Post by bingbong on Oct 6, 2007 10:57:01 GMT 12
Duke Players Sue 14 for Violating Civil Rights
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By MIKE NIZZA
Published: October 5, 2007
A high-profile rape case turned into a civil rights case today as three former lacrosse players at Duke University filed a federal lawsuit against former District Attorney Michael B. Nifong, the city of Durham, N.C., and 12 other defendants.
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Related
Text: Civil Complaint (pdf)
In a 162-page complaint, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans sought redress for what they described as “one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial, and scientific misconduct in modern American history.”
The plaintiffs requested an unspecified amount of money to cover legal fees, as compensation and punitive damages, as well as “whatever additional relief the Court may deem proper.”
They reportedly had demanded $30 million during settlement talks with the city, but the two sides could not agree on terms. The proposal far exceeded the city’s insurance policy for “wrongful action,” leaving it in a financial bind, according to those reports.
The students are also demanding an overhaul of the city’s system of law enforcement, including measures to improve transparency, establishment of a citizen review board and the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the Durham Police Department for 10 years. The monitor would have wide authority over policy, senior staffing and training.
The defendants, who include the city’s police commissioner, two police detectives and the chief of the private lab that performed DNA tests for the case, “willfully ignored and were deliberately indifferent to overwhelming evidence of plaintiffs’ actual innocence,” the complaint said.
They “knew that these charges were completely and utterly unsupported by probable cause, and a total fabrication by a mentally troubled, drug-prone exotic dancer whose claims, time and again, were contradicted by physical evidence, documentary evidence, other witnesses, and even the accuser herself,” the complaint continued.
Mr. Nifong, who lost his public office, his license to practice law in North Carolina and his freedom during a 24-hour prison stay, used the racially-charged rape case to increase his chances in an election in which he faced “formidable competition in his own party’s primary election,” the complaint said.
The woman who made the allegations against the lacrosse players in March 2006 was not named as a defendant.
Mr. Nifong could not be reached for comment. Beverly B. Thompson, a city spokesman, told The Associated Press that at least some of the former players claims “appear to be based on untested and unproven legal theories.”
One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said the suit was motivated by more than money. “This is about sending a message to public officials who only get the message when they have to pay the money,” Richard D. Emery told The A.P.
Text of Civil Complaint useful ref
media.mgnetwork.com/ncn/pdf/071005_duke.pdf
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Article Tools Sponsored By
By MIKE NIZZA
Published: October 5, 2007
A high-profile rape case turned into a civil rights case today as three former lacrosse players at Duke University filed a federal lawsuit against former District Attorney Michael B. Nifong, the city of Durham, N.C., and 12 other defendants.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Text: Civil Complaint (pdf)
In a 162-page complaint, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans sought redress for what they described as “one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial, and scientific misconduct in modern American history.”
The plaintiffs requested an unspecified amount of money to cover legal fees, as compensation and punitive damages, as well as “whatever additional relief the Court may deem proper.”
They reportedly had demanded $30 million during settlement talks with the city, but the two sides could not agree on terms. The proposal far exceeded the city’s insurance policy for “wrongful action,” leaving it in a financial bind, according to those reports.
The students are also demanding an overhaul of the city’s system of law enforcement, including measures to improve transparency, establishment of a citizen review board and the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the Durham Police Department for 10 years. The monitor would have wide authority over policy, senior staffing and training.
The defendants, who include the city’s police commissioner, two police detectives and the chief of the private lab that performed DNA tests for the case, “willfully ignored and were deliberately indifferent to overwhelming evidence of plaintiffs’ actual innocence,” the complaint said.
They “knew that these charges were completely and utterly unsupported by probable cause, and a total fabrication by a mentally troubled, drug-prone exotic dancer whose claims, time and again, were contradicted by physical evidence, documentary evidence, other witnesses, and even the accuser herself,” the complaint continued.
Mr. Nifong, who lost his public office, his license to practice law in North Carolina and his freedom during a 24-hour prison stay, used the racially-charged rape case to increase his chances in an election in which he faced “formidable competition in his own party’s primary election,” the complaint said.
The woman who made the allegations against the lacrosse players in March 2006 was not named as a defendant.
Mr. Nifong could not be reached for comment. Beverly B. Thompson, a city spokesman, told The Associated Press that at least some of the former players claims “appear to be based on untested and unproven legal theories.”
One of the lawyers for the plaintiffs said the suit was motivated by more than money. “This is about sending a message to public officials who only get the message when they have to pay the money,” Richard D. Emery told The A.P.
Text of Civil Complaint useful ref
media.mgnetwork.com/ncn/pdf/071005_duke.pdf