Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Our Collective Voice - A Layman's Experience

I served on the Atlanta Crime Commission for twelve years, two years as chairman. One area I specialized in was sex crimes and rape crisis programs. My wife was a double rape victim, kidnapped at gun point from a large shopping mall and forced to drive to our house where the assailants ransacked the house and took turns raping her. We responded by getting a major media company to give us grant which allowed us to produce a video called: "Rape: What happens Next?"

I was not a one interest commissioner. I even went and witnessed an electrocution as part of preparing information seminars on Capital Punishment: "Yea or Nay." Back to rape, as a layman I found the great body of experience in this field tells anyone dealing with rapes that it is a very difficult process to handle - from both sides, the accuser and the defendant. We tracked hundreds of cases in the Metropolitan Atlanta area over a period of ten years and with very few exceptions was any case an open and shut situation.

But here is the one thing that bothers me most about anyone thinking the Durham DA was approaching this case objectively and honestly. All people in the legal community who are professionals learn to take a long hard look at, and a long hard listen to, the accuser before bringing charges. This is standard procedure. Creditability is critical. Professionals listen to the accuser's story, look at her personal background (has she done this before, is she an upstanding member of the community, what are her personal relationships like, is she living a life that would expose her to the possibility of rape more than the average person, a prostitute, a stripper, an exotic dancer, a homeless person, versus a school teacher, a nurse, an office worker and so forth).

Without question a true professional would have taken a hard look at the Duke accuser and said all charges may be true. But the tremendous contrast between her seamy (like it or not) background, the multiple horrific charges she was bringing, and the pool of defendants who may be wise asses, cocky SOBs, rough and tumble jocks but they were not classic cases of men about to commit multiple rapes with other young men present all around, in a short space of time in a tiny space where the acts took place and so forth. This is not to say that they might not have done it, it just simply defies all professionalism for this Durham DA to accuse the pool of Duke athletes of multiple rapes WAY BEFORE he had any shred of evidence other than the word of an accuser with a highly suspect profile.

I don't think the DA is stupid. The explanation is very simple. The DA is a VERY SELFISH MAN. His election meant more to him than the lives of Duke athletes and their families, Duke University's reputation, Durham as a good community, and the American legal system as a fair and just process. And as a footnote, he has also rushed headlong down the road to prosecution possibly pushing the accuser into quicksand that she could not get out of had she wanted to. Now it appears even she has found the truth and is trying desperately to get out. It never should have gotten this far. All it would have taken was a real hard look at the accuser in the beginning and then a real hard look at the defendants as well as the evidence. It would have taken longer to bring charges, if at all. Ah, but then the election would have come and gone with the voters choosing another DA. Not something a SELFISH man would have wanted.
Ralph Doran
A PS, my wife's assailants were eventually caught and convicted, sentenced to long prison terms.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is an important post. With all of the articles I have written on this case, one of the things I find interesting is that I have received numerous emails from former and current police officers, lawyers, and -- yes -- prosecutors. ALL of them have been of one voice in the Duke case: Nifong is lying.

When other prosecutors tell me that they believe Nifong is an out-and-out criminal, then I have to listen. This man ON HIS OWN has managed to ruin the lives of many people, and has done literally millions of dollars of damage to Duke University and to Durham.

My only hope is that Nifong pays for this. Old Testament Law required a false accuser to experience the punishment that was to have befallen on those who were falsely accused. In this case, Nifong should receive 50-60 years in prison, for that was what he sought to do to Reade, Collin, and David. Nifong NEEDS to be in prison for the rest of his life, and I am not joking.

While I have my doubts that he will see even a second inside a jail cell, this does not relieve him of the guilt for the evil he has done.

Anonymous said...

Nifong's selfishness has made life miserable for a lot of people.
In the end I believe he will suffer the most.

Howard said...

Besides the whacky Mike Nigong, the single other factor that stands out in this case is the feminist leanings of almost all of the people involved in support of a rape charge being levied against these boys. It follows that the next question that has to come up is: are we ever to rely on the opinions of a feminist when it comes to getting a "professional" opinon regarding any supposed damage to any woman? From the Duke Women's Studies students and faculty yelling for "justice" like the fish mongers of Paris demanding the guillotine for suspects in the French Revolution to the self styled "experts" in far too many disciplines (an oxymoron when it comes to Women's Studies), those phylogynistic kinds of women have shown a singular lack of ability to see anything except through the pathologically focused eyes of women wreaking revenge against white males. Are faculty women involved in any area of Women’s Studies to be trusted to see anything clearly? Just asking.

Anonymous said...

A powerful and important posting.

AMac said...

In serving on his city's crime commission and, again, in offering this important perspective on the Duke Lacrosse Rape Hoax, Doran has put the values of Citizenship ahead of privacy.

His thoughts on the case should carry great weight.

Thank you for this sacrifice, Doran family.

-----

If the activists on Duke's faculty had taken the time to search out diverse views before their groupthink rush to judgement, the damage to their reputations could have been avoided.

A hard lesson for the Hard Left. And one still unlearned.

SouthernGirl2 said...

6:55

Who are you trying to kid? Oops...only some jokes from liestoppers. heeheehee


Those that say Mike Nifong is lying are all opinions. It's like a nose: everyone has one.

And you have the audacity to write:

"Nifong should receive 50-60 years in prison".

I laugh in your face- such stupidity. Run along now...you've had your 15 minutes..........next.

Anonymous said...

Regarding Ms. Cathy N. Davidson’s 01/05/07 article in the News&Observer, as much as she may want people to believe her justifications for throwing young inexperienced students to a mob of opportunistic political groups that descended onto Duke to catch a piece of the media pie, the simple fact is that she had a choice to stand for justice or to join the mob, and her choice was wrong!

Students 18 and 19 may be legally "adults", but they’re still students. Ms. Davidson and 87 other faculty members representing Duke decided to join the mob while Duke's president showed himself impotent as a leader. Duke's faculty should know better! As a parent, I would never trust a school who so quickly throws their own students to the whims of a ranting mob.

Anonymous said...

I have four boys and my older two have already gotten letters from several colleges. We've talked about Duke and the way the university threw these kids to the wolves.


People talk about the actions of normal boys wanting to see naked women dance, but no one is emphasizing the actions of mature and supposedly educated instructors inflaming mob behavior upon their own students.

Anonymous said...

The Duke88 represented Duke poorly - not as poorly as Mike Nifong represents the DA's office, or Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton represents blacks, but people would naturally think that university faculty is educated and represents knowledge and learning, for them to behave in such an ignorant manner shows poorly on their character and profession.

Anonymous said...

If the Duke88 represents Duke, then God help the idiots who send their kids there.

Anonymous said...

Ralph is wrong about one thing: Nifong IS stupid! Not as stupid as Justice58...but very, very, stupid.

The Dude said...

The point of this story is so true. Regardless of why nifong(and others) submitted this hoax, the following should have been done:

Coroberate and document all reports and story changes from AV on the date of this alleged event.

Take a detailed statement from Ms. roberts as to the events that led to AV getting into her vehicle(obvious after the rape claim?).

Take a follow up from Ms. roberts that same date to support or disprove AV's statement. Doing same could have stopped all the nonsense of entry and reentry into the house, bathroom, etc... Police still haven't asked Robert's anything of evidentiary value.

Requestion the AV immediately after the Roberts interview. The AV would have been caught at that point and probably refused to continue.

Question neighbors and others(taxi drivers come to mind) regarding what they observed. This would probably led to the AV's driver a lot sooner.

Obtain all videos which may be pertinent. Obtain all key card entry times for each dorm student involved.

DPD should have investigated the 911 call from the scene after they realized that was related to the rape accusation. We would have had Ms. Robert's already available to explain that no rape occurred.

Timely submission from all investigating personnel. this would have been nice. I guess "dick of the year" Gottlieb doesn't need to make notes or reports. Since he still doesn't have a clue, why is he even wearing a badge. This will cost Durham big time in liability.

Any timely and reasonably accurate investigation would have shown that no rape was committed within 24 hours. nifong and his staff would never have even been involved.They could have been on the street solving a real crime such as the one your family had to suffer through.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Ignorance in your profession when your have been trained to do a specific function(investigate)is not only wrong---it should be a crime.

Anonymous said...

To expand Howard's question of 8:43, what about ideological fervor in other professionals. DiW has an excellent post outlining the hardcore feminist background of the SANE nurse-trainee. Can anyone immerse themselves in something like AA Studies or Women's Studies and succeed without becoming radicalized themselves? And if they are radicalized, can their professional judgement be trusted when the situation touches on that ideology?

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mr. Doran for your perspective. I greatly admire what you and your wife did after such an horrific experience happened to her.

fong is aided by his wife, Cy, in the selfish pursuit of power. We are told that she did such things as have him change shirts frequently when he was doing numerous media interview so that it would appear as though he was being interviewed on different days.

Being sworn-in was a significant goal that they achieved so that fong could collect pensions from the great state of North Carolina. Calling the Nifongs scary bureaucrats is charitable.

How they can look at their own son and not draw upon some conscious of morals and ethics is mindboggling.

E-mail: said...

Mr. Doran, when you served on the Atlanta Crime Commission, was your tenure before or after your wife's rape? Not that it matters, I'm just curious. Are you an Atlanta native? Were you involved in college campus rapes?

I agree with you regarding the Duke case. The accuser has not only ruined families, she has also diluted legitimate claims of "real" victims.

I grew up in the Atlanta area. Both acquaintance-rape and gang-rape existed even back in the early sixties. I'd like for you to take a look at my blog which describes off-campus rapes committed by a particular fraternity at Georgia Tech.
http://www.georgia-tech-rape-victim2.blogspot.com

Thank you,
Georgia Girl