal. Beaty essentially is declaring that such conduct is legal.
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| sceptical | Aug 19 2013, 09:07 PM Post #7 |
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Hat tip to Ray Gronberg, the only journalist who seems to be following the denouement of the lacrosse civil cases. Judge Beaty's ruling is expected; while I originally thought he understood the essence of the lacrosse frame-up, his actions suggest he is more interested in wrapping everything up before discovery is allowed to be completed, let alone a trial. Unless the Supreme Court takes up the cases (unlikely), the civil suits are on life support. (P.S. The unindicted players in the Carrington case settled with Duke after the Fourth Circuit's hideous ruling. Has anyone heard if they got anything from Duke besides their lawyers' fees?) |
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| Jack Wade | Aug 20 2013, 10:07 AM Post #8 |
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It's less Beaty than the folks at Cooper & Kirk who are trying to wrap up Carrington. Was a bit surprising they didn't file a cert petition with the Supreme Court, but my sense is that once they figured out how the wind in Richmond was blowing, they had little enthusiasm for continuing. We'll see what they say in the 8/29 status report. Ekstrand and the RCD team are a different story. RCD very much still have a case post-4th Circuit, albeit only against Gottlieb and Himan. Ekstrand meanwhile has every incentive to mount a last-ditch fight even though the McFadyen case truly is on life support. |
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| Sydney Carton | Aug 20 2013, 02:21 PM Post #9 |
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Bill Anderson writes: So, Linwood Wilson strong-arms witnesses, forces them to sign affidavits that everyone knew were false, and then he makes false statement about his December "interview" with Dearest Crystal. Beaty essentially is declaring that such conduct is legal. Yes,Bill,the December interview was particularly flagrant.I had jokingly suggested over at Talk Left when the case had just started to shape up(and may be here on the old sabotaged threads)that the only chance Nifong had to make the case stick was to move the timeline of the "rape" back to eleven-thirty when Crystal first entered the premises.Then she could claim those timed photographs of her and Kim rolling around on the floor were actually the final photographs of the rape. Incredibly that is exactly what Linwood wrote(undoubtedly on Nifong's instructions) in the December interview,where the rape is set at eleven-thirty,immediately on Crystal's entrance in the house.And Brian,the driver, accordingly switches his evidence to corroborate this. The dummies forgot that Crystal-or Brian- is tabbed as being on their cell phone with Daddy Travis for seven or eight minutes around eleven-thirty.So Travis who(according to his testimony) "directed them to the very door" was listening in on the rape! Interesting neither Nifong nor any of his minions bothered to take a statement throughout the entire investigation.But Judge Beaty and the Fourth hold such conduct as fully protected. Ah well,there's hope.Legend has it that the man who invented the first guillotine died under its blade |
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