First, I must state that I know nothing more about this than I have gotten from the news media. I understand that two members of the Duke University lacrosse team have been formally charged. Both were expected to post a bond of $500,000. Now, i read that the 'Rev." Jackson has entered the fray. from the standpoint of justice, is this a good thing? I would think that the prosecutor would view this as another big problem in prosecuting thius case. Jackson is well-known as a publicity hound, and his activities tend to polarize people.
So, will this lead to a lond, draggged-out trial, which is likely to be inconclusive? Should the indicted parties be acquitted, will jackson trumpet that result as 'proof that balcks can’t get justice"? Or is the case hoplessly compromised from the start-the leak of the DNA test results, the police report on the plaintiff (allegedly in a car in a store parking lot, in a state of inebriation?
Frankly, I am glad I have nothing to do with this-I see this as a losing situation for everyone 9except Jackson-he’s never been concerned with right and wrong, only in publicity).
What do you think?
Neither.
Just nuts. :rolleyes:
I think that way too much of the action in this case has been posturing for political gain and way too little has been searching for the truth. Jackson is just going to add to the political side of it.
I don’t know if this is another Tawana Brawley/Al Sharpton thing, but that was ugly, ugly, ugly, and some totally innocent men had their lives turned upside down.
Jessie Jackson and his Rainbow Demolition group? It will help the mother/student/stripper because he said he’d pick up her college tab regardless of the outcome. It will give her a chance to hoe in a different garden and that’s a good thing. She really needs a new line of work for her resume. If she loses it will jut make him look foolish.
I know you can’t bring up the alleged perpetrator’s past criminal record but one of the men was already convicted of assaulting someone because he was gay. In the court of public opinion I’d have to say that doesn’t make a very good case for him.
Everyone involved is white, so there’s no race issue to be made. I just don’t see what J.J. can add that will benefit anyone (besides himself, of course).
I don’t think I can recall a time when Jesse Jackson getting involved has every been a good thing for anyone except Jesse’s ego.
No, the alleged victim is black, the alleged rapists are white. That’s how Jesse got involved.
And I don’t think we can characterize the DNA results as “leaked”. They weren’t leaked, the defense attorney announced them, and claimed they did not inculpate his clients. It’s perfectly reasonable for a defense attorney to make such an announcement in a media-circus trial.
That the defense attorney made such a claim doesn’t hopelessly compromise the case, even if a potential juror heard such a claim on the news. Just hearing about the case doesn’t disqualify a juror.
???
The alleged victim is a black woman who claimed that three white guys raped her.
I think Jackson ought to stay home in Chicago and work on improving the scholastic performance of kids in that city, but it this is not a white-on-white situation.
(The earliest foofaraw was that the police asked for DNA samples from the entire lacrosse team with the exception of the sole black player.)
Really, shouldn’t Jesse be retired by now and home taking care of his families?
I doubt it’ll help justice be done, whatever the truth is in this case. So I’ll say that this is probably bad.
If the victim clearly stated she was raped by three white men, why should the police request the only black man to submit a DNA sample?
Jackson has always been a self promoter, but I don’t see how he can hurt the situation. He doesn’t have a reputation for exciting violence. I think I’ll wait until all the facts are in. The statement that police are waiting for further DNA testing makes me believe that there’s another shoe to drop. The report that the girl was seen drunk and the pics. showing she was injured before the aledged attack and was smiling when she left the party, all could be easily explained and not be, at all, relevant to her accusations. If the DA is charging these young men because of political pressure, then he will be shown a fool in the long run, if he has good evidence, then he won’t.
The whole (white) team except the black player was asked for DNA samples.
Hear, hear.
Jackson is just going to make the situation worse but then Jackson is a racist-demagogue so what else should we expect?
Maybe I missed the point of your question. The uproar was in asking the whole team for DNA samples as if it was a fishing expedition. The black player was of course excluded, but was mentioned (in the news and by me) to be sure that no one though the “whole” team had been tested when one of them could clearly not be among the suspects.
There’s little Rev. Jackson or anyone else in the public sphere can achieve, except to continue polluting the already tainted juror pool.
Perhaps I’m missing your point. If all members of the team were, at some point, present at the party and the victim stated that she was raped by white men, why is it a fishing expedition to ASK for a DNA sample of all the white members of the team. If there were non team members present, they can be asked to submit as they are identified.
Here’s a possibility. If the rapists wore condoms they might be foolish enough to submit to DNA testing, even against legal advice, but there are other possibilities, mainly pubic hair. If I’m not mistaken, it takes longer to extract DNA from a hair sample. This could be the reason for a delay in returning some of the test results. This is only speculation on my part, but, I repeat, I think I’ll reserve judgment for awhile.
It is a fishing expedition because “at some point” means that some of them could not have committed the alleged assault. It is also a fishing expedition because the DA claims that the complainant has identified her attackers from a photo array. With a positive ID, why test all the ones not identified?
I think it is wonderful that Jesse Jackson is taking such an interest in women who are forced to strip to pay for college. Let’s see when he offers to pay for the next one.
Allegedly, she was paid $400 for the engagement. Jesse is going to have to bite a big bullet to replace that kind of income.
He doesn’t polarize people. He just pisses a lot of people off (who are overrepresented on the SDMB, for some reason).
I have no vested interest in the case and (lacking any genuine knowledge) no opinions regarding the police work or the guilt of any particular people.
When the story broke, members of the local community reacted in outrage, condemning “jocks,” “privileged college kids,” etc. Members of the school community closed ranks and protested “lynch mentality” and demanded a recognition of “innocent until proven guilty.” Into the midst of that uproar, the police sought DNA samples from the members of the team (and the team’s schedule was cancelled for the reat of the season), at which point the story got out onto the national press, along with claims that the police were simply “fishing” with the DNA requests.
Without expressing any particular beliefs regarding either side of the story, I mentioned the uproar in my earlier post.
I have no idea what happened. I do not have an opinion as to what might have happened. I have no opinions regarding whether the actions of the police or the school have been appropriate. I merely mentioned, in response to a statement that it was a white-on-white incident, that the earliest news reports (to make the national circuit–the foofaraw) were focused on the DNA request that selected for white students.
Point taken, tomndebb. I apologize for misunderstanding your intent.
Having experienced the “dogs and sailors, keep off the grass” attitude, I can understand the social lines that are sometimes drawn in cases like this. It’s unfortunate, but not surprising. Hopefully the prosecutor will ignore the biases and act only on solid evidence, tough as that may be.