Justice (sort of) at last
Yesterday, North Carolina Attorney General Cooper dropped all remaining charges against the three former Duke University lacrosse players. In his statement to the press, he said, "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." It was hard to come to any other conclusion. There was no DNA evidence, the "victim" constantly changed her testimony, and one of the players even had an ATM receipt (and was photographed by the ATM camera) timestamped from when he was supposedly at the house attacking the woman.
Reade Seiligmann, one of the accused players, said yesterday, "If police officers and a district attorney can systematically railroad us with absolutely no evidence whatsoever, I can't imagine what they'd do to people who do not have the resources to defend themselves." Sadly, this statement is so true. If the men had not had the resources of their families, they would have likely ended up prison for many years. Would a legal aid attorney have discovered that the prosecutor was conspiring with the DNA lab to withhold test results? If the men had been convicted, they would have served prison time, and then would have been registered sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
I am disappointed with Attorney General Cooper's decision not to prosecute the accuser, Crystal Mangum. This woman has done a huge disservice to all of the women (and men) who have been raped. Women who have been raped have a hard enough time being believed, and this woman just made it that much harder. Further, the woman's false statements almost deprived three men of their liberty for years. The AG stated that "she may actually believe the many different stories that she has been telling." In other words, he thinks she might be delusional. If the AG were to prosecute her for filing a false criminal complaint, then she would either be convicted of lying to the police (if it was intentional), or be sent off to a psychiatric ward due to "mental disease or defect." But she certainly doesn't belong out on the streets.
Reade Seiligmann, one of the accused players, said yesterday, "If police officers and a district attorney can systematically railroad us with absolutely no evidence whatsoever, I can't imagine what they'd do to people who do not have the resources to defend themselves." Sadly, this statement is so true. If the men had not had the resources of their families, they would have likely ended up prison for many years. Would a legal aid attorney have discovered that the prosecutor was conspiring with the DNA lab to withhold test results? If the men had been convicted, they would have served prison time, and then would have been registered sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
I am disappointed with Attorney General Cooper's decision not to prosecute the accuser, Crystal Mangum. This woman has done a huge disservice to all of the women (and men) who have been raped. Women who have been raped have a hard enough time being believed, and this woman just made it that much harder. Further, the woman's false statements almost deprived three men of their liberty for years. The AG stated that "she may actually believe the many different stories that she has been telling." In other words, he thinks she might be delusional. If the AG were to prosecute her for filing a false criminal complaint, then she would either be convicted of lying to the police (if it was intentional), or be sent off to a psychiatric ward due to "mental disease or defect." But she certainly doesn't belong out on the streets.
posted by David at 4/12/2007 06:35:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home