Expert Admits "Big Error" In Duke Case

[Logan13]

Nifong is a piece of shit, and so are all of the people(AR included) who convicted these guys way back in the summer.
Expert Admits "Big Error" In Duke Case
CBS news
01/12/07
CBS) The forensic expert hired by the prosecutor in the Duke rape case says he made a "big error" in judgment by not stating in his report that the only DNA he found on the accuser was from several men who were not on the Duke lacrosse team.

Dr. Brian Meehan speaks with 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl in his first interview about the controversial case this Sunday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Meehan acknowledged that he has never omitted potentially exculpatory evidence before. "We haven't done that before," he tells Stahl. "In retrospect, I should have done a better job of conveying that information."

Meehan has stated that he told the prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, about the other DNA for the first time in mid-April. Later that same month, Nifong indicted three Duke lacrosse players. Meehan has also said in court proceedings that he and Nifong agreed before the evidence tests were completed that his report should be limited to positive matches between the accuser and the players at the team party where she says she was sexually assaulted last March.

Meehan says writing an incomplete report violates his own firm's standards. "It was an error in judgment on my part. … It certainly was a big error," says Meehan. He says his firm wasn't trying to hide the information and that it released it when it was asked. But his client's behavior irks him, he says.

Nifong took six months to tell the players' defense attorneys about the other DNA, as required by law — and during that time, Nifong filed a court motion that stated he was not aware of any potentially exculpatory evidence.

The fact that Nifong withheld the information and knew it before he indicted their sons has outraged the parents of the accused. "You felt like someone hit you with a baseball bat. … It was almost too much to bear, as we sat there," says Kathy Seligmann, whose son, Reade, is among the three indicted players. "And [Nifong is] sitting 10 feet away from us."

It enraged Mary Ellen Finnerty, mother of Collin Finnerty, another indicted player. "I think [I felt] one of the strongest feelings of rage that I've had … I literally had to turn to my husband, because I was shaking from my head to my toe, and say, 'Hold me down,'" recalls Finnerty. Adds Seligmann, "And we had to hold on to each other because when you sit there and put two and two together and realize that it was calculated … set up to make these boys appear to be guilty of something they didn't do."

When asked what they would say to Nifong if he were in the room, Rae Evans, the mother of indicted player David Evans, says, "I would say with a smile on my face, 'Mr. Nifong, you've picked on the wrong families … and you will pay every day for the rest of your life.'"

Last month, after the results of the tests were ordered released by a judge and the accuser told an investigator she was no longer certain she had been penetrated by a male sex organ, rape charges were dropped by Nifong. The three players still face charges of sexual assault and kidnapping.

[Teabagger]

Not any takers on this one Logan. Not surprised though. The vast majority here and everywhere else had those boys tried, convicted and sentenced. This is such a travesty of justice and abuse of power Nifong should be brought up on criminal charges, disbarred, impeached and run out of town on a rail. He was willing to see three innocent people go to prison so he could have a politically corrrect conviction!!

Nifong even makes most attorneys look good...and thats hard to do.

[biglouie250]

i knew they were innocent. it was easy to spot. a stripper who has a past history of lying of rape and 3 abortions.....hmmm. what sucks is that those kids lives are ruined. they missed a yr of school, tons of legal bills, lost a yr of eligibility of lacrosse, and they will always be know as "the duke lacrosse players". they cant sue her cuz she is broke and on welfare. nifong did this because it was a re-election campaign, to show he was tough on crime. and its such bullshit that her name isnt published! in this country u are innocent until proven guilty!! why does she get the free pass for making an accusation!? they should show a big ass picture of her in the newspaper with the caption "lying whore you dont want to hire for parties"