Criminal Law

Postscript: Wilson Response

Posted on January 15, 2008
The first of the defendants? responses to the lacrosse case civil suit has been filed by ex-investigator Linwood Wilson?who, in an odd twist, purports to be representing himself. Wilson?s basic argument: all claims against him should be dismissed, since his status as a prosecutor?s assistant entitled him to absolute immunity through...

Legacies

Posted on December 11, 2007
With this post, the blog goes on hiatus; if and when Durham ever responds to the civil suit filing, I?ll run a postscript. I?ll also assemble a glossary of posts within the next week. This concluding post discusses the legacies of the case. The lacrosse case functioned as a kind of funhouse mirror: its events magnified patterns evident, but less clearly visible, elsewhere...

For the Record: Group of 88

Posted on December 10, 2007
A central element of attempts to rehabilitate the Group of 88?s statement?which began with Cathy Davidson?s January 5, 2007 op-ed, continued with the Piot article, and has now the Robert Zimmerman blog postings?has been the suggestion that the Group of 88?s statement, unfairly, attracted attention...

Q&A

Posted on December 10, 2007
Q: How difficult was it to maintain a timeline/deadline while writing the book given the constant new developments in the case? It seemed that things continued to change and develop right up until the publication. Was it difficult to format the book given the swings in the case? A: This wasn?t as much of a problem as it might have seemed at first glance...

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Update: Gottlieb "Reassigned"; Details Top 50

Posted on December 07, 2007
The N&O is reporting that Sgt. Mark Gottlieb has been "reassigned"; a Liestoppers discussion thread finds that the sergeant appeared unavailable for phone calls. This news would not bode well for Gottlieb's long-term employment status at the DPD.The Details "Power 50," of men under 45:36 // The ExoneratedReade Seligmann, David Evans, and Colin FinnertySure, we all thought they did it...

Barry Lenser on UPI

Posted on December 07, 2007
"Until Proven Innocent is a police procedural, a courtroom drama, a social commentary, a correction of spurious history, and most simply, an engrossing story of heroes and villains. Sadly, the book becomes most meaningful when you realize it never should have been written in the first place...

Updates; Book Q&A

Posted on December 05, 2007
The N&O is reporting that U.S. Department of Justice has rejected Attorney General Roy Cooper's request for a joint state-federal inquiry into allegations of civil rights violations by Mike Nifong and the DPD.In an unusual rationalization, given that the state had requested federal intervention, Justice Department spokesperson Peter Carr said, ?Well-established principles of federalism and comity discourage federal intervention when the state has the primary interest and the state is taking remedial action...

Mosteller on the Case

Posted on December 04, 2007
A few months ago, I posted on the disappointing early coverage of the case from law reviews. The most recent Fordham Law Review corrects the problem, in a lengthy article by Duke Law professor Robert Mosteller. He astutely argues that the lacrosse case shows the insufficiency of ethical rules requiring prosecutors to do justice and to not prosecute cases without probable cause, and concludes with some sensible recommendations to make ethics rules more likely to protect the innocent...

The Group of 88 Rehab Tour Continues

Posted on December 03, 2007
Since January, Group members and their sympathizers have aggressively, if unsuccessfully, attempted to rehabilitate the Group from its rush to judgment in spring 2006. The Group of 88 Rehab Tour has followed a long, and torturous, path. The tour began on January 5, when Cathy Davidson penned an N&O op-ed terming the Group?s statement a justified response to ?rampant? racist defenses of Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans ?on the campus quad...

Sheehan on Gell

Posted on November 30, 2007
In her column this morning, Ruth Sheehan makes a compelling case that selective prosecution occurred in the recent Alan Gell case. For some background on the case, see Wednesday's article by Joe Neff.

Metro on UPI

Posted on November 30, 2007
?The potbangers? noise and the professors? proclamation played well in Durham, a former mill town rife with race and class resentments that energized its 'progressive? agitators.? Read the entire review here.

Now on UPI

Posted on November 29, 2007
"Until Proven Innocent is a seething indictment of the individuals and institutions in Durham, North Carolina that conspired to put three demonstrably innocent young men in jail for 30 years." Read the entire review here.

Airbrushing

Posted on November 29, 2007
From the comment thread, regarding Claire Potter's disturbing tendency to delete comments that challenge her factual inaccuracies:Yesterday, November 28, at approximately 3:20 PM, I left the following comment on Potter's "turkeys" post. I reproduce it here in its entirety...

Update: Good News from Brown

Posted on November 28, 2007
Stu Woo details the efforts of Brown's lacrosse team to raise money for the Innocence Project. Meanwhile, Reade Seligmann dropped by Alan Dershowitz's class at Harvard Law School.

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