Huh??

I am not a lawyer, nor do I claim to have any legal knowledge, but I thought that ID's had to be based on the face of the accused. wral.com is reporting that the 2 Duke lacrosse players who have been arrested on charges of rape and kidnapping were ID'ed by SCRATCHES on their bodies as seen in photographs that were shown to the alleged victim. Let me get this straight. I woman is gang raped, sodomized and beaten for 30+ minutes and she cannot identify her attackers face when shown a photo, but can identify scratches on their torsos? Hmmm.

I also understand that the DNA samples did not offer any proof of the crime, so more samples are being taken. If at first you do not succeed, try, try again. I am willing to bet this case has more twists than a belly dancer in a windstorm. This is not going away any time soon.

It would appear that the alibi's for the two players are able to hold at least some water. There are cell phone records, ATM records, and photos that would seem to indicate that the young men were not at the crime scene when the rape occurred. As a matter of fact, some (but by no means all) of the evidence the prosecution provided can be refuted by the digital photos taken at the party, providing they have not been altered.

Attorney Bill Cotter also stated that to his knowledge, both of the accused males have been suspended from Duke, although officials at Duke will not confirm or deny that statement. If Duke cannot confirm it, then why does Mr Cotter? Is this to work the sympathy angle?


David Crabtree has a good piece on the whole story.