UPDATED CHRONOLOGY OF DUKE LACROSSE CASE: AUGUST 2006

UPDATED CHRONOLOGY OF DUKE LACROSSE CASE: AUGUST 2006

By sceptical

(Special thanks to Quasi, Baldo, JSwift and Q.A. for reviewing the manuscript.)

TUESDAY AUGUST 1: History Prof. Robert KC Johnson of Brooklyn College starts a new blog “Durham in Wonderland,” which proves to be highly influential in the eventual unraveling of the rape hoax. In his first post, entitled “Brodhead Files,” Johnson criticizes Duke President Richard Brodhead’s July 25 response to a statement by the group Friends of Duke University urging more support for the lacrosse players:

“Brodhead’s record on due process matters, alas, extends beyond his silence. While ignoring FODU’s request that he speak out against the dual-procedure structure, the president did use the letter to discuss procedural matters. “We are eager,” he wrote, “for our students to be proved innocent” at trial.
This is an astonishing conception of due process. Brodhead isn’t a lawyer; his training came in English. But surely he understands—and, if not, his University Counsel does—that the purpose of a trial is not for the accused to “be proved innocent”.

The Herald-Sun publishes an article “Lawyers Haggle Over DNA Matches” about DNA results from the bathroom of the Buchanan St. house linked to lacrosse player Matt Zash and a towel found in the house linked to Dave Evans. Blogger John-In-Carolina asserts the article is a re-hash of information previously available in April and argues that the article fits a pattern of biased reporting by the newspaper, its editor Bob Ashley, and reporter John Stevenson.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2: The News & Observer also prints an article about the DNA matches from the bathroom and a towel, and the issue of their relevance:

“Investigators looking into allegations of rape at a Duke lacrosse party recovered two positive DNA specimens from players who lived at the house, according to a defense attorney. The DNA is in addition to an inconclusive sample taken from a fake fingernail found in the bathroom where accuser Crystal Mangum said she was raped. Genetic material taken from that fingernail, which was in a trash can, could not exclude but was not a match to Dave Evans, who lived at the house and has been indicted.

One of the DNA samples, semen recovered from the bathroom, belonged to Matt Zash, a team captain, his attorney said [yesterday]. Zash, who has been eliminated as a suspect, apparently was watching television in his room while the March party went on. "The fact that Mr. Zash's DNA in any form was found in his own bathroom is evidence of nothing related to his case," said Kerry Sutton, Zash's attorney.

Another specimen matched to Evans was recovered from a towel found in a hallway near Evans' room and the second bathroom in the house. The towel also contained DNA from another person, and SBI testing has conclusively determined that the second specimen did not match the accuser or the 46 members of the lacrosse team who submitted DNA samples, Sutton said.

"It seems to me that the state of North Carolina has spent thousands of dollars to prove that a young college man's DNA is in his house," said Brad Bannon, one of Evans' attorneys. Mark Edwards, a Durham defense lawyer who is uninvolved with the lacrosse case, said the DNA evidence does not appear to have any connection to the state's rape case. "This has nothing to do with nothing. This has to do with 19- 20-year-old males full of testosterone looking for an outlet," Edwards said. "What this evidence tells you is that when you're walking around these guys' house, make sure you have shoes on." “

FRIDAY AUGUST 4: In a blogpost titled “Scapegoating,” KC Johnson explores the forced resignation of Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler and takes Duke President Brodhead to task for claiming that no one on the lacrosse team was scapegoated.
SUNDAY AUGUST 6 : The News & Observer publishes a major article by Joe Neff titled “Lacrosse Files Show Gaps in DAs Case.” The article raises new questions about the investigation of Crystal Mangum’s rape charges and the prosecution of the three Duke lacrosse players. Neff reviews the confidential 1,800 page case files, posssibly leaked to him by defense attorneys, and states:
“ In examining the files Nifong has produced in the case, The News & Observer found that the accuser gave at least five different versions of the alleged assault to different police and medical interviewers and made shaky identifications of suspects. To get warrants, police made statements that weren't supported by information in their files.
The district attorney commented publicly about the strength of the medical evidence before he had seen it. He promised DNA evidence that has not materialized. He suggested that police conduct lineups in a way that conflicted with department policy.”
The Johnsville News expands on the Neff article in a post “Duke Case: Digging through the gaps, inconsistencies and rubble to see the Hoax:
“The underpaid and overworked reporters for The News & Observer are starting to get their keyboards in gear and respond to some of the criticism regarding a lack of solid journalism in their coverage of the Duke lacrosse rape hoax.

Apparently the News & Observer now has access to all 1,800 pages of the case documents Nifong has provided the defense. They also look like they've now read some of the material. Just like Dan Abrams and MSNBC did back in June the News & Observer is now showing that Mike Nifong has no case. He is prosecuting a hoax.”

MONDAY AUGUST 7: Mike Pressler, the Duke lacrosse coach who resigned under pressure in April amid allegations that three of his players raped an “exotic dancer”, is announced as the new lacrosse coach at Bryant University in Rhode Island. Pressler, 46, signed a five-year contract yesterday and will be on campus for the start of the fall semester. He replaces Rory Whipple, who resigned in May after seven years with the Bulldogs. "Some people may be critical, but we have done our due diligence and believe we have made the right decision based on his record as a coach over 24 years," Bryant President Ronald K. Machtley says. Pressler was the national Division I coach of the year in 2005, when he took Duke to a runner-up finish at the NCAA lacrosse championship.

The News & Observer runs a Correction to the August 6 Joe Neff article. Although the error does not change the main conclusions of the article, it undermines the credibility of the piece:
“This report on the Durham lacrosse case Sunday contained an error involving the timing of a discussion between District Attorney Mike Nifong and Investigator Michelle Soucie.
On April 4, Nifong instructed Soucie to nail down what the accuser in the case had done on the day prior to the alleged rape. That was nearly two weeks before the first two indictments in the case.
This error changes the implication of the first five paragraphs of the story: that the conversation between Nifong and Soucie was an example of the words and actions of police and prosecutors outpacing the facts in the file.
The error does not affect the accuracy of the remainder of the story, which reported gaps between the prosecution's words and its evidence.”
TUESDAY AUGUST 8: Durham Police Investigator Ben Himan attempts to get a statement from the owner of Angels Escort Service, for whom accuser Crystal Mangum worked. The following is from Himan’s written contemporaneous notes:

8/8/06 - Called both numbers for 490-0444, 846-0219 (0291), called Angels Escort Service spoke to a female who stated she was "tammy”. I asked if we could set up an appointment to get a statement. She stated that she had already told me everything that she was not there. I stated that there is some information that I have received that someone called later and spoke with you. She they she can hardly remember and that she wishes we would have got a statement back when it happened. I stated to her that I tried meeting with her and asked for a statement when I first talked to her, I reminded her the last time I talked to her, I asked simple information like, name, date of birth, she wouldn’t give me any information. She became upset on the phone and stated that she would give me information and asked for my number, office number was given.


WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9: A committee is formed to raise money to have anyone but Mike Nifong appointed the next district attorney, and Steve Monks announces that he will wage a write-in candidacy for the job. Earlier in the week, Nifong, who has been under harsh criticism over his handling of the Duke lacrosse case, sends a letter to supporters asking for a "substantial contribution" to help him run "an aggressive, highly visible campaign." Durham Board of Elections officials certify 100 signatures for lawyer and county Republican Party Chairman Steve Monks. A blank line over the words "(write in)" will appear on the November ballot for his name. After a successful petition drive authorized by county Commissioner Lewis Cheek to have his name added to the ballot as an independent candidate, Cheek then announced that he would not run, nor would he accept the job -- although he would vote for himself. If Cheek were to win and turn down the job, the governor would appoint the next district attorney. Durham residents organize a political action committee called "Committee to Recall Nifong--Vote Cheek." A spokeswoman for the group, Beth Brewer of Durham, declines to comment.

News & Observer reporter Joe Neff answers readers’ questions in a new N&O article in the wake of his blockbuster August 6 expose based on the lacrosse case files.

Prof. Robert KC Johnson in a Cliopatria blogpost discusses the new time-line information from the August 6 Neff article and how it suggests that DA Nifong may have known about the negative DNA results earlier than previously suspected.

Democratic strategist Susan Estrich acknowledges the weakness of DA Nifong’s procedures in an important blogpost “Duke Case: Failure of Procedure.” The article indicates a change in opinion of some liberal commentators after disclosure of the case files.

“Consider: The District Attorney went to the grand jury for an indictment before he even performed DNA tests (it turns out there was no match). One of the investigators was still collecting prices for DNA tests while the DA was giving interviews. He announced to the press that he was certain that a rape had taken place before excluding the possibility that the woman's physical symptoms were the result of sex with another man (turns out she'd had sex with her boyfriend within the preceding 24 hours). They were still investigating the woman's whereabouts during the 24 hours leading up to the party, and they had already been to the grand jury. The prosecutor relied on a photographic identification procedure that reportedly violated the standards of his own department. If the discovery is any indication, his case is sitting on quicksand.”
SATURDAY AUGUST 12: Prof. Bill Anderson explores the important role blogs have played in informing the public about the Duke lacrosse case in a posting “Blogs and the Mainstream Media.” He mentions the contributions of Liestoppers, the Johnsville News, John-in-Carolina, Friends of Duke University, and KC Johnson. He also notes that the blogs of the News & Observer’s Melanie Sill and Ruth Sheehan have provided a forum for readers to give feedback on the newspaper’s coverage.

MONDAY AUGUST 14: Black columnist Cash Michaels is interviewed on WLIB-AM by Gary Byrd and criticizes the actions of DA Nifong and the Durham PD in the lacrosse case:

“As recently as two weeks ago the Chief of Police is telling my investigator, "Oh, certainly" the PD is satisfied with its investigation and the strength of the case. Chalmers noted the City Manager's continuing full support, D.A. Nifong's continuing full support, and when they have their day in court the fruits of the investigation will be apparent. Well, Gary, based on what we now know, they don't have anything. This case may not get to trial, because after the case management conference currently scheduled for August 21st, then comes the time for fast and furious defense counsel motions arguing that these charges have to be dismissed...now. Nifong recently had to admit that evidence he'd hoped to have "we ended up not having."

TUESDAY AUGUST 15: Moezeldin Elmostafa, an alibi witness for one of the players charged in the Duke lacrosse rape investigation -- only to be arrested on a three-year-old shoplifting warrant – appears in court on a shoplifting charge that he says is unfounded. After uncovering a surveillance tape from Hecht's department store, a prosecutor changes the charges against taxi driver Elmostafa from misdemeanor larceny to aiding and abetting misdemeanor larceny. Assistant DA Ashley Cannon and an attorney for Elmostafa, Karen Bethea-Shields, tell a District Court judge that the case will go to trial Aug. 29. Elmostafa signed a sworn statement in April saying that on the night of the Duke lacrosse party, he picked up Reade Seligmann and another player and drove them to a cash machine, a fast-food burger joint and then a campus dorm. In May, an investigator in the lacrosse case arrested Elmostafa on a 2003 warrant charging him with shoplifting from Hecht's. The cab driver has said the warrant came after he gave a cab ride to a woman who later pleaded guilty to stealing from the department store. Elmostafa has said that once he learned about the theft, he helped investigators with the case. Lawyers representing the players are raising questions about why authorities made the arrest and ask whether someone is trying to intimidate Elmostafa, who is planning to apply for U.S. citizenship.
Attorneys for the three indicted Duke lacrosse players meet with DA Nifong and court officials to discuss having the case declared “exceptional.” The designation would attach a single judge to handle the pretrial matters and the trial. That judge would have the authority to set hearing dates and handle other scheduling issues. After the meeting, Durham Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson says all parties had agreed on a single judge to nominate to state court officials, who must approve the choice.
The Johnsville News questions why accuser Crystal Mangum’s multiple statements that she had been robbed during the March 12-13 events have been ignored by DA Mike Nifong:
“Mike Nifong has never used the word, robbery, nor was any charge of robbery included in the indictments against the three Duke men. The crime of robbery has mysteriously disappeared from the Duke lacrosse case.
But, robbery was a major element of the crime when the story first broke in March.”

THURSDAY AUGUST 17: Senior Resident Superior Judge Orlando Hudson sends a letter to the NC State Chief Justice, Sarah Parker, recommending that a single Superior Court judge be appointed to oversee the Duke lacrosse alleged rape case. Doing so, Hudson writes, would "promote efficient administration of justice" because a single judge could, in part, "more expeditiously handle and rule on the motions and issues as they arise by having a thorough knowledge of the history of the actions and of the legal and factual issues." Judge Hudson states that he met with DA Nifong and defense attorneys for the three indicted players and that they were in agreement about declaring the case “exceptional.” Much later, observers note that this step was a turning point in the case because judicial decisions were taken out of the hands of Durham jurists such as Judges Ronald Stephens and Kenneth Titus who were associates of DA Nifong.

FRIDAY AUGUST 18: State Chief Justice Sarah Parker signs off on an agreement that will allow a single judge to preside over all proceedings in the Duke case. Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith is assigned to the case, which is expected to go to trial in the Spring of 2007. Defense attorney Joe Cheshire says, "I am very pleased at the appointment of Judge Smith," he said. "He is universally respected as one of North Carolina's hardest-working and most even-handed judges. I am glad we were able to agree on his appointment, and I look forward to this case now having some positive and secure direction."

SATURDAY AUGUST 19: County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, an attorney, writes a letter in the News & Observer explaining that he will not campaign for the District Attorney office because of economic reasons. “Efforts to find a way to protect my law firm from economic harm caused by my departure continued after that successful petition effort. No workable solution was found. Therefore, I couldn’t run and wouldn’t be able to serve as District Attorney.”.

MONDAY AUGUST 21: The Liestoppers blog in a series of articles examines the lack of consistent evidence backing up a number of confident statements by DA Nifong and Durham PD spokespersons about the case, including comments about the 911 phone call and Nifong’s about-face about the importance of DNA results. In “Another Hoax Within A Hoax” Liestoppers looks at the timeline of the events of March 15-31 and suggests that Nifong was bluffing in his public statements to the press.

TUESDAY AUGUST 22: Trinity Park residents welcome first-year Duke students to East Campus residence halls, bringing them gift baskets loaded with home-baked cookies, brownies, candy, nuts, fruit and sugary messages. Trinity Park, the neighborhood just beyond the stone wall rimming the freshman campus, has been the epicenter of a long struggle between Durham and some Duke students who throw raucous parties. The friction was widely publicized after the lacrosse team party with escort service dancers, underage drinking and criminal allegations. Now, months later, residents and students hope to relieve some of the tension by starting the new school year on a different tenor. Alice Bumgarner, a Trinity Park resident, organized the basket drive. This fall, Duke student body President Elliott Wolf has made better town-gown relations a priority of his administration.

The Johnsville News runs a prescient post “Duke Case Tipping Point: When Does the Mainstream Media Call This Case A Hoax?” The article notes that the Johnsville News itself was the first to label the case a hoax on June 16, 2006 and that Michael Gaynor first called it such in the headline of his July 7, 2006 blogpost.


WEDNESDAY AUGUST 23: Duke President Richard Brodhead welcomes freshmen to campus in a convocation at Duke Chapel. Brodhead does not dwell on the school's lacrosse team rape case, but he uses the allegations of underage drinking, boorish behavior and sexual assault to teach the new students about the possible aftermath of off-campus parties and what he said was a renewed obligation of civility. "The resulting legal accusations remain unresolved, and we pray that they will be resolved in speedy, fair and decisive fashion," Brodhead said toward the end of his speech. "But in addition to the contested legal charges, larger questions were raised about responsible student behavior and the boundaries of acceptable conduct. Not a single [one] of those questions is unique to Duke, but we are not free to ignore them."

THURSDAY AUGUST 24: The Chronicle reports that new Duke men’s lacrosse coach John Danowski arrived in Durham last week and is actively at work preparing for the new school year.

FRIDAY AUGUST 25: DA Nifong and defense attorneys for the three indicted Duke lacrosse players meet with Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith for an hour to discuss the case. Smith, who had been appointed last week to handle all aspects of the case, sets a Sept. 22 hearing for pretrial motions, and issues an order barring cameras and recorders from the courtroom for all pretrial hearings.

The New York Times publishes a major, controversial article by Duff Wilson and Jonathan Glater-- largely based on the previously unrevealed, after-the-fact case notes written by Durham Police Sgt. Mark Gottlieb. Titled “Files from Duke Rape Case Give Details But No Answers,” the article reads in part:
“…Whether the woman was in fact raped is the question at the center of a case that has become a national cause célèbre, yet another painful chapter in the tangled American opera of race, sex and privilege. Defense lawyers, amplified by Duke alumni and a group of bloggers who have closely followed the case, have portrayed it as a national scandal — that there is only the flimsiest physical evidence of rape, that the accuser is an unstable fabricator, and that Mr. Nifong, in the middle of a tight primary campaign, was summoning racial ghosts for political gain.
By disclosing pieces of evidence favorable to the defendants, the defense has created an image of a case heading for the rocks. But an examination of the entire 1,850 pages of evidence gathered by the prosecution in the four months after the accusation yields a more ambiguous picture. It shows that while there are big weaknesses in Mr. Nifong’s case, there is also a body of evidence to support his decision to take the matter to a jury.
Crucial to that portrait of the case are Sergeant Gottlieb’s 33 pages of typed notes and 3 pages of handwritten notes, which have not previously been revealed. His file was delivered to the defense on July 17, making it the last of three batches of investigators’ notes, medical reports, statements and other evidence shared with the defense under North Carolina’s pretrial discovery rules.
In several important areas, the full files, reviewed by The New York Times, contain evidence stronger than that highlighted by the defense: …”

Within hours of the appearance of the New York Times article by Wilson and Glater, the group of bloggers known as Liestoppers goes on-line with a devastating critique of the New York Times article, pointing out in detail numerous errors and omissions. The blogpost is a milestone in on-line citizen journalism. The Liestoppers post concludes:

“The New York Times has published an article that is lengthy but chooses to ignore many of the basic facts of the case. Was the New York Times really so taken in by the sudden magical appearance of Gottlieb's notes four months after the night of March 13th? With the release of these notes it is eminently clear that Nifong is not the only evil actor in this travesty. It is extremely disappointing that the New York Times would chose to facilitate rather than expose this hoax.”

Real Clear Politics’ Tom Bevan reports that DA Nifong is the source of the leak to the New York Tines in an attempt to spin public perception of the case: “District Attorney Mike Nifong leaked all 1,850 pages of evidence in the Duke Lacrosse Case to the New York Times in hope of countering the public perception that the whole thing is a sham and a textbook example of prosecutorial abuse.”

Later that day, Prof. KC Johnson also analyzes the problems with the Wilson/Glater article in the New York Times with a “Durham In Wonderland” post titled “More Bad Times.” Johnson argues the Times article shows bias against the lacrosse players, avoids asking key questions of Nifong, and takes Sgt. Gottlieb’s case report written 3 months after-the-fact without the skepticism called for because of the inconsistencies between Gottlieb’s report with other contemporaneous records.

SATURDAY AUGUST 26: Prof. Bill Anderson criticizes the Wilson/Glater article in a blogpost “Desperate Times” and puts it in context of other ideological reporting by the New York Times:
“…While supporters of Nifong will claim that this article from the "newspaper of record" sheds further light in favor of the prosecution, it actually does the opposite. First, and most important, it tells us that the most important "mainstream" newspaper in the world does not ask serious questions when clear discrepancies are raised. Second, it also tells us that when an agent of the state lies, and uses the prosecutorial apparatus in a dishonest and abusive way, the agent can find refuge in the New York Times if the desired outcome can validate the Times’ politically-correct view of the world.
Tawana Brawley disappointed the editors of the Times, who obviously were hoping that the girl’s story was true. Having been burned once, the editors this time apparently have decided that they will continue to press the lie no matter what the truth may be. They will stand by their man, Michael Nifong, and stand by him to the bitter end. But they will stand by him.”
SUNDAY AUGUST 27: The News & Observer’s Joe Neff discusses new information from the “Supplemental Case Notes” produced by Sgt. Mark Gottlieb in an article titled “Cop says nurse found trauma in Duke case.”

KC Johnson writes about what he describes as the biased coverage of the Durham Herald-Sun of the lacrosse case in a “Durham in Wonderland” blogpost titled “Eyes Wide Shut.”

MONDAY AUGUST 28: John Pessah profiles several figures on the Duke campus and how they have been affected by the lacrosse controversy in an article for ESPN The Magazine titled “Months later, unanswered questions haunt Duke.” He writes about women’s lacrosse coach Kerstin Kimmel, anthropology professor and athletic critic Orin Starn, black studies professor and radical Wahneema Lubiano, lacrosse players Yanni Newton and Matt Zash, and new lacrosse head coach John Danowski.

Two Duke students launch a drive to register Duke students to vote so they can cast a ballot against DA Nifong. Juniors Emily Wygod and Christiane Regelbrugge are so outraged by Nifong's handling of the lacrosse rape case that they start a voter registration campaign on campus. The students sit outside the student center on Duke's West Campus trying to drum up new voters in Durham. They hand out 300 registration forms by late Monday and receive 35 back. By Oct. 13, the last day to register for the November almost 17 percent of the 12,000 students on campus. In past elections, Duke students have not made up a high percentage of the 140,897 registered voters. Late last week, elections, Regelbrugge and Wygod hope to have registered more than 2,000 students, or there were 650 registered voters on Duke's East Campus and 712 registered voters on West Campus, according to the Durham County Board of Elections.

TUESDAY AUGUST 29: Cab driver Moezeldin Elmostafa is found not guilty today of shoplifting by Judge Ann McKown. Elmostafa, 37, was charged with aiding and abetting misdemeanor larceny in a 2003 shoplifting case in which he was accused of stealing five purses worth about $250 from a Durham department store. Among those observing the trial are Durham police officers Ben Himan and Richard Clayton, who glared at Elmostafa. Critics of DA Nifong claim that Elmostafa’s arrest is part of an effort to influence his testimony concerning Reade Seligmann’s alibi evidence; Elmostafa had picked-up Seligmann and a classmate in his taxi after the team party where Crystal Mangum claimed she was assaulted..

Stuart Taylor, Jr. criticizes the August 25 New York Times article by Duff Wilson and Jonathan Glater in a Slate post “Witness for the Prosecution? The New York Times is still victimizing innocent Dukies”:
“…The Wilson-Glater piece highlights every superficially incriminating piece of evidence in the case, selectively omits important exculpatory evidence, and reports hotly disputed statements by not-very-credible police officers and the mentally unstable accuser as if they were established facts. With comical credulity, it features as its centerpiece a leaked, transparently contrived, 33-page police sergeant's memo that seeks to paper over some of the most obvious holes in the prosecution's evidence.
This memo was concocted from memory, nearly four months after the underlying witness interviews, by Durham police Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, the lead investigator. Gottlieb says he took no contemporaneous notes, an inexplicable and indefensible police practice. Gottlieb had drawn fire before the alleged Duke rape—perhaps unbeknownst to the Times—as a Dukie-basher who reveled in throwing kids into jail for petty drinking infractions, noise violations, and the like, sometimes with violent criminals as cellmates.
Gottlieb's memo is contradicted on critical points by the contemporaneous notes of other police officers, as well as by hospital records seeming to show that the accuser did not have the injuries Gottlieb claims to have observed. The Times blandly mentions these contradictions while avoiding the obvious inference that the Gottlieb memo is thus unworthy of belief.”

Two Durham residents, Kim Brummell and Victoria Peterson, start a group “Citizens for Mike Nifong,” according to an article in the Chronicle.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30: KC Johnson analyzes the case of Moezeldin Elmostafa, the cab driver who was picked up on an old shoplifting warrant in an apparent attempt to influence his alibi testimony for Reade Seligmann. Johnson finds it disturbing that the warrant was resurrected by Linwood Wilson, Nifong’s investigator, and not the Durham PD; that Nifong ordered he be notified when the cabbie was arrested; and the intimidating presence of Ben Himan and R.D. Clayton at Elmostafa’s August 29 trial (where he was found not guilty).
Duke hires public relations firm Edelman to help publicize positive aspects of the University, officials confirm. The independent global firm will work to select, simplify and present Duke's best characteristics both internally and to the public, says John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations. "I feel pretty strongly, especially in this post-lacrosse environment, that we need to have more clarity in our messages about Duke's distinctive strengths and the wisdom and discipline to emphasize them with clarity," Burness writes in an e-mail to campus leaders Wednesday afternoon. "Edelman presented an exceptionally strong situational analysis to our group and is well known for placing a heavy emphasis on research-driven communications," he says.
An article in the Chronicle profiles Kevin Cassese, who was interim head coach of the Duke lacrosse team after it was reinstated June 5. He is credited with holding the program together until new head coach John Danowski took over. "I got a crash course in how to be a head coach in seven weeks," says Cassese, a 2003 Duke graduate who joined the Blue Devil staff in July 2005 as an assistant coach.
Another Chronicle story features the efforts of some Durham residents and Duke students to oppose the reelection of DA Mike Nifong. The political action committee Recall Nifong-Vote Cheek, which is not affiliated with any particular party, has begun to rally support for the challenger. Since its formation Aug. 9, the grassroot group has grown to include between 50 and 100 members, says spokesperson Beth Brewer. The committee is also attempting to set up voter registration drives at both Duke and North Carolina Central University to encourage out-of-state students to register to vote in the election. "The lacrosse incident got students rallied and excited to vote," she says.
THURSDAY AUGUST 31: Defense attorneys for Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann file joint motions requested a lengthy list of evidence from DA Nifong, including: 1) notes of what the accuser Crystal Mangum told Nifong when she met with him April 11; 2) notes of what Brian Meehan, the director of DNA Security Inc., a Burlington company that analyzed DNA evidence, said during two meetings with Nifong in April; 3) any laboratory reports from a toxicology test done on a sample of Mangum’s hair; and 4) copies of all Durham Police Department e-mail messages about the investigation. The Durham Police Department collected the messages in June in response to a public records request
SPECIFIC REFERENCES BY DATE

August 1 “Brodhead Files” by KC Johnson

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/08/brodhead-files_01.html

August 1: “Duke lacrosse: A fake Herald-Sun story?” by John in Carolina

http://johninnorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2006/08/duke-lacrosse-fake-herald-sun-story.html

August 2: “Two Lacrosse DNA Tests Are Positive” by Benjamin Niolet in News & Observer

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/02/90900/two-duke-lacrosse-dna-tests-are.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0ukdtvjAO

August 4: KC Johnson on Coach Mike Pressler and “Scapegoating”

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/28870.html

August 6: “Lacrosse Files Show Gaps in DA’s case” by Joe Neff in News & Observer
http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/06/44677/lacrosse-files-show-gaps-in-das.html#storylink=misearch
August 6: The Johnsville Blog on Neff’s article
http://johnsville.blogspot.com/2006/08/duke-case-digging-through-gaps.html
August 7: Mike Pressler named head lacrosse coach at Bryant University.
http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20060806_06brylax.1eee8a0.html
August 8: Ben Himan’s Case Notes
http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2007/07/inv-ben-himans-typed-notes-part-3-may.html

August 9: Political Action Committee to oust Mike Nifong formed by Beth Brewer & others in Durham
http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/10/76446/nyone-but-nifong-drive-takes.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0vbFhtmj7

August 9: Neff Article Answers Questions From Readers

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/09/33323/your-questions-about-the-duke.html#storylink=misearch

August 9: KC Johnson discusses new time-line information from Neff article

http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/29040.html

August 9: Susan Estrich on deficiencies in Nifong’s case
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/8/9/83336.shtml

August 12: Bill Anderson on blogs and the mainstream media

http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson137.html

August 14: Cash Michaels interviewed on radio
http://crystalmess.blogspot.com/2006/08/cash-michaels-on-wlib-am-with-gary.html

August 15: Elmostafa appears in court on shoplifting charge

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/15/63909/rape-case-witness-has-court-date.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0uf3IzxQK

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/16/33347/taxi-drivers-charge-changed.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0vbIjaGYn

August 15: The Johnsville News on Mangum’s robbery claims

http://johnsville.blogspot.com/2006/08/duke-case-poofthe-grubby-thievery.html

August 17: Osmond Smith appointed as Judge for lacrosse case:

http://dukechronicle.com/article/1-judge-handle-rest-lax-case

August 19: Lewis Cheek letter in the News & Observer about his candidacy

http://friendsofdukeuniversity.blogspot.com/2006/03/expired-documents.html#c115659972862974616

August 21: Liestopper’s “A Hoax Within A Hoax”

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2006/08/another-hoax-within-hoax.html

August 22: Trinity Park residents welcome freshmen to East Campus

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/23/85792/duke-neighbors-seek-fresh-start.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0vbOIXsmN

August 22: Johnsville News on labeling the case a “hoax”

http://johnsville.blogspot.com/2006/08/duke-case-tipping-point-when-does-main_21.html

August 23: President Brodhead welcomes freshmen at Convocation

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/24/89864/students-welcomed-warned-to-behave.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0vbUP76d8

August 24: Danowski in Durham for new job as Duke coach

http://dukechronicle.com/article/danowski-settling-new-job

August 25: “Files from Duke Rape Case Give Details But No Answers” by Duff Wilson and Jonathan Glater in New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/us/25duke.html?_r=1&ref=duke_lacrosse_sexual_assault_case


August 25: Liestoppers dissects Wilson/Glater article in New York Times

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2006/08/enough-from-duff.html

August t 25: “More Bad Times” by KC Johnson concerning New York Times article

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/08/more-bad-times.html

August 26: “Desperate Times” by William Anderson concerning New York Times article

http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson138.html

August 27: Joe Neff on the new information from Gottlieb’s case notes as revealed in the New York Times article

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/27/91873/cop-says-nurse-found-trauma-in.html#storylink=misearch

August 27: KC Johnson discusses coverage by Durham Herald-Sun of the case

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/08/eyes-wide-shut_27.html

August 28: ESPN Magazine profiles of six involved with lacrosse case by John Pessahm

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncaa/insider/news/story?id=2563683&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncaa%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d2563683

August 28: Duke students launch registration drive targeted against Nifong

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/29/51816/district-attorneys-race-may-attract.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0vbVrzAhG

August 29: Stuart Taylor, Jr. on the Wilson/Glater article in the New York Times

http://www.slate.com/id/2148546

August 29: Elmostafa found not guilty in shoplifting case

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/08/30/38843/cabbie-in-lacrosse-case-acquitted.html#storylink=misearch

August 29: Citizens for Mike Nifong article in Chronicle

http://dukechronicle.com/article/citizens-show-support-nifong


August 30: “The Peculiarities of the Elmostafa Case” by KC Johnson

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/08/peculiarities-of-elmostafa-case.html

August 30: Chronicle Profile of Kevin Cassese, interm lacrosse head coach

http://dukechronicle.com/article/cassese-holds-lax-program-together

August 30: Recall Nifong- Vote Cheek article in Chronicle

http://dukechronicle.com/article/students-town-support-nifong-opponent

August 31: Defense attorneys file joint motion seeking more discovery

http://www.newsobserver.com/2006/09/01/82338/test-lacrosse-case-accuser-free.html#storylink=misearch#ixzz0ukbXZHCN

GENERAL SOURCES

(The Duke lacrosse case article indices in the Raleigh News & Observer and the Duke Chronicle have been taken down following website revisions. Articles can still be found using the search feature of the new websites.)

EVANS et al v. DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, CITY OF et al
http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/north-carolina/ncmdce/1:2007cv00739/46882/

MCFADYEN et al v. DUKE UNIVERSITY et al
http://news.justia.com/cases/featured/north-carolina/ncmdce/1:2007cv00953/47494/

CARRINGTON et al v. DUKE UNIVERSITY et al
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-ncmdce/case_no-1:2008cv00119/case_id-47871/


Duke University & Brodhead Statements
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/features/lacrosse_incident/announce_archive.html

Duke University Archive of Media Coverage
http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/mmedia/features/lacrosse_incident/media_archive.html

Johnsville Blog Posts
http://johnsville.blogspot.com/2006/06/duke-case-index.html

WRAL Stories
http://www.wral.com/news/local/asset_gallery/2306295/

KC Johnson’s Case Narrative
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2007/03/overall-case-narrative.html

Chronology by Vance Holmes “Poetic Justice”
http://www.vanceholmes.com/court/trial_duke_timeline.html

CBS News Chronology
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2006/04/19/in_depth_us/timeline1515358.shtml

AP Chronology
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/18054818/

Wikipedia Timeline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Duke_University_lacrosse_case

Friends of Duke University Media Index
http://friendsofdukeuniversity.blogspot.com/2006/04/links-to-media-1-full.html

New York Times Article Index
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/duke_university/duke_lacrosse_sexual_assault_case/index.html?offset=60&s=newest

Hat Tip: sceptical for his great work!