Pirate's Cove

Now, CBS News and 60 Minutes have taken quite a bit of heat in the Right-O-Sphere for their Left leaning tendencies and, more specifically, Rathergate, but, putting all that aside, they did a fantastic job with their piece last night on the Duke Lacrosse Rape case. They have also maintained coverage of this issue, including a special section on their webpage, for this issue, which has fallen out of the public eye, even here in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Included in the piece were interviews with the three accused players, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans, who had never been interviewed before, and with the second stripper, Kim Roberts. I recommend reading the whole story if this case interests you.

Roberts, who goes by the stage name "Nikki," has told several conflicting stories, but, I would like to highlight this piece from page 3:

"And, according to the statement that you made to the police, she told you she wanted to go back inside the house at that point. What did she say?" Bradley asks.

"There's more money to be made," Roberts tells Bradley.

Roberts and "Precious" did in fact go back inside the house. Kim says they were separated for a second time for about five to 10 minutes.

But here is where their stories take a dramatically different turn: "Precious" says in her written statement to police that Roberts, who as you may recall went by the stage name "Nikki," was actually present when "Precious" says she was attacked by three men who called themselves Brett, Adam and Matt. When Bradley asked Roberts about this in the interview, she seemed surprised and confused that "Precious" would make such an assertion.

"In the police statement she describes the rape in this way. 'Three guys – three guys grabbed Nicky,' that's you. 'Brett, Adam, and Matt grabbed me. They separated us at the master bedroom door while we tried to hold on to each other. Brett, Adam, and Matt took me into the bathroom.' Were you holding on to each other? Were you pulled apart? Is that true?" Bradley asks Roberts.

"Nope," she replies.

"Yeah. Her statement continues. 'I heard Nicky on the other side of the door. And when Adam opened the door she rushed in and helped Adam to get me dressed.' so she's saying that you helped one of the rapists," Bradley says.

"She was never undressed as far as I remember. As far as I remember, she was never undressed," Roberts says.

And, Roberts insists, she never assisted anyone in a rape, nor did she ever offer to engage in sexual acts with "Precious" and one of the alleged rapists, which "Precious" alleges in a statement she made that night.

Remember, unless DA Mike Nifong, who should be brought up on prosecutorial misconduct charges, has incredible evidence which has not been released at this point, it is going to come down to, as Nifong says "For most of the years I’ve been doing this we didn’t have DNA. We had to deal with sexual assault cases the good old-fashioned way – witnesses got on the stand and told what happened to them." He's got the accuser, who may not testify. He's got Kim Roberts, who tells a different story then "Precious." And defendents and witnesses who all tell the same story, that no rape occurred.

Nifong also has a photo lineup which picked out the defendents. The lineup was in direct contradiction to local, county, and state law, which requires wildcards to be mixed in with the possible defendents. The lineup contained only Duke lacrosse players.

Asked if he thinks the D.A. committed prosecutorial misconduct, (Duke Law Professor James) Coleman says, "Yes, I mean I think that’s the whole point. And if this case resulted in a conviction, I think there would be a basis to have the conviction overturned based on his conduct. I think in this case, it appears that this prosecutor has set out to develop whatever evidence he could to convict people he already concluded were guilty."

Why has North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper not stepped in? Or a judge who believes in the Constitution? If the three players did the crime, they should do the time. However, the evidence is off, and some gained illegally. Where is the justice? Furthermore, the three players are entitled, by Amendment VI, to a speedy trial. Nifong has pushed the trial all the way off till April 2007. Perhaps he is hoping that it just goes away, since it was a huge reelection issue for Nifong. In the interim, the lives of three young men and their families are on hold, and their reputations are smeared.

"I was naïve, I was young, I was sheltered. And I made a terrible judgment," (David) Evans says. "In five months I’ve learned more than I did in 22 years about life."

"It’s changed my life forever, no matter what happens from here on out. It’s probably gonna be something that defines me my whole life," Finnerty tells Bradley.

"You ever look back on that night and think 'Maybe I should have done something differently?'" Bradley asks (Reade) Seligmann.

"No," he replies. "Not go to the party? I did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong."

What happened was a bunch of college males had a party with strippers. No. Big. Deal. People do worse at parties right before marriages. They do worse on spring break.

La Shawn Barber has her take on the issue.

John In Carolina has coverage.