Tuesday, January 01, 2008

2007 - The Year the Hoax Died

The year 2007 was fatal for the Hoax, but offered a second chance for Justice. It began with a final delusional fable from the false accuser, which only Mike Nifong claimed to believe. As the end drew near, the Hoaxters tried without success to do the imposssible - to explain the obvious incongruities that existed from the start.

Durham PD's Deputy Chief Hodge, trying to prop up the talking point that the PD did a good investigation, reaffirmed they had a strong case. Despite the attempted whitewash report by Chief Chalmers & City Manager Baker, nobody was buying any excuses. Later in the year, Hodge, while a finalist for the new Police Chief still refused to admit the truth:

"During last night's public interviews of finalists to be Durham's new police chief, deputy chief Ronald H. Hodge drew laughter when he said he couldn't think of any major mistakes made by the police department in the past five years.”

SANE Nurse Tara Levicy, when confronted by the lack of DNA evidence, said this,

“I wasn’t surprised when I heard no DNA was found because rape is not about passion or ejaculation but about power.”

DA Nifong had been forced to turn over the case to NC AG Cooper and answer serious complaints from the State Bar. His responses to the complaint were quickly dissected by the Blog Hooligans and it was clear the NC State Bar had figured out the malicious actions of Nifong. We awaited the time that he would face a disciplinary hearing and possible disbarment.

Meanwhile the NC Office of the Special Prosecutors was at work and we waited impatiently for three months for their response. At last, our hope for vindication came true. On April 11 North Attorney General Roy Cooper said the words we were waiting so long to hear:

“The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges. Today we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans.

The result is that these cases are over, and no more criminal proceedings will occur.

We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations. Based on the significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges.”


Innocence had finally been formally acknowledged!

While the supporters of Reade, Collin, and Dave were rejoicing, those that supported the blatantly false accusation were left trying to explain away this false prosecution. Many expected there would be immediate demands to know why and how this outrageous false prosecution was started and/or sustained by the City of Durham and by Duke’s current Administration. But instead, the most common response was to affix total blame on just the rogue prosecutor and repeat the phrase: “Time to move on!”

Indeed the State Bar was “moving on” and ahead with Nifong’s hearing. State Bar attorneys Katherine Jean and Douglas Brocker had been investigating the actions of Nifong and of the Durham Police in detail for months.

They were ready.

We witnessed the unveiling of the “Mr. Obfuscation” road show as Dr. Meehan took his act on the road to Raleigh. He was greeted by derision in his rambling non-answers to this central question: why did he withhold exculpatory evidence from his lab report? Dr. Meehan embarrassed himself and his profession with his bizarre explaination that “non-probative” really didn’t mean “non-probative.” He asserted that any person reading his May report should have understood the all-important exculpatory evidence was….well, just there at his lab waiting for DA Nifong to ask for a full report! Dr Meehan’s feeble excuses were met with disdain… especially by Chair Lane Williamson, who dubbed Meehan most appropriately as “Mr. Obfuscation.”

We watched the emotional heart-wrenching testimony as Reade Seligman told of that horrible day when he had to tell his mom, “She picked me.” David Evans’s Dad detailed how this false prosecution had caused great damage to his family, both emotionally & physically. Collin’s Mom. Mary Ellen, articulated the horror this way:

"Nobody can give any of the three families back the 14 months that we have gone through"--emotional and physical pain. "Frightening beyond words."

As the evidence mounted, Nifong looked nervous and pale. As his case and reputation crumbled before him, he stated would resign as DA. Chair Lane Williamson, speaking for the panel that disbarred him, said this.

“When I think back to those early days in the spring of last year and we think of how public opinion was so overwhelmingly against these defendants and you think of the public aggravation that they suffered and then you look at how the truth came out slowly in small increments and look at the situation now as to what public opinion is there is a 180-degree turn. And those who made a rush to judgment based upon an unquestioning faith in what a prosecutor had told them were made to look foolish and many still do look foolish.”

After the hearing, Nifong would attempt to retain his office as long as he felt he could. But he was dogged by our own courageous LieStopper’s member, Beth Brewer. For over a year, since she started the Recall Nifong movement, she had fearlessly stood up to him and his corrupt prosecution! She was adamant that he be removed from his office. In February, she filed a §7A-66 affidavit accusing him of committing "willful misconduct in office." Judge Hudson delayed Nifong’s reckoning by postponing the action that was demanded in the affidavit until after the State Bar completed their work. With Nifong now disbarred, Beth and her attorney, Betty Lawrence - another of our original Liestopper colleagues, requested Judge Hudson act on the affidavit at once. Finally, after further shenanigans and a sham pretense that disgraced, homebound Nifong was “out of state”, justice finally triumphed! The once arrogant, “confidant” Nifong was forced to leave the stage, disbarred & disgraced, clutching his monthly $5,400 “pieces of silver. ” Nifong was revealed as a man so base he would trade his integrity, reputation, and the futures of three young men for a slight increase in public pension.

Nifong was fully exposed.

Durham was free at last from its own “Gollum.”

In June, Duke University would settle with Reade, Collin, and Dave for a reported multi million dollar confidential settlement. Duke apparently had realized their actions were egregious and the families had valid claims. We would later learn that ,within the week of NC AG Copper’s declaration of Innocence, Sane Nurse Tara Levicy would sell her house and quickly move out of state to New Hampshire.

In September Judge Smith heard the criminal contempt of court hearing charging Nifong with intentionally lying in court. He sentenced him to one day in jail as Judge Ronald Stephens wept as he declared his friend Nifong, the rogue prosecutor to be “A-OK.”

We watched the irony on Sept 7th as Elmo, the honest cab driver-witness that Nifong had tried to intimidate, watch the corrupt former prosecutor take that slow walk to jail..

Again we presumed that concerned authorities would have quickly moved to start a criminal investigation of this prosecution, especially after seeing and hearing the overwhelming amount of evidence in this case. Despite the many depositions and testimony of witnesses before the State Bar, in the investigation of the Special Prosecutors, and in the criminal contempt of court hearing, nothing happened. NOTHING HAPPENED. NC Roy Cooper claimed he need the support of the US Attorney Anna Wagoner who wanted nothing to do with this case.

Later in the fall, Professor KC Johnson and Stuart Taylor Jr would release their book, “Until Proven Innocent” to rave reviews like the following:

“Brutally honest, unflinching, exhaustively researched, and compulsively readable, Until Proven Innocent excoriates those who led the stampede—the prosecutor, the cops, the media—but it also exposes the cowardice of Duke’s administration and faculty. Until Proven Innocent smothers any lingering doubts that in this country the presumption of innocence is dead, dead, dead.”
--John Grisham


On the Duke Campus, the professorial group known as the “88” still refused to apologize for their actions, including the infamous “listening ad.” They rigidly maintained this position despite the knowledge that the NC AG’s declaration that no crime existed. Instead Duke elected Prof McClain, one of the “88” as Chair of Duke’s Academic Council. They continue to this day justifying their actions were misunderstood.

Clearly they lack the moral courage to confess their error and/or agenda and we were all left questioning this mindset wondering what other actions did they have in this rush for judgment against the entire Lacrosse Team?

In the end, it would be up to the Lacrosse Team of 2006 and their families to attempt to bring Justice to Durham. Attorneys for Reade, Collin, and Dave filed a devastating Civil Rights Lawsuit in Federal Court against 14 defendants’, including Nifong, the City of Durham, members of the DA staff and PD department along with DNASI and Dr. Meehan. No more would the corruption of the DAs Office and Police Department hide behind the protection of friendly Durham Judges as it once had. Nifong’s false prosecution, aided and abetted by so many, was now in the federal courts and guided by exceptional law firms who specialize in ligation.

Another law suit followed two months later with the filing of another shocking complaint against Durham & Duke University by three unindicted Lacrosse players. This complaint made it clear why Duke had settled with Reade, Collin, and Dave. It detailed among many things: a SANE exam which was known to be seriously flawed; supervisors who covered for it; a Duke Administration which lied about its jurisdiction, and enabled an officer (Gottlieb) with a record of bias against Duke students to assume control of the case. The case against Nifong and the Durham PD was made clearer.

2007 was the year the Hoax finally died.

What will 2008 bring us?

Rumors of another Lawsuit against Duke & Durham are posted in the press. We at LiesStoppers believe 2008 will be the Year that the Frame will be uncovered.

We wish the 2006 Lacrosse Team & their families the very best. They have our continued effort and support for as long as FULL justice eludes them.

Durham & Duke indeed “ picked on the wrong families” as Rae Evans had declared!

Those families have legions of devoted, capable, determined friends.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let the chips fall where they may.

Anonymous said...

Good recap.

Sadly I find myself growing disillusioned and discouraged that the guilty will pay for their actions in this frameup. I hope I am wrong.

Anonymous said...

bullshit the hoax continues and the only change is 3 men are now heroes because they paid for strippers they didn't rape, wow, what a year

Anonymous said...

Great Post! Sadly some people I don't think we'll ever get it.

Anonymous said...

10:46, why do you even bother to post here? The boys are heroes because they took a bullet that's been aimed at the public, and have confronted a corrupt system with courage and resolution.

If the same thing had happened to you there would be a small shit stain marking the spot you used to occupy, and no more.

Anonymous said...

The 10:46 types are so angry and their thinking so warped they can not understand simple concepts.

That 'virtue is its own reward' is just beyond their (very limited) understanding.

Anonymous said...

2007 is not the year the Hoax died. It is the year that a civil suit will finally reveal the facts that the Federal Prosecutors are somehow reluctant to persue.

The civil case will bring to light facts that will demand indictments of many of the main actors in the Hoax The Hoax is alive and well, it will die when the last scumbag is prosecuted.

I just wonder who will be the first to make a deal.

Anonymous said...

I hope the first scumbag-- Crystal Mangum-- is prosecuted.

Anonymous said...

They took a bullet for the public, you have got to be joking! How you can compare 3 well to do wite men who PAID to have whores, for whatever the reason heroes? Took on the system? They either had to, or face jail like alot of others, only they were LUCKY. They paid almost a thousand dollars, and cost the city millions. Heroes, I call them lucky bastards. Why not just give them and Elmo the Nobel Peace Prize? What fools these mortals be!

Anonymous said...

To 1:32AM

You must be a communist.

Anonymous said...

Success in life is not about being white and being lucky. It is the result of perseverence and personal responsibility. A bit of luck adds to what is already there.

Anonymous said...

Bullshit, tell that to countess black men who are innocent and can't get out of jail, or get a job. I'm not a communist, just a pissed off democrat

Anonymous said...

"I'm not a communist, just a pissed off democrat" (2:36 PM)

Same difference.

Anonymous said...

Note: From now on I am referring to 1:32 AM, and those who write similarly, as POSAP -- which stands for Polanski, Or Stupid As Polanski. I feel that sums it up perfectly; once you are portraying a certain level of stupidity, it does not matter much whether you are sincere in your stupidity or not.

"They took a bullet for the public, you have got to be joking! How you can compare 3 well to do wite men who PAID to have whores,"

Bzzzt, failed already. They paid for the quite legal services of strippers, something that other white men, and other BLACK men (just ask Mark Anthony Neal) and not a few WOMEN, do quite regularly without ANYONE suggesting that that action in ANY WAY justifies persecuting them with false allegations. And yes, POSAP, pretending that they are somehow less admirable for standing up to a persecution enabled by a corrupt system because there were strippers IS trying to justify the persecution.

"for whatever the reason heroes? Took on the system? They either had to, or face jail like alot of others, only they were LUCKY. They paid almost a thousand dollars, and cost the city millions."

POSAP, the CITY is who cost the city millions.

Anonymous said...

If it was 3 black men and a white girl, you would be the first bunch to call for a lynch mob. You don't even live here, so don't preach to me about who paid what. These bastards paid to have 2 whores strip for them, not exactly what I would call outstanding citizens. You want to praise somebody? Go to any poor neighborhood, look at the children without fathers at home that attend school faithfully, and WANT an education they can only dream of. These punks have family, money, and connections. Too bad this wasn't Taiwan, the least they deserve is a good lashing to leave a reminder of right and wrong. Just because they did not have sex with those 2 nasty women, does not mean they wouldn't have if they were pretty and white. 800 dollars for 2 women and several hours of nudeness, one would expect something to happen. Nifong may have used them for his own political motivations, but had these punks just stayed in and obeyed the laws, we all would be spared this entire joke of a hoax. What sort of message are you sending to them? Oh, we are on your side because you did not force yourself upon an admitted prostitute? Meanwhile several years later, millions of dollars and plenty more shady deals have been dealt, and the citizens are the ones who have paid. Who is A Okay? Climb off your soap boxes, smell the bullshit, and take a step back. Reflection leaves an exact imprint of reality, all you all have managed to do is poke a stick into it and further muddy the waters. The pathetic letter of thanks is about as fake as the hookers press on nails. They even know that they are LUCKY to have been white and wealthy or they would be in jail right now. How many others are that nobody gives a damn about? What about Gell, drugs, prostitution, murders for hire, and all this done by cops? Durham is the south's sewer and nobody cares to take on REAL cases.
Lucky, you bet your lily white ass they are.

Anonymous said...

To 12:59AM

You must be another black communist.

Anonymous said...

What does it matter if I am purple? The truth is colorblind, people are not

Anonymous said...

To 1:39PM, 12:59AM, 1:32AM

Exactly, that's why everything has unfolded the way it has (the truth is colorblind). You brought color into it when you said, "lily white ass." Do you even bother to listen to what you write. What a joke you are.

Anonymous said...

"If it was 3 black men and a white girl, you would be the first bunch to call for a lynch mob."

As a matter of fact, POSAP, there was an incident which occurred on the Duke campus, in a black fraternity house, where several black males were accused of raping a white female. Unlike the search of 610 North Buchanan, where nothing illegal was discovered, the search of the fraternity house unearthed several kinds of street drugs.

Now, POSAP, if you are right, you will be able to give us a URL to the place on this board where you will find us call[ing] for a lynch mob. Go ahead. You announced it as a fact; now show us the evidence.

"You don't even live here, so don't preach to me about who paid what."

The study of ethics stretches back at least about 2400 years. I invite you to present even one major philosopher who takes seriously the idea that an ethical principle can only be judged by those who live in a particular geographical area.

"These bastards paid to have 2 whores strip for them, not exactly what I would call outstanding citizens."

Why should anyone care who you do, or don't, call outstanding citizens? The judgment of an anonymous busybody means very little to begin with. You, POSAP, make it mean even less, by showing that you have no sense of proportion. In this case, we saw police officers blatantly falsifying evidence to pervert the course of justice. We saw the district attorney tampering with witnesses and entering into criminal conspiracies to suppress evidence to pervert the course of justice. We saw the professors of a major university, supposedly committed to the welfare of their students and to the pursuit of truth, instead falling over themselves in a blind rush to condemn their own students. We saw the national news media, supposedly committed to bringing the nation the truth, instead throwing truth to the four winds in order to fit a political mold.

If you actually think that, rather than any of those actions, what right-thinking people should be enraged at is that someone engaged in the fully legal practice of hiring strippers, you do not convince anyone to follow your judgement; you only mark yourself as having no good judgment whatsoever.

"You want to praise somebody? Go to any poor neighborhood, look at the children without fathers at home that attend school faithfully, and WANT an education they can only dream of."

Is praise like diamonds, that there is only so much to go around? Is there such a shortage of praise that to praise these children, we must spitefully withhold praise elsewhere?

Or is the shortage only in your own heart?

"These punks have family, money, and connections."

A fact which has very little relevance, but which the spiteful and small-minded never tire of harping on. They were innocent from the beginning. Only a sick, sad individual would resent the fact that their innocence was proven to all.

"Too bad this wasn't Taiwan, the least they deserve is a good lashing to leave a reminder of right and wrong."

I've yet to hear any coherent argument about why hiring strippers should be considered "wrong" -- much less why it should be considered a more significant wrong than attempting to subvert the course of justice under the color of authority.

"Just because they did not have sex with those 2 nasty women, does not mean they wouldn't have if they were pretty and white."

And neither does it mean they would have. This is the real world, POSAP, and your speculations about some other world and what might have happened in that other world are neither significant nor edifying.

"800 dollars for 2 women and several hours of nudeness, one would expect something to happen."

I really have no idea what your own experience with strippers may be, POSAP, and what it's led you to expect, but all that we can verify is what did happen. What you expect would have happened in some other world is, again, quite irrelevant.

"Nifong may have used them for his own political motivations, but had these punks just stayed in and obeyed the laws, we all would be spared this entire joke of a hoax."

If Kitty Genovese had never crossed the path of a killer, we would have been "spared" the news of her brutal slaying. No one with a functioning mind and conscience blames Kitty Genovese, the victim, more than the actual perpetrator. Neither does anyone with a functioning mind and conscience blame the Duke Lacrosse Hoax on those people who the hoax was intended to victimize.

"What sort of message are you sending to them? Oh, we are on your side because you did not force yourself upon an admitted prostitute?"

Strangely enough, some of us are in fact of the opinion that if you have not broken the law, the law should be on your side, and should definitely not be trying to frame you. What sort of message would you prefer to send to them? That the citizens of a free country like the United States should quiver in fear from their own police, should they engage in legal activities which prudish-minded citizens may nevertheless dislike? Is that your idea, POSAP, that law enforcement should not enforce the law, but rather enforce your own prudish ideas on what is morally "right and wrong"? Who are you, POSAP, that makes your moral standards worth more than the law of the land?

"Meanwhile several years later, millions of dollars and plenty more shady deals have been dealt, and the citizens are the ones who have paid. Who is A Okay? Climb off your soap boxes, smell the bullshit, and take a step back. Reflection leaves an exact imprint of reality, all you all have managed to do is poke a stick into it and further muddy the waters."

I really have no idea if you're trying to say anything here; if you tried, it seems you've failed.

"The pathetic letter of thanks is about as fake as the hookers press on nails. They even know that they are LUCKY to have been white and wealthy or they would be in jail right now. How many others are that nobody gives a damn about? What about Gell, drugs, prostitution, murders for hire, and all this done by cops?"

This confirms that this is Polanski. It would be possible to argue consistently that what was done to the players was wrong, and what was done to Alan Gell was wrong. It would be possible to argue consistently (if not necessarily intelligently) that the wrongs done to the players are overshadowed by the players' hiring of strippers, and that the wrongs done to Alan Gell are overshadowed by Alan Gell's drug dealing and statutory rapes. One could even consistently argue that Gell's activities, which were actually illegal, overshadow the wrongs done to him, while the unlawful wrongs done to the players overshadow their legal-but-disapproved-of choice to hire strippers.

No one but Polanski would spend so much time vilifying the players for hiring strippers, and then casually namedrop Alan Gell without mention of Gell's sexual activity with girls under the age of consent.

"Durham is the south's sewer and nobody cares to take on REAL cases.
Lucky, you bet your lily white ass they are."

Goodbye, Polanski. Don't let the door hit you in your lily white ass on your way out.

Anonymous said...

Boring, and doesn't change a thing. Maybe the 3 Stooges and Gell could collaberate on a book of how they were all so innocently framed. I am sure it would be better reading than the twaddle written by others, maybe your lily white ass could add a bit of comic relief.

Anonymous said...

Bye, Polanski. Troll somewhere else.

Anonymous said...

With all touting of the SANE gig - folk need to remember that this is a rinky dink 84 hour Certification course given at the YWCA and only requires an RN License. No years of experience required - the job is to collect swabs and fill out a checklist QA.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing wrong with hiring strippers; there is nothing wrong with having sex with strippers (unless you're paying for the sex). How anybody could weigh hiring strippers against being falsely charged with rape and come to the conclusion that the victims are still the bad guys is beyond me.

Then again, I never had my skull drilled open and packed full of Karl Marx. Rich=evilnomatterwhat appears to be the mantra.

Anonymous said...

What do you use as your moral compass?

Anonymous said...

The truth.

Anonymous said...

The truth? You can't handle the TRUTH

Anonymous said...

"What is this? I'm being charged with a crime? This is funny, that's what this is." -Fong

Anonymous said...

Hello to all the governmental agencies watching! I see you and have everything saved to show you all know what the hell is going on in Washington, and still REFUSE to do anything!

Anonymous said...

There is so much more to come out of Durham than the LAX case. The entire legal system is broken, the cops are thugs and worse than you can imagine. Countless elected officials from the Governor, down to the City Manager, to the County Clerk are involved. Many fingers have dipped into Durham's cookie jar, and the truth will be extremely explosive to many who have turned their backs on citizens, justice, and any code of ethics or valor. Embrace yourselves for an extreme shock. A tidal wave of truth will boggle your mind, the corruption SHALL be exposed!

Anonymous said...

12:52 Don't put any money on this.

Anonymous said...

too late