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Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph

Duke lacrosse player Colin Finerty's parents are abandoning their silence. His father says he has passed a polygraph administered by a former FBI polygrapher and that he has "eyewitness testimony, phone records and receipts showing it was "impossible" for him to have committed the crimes."

The polygrapher came out of the interview room after administering the recent test and said, "'This boy is innocent. He's telling the truth,'" Kevin Finnerty said. "He passed with flying colors."

Finnerty's mother, Maryellen, said the accuser's photo identification of her son "was sort of a pin the tail on the donkey."

Finnerty's parents are speaking out against the advice of Colin's counsel. An interview with them by Dan Abrams was aired on the Today show Friday. [link here.]

Kevin Finnerty said he has declined in the past to publicly comment on the case or defend his son on the advice of legal counsel. The family decided to speak out after looking at the approximately 1,800 pages Nifong released to the defense.

"Having seen what is theoretically all that they have, all the DA has in this case, we realize that there is no case, there shouldn't be a case, and we know Collin is innocent," Kevin Finnerty said.

Now that Finnerty has gone public, his lawyers are confirming his account of the polygraph results.

The judge has reduced Finnerty's bail from $400,000 to $100,000, as he did last week for Reade Seligman.

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  • Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 04:23:06 PM EST
    beenaround - but if she did not declare anything on her tax returns, we can assume that she did not earn any money from these activities. After all, she has thus far been an honest and innocent victim.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#2)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 04:23:38 PM EST
    Sandance posted:
    IMHO - just caught up. I'm sorry, I didn't realize that expressed gratitude for your contributions was expected. I thought that the comment and the implied compliment would suffice. So thank you, and I apologize for the wrongful neglect.
    It wasn't expected at all, just appreciated. You didn't have to thank me again. I thought you all ready had with your post. That was a genuine "you're welcome," not a snarky one.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 04:24:54 PM EST
    beenaround - Thanks for the clarification. Everyone here seems to be arguing on different levels (with IMHO employing almost Cartesian skepticism).

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 04:41:14 PM EST
    Posted by inmyhumbleopinion July 1, 2006 03:47 PM cib posted: Somewhat Chunky: One of the best most astute posts I've seen on these threads. I'm surprised IMHO didn't pick up on it, since she is pretty obsessive about this case. Busy chasing the little IMHOrugrats around the couch, I suppose. I don't have rugrats to chase around the couch. I wish I did. I'm sure the men and women who read and comment here who do care for their little ones will appreciate that their doing so is your idea of fodder for an insult.
    Well, gee whiz golly, IMHO, perhaps you should have qualified your statement with "In my opinion, I'm sure that..." That was not meant as an insult- I actually found the mental picture rather cute and funny. Too bad you took offence at the funny part, and overlooked my REAL jab at you which involved Chunky noting something you had not. But hey, caring for kids takes time, and now that we know you have none -and I'll actually wish you luck with that b/c you "wish you did"- we don't know the reason you missed that discrepancy. Hey, I also called you "obsessed". If you want to get p*ssed at me, at least get pi**ed for what I did do, and not what you merely think I did.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 05:45:39 PM EST
    Newport - you have stated dissatisfaction with the lack of publicity that Collin's old school attorney has done. I have been suspecting that there is a grand poo-bah orchestrating the overall strategy. Is it more favorable to let the "facts" (in quotes for IMHO) that contradict the allegations out slowly, thereby allowing the potential jury pool to incrementally alter their initial perceptions toward what the defense team would like them to believe, or to deluge them with a torrent of contradictory "evidence" all at once and at an early stage? I wonder if a data dump might actuall be less effective. Does this make any sense?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#6)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 05:49:15 PM EST
    cib posted:
    That was not meant as an insult- I actually found the mental picture rather cute and funny. Too bad you took offence at the funny part, and overlooked my REAL jab at you which involved Chunky noting something you had not. But hey, caring for kids takes time, and now that we know you have none -and I'll actually wish you luck with that b/c you "wish you did"- we don't know the reason you missed that discrepancy. Hey, I also called you "obsessed". If you want to get p*ssed at me, at least get pi**ed for what I did do, and not what you merely think I did.
    I've answered the question of Kim looking Finnerty in the eye quite a while back, before SomewhatChunky's comment. You obviously don't have to be anywhere near the same height as another person to look them "right in the eyes." Have you ever looked a child right in the eyes? Did you have to get on your knees or all fours to do it? I've noticed that Collin is quite a bit taller than his father, but when they are seated they are shoulder to shoulder. Collin's height appears to be in his legs. He may have been seated when Kim looked him "right in the eyes." from Kim's handwritten statement:
    proceeded to the livingroom, led by Dan to do our show. There were about 20-25 young guys who were all sitting down.
    In the line up transcript the accuser mentions someone sitting in "the front row" while they were dancing. I wonder if Finnerty was sitting in the back row where he his height wouldn't be apparent and his long legs may have been obscured? Maybe all she could see was that skinny neck and baby face. Collin shoulder to shoulder with his father while seated. cib, I'm not pissed at you. Nothing posted about me on a blog has ever upset me. On the rugrats comment - I'll let the parents of small children decide if that was the first "cute and funny" comment you've ever posted about me, or if it was part of your "REAL jab."

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#7)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 05:59:38 PM EST
    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#8)
    by weezie on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:07:57 PM EST
    Thanks for the update on Duke's troubles of late, imho. Is there a particular point you are trying to make with your article reference?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:11:57 PM EST
    Oh, and Weezie, did you not like North Myrtle Beach? A bit tight, I know, but the night life was pretty good.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#10)
    by weezie on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:17:20 PM EST
    Sure Sundance, North Myrtle is a great party spot. I'm of the opinion that it isn't really a family type beach though. Of course, I may be assuming too much about what Newport is looking for. If it's funnel cakes and oyster shooters, North Myrtle rocks the heezy!

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#11)
    by cpinva on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:26:39 PM EST
    well, that's nice, but means nothing. since it can't be introduced at trial, who really cares? myself, i'm much more intrigued by the seemingly complete lack of anything even remotely resembling corroberating evidence in the 1800 pages of discovery material provided thus far. how do i know this? simple, if there were a smoking gun, we'd have heard about it already, from someone (i've not forgotten you IMHO!). that we haven't tells me, without a smidgeon of doubt, that it doesn't exist.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:48:32 PM EST
    Sundance- Leaking out information slowly is a very common PR strategy and I believe was specifically recommended to the family of that missing intern a couple of years ago. The way the news cycle works you'll get more extensive coverage if you give them a tidbit every week or so. Though I suspect the lawyers in this case aren't pursuing a well thought out PR strategy and are making it up as they go along. I'd venture that they've never had a case this weak that's going to trial so they are probably in new territory themselves.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:51:16 PM EST
    how do i know this? simple, if there were a smoking gun, we'd have heard about it already, from someone (i've not forgotten you IMHO!). that we haven't tells me, without a smidgeon of doubt, that it doesn't exist.
    It's not just that it doesn't exist. It's impossible to conceive of anything that could explain away all the discrepancies etc.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:52:25 PM EST
    cpinva - I think most posters here would agree wholeheartedly with you. I mean, really, when have you even heard of a case so in favor of the defendants (if all we've heard is true, or even partially true)? Someone a while ago said that the word on the legal street in Durham was that the defense was ready for anything Nidung had, and he knew it. The street seems to be proven more and more accurate as the days go by.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#15)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:54:42 PM EST
    weezie posted:
    Thanks for the update on Duke's troubles of late, imho. Is there a particular point you are trying to make with your article reference?
    Nope.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#16)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:55:39 PM EST
    SomewhatChunky posted:
    I'm sure a pro could enahnce this better than I, but that's what I see.
    Lawyers Claim Pictures Snapped by Partygoer Disprove Rape Allegations
    Sources associated with the lacrosse players legal team tell ABC News that they believe the photos to be authentic. They say it would be extremely difficult to falsify the time imprint and other recording data from the digital camera used to take the photos. They also cite corroborating evidence that includes a zoomed-in image of one player's wristwatch: The time on his watch matches the time of the digital imprint.
    Does this mean the photograher zoomed-in on a player's watch and took the photo, or the photo was enhanced to zoom-in on the watch? If they did have the photos enhanced, what photos were Thomas and Cheshire looking at when they made these claims? Attorney: Photos will clear Duke lacrosse players
    Durham attorney Bill Thomas said some of the photographs, taken when she arrived at the house, indicate the woman was injured before getting to the party March 13. They show extensive bruises and scrapes on her legs, especially around the knees, he said.
    Attorney: Party pics help players
    The photographs show the accuser has bruises and cuts on her arms, legs and feet," Cheshire said. "These are visible at the very start of the dance.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 06:57:42 PM EST
    thanks, banco. I keep wondering what the Clinton lawyer (what is his name, Bennett?) has been doing, since he was announced as the PR / damage control for the families. I was suspecting that he was playing puppetmaster, but you'd know better than I.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#18)
    by Lora on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:05:02 PM EST
    When hunting around for the photos of the AV at the party, I came across a "zoom-in" of the watch (sorry I didn't save the link) but it looked like a blur to me. Anyway, if the lawyers who have access to all their experts are saying things like there were extensive cuts and bruises, but folks here looking at the photos say it's all shadows and lighting, were the lawyers (and "reporters") a) mis-stating big time? or b) misinterpreting what they saw, because we can tell it's just shadows?, or c) right for once? We have this from the search warrant:
    Medical records and interviews...revealed the victim had signs, symptoms, and injuries consistent with being raped and sexually assaulted vaginally and anally. Furthermore the SANE nurse stated the injuries and her behavior were consistent with a traumatic experience.
    Was the "anally" part just made up then? What about the "injuries?" And "behavior?" fahrenam, Ever do a rape kit with a SANE nurse trainee? Does she work unsupervised or is there a supervisor that has to sign off? Also, if you followed my link to the article about recovering sperm up to 7 days later, you would see that the investigators were looking at sperm survival in different vaginal environments. Vaginal flora and sperm survival. Leppaluoto P.
    PIP: A study was undertaken to clarify the concept of coitus-induced change in vaginal flora. Instead, evidence was found on the relation between vaginal flora and sperm survival. The presence of spermatozoa was recorded in 300 Pap smears of menstruant women taken within 7 days of, and in the same menstrual cycle as, coitus...[etc]
    That's live sperm they're talking about. So sperm can live a lot longer than you think. If there really were no a*al injuries (and Hinan and Nifong and maybe the head nurse and the ESPN source somehow all mis-stated), what about the flexeril? Combined with the alcohol? Make it easier, no?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:19:26 PM EST
    I've answered the question of Kim looking Finnerty in the eye quite a while back, before SomewhatChunky's comment. You obviously don't have to be anywhere near the same height as another person to look them "right in the eyes." Have you ever looked a child right in the eyes? Did you have to get on your knees or all fours to do it? I've noticed that Collin is quite a bit taller than his father, but when they are seated they are shoulder to shoulder. Collin's height appears to be in his legs. He may have been seated when Kim looked him "right in the eyes." from Kim's handwritten statement: proceeded to the livingroom, led by Dan to do our show. There were about 20-25 young guys who were all sitting down. In the line up transcript the accuser mentions someone sitting in "the front row" while they were dancing. I wonder if Finnerty was sitting in the back row where he his height wouldn't be apparent and his long legs may have been obscured? Maybe all she could see was that skinny neck and baby face.
    Except that she called him the "little skinny one". Seemed rather sure of herself in her testimony. I'll give you that -as an isolated instance- your defense of Kim is plausible, as compared with some of the outlandish stuff you come up with to explain other discrepancies, etc. in the accuser's and Kim's stories. But in context of what we know about Kim's past conviction and her changing stories concerning what happened that night we can be sure she is not a very truthful witness. At best, this statment shows she is rather careless as she didn't bother to consider that he was sitting down (assuming you are correct) when she saw him and was so confidently making a judgment he was little and skinny.
    n the rugrats comment - I'll let the parents of small children decide if that was the first "cute and funny" comment you've ever posted about me, or if it was part of your "REAL jab."
    Who here thinks I hate parents of small children or small children themselves? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I think I know what I meant to convey and where my criticism was intended. Unlike this case, I don't need to read testimony or look into evidence to know the intentions of my own heart. My alleged jab about your "rugrats" was an attempt to humanize you. I won't make that mistake again. You are, after all, the one who plays semantical games while arguing over guilt or innocence in a case that will decide 3 young mens futures. I don't see much to admire in that type of behavior.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#20)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:26:44 PM EST
    imho wrote: I've answered the question of Kim looking Finnerty in the eye quite a while back, before SomewhatChunky's comment. You obviously don't have to be anywhere near the same height as another person to look them "right in the eyes." Have you ever looked a child right in the eyes? Did you have to get on your knees or all fours to do it? The difference, of course, is when I look at a child "right in the eyes" the child doesn't call me the skinny little one. Again imho tries to misdirect the conversation. It's not whether people of different heights can or can't look into other people's eyes, or right into their eyes or whathaveyou. It's whether Roberts really saw Finnerty. She called him the skinny little one and Finnerty is not little and apparently not so skinny either. I don't know how tall Roberts is, but my guess is she doesn't break six feet. If Finnerty's alibi is as good as claimed then Roberts didn't see him at all. Then we'll have the spectacle of imho and others looking through the roster to find body doubles for both Finnerty and Seligmann. Since the Roberts comment wasn't made in a statement to police but is on the public record, I don't know how much it could be used to impeach Roberts. Of course, depending on how things unfold, despite her attempts to moderate her story to help the AV, Roberts still is in position to impeach the AV. All pretty pathetic, including imho's little game here.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#21)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:30:27 PM EST
    Just as an aside, the more time I spend around imho the more I believe Skakel is probably innocent. You know, just from her fine work here.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:33:02 PM EST
    Sundance you are exactly right re incremental disclosure. Let the public digest one bit at a time. There probably is a lot of coordination with a grand poo-bah. Astute observation. As for me, you are correct again. The water here is too damn cold for me. Need a wet suit even in late August. Don't ever go in if you can believe that. I also have a fondness for coastal Carolina (Wrightsville?) and Myrtle Beach SC from the old days.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#23)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:36:57 PM EST
    Lora, the problem with any substance keeping the AV so loose for the rapists to achieve an undetectable double an*l rape is that the AV's story is that she struggled and fought against the rape. She can't be both so loose as to enable two men to an*lly rape her without a trace and at the same time be giving the fight of her life scratching and fighting off the three men. Try it yourself. Try to tense yourself up and act out an imaginary fight while loosening your sphincter. Impossible. You can't have both. Maybe you have nothing.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:37:02 PM EST
    imho wrote,
    I've noticed that Collin is quite a bit taller than his father, but when they are seated they are shoulder to shoulder. Collin's height appears to be in his legs. He may have been seated when Kim looked him "right in the eyes."
    Funny, I've noticed just the opposite. Why is that not surprising. Collin's height is all in his torso to my eye, and from Somewhat's links he is much taller than the father when seated. Who's right here?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:53:11 PM EST
    Lora, there are no injuries other than what is in the medical report. The medical report actually jibes fairly well with what the party pictures showed as far as cuts. The photo's were put out real early before anyone really knew what they were talking about and the lawyers and reporters no doubt played up the "bruising" angle. The early photo's were also not likely enhanced. I suspect that came much later after the experts got a hold of the pictures to zero in on the watch for authentication. I really don't understand your point. The defense has tried to get the medical report released to the public. There are no injuries reported in it other than what has been publically said.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#26)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 08:54:36 PM EST
    Well, if Finnerty's alibi is the Cosmic Cantina, and lots of people can put him there and his receipts put him there, then that only leaves Mr. 90%. Maybe Evans not only was wearing a fake mustache, maybe he also impersonated Seligmann and Finnerty at the same time. Now if it turns out that the evidence doesn't support the AV, no witnesses support the AV, she has given numerous different versions of events, and now if it turns out even with three ID sessions restricted to only lacrosse players so that she couldn't identify anyone other than lacrosse players she still manages to identify two people who weren't there when a rape could have possibly occurred (much less a half-hour rape), WHEN WILL imho AND THE OTHER AV ENABLERS GIVE UP?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#27)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:03:59 PM EST
    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#28)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:05:02 PM EST
    cib:
    Who here thinks I hate parents of small children or small children themselves? Anyone?
    I didn't say you hated parents of small children or small children themselves. You were making a jab at me, but missed your mark. Not to worry, I don't think anyone cares what you think of people who look after their little ones, but they might appreciate knowing that about you.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#29)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:09:09 PM EST
    Lora, yes many of us think the anally part is made up as is the rest of the case. Himan (and for everyone, yes it is Himan) did not even have the medical report when he made that statement in the March 23 and March 27 search warrant applications. The medical report was not even printed until March 30, I believe, and it wasn't picked up until April 5. There is no evidence that anyone saw it earlier than when the rape kit/medical report was printed and picked up. If they had the FA's consent it would have been in the form of a signed document and it apparently hasn't been produced. So it does not appear that there was a consent to avoid the formal subpoena procedure.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#30)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:10:19 PM EST
    Different camera angle, slouching, no dice, give it up. Go look at SomeWhat's pictures and then find something better to do with your time.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#31)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:27:26 PM EST
    Well, if Finnerty's alibi is the Cosmic Cantina, and lots of people can put him there and his receipts put him there, then that only leaves Mr. 90%. Maybe Evans not only was wearing a fake mustache, maybe he also impersonated Seligmann and Finnerty at the same time.
    Don't worry IMHO's main man Nifong can change the laws of space and time.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#32)
    by Alan on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:32:49 PM EST
    I'd contest the looking in the eye business as well. When you make two statements close together they need to be understood in context. If you describe someone as the 'skinny little one' and say you're looking them in the eye, the two things need to be read together. If they're significantly taller than you are, you're likely to notice that you're looking up at them. If they're seated you're likely to advert to that. Pittman does neither. The transcript supports my view. The actual words are:
    Roberts said Thursday she does not remember Seligmann's face, but said she recalls seeing Finnerty whom she described as the "little skinny one." "I was looking him right in the eyes," she said.
    'right in the eyes' is quite different from merely 'in the eyes'. 'right in the eyes' is up close and personal. Pittman is usually exceedingly good at providing background to her story. If there is some extra background, such as Finnerty being seated, it's surprising Pittman does not mention it. On a related issue, if you contract for an extended performance, and collect $400, and the performance lasts only a brief time because one of the performers is (for whatever reason) unable to continue, you're likely to get an argument about keeping the money. At risk of getting imhological, I wonder about the broomstick remark. It really does not strike me, in the context of a strip show, as all that offensive or all that unusual. It may be that the atmospherics of strip shows are different in the US and Australia, but at least in this hemisphere both performers and audience tend to exchange fairly gross remarks, remarks which in any other place would be deeply offensive. I'd guess Pittman's alleged remarks about the players' genitals were part of the same by-play. I suspect both sides said things to each other during the show that they would not normally say. Strip shows can be like that. Exotic dancers may well have more delicate sensibilities in Durham, but I think the idea they were shocked to the very core of their being by the broomstick remark at least bears testing. The same transcript tells us:
    The players' attorneys have said their clients were angry and demanded a refund when the women stopped dancing, but Roberts disputed that. "They ripped themselves off when they started hollering about a broomstick," she said. The accuser told police that the women were coaxed back into the house with an apology, at which point they were separated. That's when she said she was dragged into a bathroom and raped, beaten and choked for a half hour.
    The broomstick remark especially bears testing as it was Pittman's stated reason for ending the performance without returning part or all of the fee. I don't doubt the broomstick remark was made. I do doubt that either performer was deeply effected. None of this, of course, would excuse the racist vilification that is alleged.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#33)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:47:23 PM EST
    The whole "little skinny one" and "looking him in the eyes" is a red herring. At best it doesn't hurt her case at worst it weakens it even further. Her case is so weak we are down to arguing minutiae. Anyone else been amazed at how the defence and prosecution have flipped places in this case? Usully it's the defence that's left trying to chip away at the edges of a strong case in order to get reasonable doubt AV supporters now have to chip away to try and demonstrate there's reasonable doubt that a rape WASN'T committed.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#34)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 09:59:03 PM EST
    I didn't say you hated parents of small children or small children themselves. You were making a jab at me, but missed your mark. Not to worry, I don't think anyone cares what you think of people who look after their little ones, but they might appreciate knowing that about you.
    You are one sick puppy. I don't think anything bad about people caring for their little ones. Although I must say I envisoned you playing with these hypothetical little ones of yours if you want to get all imhological and parse my sentence. An innocent picture and you've turned it into something sinister. Congratulations, champ. You "win" again.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#35)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:10:16 PM EST
    cib, People will forgive just about anything. It's the cover up that garners disrespect.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#36)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:13:26 PM EST
    Alan,
    At risk of getting imhological, I wonder about the broomstick remark. It really does not strike me, in the context of a strip show, as all that offensive or all that unusual. It may be that the atmospherics of strip shows are different in the US and Australia, but at least in this hemisphere both performers and audience tend to exchange fairly gross remarks, remarks which in any other place would be deeply offensive. I'd guess Pittman's alleged remarks about the players' genitals were part of the same by-play.
    I can assure you they are not. There is a reason Australia is the closest country to America in custom and culture. Or, I guess for you, America is closest to America.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#37)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:14:03 PM EST
    meant America is closest to Australia.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#38)
    by Alan on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:17:31 PM EST
    I disagree about the importance of LKS. I don't think it says much about the case, but it certainly goes to Pittman's credit as a witness. This background detail just does not accord with the known facts. Pittman's accounts often appear persuasive precisely because she adds these small details. Unfortunately, as here, that seems to speak more to her powers of fabrication than observation.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#39)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:26:10 PM EST
    No one who saw Colin Finnerty would call him a "skinny little one," maybe a "tall skinny kid" but not what Robert's said. When I heard this I knew she never saw him at the party. She may have seen his picture later. A skinny little one would be someone like Pee Wee Herman.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#40)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:30:00 PM EST
    Imho does not have any little ones. There is no way she could find a man that would put up with her hate to produce children.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#41)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:43:58 PM EST
    Newport posted:
    Imho does not have any little ones. There is no way she could find a man that would put up with her hate to produce children.
    Does this mean the marriage proposal has been rescinded?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#42)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:49:18 PM EST
    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#43)
    by january on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 10:58:11 PM EST
    IMHO, please stop being b*tchy to cib. I didn't think his remark was insulting to you, and he's said it wasn't meant to be. If it didn't upset you, you sure could have fooled me with that gratuitously snarky "cover up" remark.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#44)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 11:06:44 PM EST
    january, It did not upset me. cib is the one who is upset. I thought the whole episode was amusing, especially you asking me to stop being b*tchy. hahaha.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#45)
    by Lora on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 11:12:57 PM EST
    Please everyone stop squabbling. If you're that bored, go to bed. (spoken as a mother of a former rugrat, heh.) Alan,
    At risk of getting imhological, I wonder about the broomstick remark. It really does not strike me, in the context of a strip show, as all that offensive or all that unusual.
    Mr. Defense Lawyer Cheshire himself said the dance was stopped due to an offensive remark. I don't think there is any doubt he was referring to the broomstick remark. The AV's version of it was that he said they would shove it up her *ss. Sorry I'm too tired to find the direct quote, but the a-word was used and that's very close. Anyway her version of it was more offensive than the one the defense gave. I'm off to bed, goodnight and behave!

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#46)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 11:19:08 PM EST
    Lora posted:
    Please everyone stop squabbling. If you're that bored, go to bed. (spoken as a mother of a former rugrat, heh.)
    O.K. Good night, Lora.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#47)
    by Lora on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 11:19:53 PM EST
    Heh one last post, for Bob, Fight part came first. Night.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#48)
    by Alan on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 11:24:57 PM EST
    Lora, Cheshire's statement does not alter my opinion because it was made before much was known about the actual events of that night. I agree with you about the squabbling. import and Newho should get a room. As far as the Clausen article goes:
    Ditto for Clausen's parents, who had worried about the stigma of being a Duke lacrosse player. They feared that their son would be "vilified" before he even stepped on campus. "We didn't want a part of that," Clausen's father, Jeff, said, "and that definitely played into our decision.
    Evidently both Clausen and his parents read this board. I'd advise my little one (who is not skinny) the same way. Their concern is stigma. If the defendants are exonerated, those who promoted the stigma without cause will have a lot to answer for.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#49)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Jul 01, 2006 at 11:58:42 PM EST
    O what a pity this technology was not already available and tested in court: Higher accuracy lie detection technology is coming to market Not to worry, it might just be available by the time the trial rolls around.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#50)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:26:35 AM EST
    to inmyhumbleopinion re Kim's description of Finnerty being little/skinny, you said
    proceeded to the livingroom, led by Dan to do our show. There were about 20-25 young guys who were all sitting down .
    Weren't some of these same guys out in the backyard talking to Kim while waiting for Precious to show up? Didn't Kim claim some of them were even p*ssing off the porch? Hopefully, they at least stood up fot that

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#51)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:35:38 AM EST
    to Bob In Pacifica your July 1, 2006 09:36 PM post to Lora re flexeril and the AV's ability to struggle was very good. Thanks

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#52)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:46:43 AM EST
    banco55 posted:
    Mike Tyson might have beat the rap if his lawyer wasn't so incompetent. Don King insisted that his lawyer represent Tyson. His lawyer dealt with civil stuff for king but had little to no criminal experience.
    This is not exactly correct, Tyson's lawyer, Vincent J. Fuller, was in fact an experienced criminal attorney. For example Fuller defended Hinckley (the man who shot Reagan). Fuller has said that Tyson might have been better off with a local Indiana lawyer but Tyson and King couldn't find one they liked. Also I read an account of the trial which said Fuller appeared to be terrified of Tyson which probably didn't go over too well with the jury. Tyson only served 3 years which I think is on the light end for people who go to trial and are convicted of rape. You hear of people exonerated by DNA evidence after serving much more time. Perhaps the date rape circumstances were considered somewhat mitigating.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#53)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:14:59 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    To James B. Shearer,
    Read this simple article it may help out the next time you speak out your ass.
    Here is a link which explains the difference between self defense which is legal and fighting which is not legal. It sounds to me like CF was fighting but perhaps he will be able to prove otherwise.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#54)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:32:04 AM EST
    lora posted:
    When hunting around for the photos of the AV at the party, I came across a "zoom-in" of the watch (sorry I didn't save the link) but it looked like a blur to me. Anyway, if the lawyers who have access to all their experts are saying things like there were extensive cuts and bruises, but folks here looking at the photos say it's all shadows and lighting, were the lawyers (and "reporters") a) mis-stating big time? or b) misinterpreting what they saw, because we can tell it's just shadows?, or c) right for once?
    I would speculate that the lawyers were engaging in some pre-emptive spin. They were worried that the medical exam would show injuries and they used some ambigious photos to claim the injuries were pre-existing. A little embarrassing if the injuries turn out to be non-existence but defense lawyers aren't known for having a lot of shame. Also defense lawyers don't get a lot of practice defending innocent clients so a few false steps are to be expected.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#55)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:33:57 AM EST
    to Lora One of the symptoms of Flexeril overdose is muscle stiffness Some of the less common symptoms are abnormal sensations, abnormal thoughts or dreams, aggressive behavior, agitation, confusion, disorientation, excitement, fainting, hallucinations, nervousness, paranoia, vague feeling of bodily discomfort, vertigo. Kim's descipes Precious as showing signs of intoxication, riled-up, irate, uncontrollable, yelling.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#56)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:47:37 AM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    ...It's also important to know that we are instructed to NOT do any alcohol or toxicology testing on rape victims, as it may be used against them in court. ...
    This sounds ethically wrong to me, the exam should be looking for evidence that rape did not occur as well as evidence that it did occur. Doesn't this fall in the category of deliberately not looking for possibly exonerating evidence which is supposed to be a no-no for prosecutors?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#57)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:02:23 AM EST
    lora posted:
    James B, you made good points about cases involving non-consensual sex. I will just add that in the majority of sexual assault cases (about 60% I believe) the perp is known to the victim. Also, from my class I learned that the perp may have all the character witnesses he can find, not so the victim.
    How often does the accused actually call character witnesses? I would be reluctant to do so as a defense lawyer as the risk reward ratio seems unfavorable. If the character witnesses say the accused is a good guy the jury won't be all that impressed but if cross examination brings out negative information about the accused from his own character witnesses this could be a complete disaster for the defense.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#58)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:24:31 AM EST
    You buy a lottery ticket with six numbers. Your ticket tears in half and you only have three numbers out of six on your ticket. The three numbers on your ticket match three of the winning six numbers. You cannot prove where you bought the ticket (like you can't prove where the DNA came from or how it got on the nail). You cannot prove what the other three numbers are. You do not win the lottery.
    You could still win. It would just depend on a few things. You'd have to know that the winning ticket had been issued. And you'd have to exclude all the other ticket purchasers from being the winner. That would be if you wanted to know for sure. Of course, jurors don't have to be "certain" in the same way as mathematicians do. A "reasonable" doubt is very different from a "possible" doubt. That's why probability theory still has a place in the courtroom, much as it may distress you. James Shearer wrote: You wrote:
    This sounds ethically wrong to me, the exam should be looking for evidence that rape did not occur as well as evidence that it did occur. Doesn't this fall in the category of deliberately not looking for possibly exonerating evidence which is supposed to be a no-no for prosecutors?
    The alternative would be reading rape victims their Miranda rights before proceeding with the examination. "First, do no harm" is easier said than done. Bob in Pacifica wrote:
    Just as an aside, the more time I spend around imho the more I believe Skakel is probably innocent. You know, just from her fine work here.
    Just as thinking the lacrosse players are innocent is a good starting point for thinking about this case, thinking Skakel is innocent is a good starting point for thinking about that case. The difference in thinking about the cases is that in that case, the prosecution has presented its evidence. So you can at least have some idea what the rebuttals are to the defense arguments.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#59)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:43:26 AM EST
    Lora, You have, I hope unintentionally, completely misrepresented what fahrenam said. He/she was not talking about how long spem can survive, as you have tried to twist it, but rather that it is possible to apporoximate, via simple microscopy, how long ago the sperm was deposited. fahrenam wrote:
    In terms of the comment about sex one week prior, usually pathologists can tell from the appearance of the sperm how long it has been around. My understanding about the sperm that was found in the acccuser's vagina was that it was approxiamtely 0-3 days old, based on the appearance. After a few days the head separates from the tail


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#60)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:03:50 AM EST
    ding7777 posted:
    Weren't some of these same guys out in the backyard talking to Kim while waiting for Precious to show up? Didn't Kim claim some of them were even p*ssing off the porch? Hopefully, they at least stood up fot that.
    Yales guys don't was their hands afterward, maybe Duke guys don't bother to stand up. Finnerty could have been one of the public urinators, but to follow the logic of some here, Kim would have to have been standing on the porch next to him to look him "right in the eyes."

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#61)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:05:47 AM EST
    Here's the link, Lora:
    victim: He said um he was going to stick a broomsticks up our @sses.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#62)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:08:17 AM EST
    OOPS! Typo - should read "up your @asses.
    victim: He said um he was going to stick a broomsticks up your @sses.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#63)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:12:06 AM EST
    noni mouse posted:
    He/she was not talking about how long spem can survive, as you have tried to twist it, but rather that it is possible to apporoximate, via simple microscopy, how long ago the sperm was deposited.
    We don't know there was sperm that was visble through microscopy. Dan Abrams may know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#64)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:18:39 AM EST
    James B. Shearer posted:
    Also I read an account of the trial which said Fuller appeared to be terrified of Tyson which probably didn't go over too well with the jury.
    hahaha. I believe it.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#65)
    by weezie on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:22:55 AM EST
    ding- "intoxication, riled-up, irate, uncontrollable, yelling" sounds like somebody coming off of a crack high. The booze may have originally masked the letdown and the Flex softened the same during the ride to the Kroger's.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#66)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:29:55 AM EST
    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#68)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:52:15 AM EST
    OOPS! You may have to be an Atlantic Monthly subscriber to access that link to the Stuart Taylor Jr. article. Here's another link to the same article.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#69)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:05:10 AM EST
    Well the mystery has been solved -- finally. IMHO is Orin Starn of Durham. I can state this with 90 percent cetainty. Thanks Imho for ending the mystery. What a joke your letter was!! The only reason arts etc. gets any funding at all is because of athletics. Take it away and the arts would be left to Orin holding bake sales for money. Few people know this but Duke competes in more Division 1 sports than just about any university its size. Name a Division 1 sport and Duke has a team many of which are women's teams. The funding for all this comes from -- you guessed it, the basketball program led by Coach K. Oh, and those athletes that make it through Duke, yeah they have it real easy fitting in their studies while attending practice every day and traveling to away games. It's an easy life. Nothing to competing in the classroom against students with twice the time to study and prepare that you have. Orin Starn, you sir, are an idiot.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#70)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:09:50 AM EST
    I can see how it could be alarming to two dancers surrounded by "20-25" "drunk" "excited" "aggressive" "boys." And offensive in the sense that the level of disrespect displayed could cause them to feel their safety is threatened.
    This is non-sequiter. Strippers cannot be disrespected. When one has no respect for oneself, how can one be disrespected. To be disrespected, you have to command at least some respect.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#71)
    by wumhenry on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:12:17 AM EST
    Alan wrote:
    I don't doubt the broomstick remark was made. I do doubt that either performer was deeply effected.
    According to Pittman's written statement it didn't bother the AV. Pittman said that she, Pittman, was the one who said the show is over and that the AV insisted on staying when Pittman walked out.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#72)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:14:19 AM EST
    Imho writes,
    Couldn't the millions of dollars a year Duke hands out in athletics scholarships be better spent on scholarships for deserving candidates from minority and other underrepresented groups based on academic merit and other achievements?
    They are. Who do you think gets the scholorships. Time to remove head from ass.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#73)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:15:49 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    Orin Starn, you sir, are an idiot.
    I sure miss Orinoco. Orin Starn

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#74)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:18:08 AM EST
    I wanted to respond to something from a couple of days ago. In my long and ongoing experience with academic scientists I am always impressed with how graciously they answer questions posed by non-scientists, and the exchange between Dr. Hallick and inmyhumbleopinion affirms that. see IMHO's question His answer to the question posed is correct, of course, arising from the fact that alleles appear with different frequencies within the human population. Indeed, an individual who has some combination of "less common" alleles may be more precisely identified based upon a 12 loci partial profile than an individual with more "common" alleles being compared with a full profile. That's all well and good, but the question is not pertinent to the sample found on/under (whatever) that fingernail. I think perhaps that asking the right question does not come easily in the absence of objectivity and understanding of laboratory science. I shall be amused if Nifong tries to say "partial match to Mr. Evans" if this fiasco ever gets that far. Clearly, Mr. Cheshire understands the significance of the sample being a mixture, and thereby just how little evidentiary value it has. It'll be for the expert witness to explain-they'll want to pick that person carefully. Personally, I would bet that the sample arrived by transfer. I base my opinion upon the fact that the defense implied as much and Abrams would have mentioned it, I think, if the sample looked as if it had gotten there by scratching. Sure that sounds lame, but I can show how Mr. Evans can be "not-excluded" without contributing to the sample at all.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#75)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:20:15 AM EST
    One of the gang of 88 no doubt -- a real loser, just look at his bio. Glad I was in engineering and didn't have to listen to blabbering fools like Starn. I never insisted you were a woman Starn, but a sex change is not out of the question. If it worked for cousin Jakki, maybe Starn/IMHO was a woman at one point.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#76)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:22:57 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    This is non-sequiter. Strippers cannot be disrespected. When one has no respect for oneself, how can one be disrespected. To be disrespected, you have to command at least some respect.
    What do you think of the people who hire them? Do you think they are exploiting the strippers' lack of self respect? Are they to be respected for doing so? Kim seemed to think Flannery was respectful to her.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#77)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:24:06 AM EST
    Starn looks like Duke's version of Ward Churchill, wonder if he claims to be an Indian too. Haverford college (never heard of it) and Berkeley, big surprise there. He should be fired as on the grouds that he is useless or worse.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#78)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:25:07 AM EST
    I don't know why that link doesn't take you to the post. This seems to: this one has IMHO's question Sorry.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#79)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:26:37 AM EST
    Dan Flannery is apparently a very nice guy but Precious still said he raped her so it just goes to show you . . .

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#80)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:27:32 AM EST
    cib wrote to imho: You are one sick puppy. Now you hate puppies? Just joking. You can't win the argument. Only a long stint of behavior therapy for the resident of imholand will work.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#81)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:30:11 AM EST
    Madison, Here is the post I was answering:
    beenaround posted:
    IMHO says:
    It is a fact that a "partial match" can yield better statistics than a full CODIS 13 loci match.
    Source please?
    Dr. Hallick confirmed that my statement was correct.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#82)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:32:48 AM EST
    Newport, Dude. You get it. Newport gets an A

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#83)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:33:24 AM EST
    Last night Lora wrote, regarding being both "uptight" in being in the fight of her life with three gang rapists, and then being so loose from the flexeril that she accommodated two an*l rapes without a trace, and apparently without mentioning it to the SANE nurse (wouldn't it be nice to have the whole medical report reprinted?): Fight part came first. Night. I can't argue with that logic. That would also explain why she was so relaxed she wanted to reenter the party to make more money. Or why she apparently fell asleep in the car. Or she just lied about the gang rape.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#84)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:37:25 AM EST
    Thanks Madison. It pays to learn something in college rather than debating about the nativist movement of the indiginous peoples of Peru and Bolivia and how they were oppressed by "the MAN."

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#85)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:37:30 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    Haverford college (never heard of it) and Berkeley, big surprise there.
    Ph.D. from Stanford University? Never heard of it. hahaha.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#86)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:44:54 AM EST
    IMHO: I did make a link to the post directly eventually. It seems you missed the point I was making about your point, which is that you asked a question that, while interesting, does not bear upon the case. I suggested that this might be because you either ignore the relevant data because of bias or fail to understand its significance. The latter is nothing to be ashamed of, and I am willing to help correct any misunderstanding. Stay tuned. Oh, and thank you for correcting me on CF's curfew issue. I did not realize that the curfew was not part of his agreement in addition to the community service. Is the only reason then he is now facing an actual trial in DC that he was arrested in NC on these charges?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#87)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:45:47 AM EST
    I don't put much stock in where someone got a Ph.D. from, nor do I put much stock in Ph.D.'s in particular. All a Ph.D. proves is that someone was so interested in some tiny issue that no one else was remotely interested in that they researched the issue and wrote a long paper about it.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#88)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:49:54 AM EST
    IMHO wrote:
    Ph.D. from Stanford University? Never heard of it.
    Well, I spent six years there. I assure you it is real.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#89)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:51:48 AM EST
    PB came back and commented on a lotto analogy I made a few days ago when comparing a partial match of numbers with a partial DNA match: You could still win. It would just depend on a few things. You'd have to know that the winning ticket had been issued. And you'd have to exclude all the other ticket purchasers from being the winner. That would be if you wanted to know for sure. Of course, jurors don't have to be "certain" in the same way as mathematicians do. A "reasonable" doubt is very different from a "possible" doubt. That's why probability theory still has a place in the courtroom, much as it may distress you. For ex: You'd have to know the winning ticket had been issued. If you mean that there was actually a rape, no one knows that. There is no evidence for that. There is no way even to prove that DNA of the resident of a house found in a garbage can in a house proves he participated in a gang rape where there are no witnesses, no evidence, no nothing. Evidence of living in a house is not evidence of a gang rape. Sorry. No winner. And you'd have to exclude all the other ticket purchasers from being the winner. But since we don't know all the people and all the DNA that came in contact with that nail all other potential DNA matches are not excluded. For example, there was no DNA testing for all the customers the AV may have served over the eight days prior to the party (eight days being the length of time DNA survives in the AV's purview). Since DNA has been extracted from things thousands of years old, it's possible that there is DNA in that garbage can from people visiting the Buchanan house months prior to the party. So PB needs to get cracking to eliminate all possible matches before next spring. Of course, jurors don't have to be "certain" in the same way as mathematicians do. When reason escapes PB, she falls back on the jury still being able to convict on faulty evidence. And it's true. Twelve PB's would probably convict despite the evidence. It has nothing to do with whether or not a partial match is a match. A partial match isn't a match. But her point is true. Prejudiced, angry, fearful juries can send innocent people to jail. The Scottsboro Boys went to jail. The jury didn't even need DNA. Or common sense. So if PB's point is that despite the evidence a jury might convict she is right. That's why a lot of people would like this case dismissed: to keep this case out of the hands of the likes of PB.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#90)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:54:15 AM EST
    And I have the highest respect for Stanford university as well. I love Stanford university and their medical program and hospital. Stanford and Duke are very similar in that they combine athletics at the highest level with academics at the highest level.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#91)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:00:04 AM EST
    ...Prejudiced, angry, fearful juries can send innocent people to jail. So if PB's point is that despite the evidence a jury might convict she is right. That's why a lot of people would like this case dismissed: to keep this case out of the hands of the likes of PB.
    You can count me among the group who wants to see it dismissed. I find this affair so maddening just because there is no mechanism to get it dismissed before it goes to trial.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#92)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:04:14 AM EST
    Don't forget imhoStarn as a potential juror either.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#93)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:17:09 AM EST
    Hey Newport, If you were wondering, my response was to IMHO. I wasn't offended by what you wrote. I have worked for an individual whose highest degree was a B.A.; he is an intelligent, enegetic, creative scientist who really understands his field of research, and I am proud of the work I did in that group. I will add that I know a large number of Ph.D.'s for whom I have tremendous respect, and I would say an equal number for whom I hold precious little. Earning a degree is a terrific accomplishment, of course, but doing so doesn't compensate for being a jerk. As they say, you can't polish a turd.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#94)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:28:35 AM EST
    I'd vote to lay off IMHO with the personal attacks. So far as I've read she hasn't directed any nasty comments towards anyone. By and large she has restricted herself to the data surrounding the case. You may not like what you believe to be her conclusions, but so what. I would also argue that without differing points of view this would all be pretty boring.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#95)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:33:48 AM EST
    Madison - well, you can polish one, but it doesn't really help the appearance. Also, I believe IMHO's Stanford comment was facetious. Newport - engineering? Now I know why I understand your posts and logic so well. All - at the risk of tarnishing my reputation (haha), in my experience those sort of, um, off-color comments during strip shows, in private or clubs, is not frequent, but is still rather common. They are almost expected and are generally not threatening. If the lax player had made the comment in a threatening manner, the other guys would berate him for being a jerk. I'm certain it was made in an attempt to be grossly funny. Newport - respectfully disagree with your comments re: strippers and respect. My impression lately is that a lot of the younger strippers today don't consider it all that big of a deal to strip for pretty good earnings, and their friends do not look down on them for it. Of course, the AV appears to have ample other problems and issues, besides extending into prostitution, so this particular stripper probably has very little self-respect.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#96)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:34:52 AM EST
    Madison posted:
    Is the only reason then he [Finnerty] is now facing an actual trial in DC that he was arrested in NC on these charges?
    Yes. His codefendants' deals were not revoked, but inexplicably, they were also put on the 9 p.m. - 6 a.m. curfew and have to avoid places serving alocohol (even private residences). My question to Dr. Hallick was strictly to answer beenaround questioning the validity of that specific claim. I agree it is not revelant to David Evans's "partial match," but if the jurors are allowed to hear about that DNA evidence, it could impress them that, reportedly [Cheshire has stated otherwise], of all the players tested only Evans [the scratchee?] could not be excluded.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#97)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:43:39 AM EST
    I agree with IMHO on the potential impact on an unsophisticated jury. If Nidung presents it as a "partial match" to Evans, they might not understand the defense's attempts to discredit this via scientific or statistical arguments and, hence, totally discount it. Of course, there's still the 90% certainty, the moustache, the lack of injury and the wildly varying versions.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#98)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:46:03 AM EST
    SomewhatChunky posted:
    If the lax player had made the comment in a threatening manner, the other guys would berate him for being a jerk. I'm certain it was made in an attempt to be grossly funny.
    I don't think it was a threat, I doubt Kim thought it was a threat, but I can see how a woman in that situation could feel threatened by the atmosphere in which that type of joke is told or the atmosphere created by that type of joke being told. It may have been her indication that things could rapidly get out of hand. SomewhatChunky posted:
    Newport - respectfully disagree with your comments re: strippers and respect. My impression lately is that a lot of the younger strippers today don't consider it all that big of a deal to strip for pretty good earnings, and their friends do not look down on them for it. Of course, the AV appears to have ample other problems and issues, besides extending into prostitution, so this particular stripper probably has very little self-respect.
    Hey? How come no one ever respectfully disagrees with my comments? I'm not even a stripper! According to someone who used to post here, even prostitutes garner respect from others. I believe him. I don't know anyone that claims to be a prostitute, but I wouldn't disrespect them for that reason.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#99)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:57:33 AM EST
    david_in_ct posted:
    I'd vote to lay off IMHO with the personal attacks. So far as I've read she hasn't directed any nasty comments towards anyone. By and large she has restricted herself to the data surrounding the case. You may not like what you believe to be her conclusions, but so what. I would also argue that without differing points of view this would all be pretty boring.
    Thank you, david, but I don't mind any of the personal attacks. Newport had me literally laughing out loud earlier. I won't be chased off. If I leave on my own accord it will be from boredom.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#100)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:03:51 AM EST
    IMHO Wrote,
    SomewhatChunky posted: If the lax player had made the comment in a threatening manner,.....
    I did? Maybe you should provide a source, as you are wrong here. Don't think I posted the second quote either. Quite sure of it in fact. Sound's like Sundance's writing to me. I do think the whole broomstick thing has been blown way out of proportion. This wasn't the opera. Similiar events I have attended in the past have at times involved crude remarks -often in both directions. It's a sex show after all. Kim could have asked the guys to tone it down. I have not heard any mention that she attempted that. Instead, the strippers decided unilaterally the show as over and the $800 was theirs to keep. I think with a drunk AV and the show not going well Kim saw a chance for a quick score, an easy exit and took it. My experience with prostitutes (not as a client, but in college days economic considerations forced me to live in a...place I wouldn't chose today) was that they were often crude, could insult/heckle you with the best of them, and that they weren't shy. Nor do they have a great reputation for being honest. If you ever decide to hire them as strippers, make sure you check that what was in the room where they change is there before they leave. Before IMHO points out that we just don't know if the above remarks apply to the women in this case, I'll agree with that. Although it seems to be PC to overlook it in this case when one describes the hardworking mother who is studying at NCCU, stripping is legal. Prostitution is not.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#101)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:10:33 AM EST
    What is a partial match? A DNA sample is obtained and processed, i.e., chemically "chopped" in a predictable manner and then "run" on an electrophoresis gel, the DNA fragments separating from one another according to physical properties of mass and charge. The final result is a series of "bands" which indicate where the fragments have deposited on the gel. In the USA the labs look at 13 loci (places) which are actually from non-coding (i.e., not genes) areas. A person has two alleles (variants) at each locus, one from mom, one from dad. We can simplify for the sake of demonstration by limiting ourselves to one allele at each of five loci. We will use letters to represent alleles (as per Photios and Newport). Say we have a fellow whose full profile in this scheme is EVANS. If the sample we know to be from EVANS were to degrade from moisture, oxygen and time, we could get one of many results (that depend on what exactly degraded), such as N, EVAS, AN, EANS, etc. These are partial profiles. A partial profile like those above generated by an unknown sample from a single source may be used to determine that EVANS is a partial match to the unknown, with a degree of confidence determined largely, but not entirely (see Hallick's answer to IMHO), by the number of alleles that match. A partial match is "partial" only because some data is missing; but in order for the sample to be a partial match to a person, the person must match at every single allele found in the partial profile. For example, EVIAN could be a partial match to many of the possible partial profiles generated above, but he will be excluded from others. Important: Only when the DNA sample comes from a single person, whether or not his or her identity is known, can one generate a profile, partial or complete. I will show why. As the fingernail DNA does not come from a single person, we are stuck with a thorny problem. It is the "inverse problem."

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#102)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:10:35 AM EST
    imho: glad you are immune and can laugh, keeps the blood pressure down. Speaking of which, its time to move my butt to the gym.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#103)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:32:35 AM EST
    How do you know if the DNA derives from more than one source? You sure can't tell by looking at it. When the sample is run, the sign that the sample is a mixture would be the presence of more than two alleles in at least one locus, whether the sample is degraded or intact. It is immediately obvious that the sample must derive from at least two people, yes? If you mixed up a fresh sample of two DNA sources you would find four alleles at each locus (or material equivalent to four in the case of an allele held in common). The "inverse" problem is, now that you have a gel with four alleles at each locus, without knowing what you put in the mixture, how are you going to assign alleles back to the two individuals? There is no way to reconstruct the correct distribution of alleles so as to generate DNA profiles. Really, there is no signal on the gel to help you, all the DNA fragments look much the same. Without a profile, there is nothing to which to make a match, partial or complete. Such a sample provides exclusionary evidence only. One is excluded if not a single allele present in the mixed sample is present in a person's profile. If even one allele in a person's profile is present in the mixed sample, that person is not excluded from being a source. What is really interesting though is that there are so many ways to be "not excluded" without actually being one of the sources in the mixture.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#104)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:38:39 AM EST
    imho asks: What do you think of the people who hire them? Do you think they are exploiting the strippers' lack of self respect? Are they to be respected for doing so? Exploitation involving sex is a curious topic to broach. Women (and men, for that matter) who end up in the sex industry generally have self-esteem issues. Is hiring a stripper to do what one's girlfriend or mother won't do exploitation? Well, it was a business arrangement. At some level every job requires someone to do something that he or she otherwise wouldn't do except for the money. Bunny Hole Productions didn't hold a gun to the AV's head to get her to work for them. You could argue that a society that allows people to be damaged with such a lack of self-esteem that they are driven to sex industries is an exploitive society. On the other hand, you can say that a society that bifurcates a woman's sexuality from proper society and exaggerates it in shady improper areas creates an atmosphere of exploitation of women and unrealistic expectations of sexuality generally. Should we hold the young men in less esteem because they hired women to act out sexual fantasies that generally would not have availed themselves to them in proper society? Or should we condemn the society that prevents our wives, girlfriends, sisters and mothers from freely stripping whenever they have the need to express their sexuality in a public manner? I'm sorry, what was the question?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#105)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:39:31 AM EST
    Madison said:
    IMHO wrote:
    Ph.D. from Stanford University? Never heard of it.
    Well, I spent six years there. I assure you it is real.
    A lot of the east Asian and mixed Asian kids in my daughter's senior year (including her) felt that Stanford had an anti-Asian bias in its acceptance criteria. So, I wonder if there was an Asian stripper somewhere in Palo Alto ... Nah, I doubt that such a thing exists. BTW, I think that many of the STRs used for profiles, while not being on coding genes are actually on promoters and such, like, say 5HTTPLR.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#106)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:42:40 AM EST
    SomewhatChunky, Oh, sorry. Yes, it was Sundance I was quoting. SomewhatChunky actually did post this:
    Instead, the strippers decided unilaterally the show as over and the $800 was theirs to keep. I think with a drunk AV and the show not going well Kim saw a chance for a quick score, an easy exit and took it.
    I would agree that may be true. I also agree with her argument that they ripped themselves off when they brought out the broom. They gave her an out - she took it. SomewhatChunky posted:
    Although it seems to be PC to overlook it in this case when one describes the hardworking mother who is studying at NCCU, stripping is legal. Prostitution is not.
    uh, neither is underage drinking which doesn't seem to offend many here - including me. If you want to get into the morality of prostitution you are going to have to do better than the fact that it is illegal. Do you object to prostitution on other grounds?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#107)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:43:14 AM EST
    Bob - good post with a funny ending! Madison - good primer on DNA. My questions are 1) would a jury composed of individuals with modest educational levels understand this, and 2) would a competent judge allow the evidence to even be presented or pre-emptively warn the DA NOT to present it as a "partial match"?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#108)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:46:34 AM EST
    Madison, Would it be correct to say that the more alleles in the mix, the more people would be excluded? I believe the lab said that 17 out of people out of 3156 in it's database were also not excluded (may have the numbers wrong, but they're close). Can one extrapolate that ratio to the population at large or would that be flawed given the fact that the lab's database might not be a random sampling. Or do you just need more data? Do races have different allele? Specificially, if you had a database from all blacks, would they always be excluded from a partial match with a caucasian's DNA? Thanks.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#109)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:59:21 AM EST
    IMHO Posted
    If you want to get into the morality of prostitution you are going to have to do better than the fact that it is illegal.
    Why is that? Is there some test here I am failing? Are you once again appointing yourself the grand arbitrator of all that is valid or not? Whether I can convince you or not matters little to me. I don't equate prostitution with underage drinking. I think there is a wide spectrum of illegal activity and yes I think some are worse than others. If my neighborhood has a bunch of underage kids drinking and hanging out at the local store, someone might ask the cops to deal with. Probably they'd just go away. If there were a bunch of prostitutes hanging out, there be a large outcry to deal with the "problem." I'd agree with that.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#110)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:05:12 AM EST
    It's 14 of 3561

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#111)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:07:32 AM EST
    SomeWhatChunky asks:
    Do races have different allele? Specificially, if you had a database from all blacks, would they always be excluded from a partial match with a caucasian's DNA?
    Ohhh, boy, have you opened Pandora's box. Aren't you aware of the black-specific heart-attack medicine recently approved by the FDA? The fact that we can reliably detect population substructure by looking at a large enough collection of SNPs etc gives lie to the modern denial of the existance of race. Search for recent papers by Moysis, Lahn, and so on. Indeed, I think someone at Stanford is at the forefront of rejecting Lewontin's fallacy.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#112)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:12:14 AM EST
    A Thought Experiment Let's bring back EVANS and EVIAN, and invite IFONG, WRONG, HIMAN, SPITE, IMHOS and SHAME to the party. We come into possession of a mixed DNA sample from IFONG and SPITE, with whom IFONG has a close association. After the DNA degrades we run the sample and obtain (out of many possibilities let's just pick one) these alleles: NOISE. EVANS is not excluded from being a source of the sample, even though he isn't a source. Likewise, we obtain the mixed biological sample resulting when HIMAN gets in bed with SHAME. Perhaps degradation leads to the alleles IMH being identified: this excludes EVANS as a source. But if the degradation leads to the alleles SHAM being discovered, EVANS cannot be excluded as a source in the mixture. Why can't we tell what the (partial) profiles were before the mixing? With NOISE we have choices for profiles like: EO and NIS, EN and ISO, ENSO and I, and the list goes on. We can't determine which is right by guessing. Even if we know the profiles of the source, while we can say that IFONG contributes NO and SPITE contributes SE, we can't tell whence I derives. The problem is even more difficult with HIMAN and SHAME. Since we cannot reconstruct profiles, partial or complete, we have nothing to match to. It is irresponsible to use the mixed DNA from the fingernail as evidence of anything other than that the accuser wore fake fingernails. I was going to do one more example but I opt not to, based upon what I'm reading today.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#113)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:12:45 AM EST
    Somewhat Chunky - agreed, but I would point out the public nuisance factor. Underaged drinking typically goes on in a private environment (frat house, lax house, dorm room) and, aside from the noise that would be present whether the drinkers were underage or not, does not annoy the public at large (actually thrills the liquor store owners). Prostitution, aside from massage parlors and other fronts, requires public exposure to solicit the clientele, hence the public annoyance.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#114)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:13:05 AM EST
    Newport, You can't disrespect a stripper? Because they don't respect themselves? Do you mean that no self-respecting woman would be a stripper? Do you mean that it's quite all right to insult/degrade a stripper? What, they won't feel it like non-stripping women would? I hope you re-think that, Newport. That's awfully close to "She's just a stripper," which is a short step away from saying strippers deserve whatever they get.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#115)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:22:07 AM EST
    Madison - Brilliant.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#116)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:23:10 AM EST
    I have no problem opening Pandora's box. I'd rather have a case like this decided by facts, not the PC wisdom of the day. I am not aware of the black-specific heart attack medicine. If there is a genetic difference between the races that enables the development of a medicine that helps a specific group, I'm all for it. I think most would agree. My questions to Madison were an effort to understand more completely the DNA exclusion issue. Imagine two databases that identified people by skin color and other factors. Database A has 3156 white entries. Database B has 3156 entries, of which only 14 are white. The rest are black. We're told that Evans could be excluded from either database. Nor could 14 people be excluded based upon the factors specific to Evans. In case A, we learn something about the other factors. In case B we don't.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#117)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:26:41 AM EST
    Madison, My simple post was put up before I read your masterpiece. I get it. Thanks.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#118)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:29:48 AM EST
    As far as Cheshire's remark that an offensive remark ended the dance being made early on when the facts were not known (Alan), and that the pictures of the AV were full of artfacts that only looked like bruises, despite what the defense lawyers said who offered them as exculpatory evidence, it would seem that Cheshire's and the other defense lawyers' credibility about the facts of the case is zip.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#119)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:31:02 AM EST
    To beenaround: I can't speak to the bias issue, but I could believe it since private colleges and universities are into "social engineering." I didn't attend Stanford as an undergraduate either; I completed my bachelor's degree at an institution in southern CA, too small a place for me to feel comfortable naming here.
    BTW, I think that many of the STRs used for profiles, while not being on coding genes are actually on promoters and such, like, say 5HTTPLR.
    Did I mention that I'm a chemist, not a geneticist? I have run loads of gels, but other than that I am relying on knowledge gained in graduate courses taken long ago, Scientific American articles, and interactions with colleagues who have worked with DNA, none of them as criminologists. I can think logically, though, and that's a plus. I didn't know what 5HTTPLR was until you just told me it's a promoter. Please, correct me if you see that I'm making mistakes in my comments. I don't want to pass off my understanding of things as true if it is not.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#120)
    by january on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:31:10 AM EST
    IMHO, apologies if you didn't intend to be b*tchy to cib before. You know your intent better than I, of course. (Cib knows his intent too, though, I would think.) Regardless, it was the "cover-up" crack that got to me. Way too close to the mythical "blue wall" etc. I'm still touchy about that. My bad.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#121)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:39:34 AM EST
    Lora posted:
    it would seem that Cheshire's and the other defense lawyers' credibility about the facts of the case is zip.
    I disagree with Lora. I would expect them to "spin" things to their advantage. I'd interpret what they say accordingly. But... They know far more than we do -- they get to talk frankly with people who were there. Plus they have the discovery and whatever facts they've discovered in their own investigation. They also know that eventually they may have to argue this for real in front of a judge and jury. Unlike any of us. That would make me think very carefully about what I say publicly.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#122)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:02:46 PM EST
    january posted:
    Regardless, it was the "cover-up" crack that got to me. Way too close to the mythical "blue wall" etc. I'm still touchy about that. My bad.
    Don't get me going on that "mythical 'blue wall.'";)

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#123)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:04:09 PM EST
    Sundance:
    I agree with IMHO on the potential impact on an unsophisticated jury. If Nidung presents it as a "partial match" to Evans, they might not understand the defense's attempts to discredit this via scientific or statistical arguments and, hence, totally discount it.
    If I were the defense I would not at all try to discredit the partial match. I would stipulate immediately that the DNA most likely did come from Evans and reduce the prosecutions 'show' to about 30 seconds. The last thing the defense should try to do in this case is to play hard on the long shots. If the lab's database shows occurance of this particular allele pattern represented in abount .004 of the population why fight that? Unsophisticated or not a jury will probably come to the conclusion that the DNA was his (I would, based on the numbers given and guessing that a database of 3500 people would represent a reasonable genetic cross section of the population). If you fight this point (where you have no good scientific argument) the jury might well take the tack that your defense is weak and that you need to 'pull one out the air'. All the defense needs to do is say 'gee, that's surprising, DNA from a garbage can in my clients bathroom, who would'a thunk it'. Then go about the business of destroying all the other prosecution 'evidence' which seems to rest entirely on the AV's many conflicting statements, never mind all the alibis.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#124)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:05:57 PM EST
    Madison's post is definitive. Mix = no match & no partial match either. Let's hear no more of this topic.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#125)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:14:15 PM EST
    Photios posted:
    Madison's post is definitive. Mix = no match & no partial match either. Let's hear no more of this topic.
    It comes down to this: of the 46 players tested the only one who could not be excluded as the source for the DNA found on the nail is the one the accuser may indentify as the person she scratched while wearing the nails that broke off in the bathroom.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#126)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:16:02 PM EST
    People have asked me a few questions. I have never performed a rape exam with a SANE trainee, so I'm not sure of the procedure involved; however, in general, in medical situations if someone is a trainee in any field their work must be supervised or signed off on. In this case I'm not sure if that would be done by a fully trained SANE nurse or the attending physician in the ER that night. When SANE nurses are used, the physicians in the ER still do a general physical exam, but not a genital exam, as repeated genital exams are considered traumatic for rape victims. In terms of not doing toxicology testing, that has always bothered me as well, but it's the general policy unless it is absolutely necessary for the health of the apparent victim to know if she is drunk/medicated. An important point in the flexeril/alcohol debate. This combination certainly could make someone very relaxed and "out of it," enough to relax during a rape. But then two other points would be important. One, the victim would not have been able to fight back and two, you certainly couldn't trust any memories or identification from that night. So that puts the accuser's defenders in a bind. She was either with it enough during the rape to clearly remember her attackers and fight back, but then we would expect signs of rape on medical exam. OR she was drugged and didn't fight back, in which case you might not find signs of struggle. But in that case, her Id of the alleged attackers is very suspect.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#127)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:22:59 PM EST
    James B, About character witnesses...I didn't hear facts or stats, but my understanding was that the defense routinely calls character witnesses for the alleged perps. I guess we may find out whether they will or not in this case. noni mouse, fahrenam was saying that sperm couldn't live more than 3 days. I was saying that is not so, by quoting from my article. I believe he was saying that because they were intact sperm that they couldn't have been more than 3 days old. I hope he'll correct me if I was wrong in my interpretation of his post. In any case, his contention that sperm can't live more than three days is wrong according to this article:
    First, a study was conducted by Silverman and Silverman in 1975 with a total of 675 women in 1975 (citation 2). Analysis revealed that "spermatozoa were found irregularly after the seventh and rarely after the tenth postcoital day." In that article, the authors also summarized other research documenting the presence of motile spermatazoa in the vagina for a period of time ranging from 3 hours (citation 3) to 24 hours (citation 4) following intercourse, and in the cervix from 110 hours (citation 5) to 7 days (citation 6) afterward. The authors even cited research reporting nonmotile spermatozoa in the cervix for 12 days (citation 7) and in the vagina for lengths of time varying from 14 hours to 17 days (citation 7-12). Finally, the authors cite anecdotal reports of spermatozoa persisting "in the vaginas of rape-murder victims for 70 days (citation 5) and three to four months" (citation 13). Taken together, this research strongly suggests that the "72-hour rule" may dramatically underestimate how long evidence of spermatazoa could potentially be recovered from the body of a sexual assault victim.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#128)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:23:54 PM EST
    Photios:
    Madison's post is definitive. Mix = no match & no partial match either. Let's hear no more of this topic.
    Let's do another thought experiment. Suppose there is an allele which codes for as far as we know a unique trait, say 22 fingers on the right hand. Let's suppose that we have mixture of DNA which contains alleles from two people. Within the mixture we find the code for 22 fingers along with a 5 finger code. I would say that out of all the people in the world have narrowed it down to the person with 22 fingers and some other person whom we do not know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#129)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:34:54 PM EST
    Lora, you misunderstood my post. I said sperm didn't LIVE past 3 days in the vagina, meaning alive and motile. Sperm can be found and identified in the the vagina for up to a week after intercourse, as I said in my orginal post, but past about three days they are DEAD. And the source of the sperm, as in the DNA, can be usually be identified, even if the sperm are dead. Can an occasional sperm live a little longer than the others? Sure, but we're talking about rare findings. Also, we were told in this case that the sperm was found within the vagina, not within the cervix, so the data you have quoted supports my earlier claim. Anyway, the only that's truly relevant about this sperm, in my opinion, is that it didn't match any of the players...

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#130)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:47:45 PM EST
    imho (master of timelines) Do you know if the lab results which 'implicated' Evans came back before or after the AV 'identified' him. If the results came back before the ID then given the 'oddities' of the line-up procedure I would suspect that the AV may have had some help by Nifong et al.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#131)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 12:53:23 PM EST
    The posters here are wrong to disparage IMHO. Her detailed research has provided us the clues to understand the events of that night. However, we have been too blind--as a result of our preconceptions or bias--to understand how to put the pieces together. Many of us have not recognized her contributions as the keys to the truth. IMHO has reminded us repeatedly that Nifong may have evidence that he has not yet shared with the defense. Based on her clues, I believe that I have discovered this evidence that will seal the case for the prosecution and explain his supreme confidence. Nifong has a secret witness who will detail the events of that night. The secret witness is.............Kim Roberts. The AV clearly was disoriented the night of the attack. Her inconsistent stories are the merely result of the effect of the trauma from the attack and the alcohol and drugs that she consumed. Kim's testimony will make these inconsistencies (including any possible inconsistencies regarding the number of attackers and the number of dancers) unimportant and provide a clear picture of the events. Some of the AV's inconsistent stories contained little snippets of truth. Only Nifong realized that Kim did assist the players in the attack. Her early characterization of the attack as a "cr*ck" was designed merely to deflect suspicion from her role in the attack. With his skillful interrogation, Nifong was able to break Kim's resistance. Based on a promise of immunity from prosecution for the felonies she committed that night (and an agreement to reduce bail on the probation violation she was facing), Kim agreed to turn state's evidence. IMHO has reminded us repeatedly that we have underestimated Nifong's capabilities. This aspect of the case clearly demonstrates IMHO's wisdom. Kim and the players planned the attack before the AV arrived. Kim instructed the players to reset their watches, and with her expertise she changed the times on each of the cameras and cell phones to avoid detection. For this reason, Nifong realized the defense's timeline was incorrect. He had Kim's testimony. Kim brought the date rape drug and suggested that the players use it on the AV. This was the reason that she did not sip her drink--she was concerned that her accomplices may have inadvertently switched the drinks. This also explains Nifong's confidence in discussing the date rape drug without the results of a toxicology exam. Kim had provided the evidence. At Kim's suggestion, the players agreed to make the "broomstick" remark as the signal to end the dance and begin the attack. Kim's reaction created the commotion which provided the opportunity for the attackers. Kim was not in the bathroom when she assisted the players. She helped the players push the AV in the bathroom and remained on the other side of the door as IMHO has repeatedly reminded us. She provided critical assistance in other ways. Kim provided each of the players with fake mustaches. Finnerty and Seligmann, as inexperienced sophomores, put theirs on incorrectly, and they fell off during the attack. Evans, a senior, was more experienced. Again, this is the reason that Nifong was not concerned when the AV indicated in the lineup that Evans had a mustache that night. Kim's testimony will confirm that he wore a fake mustache. Kim provided the condoms to the assailants. She gave Seligmann a defective condom. In this way, Kim realized that the AV would mistakenly conclude that the attackers had not used condoms. For this reason, Nifong was able to discuss so confidently his view that condoms may have been used in spite of the AV's statement to the contrary. Again, Kim provided the evidence. Kim agreed to use Seligmann's cell phone during the attack to repeatedly call his girlfriend and establish an alibi. Again, Kim provided this evidence. IMHO has reminded us repeatedly that Seligmann may not have made the calls on his phone. The problems with the AV's identification of the assailants are unimportant. The alleged flaws with the line up(s) do not matter. Kim was able to identify her accomplices with complete precision. She pretended to be a lacrosse fan and discussed Duke's heartbreaking loss in last year's NCAA championship game. Hoping to capitalize on the evening's events in the future, she had Evans, Seligmann and Finnerty sign autographs, which she turned over to Nifong. This physical evidence is even better than a line up identification. Although IMHO has not suggested this explanation, it clearly explains Nifong's confidence in the face of apparent irregularities. Finally, Kim helped to clean up. She even bathed the AV to remove DNA. Although she missed some of the evidence (e.g., the fingernails and the towel), she did a significantly better job than the captains would have done by themselves. Although IMHO has not suggested this possibility, it does explain why the relative lack of DNA evidence does not deter Nifong. Again, Kim provided the evidence. After the attack, Kim asked for additional compensation for her critical role. The players objected to her increased demands, and she and the players exchanged racial taunts as a result. IMHO has emphasized the importance of this exchange in understanding the evening's events. The weakness in this account is obvious. IMHO has reminded us repeatedly that a witness may only testify to what they actually have seen or heard and may ever not draw conclusions. Kim was not physically in the bathroom and thus cannot testify that she actually saw the attack take place. Kim will testify to her role in planning the attack with the assailants and the confessions that each made to her immediately afterwards. Nifong is willing to take the risk that jurors will be able to use this testimony and come to the conclusion that the attack actually took place. I trust that all agree that we owe a great debt of gratitude to IMHO and that a full round of apologies are in order to IMHO, Nifong and the AV. Without IMHO's tireless research and patient explanations, we would not have discovered the truth. Well done, IMHO, and thank you.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#132)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:01:28 PM EST
    Great post. Now I get it. Maybe she did take a quick peek into the bathroom. That could explain Kim's claim that he was "the skinny little one."

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#133)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:02:52 PM EST
    david_in_ct writes:
    Suppose there is an allele which codes for as far as we know a unique trait, say 22 fingers on the right hand. Let's suppose that we have mixture of DNA which contains alleles from two people. Within the mixture we find the code for 22 fingers along with a 5 finger code. I would say that out of all the people in the world have narrowed it down to the person with 22 fingers and some other person whom we do not know.
    Do you mean to say unique, as in only one person ever tested has shown this allele? A spontaneous mutation, then, not inherited from parents? If so, then yes, the 22-fingered person is one source for the DNA in the mixture. We could then obtain a complete profile for the 22-fingered person to eliminate his or her contribution to the result. This would work so long as the DNA sample has not degraded, so that all alleles from both persons are present. In the case of the fingernail DNA, degration has led to some information being missing. It is not possible in that case to eliminate alleles that belong to one particular person and then conclude that what remains belongs to the other person. Alleles held in common would be missed this way. Also, in a mixture the DNA is contributed by two or more persons, so trying to parse this out puts one an very shaky intellectual ground. Partial DNA matches must always be suspect, I figure; it seems to me entirely possible for a "partial profile" to be erroneously generated from a mixture.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#134)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:04:34 PM EST
    imho corrects us all: It's 14 of 3561 How many out of six billion? Is it a mixture? How many people's DNA was in that garbage can from the past month or so before the nail's collection? Does Evans admit to picking it up and tossing it into the can prior to the the cop's arrival. How many people did the AV touch in the day leading up to the party? In the eight days leading up to the party? Yada yada yada. Too much of nothing.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#135)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:12:22 PM EST
    lora why are you debating about an offensive remark, what does that have to do with a gang rape and beating, i think thats disgusting how u want these boys convicted when they are innocent, and as a woman y es i beluieve that a woman who goes to strangers houses butt naked deserves WHATEVER she gets, even though in this case the boys did nothing,

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#136)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:15:14 PM EST
    JSwift posted:
    Well done, IMHO, and thank you.
    You're welcome, JSwift, but your contributions, by far, outweigh anything anyone here could hope to achieve. I am humbled that you would even deign to read my comments.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#137)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:16:38 PM EST
    beenaround, How about an Asian getting a PhD in stripping at Stanford?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#138)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:34:07 PM EST
    david_in_ct posted:
    imho (master of timelines) Do you know if the lab results which 'implicated' Evans came back before or after the AV 'identified' him. If the results came back before the ID then given the 'oddities' of the line-up procedure I would suspect that the AV may have had some help by Nifong et al.
    WE DON'T KNOW when Evans was "implicated" by the DNA results. The defense got hold of the first set of results on April 10th. It was reported there was DNA found under a fingernail, but that the results were "inconclusive." WE DON'T KNOW how inconclusive. Evans may have been identified as a possible source the first time around and that bit of information could have hit Nifongs ears before April 4th when the accuser picked out Evans as the 90 percenter - if he had a mustache. It is also possible the first round results did not provide a "partial match" and that Evans name did not come up at all until the results of the second round came back. The defense received those results on May 12th. These are all questions Dan Abrams might be able to answer. This article seems to suggest the first results showed no "link" to anyone. The term "link" is what some reports used to describe the "partial match." Sources: Second DNA Tests Link Accuser To Third Duke Lacrosse Player
    Sources also confirmed with WRAL on Thursday that tissue found under a fake fingernail is a partial DNA match to a Duke lacrosse player who has not been charged in connection with the case.
    The fingernail, found in a bathroom trash can, apparently belonged to the accuser, who told police that she clawed her attackers during the alleged struggle. The fingernail was taken from the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., where the March 13 party was held.
    Initial testing by the State Bureau of Investigation on 46 lacrosse athletes' DNA samples found no link between the dancer and the players. Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong sent various samples to a private lab for further testing.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#139)
    by Alan on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:34:32 PM EST
    SomewhatChunky posted:
    Maybe she did take a quick peek into the bathroom. That could explain Kim's claim that he was "the skinny little one."
    Not so. Kim peeked him 'right in the eyes'. Even with the elastic definitions of reality advocated at some places in this thread, it's a challenge to look someone 'right in the eyes' and appraise their genital dimensions at the same time. This obviously means that Finnerty poked his head out of the bathroom for a quick eyelock with Kim while otherwise continuing to fight with, and restrain, and penetrate the AV. That long neck may be as elastic as some definitions of reality. An alternative view is that Kim observed events in the bathroom with a convenient periscope. We just don't know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#140)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:34:42 PM EST
    beenaround, the whole concept of race has been turned around a lot in the last few years. If you go back a couple hundred years people talked about the Irish race, the German race. In any subset of humanity you can find genetic variations. There probably aren't a whole lot of sickle cell carriers coming out of Norway, since sickle cell apparently developed as way to fight malaria. Asians and Africans are more likely lactose-intolerant than Northern Europeans. There are certainly genetic markers which are found in certain "racial" groups and not others. But within Africa there is more genetic diversity than outside (according to Jared Diamond), so what might be considered a genetic marker in an African American (most African Americans' ancestors are from West Africa) would not show up at all in other African populations. So in terms of genetic differences by "race" if race is defined by Caucasian, African, Asian, etc., it's a pretty vague and often useless designation regarding actual genetic differences. There are drugs which are more or less effective on certain population groups. For that matter, there are differences as to how drugs work on men versus women, and not just regarding one's overall size. There, I'm done talking out of my *ss about race and genetics.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#141)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:42:30 PM EST
    zabmom posted:
    lora why are you debating about an offensive remark, what does that have to do with a gang rape and beating, i think thats disgusting how u want these boys convicted when they are innocent, and as a woman y es i beluieve that a woman who goes to strangers houses butt naked deserves WHATEVER she gets, even though in this case the boys did nothing,
    zabmom, Following this line of thinking someone could counter that "boys' who are stupid enough to call a "woman who goes to strangers houses butt naked" and invite her to their home deserve the ramifications of WHATEVER she decides to say happened in that home. I am not one of these people, but if you are serious, there may be people that believes the flipside of your assertion.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#142)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:46:00 PM EST
    Alan, maybe Kim misspoke and looked him "right in the eye." Or not.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#143)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:51:52 PM EST
    JSwift, an extraordinary post. I'll be curious to hear Kim's vital role in paying off the cab driver, the phony ATM photo, and how the crowd at the Cosmic Cantina were all duped.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#144)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:53:49 PM EST
    Madison:
    Partial DNA matches must always be suspect, I figure; it seems to me entirely possible for a "partial profile" to be erroneously generated from a mixture.
    Entire possible, and beyond a reasonable doubt are two differing statements. I don't know how to quantify either one. I think you would agree that we can make some mathematical statement as to the probability that the DNA is Evans. Even if the DNA is degraded and or mixed that will only alter the probabilities. I guess the next question would be to figure out the number which qualifies as beyond a reasonable doubt. (I don't think it matters in this case because there is so much else and even if the DNA came back as a perfect match to Evans and Evans alone, there is already enough reasonable doubt here so that there should never have been an indictment) In a case where the penalty is very high, such as in rape, I would want beyond a reasonable doubt to be something like 1000:1 and up. Against the idea of protecting the individual who has been accused you have the competing claims of the society and thier wanting to be protected from a serial rapist. Since I have strong libertarian leanings I say tough on society. Because the stakes are so high in a case like this it requires the most ethical of prosecutions and law enforcement work. Unfortunately in this one it appears that the work is so unethical as to border on criminal.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#145)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:58:16 PM EST
    imho: thanks for the info. bbl

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#146)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 01:59:31 PM EST
    Does anyone know what the source of the DNA was that was found on the figernail? I read "tissue" was found under the figernail but did that mean skin or Kleenex with DNA on it?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#147)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:08:42 PM EST
    Too many people pay too much attention to the "partial match" on ONE fake fingernail found in the garbage. They should be asking why there wasn't any DNA found under any of the other fake fingernails, or her real nails. Only a tiny amount of skin is required for a full DNA match. (Madison: I think I read that a full match could be made with a skin sample 1/1000 the size of a grain of sand-is this correct?) If the AV was scratching as we have been told by the DA, ALL of her nails(real and fake) should have had full DNA matches to at least one of her attackers. IMO, the fact that this did not happen is another piece of evidence that proves this rape never happened.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#148)
    by Alan on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:09:11 PM EST
    BIP posted:
    Alan, maybe Kim misspoke and looked him "right in the eye."
    Possible, but there is a slight difficulty in Kim looking him 'right in the eye' given said eye is alleged to have been deep out of sight at the time. The explanation is obvious. Finnerty bears a striking resemblance to the inspector, particularly in his ability to exhibit different heights at different times. Has the defence ever provided pictures of Finnerty and Gadget in the same room? We just don't know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#149)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:22:21 PM EST
    JSwift, an extraordinary post. I'll be curious to hear Kim's vital role in paying off the cab driver, the phony ATM photo, and how the crowd at the Cosmic Cantina were all duped.
    I don't know about the cabbie or ATM Bob, but I'd be willing to bet it was the Prosobadians in the Cosmic Cantina.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#150)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:28:01 PM EST
    to SomewhatChunky
    Instead, the strippers decided unilaterally the show as over and the $800 was theirs to keep. I think with a drunk AV and the show not going well Kim saw a chance for a quick score, an easy exit and took it.
    I agree with this and if you read Kim's statement, Kim dwells on the AV's (mis)behavior (and the money).

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#151)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:29:18 PM EST
    Bob in Pacifica posted:
    JSwift, an extraordinary post. I'll be curious to hear Kim's vital role in paying off the cab driver, the phony ATM photo, and how the crowd at the Cosmic Cantina were all duped.
    You've forgotten Dancers 3 and 4, referenced in one of the accuser's multiple versions of events. They were Kim's accomplices--and Nifong's other surprise witnesses. The first dressed up like Seligmann to provide him with an alibi--and was so convincing that she fooled not only the cab driver, but also Wellington and the ATM photo. (Seligmann gave her his ATM card and dorm keycard earlier in the evening.) The second dressed up as Finnerty and went down to Cosmic Cantina to give him an alibi. Again, we just don't know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#152)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:32:18 PM EST
    Lora questioned,
    Do you mean that no self-respecting woman would be a stripper? Do you mean that it's quite all right to insult/degrade a stripper? What, they won't feel it like non-stripping women would?
    If you would rephrase your question slightly to stripper/escort I will answer as follows: Yes. Don't know if it's right or not but it should be expected. Don't know, but I would doubt it.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#153)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:39:37 PM EST
    Lora wrote,
    As far as Cheshire's remark that an offensive remark ended the dance being made early on when the facts were not known (Alan), and that the pictures of the AV were full of artfacts that only looked like bruises, despite what the defense lawyers said who offered them as exculpatory evidence, it would seem that Cheshire's and the other defense lawyers' credibility about the facts of the case is zip.
    To you perhaps, as you have been on this since I first looked at this blog, but not to me. I think James B. explained the context of the lawyers' early remarks quite well earlier today.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#154)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:46:14 PM EST
    If I were the defense I would not at all try to discredit the partial match.
    That will never happen. It would smack of malpractice.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#155)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 02:56:39 PM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    Lora, you misunderstood my post. I said sperm didn't LIVE past 3 days in the vagina, meaning alive and motile. Sperm can be found and identified in the the vagina for up to a week after intercourse, as I said in my orginal post, but past about three days they are DEAD. And the source of the sperm, as in the DNA, can be usually be identified, even if the sperm are dead.
    I don't think anyone saw any alive and motile sperm. If they had seen this sperm early enough for it to be "a -wigglin" it would not have taken two rounds of DNA testing to indentify its contributor. The first lab may have found the semen sample on a swab, but could not get a dna profile possibly due to degredation or contamination, but the second lab was successful.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#156)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:05:01 PM EST
    ding7777 asked:
    Does anyone know what the source of the DNA was that was found on the figernail?
    I read "tissue" was found under the figernail but did that mean skin or Kleenex with DNA on it?
    Tissue sample DNA from fingernail matches one of 46 players, report says
    The finding could be the first DNA evidence possibly linking the so-called exotic dancer and a lacrosse player. It will be impossible to match the tissue DNA with the alleged attacker with 100 percent certainty, the Herald Sun added.
    Human tissue. You need more than one cell to form tissue. Dandruff is scalp tissue.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#157)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:07:35 PM EST
    Bob in P. You wrote:
    For ex: You'd have to know the winning ticket had been issued. If you mean that there was actually a rape, no one knows that. blockquote> By a "winner" I mean simply that the dna was from a human being. The question we are asking is whether the found dna was from Evan's, not whether it had anything to do with the rape. As for whether anyone knows there was a rape, I can think of four people who probably do, but only one that's talking. You wrote:
    Since DNA has been extracted from things thousands of years old, it's possible that there is DNA in that garbage can from people visiting the Buchanan house months prior to the party.
    "Facts" and testimony might just reduce the search space to something manageable. You wrote:
    So if PB's point is that despite the evidence a jury might convict she is right. That's why a lot of people would like this case dismissed: to keep this case out of the hands of the likes of PB.
    That isn't my point. But I do agree that the risk of a conviction would be greatly reduced if the defendants could avoid a trial.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#158)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:08:10 PM EST
    IMHO, please stop being b*tchy to cib. I didn't think his remark was insulting to you, and he's said it wasn't meant to be. If it didn't upset you, you sure could have fooled me with that gratuitously snarky "cover up" remark.
    Thanks January. Not that I needed anyone to come to my defense but I do appreciate simple acts of kindness. Far as it goes, I think IMHO gets something out of twisting people's comments around. Or sometimes she just doesn't give the benefit of the doubt - hurt somehow, I spose. And that's all I'll say about her.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#159)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:09:06 PM EST
    IMHO:
    The first lab may have found the semen sample on a swab, but could not get a dna profile possibly due to degredation or contamination, but the second lab was successful.
    Not likely. The first lab ran the evidence samples as well as the suspects samples at the same time through the same protocol and compared the results to identify a match or matches. Different labs run slightly different protocols, therefore the "results" from one lab shouldn't be compared to one from another lab. The first time the DNA was run, the lab didn't have samples from the boyfriend and drivers to run and compare to the evidence samples. Their samples weren't provided until time for the second round of DNA tests, hence the delay in identifying the contributor of the specimen.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#160)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:16:34 PM EST
    Mik, exactly. As I have argued before, Murchison's deposit was very recent to the date in question. If it wasn't it would have been "pumped," "sucked," or "forced," out by mechanical hydraulic action.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#161)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:20:48 PM EST
    As for whether anyone knows there was a rape, I can think of four people who probably do, but only one that's talking.
    Surely you don't mean the false accuser/alleged victim? She hasn't said a peep in weeks if not months. The boys have denied any sex at all occurred thus directly addressing the question of whether a rape happened. Thus, since all 4 people have put their dice on the table concerning this matter I don't understand your comment. Unless you mean some other group of 4 people who know if there was a rape?
    That isn't my point. But I do agree that the risk of a conviction would be greatly reduced if the defendants could avoid a trial.
    ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. Snarkyyyyyyyy. Unless the trial is in Durham I don't see there being even so much as a 10 percent chance of conviction. And even there, even accounting for racialists on the pro-av side, I don't see it even reaching as high as a 50 percent chance. Still, it is true that if they can get this loser of a case thrown out their chances of conviction might go from as low as .1 percent (assuming a mixed-race highly educated jury) to zero percent, which is significant. Who wants to take a chance on being convicted of a crime one did not commit? I will also say that if this case does get thrown out, there's a pretty good chance Nifong will be investigated , if not sent packing in the general election. Ahh, poetic justice.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#162)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:22:03 PM EST
    This wasn't some dead body the sperm was hanging out in, a lot was going on, if you catch my meaning.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#163)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:26:14 PM EST
    Mik answered IMHO's question for me. They couldn't identify whose sperm was found until the accuser admitted to having had sex with three different men in the prior week, at which time DNA samples were collected from those men and compared to the DNA from the sperm. It had nothing to do with whether the sperm were alive or dead. By the time the samples got to where the DNA testing was done they would have been dead one way or the other, but hopefully preserved in the state in which they were found.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#164)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:27:00 PM EST
    I said earlier that to admit the DNA was Evan's would "smack of malpractice." Upon review that was not what I should have said. It would be prima facia malpractice to so admit, especially given expert testimony such as Madison's excellent and, to my mind, definitive posts above. I second Photios motion. Let there be no more talk of fingernails.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#165)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:27:32 PM EST
    David in Ct wrote:
    I guess the next question would be to figure out the number which qualifies as beyond a reasonable doubt....In a case where the penalty is very high, such as in rape, I would want beyond a reasonable doubt to be something like 1000:1 and up
    Would you prefer a thousand rapists go free over one innocent person to be convicted of rape? I wouldn't. And murderers? Should a thousand go free for each one unfairly convicted?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#166)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:31:13 PM EST
    Boy, PB, that's pretty harsh, and pretty contrary to what the Founding Fathers had in mind with the Bill of Rights. No one likes rapists or murders going free, but the thought of an innocent person sitting in jail is the most repugnant thing I can imagine.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#167)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:32:31 PM EST
    One day in jail can ruin you for life so imagine spending many many days in jail for something you did not do. Pretty disturbing thought.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#168)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:33:36 PM EST
    to fahrenam
    By the time the samples got to where the DNA testing was done they would have been dead one way or the other
    Then how do you know they were ALIVE on the swab? Did the Duke Hospital do a microscopic analysis to determine what was on the swab?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#169)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:35:35 PM EST
    Would you prefer a thousand rapists go free over one innocent person to be convicted of rape? I wouldn't.
    Well, if we are playing with strawmen, let me turn this around and ask you the same question but reversed: Would you prefer 1000 innocents get jailed for rape rather than one rapist go free? Isn't the whole goal here supposed to be justice? I don't know about you, but ideally I'd like to see a one to one match between guilty and convicted. Since that ain't happening in the real world, we have some precederal protections that help prevent innocents from ending up in a bad place. Is this a bad thing?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#170)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:46:38 PM EST
    Ding, I don't know for sure they were alive on the swab. I had earlier referenced one of the talkshows as commenting that the sperm head was still attached to the tail when they were seen under the microscope, suggesting thay had been alive at the time of collection. I'm unable to find that reference now. However, I have to go back to my earlier question of why it's important. If people are concerned about the vaginal swelling found on exam, we know she was using a vibrator earlier in the evening that could easily account for the swelling. In addition, she could have had sex several time using condoms earlier in the night to account for the swelling, which can not be said is due to rape.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#171)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:48:37 PM EST
    PB says: Would you prefer a thousand rapists go free over one innocent person to be convicted of rape? I wouldn't. And murderers? Should a thousand go free for each one unfairly convicted? In theory, yes. That's the premise of the American justice system. For you to ask the question seems to put you at odds with American values and explains your presumption of guilt over any evidence discussed here. That's why juries are asked for a finding beyond a reasonable doubt before sentencing a person to a crime. No one who is innocent should be convicted of a crime she or he did not commit. In real life the odds are generally reversed. That is, it is rather unlikely that innocent people are sent to jail. Usually it involves an incredibly corrupt police department or prosecutor and a biased jury. So it's not like if you're not sure these three guys did rape the AV and you vote to acquit that you unleash three thousand rapists. You release three defendants because the prosecutor could not prove a crime was committed, or was committed by them.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#172)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 03:56:30 PM EST
    Alan - I don't know about Australians, but in the USA, someone could look us right in the eyes and appraise our, um, other dimensions. Sorry, couldn't resist.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#173)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:03:02 PM EST
    imho posted:
    The first lab may have found the semen sample on a swab, but could not get a dna profile possibly due to degredation or contamination, but the second lab was successful.
    mik posted:
    Not likely. The first lab ran the evidence samples as well as the suspects samples at the same time through the same protocol and compared the results to identify a match or matches. Different labs run slightly different protocols, therefore the "results" from one lab shouldn't be compared to one from another lab.
    The first time the DNA was run, the lab didn't have samples from the boyfriend and drivers to run and compare to the evidence samples. Their samples weren't provided until time for the second round of DNA tests, hence the delay in identifying the contributor of the specimen.
    I don't think the first lab was successful in getting a profile for the semen sample. If they had been, the defense would have been crowing about the "mystery man" four weeks earlier than they did. Even if it was a partial match that excluded the 46 players the defense would have announced that. The state lab may not have even detected the sample on the swab. Cheshire complained that Nifong denied semen was found the first time around. Warrant Details Search Of Lacrosse Player's Dorm Room
    DNA samples taken from 46 members of the lacrosse team failed to match evidence taken from the accuser. Nifong sent the samples to a private laboratory for more sophisticated tests that the State Bureau of Investigation crime lab is not certified to perform.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#174)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:04:09 PM EST
    to fahrenam Thanks.. I googled and found this TH show
    GRACE: I don`t see it either. Dr. Hunter, it`s my understanding after about three days spermatozoa has totally dissolved from a couple of hours two three days they start to disintegrate, fall apart. The head of the sperm, the tail of the sperm falls off and you can actually look at the sperm under a microscope and generally gauge the age of the sperm, if you catch it in time. HUNTER: Yeah, right, and another thing is that, during this rape kit, they`re going to have microscopic sections. They`re going to have slides that they`re looking for, spermatozoa to see if there is spermatozoa there, so they may have found something and if they can define the morphology of it, that I think blows it out of the water that it would be a week out, it would have to be within that three day time frame.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#175)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:12:06 PM EST
    ding7777's link.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#176)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:12:43 PM EST
    fahrenam. Do you have a source for exactly where the sperm was found? A swab from the cervix is part of the rape exam, is it not? Also, the first article I linked to found sperm survival in the va*ina (not cervix) up to 7 days. Like in around 12% of the swabs. Not rare, exactly. I also found an article which stated a woman has a 10% chance of becoming pregnant if she has sex within 5 days of ovulation. Again, I say, you are mistaken when you say sperm don't live longer than 3 days, and can't live in the va*ina longer than 3 days. I contend that the AV could have had sex a week prior to the party, and that sperm could have been on the swabs, whether cervical or vaginal, based on the information from my links. zabmom, You are mistaken when you say I want to see these young men convicted. Truly I do not. Truly. I'm sorry you feel that way about women who perform nude for men. Newport, I agree that it frequently happens that women who are strippers/escorts are insulted/degraded by those who hire them. It isn't right, but then a lot of things aren't right in this world. I suspect that those women do feel the insults and degradation and find ways to deny/numb/ignore them so they can do their job. In this instance however it was a matter of safety. No bouncer. The women (one of the women?) checked out the scene in the beginning and called in to report that they felt safe. The fact that they did that implies that sometimes those types of parties are not safe. The offensive remark tipped the safety balance and Kim declared the performance over. As to lawyers who can spin however they want and still be thought of as credible, well, that's incredible.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#177)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:19:09 PM EST
    Lora says:
    I also found an article which stated a woman has a 10% chance of becoming pregnant if she has sex within 5 days of ovulation.
    Is that five days before, or five days after ovulation, or both?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#178)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:21:04 PM EST
    beenaround, 5 days before.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#179)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:33:00 PM EST
    ding7777, The discussion from Nancy Grace's progam says nothing about sperm being microscopically examined in this case. The heads can fall off the tails, but as fahrenam posted, a complete profile can be obtained even a week later. Assisting and advising complainants of sexual assault in the family planning setting
    Provided there was vaginal ejaculation without a condom, spermatozoa should be found in the vagina for 24 hours after intercourse. However, they may be identified for up to 3 days and, occasionally, for up to 7 days.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#180)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:47:19 PM EST
    Lora, you're getting into complicated matters now. A cervical swab is part of the exam, however the yield from such a swab would depend greatly on the the accuser's time of the month, as the the cervical environment changes throughout the month, at times being very inhospitable to sperm and at times making it easier for them to get into the uterus/fallopian tubes. In terms of the pregnancy issue, there are factors you are ignoring. Sperm can live longer once they get past the cervix and can hang out for a while in the fallopian tubes, which is where fertilization takes place. The vagina is very acidic and kills sperm quickly. You need to llok carefully at your statistic--10% pregnancy rate if sex within 5 days. That means if there is ANY sex DURING those 5 days there is only a 10% chance (the usual number is 25% chance, but we can use your number if you want.) That doesn't mean that if you have sex 5 days before ovulation there is a 10% chance of pregnancy. Sperm that hangs out in the vagina for a few days, even if alive, is not the sperm that can get you pregnant. Those sperm clearly have some sort of issue if they haven't been able to travel farther--or the cervix is completely closed off and not allowing any through. If you want me to answer more specifically, then you will have to reference the article you are talking about. Again, though, I am uncertain of the relevance here. Does it change your thoughts about the accuser's story if she had sex within three days or within 5 or 7?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#181)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:50:47 PM EST
    Lora,
    As to lawyers who can spin however they want and still be thought of as credible, well, that's incredible.
    What about DA's who can "spin" all they want, is that as incredible to you as well. What about strippers/escorts who can "spin" all they want; is that just as incredible? Truth telling and stripping just do not go hand in hand in my experience and in my humble opinion.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#182)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:51:27 PM EST
    The interesting thing around the ongoing DNA discussion here is that the most important question is whether or not the boyfriend lied in adding his addendum saying that sex was eight days earlier. I would expect the boyfriend to hone his testimony in a way that would help the girlfriend, but aside from whether or not he lied to the police, it's not a big issue. The issue is whether or not the defendants' semen was found in the AV. It wasn't. If the boyfriend had sex with the AV within a day of the party and there was no semen from the three defendants, there is no DNA proof of rape. If the boyfriend had sex with a AV a week earlier and his semen was the only semen found in her, same thing. If the boyfriend's semen survived over a week and the defendants' didn't survive a couple of hours, it wasn't ever there. If the boyfriend had sex with the AV that day the slight swelling of the AV vag*n* is explained. As another posted, the vibrator could explain the slight swelling. No case, folks.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#183)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:52:26 PM EST
    Lora wrote:
    As to lawyers who can spin however they want and still be thought of as credible, well, that's incredible.
    What's so incredible about that? It's a defense lawyer's job to defend his or his client. if that involves introducing some theory one does not find credible or perhaps a number of theories, some of which may not be compatible with each other, so be it. Only the state has the responsibility of proving that something acually happened beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#184)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 04:53:39 PM EST
    Exactly, Bob. I'm not sure I see the relevance of 7 days prior versus 3 days prior, except for possibly more questions about the accuser's credibility.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#185)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:06:51 PM EST
    to inmyhumbleopinion but is 7 day spermatozoa motile or non motile? That's the question. If 7 day sperm is non-motile, and if the AV's swab showed motile sperm, the AV lied

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#186)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:07:50 PM EST
    PB:
    Would you prefer a thousand rapists go free over one innocent person to be convicted of rape? I wouldn't. And murderers? Should a thousand go free for each one unfairly convicted?
    It is a math error to believe that if one set the threshhold of 'beyond a reasonable doubt' to 1000:1 that this would result in 1000 guilty defendants going free for every innocent one not falsely convicted. The actual number would be a function of what the overlap would be between the evidentiary profiles of the set of innocents vs the set of guilties. Lets say you had 2 sets of people. In one set was all the people who actually committed the crime and in the other those that did not. Each of the ones in the 'guilty' set would have a number which was the apparent probability that they did the crime. These numbers could vary from 0 to 1. Same would be true of the innocents. If the guilty set had all numbers great than .999 and the innocent set had all numbers less than .999 then setting the threshold number at 1000:1 would perfectly partition the two groups. All the innocents would go free and all the guilty would go to jail. It is only the extent of the overlap of the profiles and the number you chose for partitioning that would determine how many guilty would go free and how many innocent would go to jail. If you like we can try to make a model to get a rough idea of what the numbers might be in the real world. As to the question of 1000 rapists go free vs. 1 innocent go to jail, I'd probably come down on the side of the innocent. Another way to ask the question is if someone came to you and said you must go to jail for 20 years and be branded forever a rapist or we have to let 1000 rapists free, what would you do? My rule of thumb is if I don't have the balls to do it myself I wouldn't ask someone else to do it for me.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#187)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:22:49 PM EST
    ding7777 posted:
    but is 7 day spermatozoa motile or non motile? That's the question.
    If 7 day sperm is non-motile, and if the AV's swab showed motile sperm, the AV lied.
    Do we know if it was motile or not? I haven't been able to find a source for that.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#188)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:30:02 PM EST
    Day 7 sperm found in the vagina would not be motile. I agree with IMHO though that we don't know what this sperm looked like. I thought there was more to the Nancy Grace discussion, but apparently I remembered incorrectly....

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#189)
    by ding7777 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:30:26 PM EST
    to inmyhumbleopinion add that to your Ask Dan list - providing Nifong turned over ALL of the medical records

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#190)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:32:01 PM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    Exactly, Bob. I'm not sure I see the relevance of 7 days prior versus 3 days prior, except for possibly more questions about the accuser's credibility.
    That's a big issue here. I would also expect a jury might think vaginal swelling from intercourse a week prior would be less likely than from 3 days prior. We haven't heard what she did with that "small [redacted] (sex toy)."

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#191)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:36:43 PM EST
    The problem, though, with basing everything on the age of the sperm is that she easily could have had protected sex immediately before dancing at the Duke party, causing the vaginal swelling but not leaving any traces. So dating the sperm only lets us know the last time she had unprotected sex, nothing else.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#192)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:43:28 PM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    The problem, though, with basing everything on the age of the sperm is that she easily could have had protected sex immediately before dancing at the Duke party, causing the vaginal swelling but not leaving any traces. So dating the sperm only lets us know the last time she had unprotected sex, nothing else.
    I agree, but she can deny that. If the sperm is dated to 72 hours she loses her deniability

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#193)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 05:52:43 PM EST
    imho posits: That's a big issue here. I would also expect a jury might think vaginal swelling from intercourse a week prior would be less likely than from 3 days prior. We haven't heard what she did with that "small [redacted] (sex toy)." We have the AV, employed by Bunny Hole Productions to make outcall one-on-ones. We have her performing with a vibrator. We have her giving the names of three possible original owners of the sperm found in her where the defendants' sperm wasn't. No, she might have had a really long v*br*t*r and used it as a cane in a soft shoe routine for one of her performances. As others have suggested, she may have played pattycake with all her customers and not had v*g*n*l sex with any of them. And maybe, while her memory is so keen that she could remember a dozen versions of events for the night of March 13-14, she couldn't remember whether or not she had any sex with her boyfriend and her two drivers in the days and hours leading up to the Buchanan party. We just don't know. What we do know is that none of the defendants' sperm was found in or on her. We know that there is no witness to any gang rape or anything looking or even approaching a rape. We know that there is no physical evidence of a rape. We know that at least one, probably two of the men accused of rape weren't even there when it could have possibly happened (and the third guy unfortunately lived there in the house but didn't have the defining mustache). If the jury thinks that vaginal swelling from a week earlier is less likely, then maybe they'll think that the liason with the boyfriend a week earlier is less likely than his original story. Or the two drivers, or the v*br*t*r or the many customers on those many outcalls were more likely responsible for the v*g*n*l swelling than three guys who evidently never visited the nurturing confines of the AV's precious places.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#194)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:07:15 PM EST
    Hi David, You wrote:
    It is a math error to believe that if one set the threshhold of 'beyond a reasonable doubt' to 1000:1 that this would result in 1000 guilty defendants going free for every innocent one not falsely convicted.
    Yes, I certainly agree with that. Very well parsed out, by the way.
    If you like we can try to make a model to get a rough idea of what the numbers might be in the real world.
    All right. Well, let me give it a try, and you tell me how I'm doing at it. I'll do this later. You wrote:
    Another way to ask the question is if someone came to you and said you must go to jail for 20 years and be branded forever a rapist or we have to let 1000 rapists free, what would you do? My rule of thumb is if I don't have the balls to do it myself I wouldn't ask someone else to do it for me.
    What rationalization do you have for sentencing guilty people to prison? Do you feel that you would have the balls to go to prison if you were guilty? And why would that be the case, seeing as that would only stop one rapist from being set free?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#195)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:17:03 PM EST
    Bob in Pacifica, You wrote:
    We know that there is no witness to any gang rape or anything looking or even approaching a rape.
    I don't know that.
    We know that there is no physical evidence of a rape.
    I don't know that.
    We know that at least one, probably two of the men accused of rape weren't even there when it could have possibly happened
    I don't know that.
    (and the third guy unfortunately lived there in the house but didn't have the defining mustache).
    I don't know that either.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#196)
    by january on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:23:05 PM EST
    Maybe she did take a quick peek into the bathroom. That could explain Kim's claim that he was "the skinny little one."
    SomewhatChunky, please tell me you meant this as a joke, because I thought it was hilarious.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#197)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:25:27 PM EST
    PB repeatedly wrote: I don't know that.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#198)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:28:04 PM EST
    PB, you claim to not know much of what Bob stated in his summary of events. Tell us then--what do we know for sure? That two strippers went to a Duke party and one claimed to be raped. Other than that claim, we do not have one shred of evidence that supports that the woman was raped.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#199)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:33:29 PM EST
    fahrenam, In PB's world of endless possibilities anyone can be put on trial or go to jail because there is no proof that what didn't happen didn't happen. Kafka's The Trial, anyone? Because we just don't know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#200)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 06:45:29 PM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    PB, you claim to not know much of what Bob stated in his summary of events.
    fahrenam, Bob in Pacifica does not know any of those things either. He just made all that up. It's what he does.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#201)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:06:20 PM EST
    January, It was a joke. My sarcastic way of commenting on Kim's credibility (lack of).

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#202)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:12:08 PM EST
    fahrenam, I'm not an expert in the life of sperm, but my first linked article referred to sperm survival. In scanning a bunch of other articles, it seemed to me that the term "sperm survival" was used to indicate motile (live) sperm. If true, then my 1st article unequivocally stated that live sperm were recovered up to 7 days following sex from the va*ina. And my second article indicated live (motile) sperm can be present in the cervix, a site of one of the rape kit swabbings, after 7 days. Anyway it goes to the credibility of the AV, and how long ago she said she had sex. I wasn't being clear about the 10% chance of pregnancy. The other article said that women who have sex 5 days prior to ovulation have a 10% chance of conception (as opposed to 30% chance closer to ovulation - I forget how close). I apologize for the lack of clarity and lack of link on that one.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#203)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:16:59 PM EST
    imho: Bob in Pacifica does not know any of those things either. He just made all that up. It's what he does. Woo! Woo!

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#204)
    by january on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:23:17 PM EST
    so, then, she wasn't talking about his....height.....(heh)

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#205)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:24:05 PM EST
    Lora, The AV has no credibility. That is the problem with this case. Reference her collection of short stories. They would be interesting if they weren't all depciting the same event. Maybe ask the other 3 dancers what they think.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#206)
    by january on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:30:52 PM EST
    Sorry - sometimes it takes me a minute, but I get there eventually.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#207)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:46:46 PM EST
    Somewhat Chunky, "The AV has no credibility." So those famous spinning lawyers have said. In several instances they've attacked the AV's credibility with mis-statements of their own. In this case, if they say she's wrong because no sperm can survive a week, I'm setting the record straight.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#208)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:48:47 PM EST
    january posted:
    so, then, she wasn't talking about his....height.....(heh)
    Was he sitting down? WE DON'T KNOW.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#209)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:52:14 PM EST
    Lora said:
    So those famous spinning lawyers have said. In several instances they've attacked the AV's credibility with mis-statements of their own.
    It's unclear which specific mis-statements you're referring to here; the defense attorneys in this case have proven quite impressive in being able to back up what they've said with documents from the case. Nifong's had a little trouble with that task, on the other hand. I'm not sure how releasing police or prosecution documents containing the many, and often totally contradictory, stories the accuser told constitutes defense mis-statements. I'm sure Nifong would like to pretend that the multiple versions of events didn't exist, but that's not an option for him at this stage.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#210)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 07:56:22 PM EST
    If the biggest hurdle the defense has to overcome is to prove up that the FA is lying about her sexual history if she maintains her story about not having sex in the week before the alleged attack, then the defense will feel pretty good about its case. Murchison may not be too interested in lying to protect the FA at this point, given that he didn't know her activities with pimps and other things. I don't imagine he is too happy about being made out to be the freshest fool in Durham. Maybe Lora can explain how the foreign sperm remained in the FA for a week and after a three man gang rape, which should have sucked it out if true and which should have left behind its own evidence of the attack.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#211)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:32:36 PM EST
    Sharon and Weezie, what airport for Hilton Head and where to stay?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#212)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 08:37:47 PM EST
    Let's try to try it this way, PB. Nifong has said he has released all of his discovery information. Sooooo, if he isn't violating the law, we have what evidence there is. Name me all witnesses who confirm any of the AV's stories of a gang rape. Note all the physical evidence proving a gang rape occurred. The AV claimed she was raped for a half hour. What half hour was that? Show us proof of when all three men were with the AV in the bathroom. So we have how much proof of a rape? PB, you are a fool. A poor, deluded fool. You would do with a session of self-analysis for why you do this.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#213)
    by Lora on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:05:34 PM EST
    Khartoum, I pointed out recently that the defense, in stating that the AV was significantly injured upon arrival and maybe by falling down stairs (pictures to prove), was in error. OR they were in error by stating at a later date she had no visible injuries except a few minor scratches. If the latter is true, somehow they didn't notice earlier that the bruises were just artifacts of the pictures. Or it was just "spin." Both times their "spin" served to discredit the AV, but they both can't be true. A while back, imho and I each carefully deconstructed some of the statements in the motions the defense filed, pointing out errors which served to make the AV appear less credible than she actually was. But we were just nitpicking, apparently. Newport, Maybe the little guys burrowed in. Maybe the big guys were wearing condoms.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#214)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:18:43 PM EST
    Newport posted:
    Maybe Lora can explain how the foreign sperm remained in the FA for a week and after a three man gang rape, which should have sucked it out if true and which should have left behind its own evidence of the attack.
    Newport, That's not true. We don't know if they used condoms. We don't know if they ejaculated. We do know your "sucked out" theory has been disproven. Even when condoms are not used and there is ejaculation the previous semen sample is not necessarily displaced. EXPERIENCES WITH USING Y CHROMOSOME SPECIFIC STRS IN FORENSIC CASEWORK
    Mixtures of more than one semen donor:
    Many of these samples tested could be shown to be mixtures of more than one semen donor. This number might still be an underestimation, since with the limited discrimination rate of the current four-locus haplotype it is possible for two semen donors to have the same Y-STR profile. Semen on 12% of the vaginal and anal swabs and 21% of the underwear stains contained DNA from more than one male individual.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#215)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:33:12 PM EST
    Imho wishes,
    That's not true. We don't know if they used condoms. We don't know if they ejaculated. We do know your "sucked out" theory has been disproven. Even when condoms are not used and there is ejaculation the previous semen sample is not necessarily displaced.
    YOU may not know these things but WE do. They wore no condoms because were was no rape. The FA herself said no condoms were used. That's good enough for me and should be good enough for you to given that the only evidence on condom use is that none were used in the hypothetical story. YOU may think you have disproven the pumped out or sucked out theory but you have not disproven it to anyone other than yourself. You talk like you know something all the time and play novice scientist even when you have professional MD's tell you nicely you are all wet. Go read some articles on sperm getting pumped out and report back before you pop off.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#216)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 09:40:42 PM EST
    hahahahahha Newport, I was just about to fall asleep and you got me laughing out loud again. The accuser is "good enough for you" when she has, reportedly, said something you want to hear. What has a "professional MD" said that counters what I have posted? Ask an MD what this means:
    Semen on 12% of the vaginal and anal swabs and 21% of the underwear stains contained DNA from more than one male individual.
    It means displacement was not complete.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#217)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:02:41 PM EST
    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#218)
    by Alan on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:06:35 PM EST
    Lora's article tells us very little, because it gives no context for the cases it describes. Did those cases, for example, involve an allegation of multiple rape where no inculpatory semen was found? Nor does it explain how a multiple rape, performed according to the AV's own account without condoms, can leave no semen while previous sexual encounters leave ample traces. Nor does it explain why Nifong, who presumably either read the AV's account or questioned her about condom use, hinted at the sue of condoms as an explanation for the absence of semen from the alleged rapists. The rape is alleged to have continued for 30 minutes. Redfern is the last station on the railway before Sydney Central. 'Getting off at Redfern' has a certain meaning to Sydneysiders. I guess we are now going to hear that the alleged rapists may not, in the course of the alleged 30 minutes, have ejaculated. I guess we are also going to hear all about how coitus interruptus is an effective method of contraception.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#219)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:21:38 PM EST
    More experts on Nancy Grace explaining that imho and Lora are wrong:
    GRACE: Dr. Michael Hunter is with us tonight, forensic pathologist. He`s also a medical examiner. Dr. Hunter, I`m sure you know in your experience about the rape shield law, any prior sex activities, if they exist, on behalf of the rape, the alleged rape victim, are inadmissible in court. She is not to be tried on her reputation, but let`s say she did have sex. Say a week before this incident, which I have reason to believe. That`s not a felony. Last time I checked the law books, but would evidence of that voluntary sexual intercourse still come up in the rape kit? Would there still be sperm a week later? DR. MICHAEL HUNTER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, MEDICAL EXAMINER: No, one thing about sperm and in a rape kit, you`re going to have a yield that drops off pretty precipitously say at 12 hours to 24 hours. You are not going to expect to see usable DNA from sperm after, say 72 hours. A week out, I don`t see that that`s going to be possible here. GRACE: I don`t see it either. Dr. Hunter, it`s my understanding after about three days spermatozoa has totally dissolved from a couple of hours two three days they start to disintegrate, fall apart. The head of the sperm, the tail of the sperm falls off and you can actually look at the sperm under a microscope and generally gauge the age of the sperm, if you catch it in time. HUNTER: Yeah, right, and another thing is that, during this rape kit, they`re going to have microscopic sections. They`re going to have slides that they`re looking for, spermatozoa to see if there is spermatozoa there, so they may have found something and if they can define the morphology of it, that I think blows it out of the water that it would be a week out, it would have to be within that three day time frame.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#220)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:33:41 PM EST
    IMHO, when the accuser says no condoms were used and there are no other facts present to suggest condom use (i.e., she was blind or the condoms were invisible) then there is but one conclusion available to the trier of fact -- no condoms were used. It's really that simple and the judge would probably issue a jury instruction on this very point. The jury is not allowed to speculate on wild theories re condom use like you do, the jury must find facts based on the evidence presented not indulge in your brand of speculation. You seem to have some problem with me accepting this part of the FA's statement. I accept this part of the statement because there is no evidence to contradict this part of the statement. I do not accept those parts of the FA's statement which are contradicted by the evidence we know about. This is the process a jury follows when considering the evidence in a case.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#221)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:44:14 PM EST
    Lora said:
    in stating that the AV was significantly injured upon arrival and maybe by falling down stairs (pictures to prove), was in error. OR they were in error by stating at a later date she had no visible injuries except a few minor scratches. If the latter is true, somehow they didn't notice earlier that the bruises were just artifacts of the pictures.
    Of course, the "latter" wasn't a defense statement--it was the sworn summary of the SANE nurse. I'll agree it seems like the SANE nurse's report undercuts the accuser's accredibility. The basic problem with the accuser's credibility is she told multiple, wildly contradictory, stories. We've all read the police reports that have been released. I suppose you could call that "defense spin," since the defense, and not Nifong, released the reports. But when the police are damning witnesses for the prosecution, it seems there's a problem.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#222)
    by blcc on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:46:05 PM EST
    Why in the heck is there any discussion of condoms going on? What did I miss that put that fable back in play? Seriously, I'm asking because I just don't get it and I need this broken down. She said no condoms were used. As in no condoms were used. I.e., none. Which I interpret to mean zero condoms. So, to believe that condoms were used, in fact to even suggest that condoms might have been used (after knowing that she declared NO condoms were used) is to imply that she might be somehow lying about some facet of this incident.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#223)
    by blcc on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:51:16 PM EST
    Sorry Newport - I missed your post above. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this "question" should be considered settled.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#224)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:51:24 PM EST
    blcc, Let me introduce you to IMHO...
    We don't know if they used condoms.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#225)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 10:54:33 PM EST
    No worries, blcc, imho has been at it again.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#226)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:03:49 PM EST
    Alan said:
    The rape is alleged to have continued for 30 minutes.
    Well, you know these young college boys. It takes them 30 minutes just to get started.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#227)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:08:33 PM EST
    Alan says:
    Redfern is the last station on the railway before Sydney Central. 'Getting off at Redfern' has a certain meaning to Sydneysiders.
    But so is Town Hall and Museum. Does 'getting off' at Town Hall have the same meaning? Hmmm, why all this talk about 'getting off' anyway?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#228)
    by JK on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:09:36 PM EST
    Here is how I predict Nifong will try to spin the condom issue: Maybe Finnerty and Evans used condoms, because they were behind the AV, and so she wouldn't necessarily know. Do I buy this? No. But that it is how Nifong will try to sell it. The AV can't backtrack on Seligmann, since he allegedly "finished" in the AV's mouth.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#229)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:10:49 PM EST
    Found it. Here is human penis displacement theory. Link

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#230)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:16:31 PM EST
    But Newport, don't you know that paper on Semen Displacement as a Sperm Competition Strategy in Humans is by those Evilutionary Psychologists, and can't be trusted.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#231)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:38:29 PM EST
    beenaround, yes I figured that. Never trust a scientist on evolution. But, if the FA went to the party on Buchanan with a bit of semen in her vagina, and was thereafter raped successively by three condom-less deep thrusting males, I would suspect that the original bit of semen would be displaced by the rape. If not, I would at least expect a mixed sample to be found upon examination. Even if there was no ejaculation there would be skin cells or other biological material (pre-ejaculate, for example) from the alleged attackers present in the vaginal cavity upon examination. There was no mixed sample found, however, only the unadulterated DNA of the boyfriend, Murchison, was detected. Moreover, if the attackers used condoms, which is not how the story goes, then I would expect the three (or is it two, I can never remember) deep thrusting condom wearers to displace the boyfriends' bit of remaining ejaculate so that no remnants of prior consensual sex would be found. Again, this is not the case here. I would add that in a multiple successive intercourse situation that the last in line for intercourse would be the most likely to leave DNA behind. It seems to me that the DNA resultant from the first intercourse would be the first DNA to be displaced. So, I do maintain that displacement theory is relevant here and may be used to show that no gang rape occurred.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#232)
    by Alan on Sun Jul 02, 2006 at 11:46:04 PM EST
    beenaround said:
    But so is Town Hall and Museum. Does 'getting off' at Town Hall have the same meaning?
    Redfern's part of the oldest line in the country. Town Hall and Museum weren't built until the 30s. No-one, as far as I know, gets off at either station, in any sense except leaving the train.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#233)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:03:52 AM EST
    Earlier today a poster made reference to personal attacks against imho and asked that they be stopped pointing out that imho had done nothing to deserve them. I believe this comment was directed at me. I resent this comment. imho has engaged in every conceivable personal attack against the Duke LAX team. Her commentary against the team has been filed with bitterness, distortion and outright hatred. She has repeatedly linked pictures of unindicted players in violation of the privacy of these players. She has not missed a single opportunity to spit her venom at these players who are in the minds of all reasonable persons likely innocent of the charges levied against them. These players may not be angels, but they have already suffered more for their perceived transgressions than any persons in the history of the U.S. I did not play lacrosse at Duke, but I did know several lacrosse players. Lacrosse is a minor sport. The LAX players were not big men on campus or remarkable in any way. The only characteristic I observed is that they tended to be better students and smarter than many of the major sport athletes. They even showed up in engineering classes. As I have said before, they do not deserve this. Any person who engages in the type of character assasination that imho does is not someone to be admired. To the contrary, she is someone who deserves scorn for her offensive comments and hatred. I am sorry if I may seem insensitive to delicate sensibilities but I do not appreciate imho's tactics and I will make my feelings known.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#234)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:27:19 AM EST
    Newport, Chill buddy. IMHO seems to be one of those people who take delight in tormenting people like yourself. Every board seems to have one or two. She's smart - because of that I actually thinks she thinks the player are innocent. But you'll never get her to admit that or change her mind publicly. Give her some credit. At least you're arguing with a gun filled with real bullets. She's stuck with a holster full of blanks. At first, she had some credibility. The board didn't know how to respond to her endless detailed questions on irrelevant facts and the ever present "We just don't know." Those days are gone - to most, IMHO's credibility is not that high. "We just don't know" seems to be a regular slogan around here - usually brought up now in a sarcastic way when the BS is getting pretty deep. So let her prattle on. Point out the error of her ways. But chill. People see her for what she is.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#235)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:55:18 AM EST
    david_in_ct posted:
    As to the question of 1000 rapists go free vs. 1 innocent go to jail, I'd probably come down on the side of the innocent.
    Not me. Generally speaking 95% chance of guilt would be good enough for me. I expect in practice that is about the threshhold for conviction of the average juror. I would guesstimate about 1% of people in prison are innocent of the crime they were convicted of. In the unlikely event these boys are convicted, they won't be the only innocents in jail.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#236)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:12:51 AM EST
    Newport, You wrote:
    Any person who engages in the type of character assasination that imho does is not someone to be admired. To the contrary, she is someone who deserves scorn for her offensive comments and hatred.
    You strike me as the type of person who would gladly go to jail for twenty years if you knew it would keep 1000 guilty rapists in prison, Newport. That's why I enjoy reading your posts. Unlike David in Ct., you aren't afraid of being wrong, and you're willing to prove it daily. What are the grounds for the statement that the dna found under the fingernail was a mixed sample i.e. came from more than one source? Does that claim come from the lab or have we only heard it from the defense?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#237)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:16:28 AM EST
    James B. Shearer, You wrote:
    I would guesstimate about 1% of people in prison are innocent of the crime they were convicted of. In the unlikely event these boys are convicted, they won't be the only innocents in jail.
    And what percentage of the people tried and found innocent of the charges for which they were tried would you guesstimate were in fact guilty?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#238)
    by Alan on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:25:01 AM EST
    SomewhatChunky posted:
    She's [imho] smart - because of that I actually thinks she thinks the player are innocent. But you'll never get her to admit that or change her mind publicly.
    I'm not completely sure I agree with you imho's insincerity. The best we can say is we just don't know. On the other hand, we could adopt the PB presumption of guilt by which not knowing the innocence of the defendants is enough for conviction. Again, we just don't know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#239)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:30:40 AM EST
    PB wrote
    And what percentage of the people tried and found innocent of the charges for which they were tried would you guesstimate were in fact guilty?
    I'd guess it's far higher. The prosecution has to prove it - that can be very hard in some cases. The defense need do nothing. It's not a game with equal rules for both sides. It was set up that way on purpose.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#240)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:58:26 AM EST
    I'd guess it's far higher. The prosecution has to prove it - that can be very hard in some cases. The defense need do nothing. It's not a game with equal rules for both sides. It was set up that way on purpose.
    I'm going to disagree with this hypothesis. I don't have the time to post the complete reasons why just yet, but I will state this : I think the rate of false convictions is higher in cases where only eyewitnes or jailhouse "snitch" testimoney is used. Very much considerably higher. So in order to get a handle on false convictions we need to get a hold of the number of convictions based solely on testimoney. I suspect we could also find breakdowns by crime type such as sexual assualt, robbery, etc. Before I go I will throw out these two numbers for now: I think perhaps half of all robbery convictions in the last 30 years were of the wrong perp. And perhaps as high as 30 percent of sexual assualt convictions in general.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#241)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:19:31 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    These players may not be angels, but they have already suffered more for their perceived transgressions than any persons in the history of the U.S.
    I was thinking some of the 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were forced to relocate to internment camps during World War II, most of whom were American citizens, may have suffered more. Granted, I can't prove any of the interred were playing on lacrosse teams whose season were cancelled, nor do I know if any of them lost job offers from firms on Wall Street, but I do believe they suffered greatly, despite avoidance of those particular travesties.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#242)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:31:09 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    I would add that in a multiple successive intercourse situation that the last in line for intercourse would be the most likely to leave DNA behind. It seems to me that the DNA resultant from the first intercourse would be the first DNA to be displaced. So, I do maintain that displacement theory is relevant here and may be used to show that no gang rape occurred.
    Newport, How do you explain this? EXPERIENCES WITH USING Y CHROMOSOME SPECIFIC STRS IN FORENSIC CASEWORK
    Semen on 12% of the vaginal and anal swabs and 21% of the underwear stains contained DNA from more than one male individual.
    It means displacement was not complete.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#243)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:45:17 AM EST
    PB/Lora, How do you fit the pieces together? It isn't enough merely to conclude that a single piece of evidence doesn't disprove the AV's claim. You have to come up with an explanation of what happened that night in a way that is consistent with all of the different pieces of evidence. "We just don't know" doesn't satisfy the notion of probable cause. Did you find my "explanation" from yesterday believable? (As Bob correctly observed, I didn't even get around to explaining the alibis. Thanks, khartoum, for filling in the gaps.) I at least made an attempt to provide a consistent explanation. Try it. You will find that it is not easy to do.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#244)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:46:05 AM EST
    SomewhatChunky posted:
    She's smart - because of that I actually thinks she thinks the player are innocent. But you'll never get her to admit that or change her mind publicly.
    When I see all of the evidence, regardless of the verdict, if there ever is one, I would be glad to publically annouce that I think the players are innocent if that is what I decide, though since I have never stated otherwise, it would neither be a change of mind nor an admission.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#245)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:49:43 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    Any person who engages in the type of character assasination that imho does is not someone to be admired. To the contrary, she is someone who deserves scorn for her offensive comments and hatred. I am sorry if I may seem insensitive to delicate sensibilities but I do not appreciate imho's tactics and I will make my feelings known.
    You might want to apply your moral outrage to Bob in Pacifica's posts. Afterall, the "false accuser" is also innocent until proven guilty.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#246)
    by Alan on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:29:35 AM EST
    imho concocted:
    Afterall, the "false accuser" is also innocent until proven guilty.
    Her right to the presumption of innocence is not a right to have others put on trial without reasonable cause.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#247)
    by Alan on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:32:32 AM EST
    imho concocted:
    Afterall, the "false accuser" is also innocent until proven guilty.
    Her right to the presumption of innocence is not a right to have others put on trial without reasonable cause.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#248)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:33:34 AM EST
    Alan posted:
    Her right to the presumption of innocence is not a right to have others put on trial without reasonable cause.
    Was she on the grand jury?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#249)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:37:33 AM EST
    Here's a letter from today's Durham paper, from a Durham resident. Since this is the kind of sentiment that exists in some quarters of the community, if we ever get to a fair trial, one can only hope there will be a change in venue.
    It is interesting to hear the widespread whining about District Attorney Mike Nifong lately. His error? Taking a bunch of white boys to trial with an apparently weak case. How much widespread whining would there be if these three were poor young black men who would actually be languishing in jail until their trial sometime next year?
    No one would be hearing about weak evidence because the general audience around here doesn't care if it is young black guys. These young men are put in the corner to rot if they have no money or well-placed advocates.
    Mike Nifong has the integrity to carry this case forward as he would if these three dudes were poor young guys who were being charged. The big difference here is a full blown O.J. defense, public scrutiny, and a valuable chance to see the justice system applied in a consistent way. LARRY BUMGARDNER, Durham, July 3, 2006
    So, because poor blacks have been railroaded in the past, it's OK to railroad whites now.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#250)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:42:33 AM EST
    Whoa, whoa, whoa IMHO. You are smart enough to know that the accuser has no right to "innocence until proven guilty." She is the ACCUSER and is not actually on trial. It's up to the prosecution to prove her story is true beyond a reasonable doubt. But no one has to PROVE she lied for these players to be acquitted. The jury simply has to have an open mind, but the burden of proof is entirely on the prosecution (accuser's) side.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#251)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:46:53 AM EST
    Newport
    These players may not be angels, but they have already suffered more for their perceived transgressions than any persons in the history of the U.S.
    Could you please explain what you mean by "percieved transgressions"? Are talking about the racial slurs (and assuming they are innocent of rape), or are you talking about the rape allegations?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#252)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:52:04 AM EST
    IMHO writes at this late date: We don't know if they used condoms. We don't know anything, then. So why are we talking here? The AV said that her attackers didn't use condoms. One of them was standing in front of her putting his thingie in her mouth. Now the AV must be blind and without a sense of taste too. If imho says we don't know if they used condoms that means she doesn't believe what the AV said, which I guess is a small victory here. No DNA from scratches, no DNA from touching her, no DNA from nothing. They used those full-body plastic coverings. I expect that the broomstick is about to be reindicted, because we just don't know. So here's my question for imho, which she won't answer: What of the AV's various ramblings can we give any credit to? You see, there is no baseline. You can't even believe the AV because in doing so you weaken the concept of a gang rape. Now her lies are keeping us from the real truth of the gang rape. Whew! Sick minds need to not know.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#253)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:59:14 AM EST
    frostillustrated.com
    "I'm privy to more information than people on the other side of [this are]. They haven't released the pictures of her... the bruises, the black eye. Where did she get that?" Jakki rhetorically asked.
    I wonder if there really are photos of the patient taken at the hospital? You'd think if there were photos of the accuser Dan Abrams would have described them. Wouldn't he have said he had seen the hospital photos and they only show the injuries described by the doctor and nurse? If there are no photos, those time-stamped photos will be useful in challenging the nurse's and doctor's descriptions of the patient's injuries. If they missed the "extensive bruises" Bill Thomas described and the "bruises and cuts on her arms, legs and feet" that Cheshire described the prosecution might ask what other injuries might they have missed? I would think vaginal and anal injuries would be easier to miss that "extensive bruises" to the legs. Dan, were photos taken at the hospital?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#254)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:04:01 AM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    Whoa, whoa, whoa IMHO. You are smart enough to know that the accuser has no right to "innocence until proven guilty."
    I am talking about the accuser being declared a "false accuser." Many commenters here have used that term, routinely, to refer to her. Cheshire used it in his press conference. She has not even been indicted for filing false charges, much less convicted.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#255)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:15:34 AM EST
    IMHO, vaginal and anal injuries are nearly impossible to miss. You are talking about bright pink mucosa that bleeds and swells easily when insulted. Not to mention the fact that those are the main focus of exam in a rape kit. You are sitting, staring at that area for a good half hour or longer with the woman in stirrups, collecting evidence and doing your exam. Bruises on dark african american skin, however, are very difficult to detect. And as I've said before, they may appear to be bruises in the pictures, but under a bright hospital light may appear to be skin discoloration or old bruises. Arms, legs, etc are examined, but not given nearly as much attention during a rape evaluation as the genitals.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#256)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:17:07 AM EST
    Oh, and photos are not taken during a rape kit. The physician or nurse has diagrams of the genitalia and the body and they draw on the diagrams where they see injuries. I don't know why that's the case, but that's how it's done.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#257)
    by ding7777 on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:18:35 AM EST
    to khartoum
    white boys vs black men
    I gues the lessons of the Civil Rights Marches was lost on the letter writer

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#258)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:24:34 AM EST
    IMHO said:
    I was thinking some of the 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were forced to relocate to internment camps during World War II, most of whom were American citizens, may have suffered more.
    I was present last year when three of them were awarded their much delayed High School Graduations. I somehow doubt that they would think that past injustices justify current injustices. Indeed, I imagine that they would not even want their dignity to be sullied in that way.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#259)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:26:19 AM EST
    imho wrote: You might want to apply your moral outrage to Bob in Pacifica's posts. Afterall, the "false accuser" is also innocent until proven guilty. If imho really read my posts, she would know I have consistently used AV = "alleged victim." I may have even invented the damnable "AV" term for purposes of this discussion. As far as making judgments of the AV's statements and stories, if no one here is allowed a value judgment regarding someone's honesty, reliability or credibility versus the law, common sense or human nature, then there isn't much point to have a discussion around the case. Why, it would reduce the discussion to, "We don't know." I always know when I've hit something dead on here at TL's discussion on the case. There is usually nothing in response from the PBs and imhos. When Osborn recently asked Nifong for any medical evidence on the 1993 gang rape that the AV claimed and Nifong replied that he didn't know if there would be any evidence, it came close to confirming what I've been saying here for months. Absence of evidence when law dictates a crime such as that against a minor must be reported indicates to the logical mind that the crime did not occur. If the AV was inventing stories about a gang rape and was getting mental health counseling back then, if she received a general discharge from the military, if she has a history of accusing men of violent crimes against her and then doesn't pursue them, if she were hospitalized for an unyet identified mental illness last year, we have someone whose many wild and contradictory tales on a night when she admits to substance abuse who should not be believed on her word alone. Even imho doesn't believe that the AV when she said her attackers didn't use condoms. If one is to believe any story by the AV one needs to disbelieve all the other stories she made up, and Roberts' several stories. JSwift was right. No one here, not even the stoutest defenders of the AV, can create a coherent storyline where the three defendants gang raped the AV. It couldn't happen. It didn't happen.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#260)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:38:12 AM EST
    fahrenam, I wanted to ask you two questions. First, aren't bruises that you can see by definition old bruises? Bruising appears only some time after the injury, sometime longer than a few hours, true? Second, are there any conditions that can produce "diffuse v*ginal edema" other than intercourse, consensual or not. Like, perhaps, an infection (remember what Nifong implied?), or dermatitis as a reaction to an irritant such as latex or laundry detergent? Is "diffuse edema" still present a day after consensual intercourse? Two days? Three?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#261)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:44:32 AM EST
    From her greatest hits vault, imho pulls out this: "I'm privy to more information than people on the other side of [this are]. They haven't released the pictures of her... the bruises, the black eye. Where did she get that?" Jakki rhetorically asked. How do we know that Jakki is telling the truth? We don't. Does Jakki actually say she saw the bruises? No. Does Jakki say who took the pictures she claims exists? No. Does Jakki know that such pictures exist? No proof that she does. Has Jakki seen that black eye? She doesn't say. Jakki don't have jack. So imho, in reprinting Jakki, is reprinting nothing of evidentiary value. It clarifies nothing. But let's say that Jakki sees the AV a couple of days later and she does have a black eye. What does that prove? It might prove that the AV got popped by a pimp for losing the $400 dollars or even just for bringing official attention to Bunny Hole Productions. Or by the boyfriend for her getting down with the pimps. Or by the father for getting drunk again. But we don't even know if the AV had a black eye. So why does imho put this up in reply to whether or not photos were taken?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#262)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:49:06 AM EST
    Let me agree here with imho. The current railroading of the three defendants is not as unjust as the incarceration of Japanese Americans in WWII. It also doesn't equal the Holocaust, the Bataan Death March, the sack of Rome and other historical events which you may have considered floating here as diversions from the case. That doesn't make the false prosecutions in Durham right, and it doesn't excuse your intellectual dishonesty either.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#263)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:50:12 AM EST
    Hi Madison. The bruising question is a good one. You can see fresh bruises, especially if they were caused by extreme force, however they will look very different from older bruises. They should be more red than purple/blue and definitely not yellow. You would expect there to be a lot of tenderness in the area and maybe some swelling. Again, I have to emphasize that bruises of all ages are much more difficult to see on dark skin. As for the vaginal swelling, it shouldn't be from an infection. A dermatitis would more likely be on the labia and may cause redness and pain, but shouldn't cause edema of the vaginal walls. a yeast infection may cause some swelling within the vagina, but that would be obvious for other reasons, such as the copious discharge. As for how long the vaginal walls would remain swollen after sex, I'm not sure, it's a good question. I would speculate that a vibrator may cause more swelling than regular sex and may last longer, but that's pure speculation.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#264)
    by Alan on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:08:58 AM EST
    Posted by inmyhumbleopinion
    Alan posted: Her right to the presumption of innocence is not a right to have others put on trial without reasonable cause.
    Was she on the grand jury?
    Usually I'd treat your question as another imhology and therefore not worth answering, but let's test your logic a little. Are you, for instance, saying the grand jury would have indicted without the AV's own actions in making the complaint? I know you believe grand juries can indict at random, and everyone indicted must face trial no matter how slender the case against them, but surely an alleged victim is needed?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#265)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:13:35 AM EST
    Finally caught up reading. Whew! Busy in here. Getting back to this: Sundance asked:
    My questions are 1) would a jury composed of individuals with modest educational levels understand this, and 2) would a competent judge allow the evidence to even be presented or pre-emptively warn the DA NOT to present it as a "partial match"?
    1. I'm not the best person to ask; although I have been called to jury duty four times, I've never been invited to stay. What I know about jury deliberations I learned on TV. Honestly, my gut feeling is that without at least one member of the jury having some comfort with this kind of data and facility with logic, this argument will not be understood. But hey, we don't know what our cracker prosecutor will settle on: scratch or stick. He may be "stuck" though on this one, since there is some place where the tissue was found. The defense knows, and they are preparing accordingly, I would imagine. I think the transfer argument is a much easier sell and the more likely scenario anyway. I agree with those who think the argument I was making (just for illustration here, to combat "partial match" being misused in this forum) won't see the light of day. There is no convincing evidence to support a rape charge, but plenty of inconsistencies on the part of the accuser. Things won't get to the point of needing to show how a non-excluded person need not necessarily be a source. 2. I really have no idea whether a judge would make such an instruction. I think the misuse of "partial match" would have to be addressed by the defense after the fact. I do believe that the way "partial match" has been tossed about (more widely than here) has tarnished Mr. Evans' image to a degree and helps fuel this prosecutorial fiasco. That being said, I think Mr. Evans' best defense will turn out to be...Mr. Evans himself.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#266)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:21:58 AM EST
    Khartoum:
    So, because poor blacks have been railroaded in the past, it's OK to railroad whites now.
    It's fascinating at how people reading the same story can come to very different conclusions. My read on the story was that it was more of a hit on the criminal justice system in NC than it was a 'let's hang them because they hung us'. I noted that the writer used the term 'full blown OJ defense' which leads me to believe that the anger and frustration is more about social class and money than it is about race. In any event it didn't feel to me that the writer was expressing the opinion that the Lax players should swing because of malicious prosecutions against poor black kids. I got the feeling it was more, this #&$# has been going on a long time around here and nobody has cared a bit and now people care and whats up with that. Perhaps the best thing that can come out of this whole mess is a change in the way criminal justice is practiced in NC. Maybe if Nifong and DPD are hung out to dry in a big way, it will send keep future Nifongs and small town cops a little more in line.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#267)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:40:57 AM EST
    Things won't get to the point of needing to show how a non-excluded person need not necessarily be a source.
    How is having a person who is a non-excluded person from a degraded mixture any different from having a non-excluded person from a perfect sample from a single doner, other than the single number which describes the probability of exclusion?
    All the rest is just semantics. All your (very witty) example has shown is that the exclusion probabilities go down enormously when samples degrade causing information loss and that when there are mixtures it effectively broadens the possibility of match. I think that it is wrong to hold out the idea that because samples are degraded and or mixed they have no value. To me the value is purely in the exclusionary statistics and nothing else. If a perfect match yielded an exclusionary number of 1 in a billion that would be a million times better than 1 in a 1000. This would not lead me to believe that 1 in a 1000 was meaningless. It would still mean 1 in a 1000. I do agree that in this particular case it is probably meaningless, but as a point of discussion about forensics in general it is important.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#268)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:42:02 AM EST
    Imho, while (mis)quoting AV in your reply to Lora, your Freudian typo of yesterday was sublime:
    victim: He said um he was going to stick a broomsticks up our @sses.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#269)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:06:02 AM EST
    I finally got back to you SomewhatChunky. First,
    Would it be correct to say that the more alleles in the mix, the more people would be excluded?
    Good question. This is a thorny problem. Let's review how one is excluded. The only way one can be excluded as contributing to the mix is if one has no alleles in one's own profile that appear in the mixture. The more alleles that are determined to be in the mixture, the greater the potential for having an allele in common with the mixture, assuming that alleles are distributed randomly. As unexpected as that may seem, the fact that some of the information is missing really (and I mean really, really) diminishes the impact of this DNA result. But are alleles distributed randomly across the human population? You asked:
    Do races have different allele? Specificially, if you had a database from all blacks, would they always be excluded from a partial match with a caucasian's DNA?
    I am not a geneticist, but I do know, for instance, that the human blood types A, B, O, and AB occur in different proportions within different populations. Certain diseases occur disproportionately in some populations, such as thalassemias in the Mediterranean and sickle cell anemia in people with African ancestry. So, I'm sure that's the case. I think beenaround's comment about the heart disease drug that helps African Americans more than those without African ancestry is strong evidence of this. (Will we now go back to reevaluate our understanding of the reasons African Americans suffer more from cardiovascular disease? We should, but we probably won't.)
    [I'll snip some, IMHO gave the correct number] Can one extrapolate that ratio to the population at large or would that be flawed given the fact that the lab's database might not be a random sampling. Or do you just need more data?
    An extrapolation would be flawed if the lab's database is not a random sampling. Who gets their DNA tested by the laboratory in that region? First one would need to be suspected of/arrested for/charged with a crime. Some may say that in Durham, that is indeed random. I would cede that it is at least capricious.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#270)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:14:08 AM EST
    fillintheblanks posted:
    Imho, while (mis)quoting AV in your reply to Lora, your Freudian typo of yesterday was sublime:
    victim: He said um he was going to stick a broomsticks up our @sses.
    I corrected my typo, but what is interesting about the way the accuser related what he said, is that she seems to slip into repeating him verbatim.
    victim: He said um he was going to stick a broomsticks up your @sses.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#271)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:17:10 AM EST
    Couple of genetic points. 1) There are no "race" alleles or way to definitively tell someone's race from their genes. The fact of the matter is that blacks and whites (and asians, etc) share the vast majority of genes and differ on very few. And those that they differ on may be more likely within their population, but it's not a yes/no type of thing. There are caucasians with sickle cell anemia, for instance. 2) When you get extrapolation to the general population it is not based on allele frequency in that DNA lab database alone, it is based on general allele frequency in the population, something that is determined through the human genome project, etc. Alleles are not randomly distributed throughout a single population, they have different frequencies. The only thing the DNA database can tell them is whether or not they have a match or partial match with a specific person in thier database. 3) The more alleles, the better your chance of excluding people because you have to have that specific mix of alleles.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#272)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:34:15 AM EST
    david_in_ct writes:
    How is having a person who is a non-excluded person from a degraded mixture any different from having a non-excluded person from a perfect sample from a single doner, other than the single number which describes the probability of exclusion?
    My emphasis. David, I'm not sure I understand this. Tell me what you think of this. When you have a perfect sample from a single donor, I think that is a complete DNA profile. If we know the sample derives from a single donor, then every person who does not match at all alleles is excluded. A person who is not excluded from a perfect sample from a single donor is either a perfect match or his twin. I suggest that the probability of exculsion approaches zero. In the case of the single donor, we know we have a profile to which to make a match. Even a partial profile from a single donor allows us to make a partial match at whatever confidence the data allows. In contrast, when we have a mixture we can't reconstruct profiles for any of the donors. How can we? Agreed that this is really on the periphery of the story. Do you really think I'm quibbling over semantics? I'm not trying to.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#273)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:34:22 AM EST
    Ding7777
    to khartoum "white boys vs black men" I gues the lessons of the Civil Rights Marches was lost on the letter writer
    People tend to avoid calling black males "boy" for obvious reasons.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#274)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:35:59 AM EST
    beenaround posted:
    IMHO said:
    I was thinking some of the 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were forced to relocate to internment camps during World War II, most of whom were American citizens, may have suffered more.
    I was present last year when three of them were awarded their much delayed High School Graduations. I somehow doubt that they would think that past injustices justify current injustices. Indeed, I imagine that they would not even want their dignity to be sullied in that way.
    Did I say they would think that past injustices justify current injustices? No. Did I sully their dignity? No. I wonder if any of these Americans know of any fellow internees who may have suffered more than the three indicted lacrosse players have? If so, Newport would disagree with them. Newport posted:
    These players may not be angels, but they have already suffered more for their perceived transgressions than any persons in the history of the U.S.
    Of course, the Japanese where not even interned for perceived transgressions, they were perceived to be capable of future transgressions.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#275)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:39:52 AM EST
    from david_in_ct:
    I think that it is wrong to hold out the idea that because samples are degraded and or mixed they have no value. To me the value is purely in the exclusionary statistics and nothing else. If a perfect match yielded an exclusionary number of 1 in a billion that would be a million times better than 1 in a 1000. This would not lead me to believe that 1 in a 1000 was meaningless. It would still mean 1 in a 1000.
    I understand this. Yes, I agree. Ignore the other stuff I just wrote. But you really think I was quibbling?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#276)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:40:00 AM EST
    fahrenam posted:
    Oh, and photos are not taken during a rape kit. The physician or nurse has diagrams of the genitalia and the body and they draw on the diagrams where they see injuries. I don't know why that's the case, but that's how it's done.
    Every S.A.N.E. protocol I have come across includes detailed intructions on taking photographs.
    Nongenital injury evidence. Physical injuries are the best proof of force and should always be photographed, described on drawings, and documented in writing on the SANE Exam Report as evidence of force (Ledray: 92b). Photographs are not meant to take the place of good charting (Pasqualone: 96). ....Specific consent to photograph is necessary but may be included as a standard part of the exam consent. In a facility which maintains medical records, two sets of pictures should always be taken. One set always remains with the medical record. The second set should be given to the police (although some programs give it to the victim) and will usually be the pictures used in court. Whenever pictures are taken, the first picture should always be of the victim's face, and others should follow in a systematic order, such as head to toe, or front to back. They should be taken first without a scale to show nothing is being hidden, then with a scale to document size.... Each picture should include a label with the victim's name in the picture. If a Polaroid camera is used, the SANE should print her name and title,...


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#277)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:45:28 AM EST
    david_in_ct: Do you know an analytical way to generate a number that describes how likely a person is to be a source in the partially degraded mixed sample, or is this something that is done empirically (I figure it's this)?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#278)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:46:23 AM EST
    Interesting, IMHO. Maybe it differs by state. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, where I practice and went to medical school no photos were taken.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#279)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:50:39 AM EST
    The other alternative, IMHO, is that physicians are not really trained to do rape kits. We are just sort of sent in there and follow the directions of the kit itself. SANE nurses are trained more extensively in the preservation of evidence, etc, and may be better about taking photos. Physicians generally do the rape kit when a SANE nurse is unavailable. However, when a SANE nurse can do the kit, the physicians usually just does a simple physical, no genital exam and we do not accompany the SANE nurse during their exam.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#280)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:51:32 AM EST
    Noname, my use of the term referred "perceived transgressions" referred to the alleged racial slurs, known racial slur, the broomstick comment, public urination and the comment "she's just a stripper." I should have been more clear. My point was that these young men have suffered more for these "crimes" than anyone in the history of the U.S. I do believe that to be the case since the U.S. does not punish racial vilification, and if it wants to start then it better start building a lot more prisons, perhaps enough to house the entire population except imho, pb and durga. The Japanese internment analogy is just another example of a snarky attempt to belittle and twist which was not deserved.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#281)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 09:53:49 AM EST
    My last post should have read: Ding7777
    to khartoum
    "white boys vs black men" I gues the lessons of the Civil Rights Marches was lost on the letter writer
    People tend to avoid calling black males "boy" for obvious reasons.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#282)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:00:09 AM EST
    Thanks Newport. I just wanted to make sure the Japanese camp counter-example was not valid.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#283)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:05:07 AM EST
    Newport posted:
    Noname, my use of the term referred "perceived transgressions" referred to the alleged racial slurs, known racial slur, the broomstick comment, public urination and the comment "she's just a stripper." I should have been more clear. My point was that these young men have suffered more for these "crimes" than anyone in the history of the U.S.
    I don't know, Newport..
    In 1884 Ida Wells, editor of Free Speech, a small newspaper in Memphis, carried out an investigation into lynching. She discovered during a short period 728 black men and women had been lynched by white mobs. Of these deaths, two-thirds were for small offences such as public drunkenness and shoplifting.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#284)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:08:35 AM EST
    Well, then imho, you have placed yourself in good company.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#285)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:20:11 AM EST
    david_in_ct said:
    It's fascinating at how people reading the same story can come to very different conclusions. My read on the story was that it was more of a hit on the criminal justice system in NC than it was a 'let's hang them because they hung us'.
    My fault: I should also have included the title of the letter--"Nifong Has Integrity." I agree that the logic in the letter was a bit confusing, but I don't think the writer was attacking Nifong.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#286)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:36:37 AM EST
    beenaround posted:
    Thanks Newport. I just wanted to make sure the Japanese camp counter-example was not valid.
    It is valid. There are Americans who have suffered more than the lacrosse players for having committed no trangressions what so ever. Newport was just blowin' smoke and got carried away. No big.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#287)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:42:01 AM EST
    Madison:
    Do you know an analytical way to generate a number that describes how likely a person is to be a source in the partially degraded mixed sample, or is this something that is done empirically (I figure it's this)?
    I am by no means an expert in the field. In fact, like you, all my knowledge comes from Scientific American et al. I make predictions for a living so I am somewhat comfortable with the probability aspects. I too would assume that an emperical approach would be both easy do and have far greater validity than any analytical approach. In the case of the Evans DNA mix I'd be surprised if the variance in the population combined with the sample size in the lab database would give an error bar that would exceed say a factor of a few with respect to the same stats from the general population. The lab database number is .004. Off hand I'd make book that the number in the general population is between .001 and .01. I don't think it is in the nature of chemists or others that work in the 'hard' sciences to quibble. It's too much in your daily life to have to deal with what is rather than what you might like something to be. Chemistry doesn't allow for too much nuance. Things react, or don't and products appear or don't or heat is given off, etc.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#288)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:44:13 AM EST
    Alan posted:
    Are you, for instance, saying the grand jury would have indicted without the AV's own actions in making the complaint? I know you believe grand juries can indict at random, and everyone indicted must face trial no matter how slender the case against them, but surely an alleged victim is needed?
    I'm saying she was not on the grand jury. She did not indict the players. She made an accusation. They were formally charged and indicted. Now to call her a false accuser without making a formal charge and having her indicted and convicted is wrong. I am not calling these players who have been formally charged and indicted rapists. I'm waiting to see all of the evidence.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#289)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:48:32 AM EST
    Khartoum:
    My fault: I should also have included the title of the letter--"Nifong Has Integrity." I agree that the logic in the letter was a bit confusing, but I don't think the writer was attacking Nifong.
    LOL, there I go trying to read evenhandedness into something whose title is a joke.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#290)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 10:56:41 AM EST
    Madison posted:
    An extrapolation would be flawed if the lab's database is not a random sampling. Who gets their DNA tested by the laboratory in that region? First one would need to be suspected of/arrested for/charged with a crime. Some may say that in Durham, that is indeed random. I would cede that it is at least capricious.
    That's not true. The lab also does paternity testing as well testing for relationships such as as twins, siblings, grandparents, etc.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#291)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:05:34 AM EST
    Posted by inmyhumbleopinion July 3, 2006 11:44 AM Alan posted: Are you, for instance, saying the grand jury would have indicted without the AV's own actions in making the complaint? I know you believe grand juries can indict at random, and everyone indicted must face trial no matter how slender the case against them, but surely an alleged victim is needed? I'm saying she was not on the grand jury. She did not indict the players. She made an accusation. They were formally charged and indicted. Now to call her a false accuser without making a formal charge and having her indicted and convicted is wrong. I am not calling these players who have been formally charged and indicted rapists. I'm waiting to see all of the evidence.
    Uh huh. Overlooking the fact that if she hadn't have made an accusation that Nifong would have had nothing to bring in front of the Grand Jury. Since she was not gang-raped she is a false accuser, irrepsective of whether her lies were due to confusion or mistakes. You keep saying you want to "see all the evidence", but with statements Nifong has made in open court we know there is very little, if anything else he could have. The lack of DNA is conclusive in this case; of course it helps that the alibi's are nearly air-tight as well. I'd like you to put your money where your mouth is and tell me precisely what evidence Nifong could still have that he hasn't already claimed not to have, and that hasn't made it past two round s of discovery. And I'd like it to be something that suggests a rape occured. At this point, every single piece of evidence that exists seems to point to lack of any sexual contact between the players and this false accuser. C'mon, IMHO I know you can do it, or are you just playing semantical games of the type wherein you set up a bunch of negatives and ask the players to disprove them.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#292)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:37:39 AM EST
    cib posted:
    Uh huh. Overlooking the fact that if she hadn't have made an accusation that Nifong would have had nothing to bring in front of the Grand Jury.
    No. That part would be right here:
    I'm saying she was not on the grand jury. She did not indict the players. She made an accusation. They were formally charged and indicted.
    cib posted:
    Since she was not gang-raped she is a false accuser, irrepsective of whether her lies were due to confusion or mistakes.
    WE DON'T KNOW if she was raped or not. cib posted:
    I'd like you to put your money where your mouth is and tell me precisely what evidence Nifong could still have that he hasn't already claimed not to have, and that hasn't made it past two round s of discovery.
    Have you seen all of the evidence that did make the two rounds of discovery? I haven't. You may be willing to take the word of the defense team and Dan Abrams that nothing in the 1800+ pages is damaging to the defense, but I'm not.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#293)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:40:24 AM EST
    IMHO:
    It is valid. There are Americans who have suffered more than the lacrosse players for having committed no transgressions what so ever.
    No, because Newport was talking about specific transgressions (racially or sexually insensitive remarks, public urination, ect.), whereas you are talking about non, or at least very different, transgressions (being Japanese in America during WWII). I actually think your lynching example is pretty close to the mark. You may even be able to find a public urination charge that turned into a lynching. BTW, you quoted me, not beenaround.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#294)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:42:41 AM EST
    BTW, you quoted me, not beenaround.
    Oh sorry, I knew it was you, I assumed you were speaking about your relatives, I just typed the wrong name.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#295)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:44:26 AM EST
    And here I am arguing comments not vital to the case after promising myself I wouldn't get involved in such minutia. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! (Slaps palm to forehead).

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#296)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:52:03 AM EST
    So... There's nothing going on today in Durham? I thought there was supposed to be something today about the Duke key card information. Did that get postponed because of the holiday?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#297)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:58:31 AM EST
    Inmyhumbleopinion responded:
    That's not true. The lab also does paternity testing as well testing for relationships such as as twins, siblings, grandparents, etc.
    I stand corrected on your authority. You don't have to be suspected of a crime to have had your DNA tested by that lab. Still, I wouldn't want to live in Fongsville.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#298)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:59:36 AM EST
    No. That par
    t would be right here: I'm saying she was not on the grand jury. She did not indict the players. She made an accusation. They were formally charged and indicted.
    And once again, there'd have been no grand jury if not for her accusation. Having started this ball rolling, there is no way she can get out of responsiblility for however far the legal system takes it.
    Since she was not gang-raped she is a false accuser, irrepsective of whether her lies were due to confusion or mistakes. WE DON'T KNOW if she was raped or not.
    I've admitted she could have been raped either before or during the party. Although even then, she obviously has at least 2 of her identifications wrong. But she was not gang-raped. Lack of DNA in ANY of her orifaces is probative to that; hell they didn't even have any latex found. Since no gang-rape occurred that by definition makes her a false accuser. What we have is a very drugged up young womem whose credability is just about shot. Heck, even YOU don't seem to take her "no condoms" comment at "face" value. Heh. I made a funny.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#299)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:00:24 PM EST
    Madison posted:
    So... There's nothing going on today in Durham? I thought there was supposed to be something today about the Duke key card information. Did that get postponed because of the holiday?
    Judge lowers bonds for Finnerty, Evans
    Meanwhile, a lacrosse hearing previously scheduled for Monday has been pushed back to the week of July 17 at the request of defense lawyers.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#300)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:03:30 PM EST
    cib posted:
    I've admitted she could have been raped either before or during the party. Although even then, she obviously has at least 2 of her identifications wrong. But she was not gang-raped. Lack of DNA in ANY of her orifaces is probative to that; hell they didn't even have any latex found. Since no gang-rape occurred that by definition makes her a false accuser.
    No, it's not.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#301)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:17:58 PM EST
    I want to salute Newport for pointing out this gem: Gallup and Burch article on Semen Displacement. Some people have the most interesting research! I wonder how much they pay volunteers to do the deed in an MRI?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#302)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:22:54 PM EST
    IMHO:
    That's not true. The lab also does paternity testing as well testing for relationships such as as twins, siblings, grandparents, etc.
    The labs can do the test, but can they legally retain the information to be used for criminal investigations? I think the ACLU would be on this like white on rice. I think there are very specific guidelines that determine whether someone's DNA will be retained on file. I don't think a basic paternity test passes muster.
    All 50 U.S. states have statutory legislation providing for obligatory DNA banking of blood or saliva samples from those convicted of certain felonies.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#303)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:23:39 PM EST
    Thank you for the info, IMHO. I failed to read that article farther then its headline.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#304)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:31:53 PM EST
    If we don't know is the best that imho can offer regarding proof of a rape, then she got nothing. We don't know if there is some secret evidence that Nifong is witholding, but we know that if he is he's breaking the law. In the absence of the DA suffering criticism and risking sanctions and blowing the case merely to keep up imho's hope for a smoking gun, people here have asked the AV enablers to even just speculate what kind of evidence would in fact prove that Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans raped the AV. For those of you observing things here, the silence is deafening. Even imho, someone who is never short of words, can't piece together a prosecutorial theory of the case within the limits of reality. Of course, we don't know if pressure from Duke University forced the two DNA labs to fake their evidence, as the AV's mother suggested. We don't know if the rich, powerful Seligmann family got the bank to fake the ATM docs and pictures. Maybe the two million that Jakki claims Duke is throwing around bought the testimony of everyone at the Cosmic Cantina and the various phone companies to fix their records. WE JUST DON'T KNOW. One thing I do know is that right now PB, imho, Mr. P, chew2 or any of the other AV enablers are incapable of even presenting a theory of how the gang rape occurred.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#305)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:34:10 PM EST
    No, it's not.
    Yes it is, or are you calling Nifong a liar? If the DA is lying we have bigger problems than I thought. Touche.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#306)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:38:20 PM EST
    One thing I do know is that right now PB, imho, Mr. P, chew2 or any of the other AV enablers are incapable of even presenting a theory of how the gang rape occurred.
    Spot on Bob, spot on. I was going to ask IMHO what happened to all the DNA, saliva, latex and etc. that the FA's womanly spots should have been crowded with, but I didn't bother as I figured I'd get no answer. At this point it's all over but the legal wrangling.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#307)
    by wumhenry on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:48:23 PM EST
    I want to salute Newport for pointing out this gem: Gallup and Burch article on Semen Displacement. Some people have the most interesting research!
    Hmm. Evolution favors reproduction by nerds who take sloppy seconds, thirds, or whatevers over alpha studs at the head of the line! Who'd athunk it. Maybe that explains why there are so many ugly people in the world.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#308)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:48:28 PM EST
    "Lack of DNA in ANY of her orifaces" does not mean she has not been raped. cib posted:
    At this point it's all over but the legal wrangling.
    You mean the trial?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#309)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:50:14 PM EST
    wumhenry posted:
    Maybe that explains why there are so many ugly people in the world.
    imho chewing on fingers to keep from responding....

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#310)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:01:01 PM EST
    mik posted:
    The labs can do the test, but can they legally retain the information to be used for criminal investigations? I think the ACLU would be on this like white on rice. I think there are very specific guidelines that determine whether someone's DNA will be retained on file. I don't think a basic paternity test passes muster.
    I would think names are removed from the results in the lab's in-house data bases.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#311)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:09:08 PM EST
    mho chewing on fingers to keep from responding..
    .. C'mon, its almost July 4th, we could use some fireworks around here.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#312)
    by wumhenry on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:09:25 PM EST
    Maybe the closest thing Nifong has to an ace in the hole is that there's no direct testimony from the AV herself in the record. She might try to avoid some of the more glaring discrepancies by alleging that she was misquoted. For instance, she might deny having said that no condoms were used.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#313)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:09:47 PM EST
    IMHO, did you read the article I linked? The ACLU has fought mandatory DNA databases for CONVICTED sex offenders in eleven states as a violation of the fourth amendment as unreasonable search and seizure. While they have lost those court cases, I don't think they would let this one go. You submit your DNA for a paternity test and you are on file for life? I don't think so. Try reading the article.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#314)
    by ding7777 on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:11:03 PM EST
    to inmyhumbleopinion
    She made an accusation. [snip] Now to call her a false accuser without making a formal charge and having her indicted and convicted is wrong.
    Calling her a false accuser might stem from the fact that she described her "ordeal" in an interview.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#315)
    by wumhenry on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:17:03 PM EST
    In the interest of justice I hope that the defense lawyers interrogated the AV under oath early on, although the Bill of Particulars seems to indicate otherwise.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#316)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:19:13 PM EST
    "Freakonomics" guy gets it wrong
    Several readers point out that the "Freakonomics" guy is wrong about the Duke case accuser identifiying three of the first seven player photos she was shown. They offer this transcript as convincing evidence that in fact one of the players she accused was the 40th picture she was shown.


    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#317)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:22:42 PM EST
    ding7777 posted:
    Calling her a false accuser might stem from the fact that she described her "ordeal" in an interview.
    The charges have not been proven to be false nor have they been proven to be true. The indicted players should not be referred to as rapists and the accuser should not be referred to as a false accuser.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#318)
    by wumhenry on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:23:59 PM EST
    Several readers point out that the "Freakonomics" guy is wrong about the Duke case accuser identifiying three of the first seven player photos she was shown. They offer this transcript as convincing evidence that in fact one of the players she accused was the 40th picture she was shown.
    Dang, they must be guilty after all!

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#319)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:25:27 PM EST
    Hey Newport, Not sure if anybody replied to your query about where to fly when going to Hilton Head. . . You can fly into Charleston, Savannah, or Hilton Head Island. Savannah is the closest and, in my humble opinion, the easiest. We usually stay in Palmetto Dunes at the Hilton Oceanfront. By the by, Hilton Head is my most favorite place. You will love it!

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#320)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:26:12 PM EST
    Bob, Maybe they thought that my theory yesterday represents the most likely explanation, particularly after khartoum solved the problem of the alibis. It remains the only attempt to offer a theory that supports Nifong. However, we still need to determine how Kim turned Dan Abrams into a defense shill.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#321)
    by wumhenry on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:28:45 PM EST
    The indicted players should not be referred to as rapists and the accuser should not be referred to as a false accuser.
    I have always called her "the AV", but there's far better reason for calling her a false accuser at this point than for calling the defendants rapists.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#322)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:29:08 PM EST
    mik posted:
    IMHO, did you read the article I linked? The ACLU has fought mandatory DNA databases for CONVICTED sex offenders in eleven states as a violation of the fourth amendment as unreasonable search and seizure. While they have lost those court cases, I don't think they would let this one go. You submit your DNA for a paternity test and you are on file for life? I don't think so. Try reading the article.
    mik, Try reading my post. I did not say I thought inclusion in the data base was mandatory. I am guessing people sign a release to have their profile included in the data base WITHOUT their names attached. These would be their clients, not people like the Duke lacrosse team who were court ordered to submit samples.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#323)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:34:01 PM EST
    IMHO: What purpose would it serve to be in the database anonymously? What good would it be to the lab and what benefit to the donor?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#324)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:37:57 PM EST
    And IF they removed their names, couldn't they be traced by other identifiable information on file with the lab (date sample was run, etc., compared to lab billing records)? I don't see any purpose in it. I doubt many people would voluntarily allow their DNA to be kept on file for later analysis. I'm a little freaked out knowing the federal government has my fingerprints on file from a criminal background check several years ago.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#325)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:47:05 PM EST
    Can anyone imagine this accuser keeping a single account straight for the few days she would need to take the stand? It's going to be tough to keep crystal clear. I imagine the prosecutor's case will go like this: The accuser's story is going to be a hodgepodge of "details" thrown together from her 6+ accounts by the genius Nifong. The prosecutor will chortle like a buffoon, stir up class resentment, turn comments made in jest into threats, and have Nikki utter the n-word. He'll say they used fake names so they would confuse their intended victim. She'll tell her pathetic account of being torn from the very arms of her only ally. He'll say the SANE exam was consistent with rape. She'll accuse the defendants, pointing directly at them, with whatever type of rape he has imagined, probably using condoms. She'll tell how she was choked by that one, and how she scratched him. Nifong will point out a partial match to him on one of her fingernails, a peg of imagined credibility on which the jury may choose to hang up their common sense if they are so inclined. She will not do well under cross-examination, but she will engender sympathy for enduring it.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#326)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:56:13 PM EST
    mik, the feds have my fingerprints from being in the service in the early seventies. Scary what information can be held on individuals for use later on which has nothing to do with the original intent.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#327)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:07:55 PM EST
    Madison, Do you think that Nifong will not even try to make an attempt to create a timeline? Like JSwift has shown through his little demonstration, there is no logical presentation by the fine minds here to come up with a scenario that both matches the evidence and AV's claim of a gang rape. I've also tried to imagine what ace Nifong could have, either within or without the boundaries of discovery. For example, suppose that there was someone at the party who "witnessed" the gang rape. When would it have happened? Wouldn't such a witness have been better able to identify who participated in the rape and thus have kept Seligmann and Finnerty from being indicted in favor of people who were actually there? I am at a loss to conceive of any way that a gang rape could have happened, and despite my requests and the request of others here, the AV enables are still silent on this too.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#328)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:09:16 PM EST
    Yeah, it's even more frightening when you start to add genetic information to the mix, like propensity to certain diseases (medical and psychological). I can't imagine what would happen once we can more fully understand the data present in our genetics. People are upset about racial profiling today? I understand the reasoning behind the criminal background check. I even agreed to it. Yet, my prints are on file with the feds permanently. No way would I let them keep my DNA.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#329)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:13:13 PM EST
    farenham says:
    1) There are no "race" alleles or way to definitively tell someone's race from their genes. The fact of the matter is that blacks and whites (and asians, etc) share the vast majority of genes and differ on very few. And those that they differ on may be more likely within their population, but it's not a yes/no type of thing. There are caucasians with sickle cell anemia, for instance.
    I think you are wrong. See for example: Genetic Structure, Self-Identified Race/Ethnicity, and Confounding in Case-Control Association Studies where it says:
    Of 3,636 subjects of varying race/ethnicity, only 5 (0.14%) showed genetic cluster membership different from their self-identified race/ethnicity. On the other hand, we detected only modest genetic differentiation between different current geographic locales within each race/ethnicity group. Thus, ancient geographic ancestry, which is highly correlated with self-identified race/ethnicity--as opposed to current residence--is the major determinant of genetic structure in the U.S. population.
    In addition, given enough SNPs, I imagine that someone who did not know could tell that my daughters were mixed Chinese Caucasian, and perhaps even that one parent was Southern Han.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#330)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:19:29 PM EST
    mik posted:
    IMHO: What purpose would it serve to be in the database anonymously? What good would it be to the lab and what benefit to the donor?
    No benefit to the donor, [the donor would have all ready received the results of their paternity test. etc.], no harm either. The lab can use the information for analysis. They can have all indentifying information in the file but the name. Ethnicity, eye color, medical histories,etc. This is very useful data.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#331)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:28:24 PM EST
    IMHO:
    The lab can use the information for analysis
    For analysis of what? It's like a barcode, but you don't have the packaging, so you don't know what it's for. What purpose would it serve? Medical research? Not without an accompanying physical exam to compare it to. Got any other ideas?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#332)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:35:42 PM EST
    Thanks Quinnie, I appreciate the advice very much. Thanks noname for pointing out what I really meant. I agree that the lynching is very relevant. I made a mistake in my statement and imho corrected me. The correct statement should have been that these players have suffered more for their racial slurs and public urination than anyone who wasn't lynched by the KKK. Put's it in much better perspective. The Durham letter writer's arguments are somewhat mixed up although he is right that money buys better justice in America. I believe that if the players were black and the victim was white that the case wouldn't even have been known outside of Durham. I cite as support the current trial of black players accused of gang raping a white girl in Virginia. This case has barely made the press outside of the town in Virginia where it happened because it is not news. The truth of the matter is that if black players were accused of raping a white girl on the evidence (or rather the lack of evidence) that this Durham DA has shown, then the hue and cry from black groups would be deafening. There would be daily protests in the streets of Durham. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be there as would all manner of other black leaders, the NAACP and the New Black Panther Party. There would be no pots and pans in Durham left to bang. Finally, if the alleged perps were poor and black, they would not have been given 400K bail and sitting rotting in jail. If you check you will see that a Durham judge recently set bail for an alleged murderer at around 50K. So if the alleged perp could come up with 5K he or she walks. There are other reasons for the makeup of Durham's jail population but I will not go into them here.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#333)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:51:22 PM EST
    For analysis of what? It's like a barcode, but you don't have the packaging, so you don't know what it's for. What purpose would it serve? Medical research? Not without an accompanying physical exam to compare it to. Got any other ideas?
    One example is the fact that while David Evans' partial match could not be excluded, there were 14 other profiles out of 3561 total that could also not be excluded. That tells us something. If all of the 3561 could be excluded or if 3000 of the 3561 could not have been excluded that data tells us something else. Labs can now take a complete DNA profile and determine the donor's eye color. There is a lot more to learn from data bases such as these. The barcode you are talking about could be accompanied by all of the descriptive information, but not the indentifying information like name, address, SS#.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#334)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:53:39 PM EST
    Madison, don't assume for a moment that the defense will not vigorously contest the admissibility and if admitted over objection the scientific value of the mixed dna sample. Defense attorneys must raise all possible grounds for raising reasonable doubt at trial to save those grounds for appeal. No competent attorney would forego scientific testimony at trial on the limited value of the mixed DNA sample. Whether the jury understands it or not, it will be put on. The trick will be to not get bogged down on challenging the scientific detail if other more readily understandable methods of challenging the evidence are available such as potential transfer expert testimony and testimony re the FA painting her nails to show that the nails did not come off in an attack.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#335)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 02:53:50 PM EST
    Bob, I have watched with bemusement as others here have tried to make sense of the accuser's accounts (I simply cannot) and to reconstruct a timeline (a worthy effort). What have we come down to, four minutes when Mr. Seligmann was not using his phone while still on the property? There likely are witnesses who can place him outside the bathroom while the strippers were inside it. Likewise, Mr. Evans likely has witnesses who can testify that he wasn't in the bathroom with the strippers. Mr. Finnerty wasn't even there apparently at any point when Mr. Seligmann was. There were a lot of witnesses in the house, so there was no opportunity for this to happen. Add to this the absence of physical evidence to even cause one to suspect that it had happened, and I conclude this is a malicious prosecution. I can't really believe, unlike others, that Nifong is unaware of how poor his case is. I think he is in a real bind, and this case is just so much about Nifong and not about anyone else. He isn't willing to allow the innocent to suffer so that the poor accuser can get her day in court, or out of some misguided sense that he is the one to remedy the wrongs of the past. He's sacrificing them and their reputations to save his own. He screwed up royally by sticking his nose into the investigation, and everything he's done since then just reeks. Despite the glee he expressed when Mr. Osborn mentioned Mr. Seligmann's alibi in court, I can't figure out how he's going to wrap the timeline up neatly. He's still collecting evidence, you know, so something might turn up. What if he can't create a timeline that works? What if he doesn't even try at the trial, just asserting that it happened during the time gap in the photos? What if he just lets her tell her (hah!) story and allows the defense to present all this alibi evidence themselves? That should knock the foundation right from under him, but we're not the jury.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#336)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:07:04 PM EST
    IMHO, your example about profiles not being excluded is in a criminal investigation. Again, I think that would be unreasonable search and seizure violations for someone not arrested, charged or convicted of a felony. If you are looking for medical research, even DNA markers for eye color, you would be looking for controlled studies in a research environment. Just taking an oral medical history does not necessarily provide reliable information. If you wanted to research hypertension, for example, you would want to at least measure the donor's blood pressure, know what medications they are taking, evaluate their other environmental factors (diet and exercise) and have genetic medical history (from parents, children, etc.) in order to form and test your genetic marker hypothesis. All this from someone going in for a paternity test? Good luck!

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#337)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:10:56 PM EST
    Re displacement theory: Assume a woman is gang raped by men designated by letters in the following order: A B C D E F According to human anatomy and the acts of successive intercourse the sperm would be displaced on a FIFO basis. Thus, if a mixed sample were recovered it would be much more likely to contain DNA from D E and F than A and B. In this case, the boyfriend Murchison is A or B or maybe even C. He is not D, E, or F according to the tale being told. IMHO's mixed rape kit findings do not speak to this particular scenario as there is no evidence in her article to suggest that mixed sample recovered was anything other than the last two in line. Without knowing the specifics of the attack, (e.g., the number of attackers and their order of penetration), alleged for each sample collected in the study we cannot apply the study to the facts of this case.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#338)
    by inmyhumbleopinion on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:17:34 PM EST
    mik posted:
    IMHO, your example about profiles not being excluded is in a criminal investigation. Again, I think that would be unreasonable search and seizure violations for someone not arrested, charged or convicted of a felony.
    I have no idea what you mean.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#339)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:19:55 PM EST
    Newport wrote:
    Madison, don't assume for a moment that the defense will not vigorously contest the admissibility and if admitted over objection the scientific value of the mixed dna sample.
    Okay, I won't. I understand now that it needs to be presented at trial so that it can be grounds for an appeal. I hope it never comes to that, but I do fear.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#340)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:25:07 PM EST
    I wonder will Cheek ever come out and declare his candidacy? Pretty please...

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#341)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:35:53 PM EST
    Madison, Cheek stated that the number of signatures on petitions that he received would influence his decision. He did extraordinarily well in receiving 10,000 signatures in very little time. Nifong only received 11,000 or so votes in a three way race in the primary. Cheek would appear to have an easy victory over Nifong if he chooses to run.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#342)
    by weezie on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:40:02 PM EST
    Oh, Madison, you are bumming me out with your proposed trial scenario. It would seem very likely that what you are suggesting may well be what takes place. Kind of makes me miss the moustache discussion...

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#343)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:47:37 PM EST
    Yes, Madison's trial scenario is very likely. Nifong will be very vague about the time of the rape. He will say it could have happened anytime between 12:04 and 12:31. We just don't know. The problem for him, of course is Seligman, and perhaps Finnerty, although we don't know Finnerty's alibi details. I think Evans is the one here who is really at risk and it may not matter that the ID's on Seligman and/or Finnerty were botched for the jury when considering Evans. One out of three ain't bad and this would be a victory for Nifong. The false names stuff may not hold water, but it will be tried by Nifong -- he has no other choice.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#344)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:50:28 PM EST
    That's great news, Newport. A good note to leave on. I'll be back in August, if you're all still talking here, if the case is still on...but who am I kidding? Nifong won't drop this until it is ripped from his cold, dead, defeated hands. Hasta luego, amigos.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#345)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:52:28 PM EST
    Re the false names which is very important in this case as the accuser's credibility in making identifications is dependant on this theory: there is a huge problem with Dan/Adam morphing into Collin, Dave or Reade because it would require one of the three accused to be using TWO false names, i.e., Dan and Adam. This may be lost on the jury, however.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#346)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:54:15 PM EST
    not to mention the use of a false mustache. Can't leave that one out.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#347)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 03:59:56 PM EST
    Okay one last thing. The "good news" I referred to was the fact that Cheek got so many signatures. Also, I just wanted to thank those of you who have helped me to find some humor in this awful situation. It is very serious for these guys, and it can get very bleak going over the details ad infinitum. I enjoy every reference to the "special towel" and I loved the lead up that culminated in the Hitler moustache. Okay, vacation time. Later.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#348)
    by ding7777 on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:01:20 PM EST
    to Newport Nikki and Precious are false names. Why can't the Defense say false names are the norm in dealing with escort services

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#349)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:03:54 PM EST
    Madison, I agree. Nifong is not delusional. He knows what he has and knows what he did with it. He took a bad case, pumped it up and then used it in the primary. Maybe if he hadn't played it up so much he might have been able to finesse it to victory and then let it drop, but he overplayed his hand, stirred up racial hatred, and then the thing took on a life of its own. I figure he'll keep the case going until November. If he ends up losing in November he may just let the new DA put it down like a sick old dog. I was half-joking about the timeline. If there is a trial they may actually try to push ahead without one. The problem is that every prosecution witness will have to account for a timeline that doesn't exist. The first question on cross that the lead investigator will have to answer would be, "When did the gang rape happen?" The prosecution could just say it happened sometime between midnight and quarter to one and hope that people in the jury will oblige and squish things around like PB so that it somehow fits in their minds. But they'll have to ignore that they have a crime that not only has no witnesses and no evidence, but also doesn't have a time when it occurred. Incredible that people here actually hold out hope that something like a gang rape could have happened at Buchanan that night.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#350)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:09:11 PM EST
    Ding, the defense may very well say that for Dan/Adam as I assume he is the one who called the escort service. There is no evidence, however, that any of the players called each other false names at the party. They may have called each other by their numbers according to established practice for that team, there is nothing remotely sinister about that, and if the Durham PD had any relevant experience with sports teams they would have known that. Don't you agree that many members of sports teams refer to other players by numbers. How many times have we heard announcers and players refer to Kobe as #8, Dan Marino as #13, Elton Brand as #42, Hank Aaron as #44, Dr. J. as #6, Michael Jordon as number 23, Magic as #32, the list goes on and on and on. Moreover, Dan/Adam presented his driver's license to Kim at the beginning of the party, so Kim knew that Dan was Dan and not Adam. Precious likely knew the same.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#351)
    by Lora on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:12:25 PM EST
    Newport, re: imho and I being wrong, God forbid that experimental evidence should counter anything one of Nancy Grace's experts has to say. BTW, your displacement theory article was based on multiple instances of sex happening within a very short proximity, not a week apart. Let the defense release all the medical evidence. They can; they were given all of it in discovery. They already released the results of the SANE trainee's exam, and had a comment from the MD as well I believe, so what's to stop them from letting us know what's on the other 27 pages? Nothing. Also the full fingernail DNA report. Let's have it. My theory of a possible rape that "fits" the "facts?" I will speculate: Disclaimer, I do NOT mean to say I believe it, I don't even think it's terribly likely, and Bob I definitely do not hope it's true, but...it could've happened...We Just Don't Know ;-) AV and Kim arrive as described by everyone. They call to say they are safe, get their money and negotiate as described. They go inside and go into the bathroom (per Kim) to change. (Bissey was off on his time - has to be if Kim had to change before the dancing began.) They dance. Photos are taken. They stop dancing after the broomstick remark and go to the bathroom. Partyers want the women to come out and perform; AV and Kim are arguing about what to do. No nail painting during this time, too much tension. Kim goes to the car, AV follows (Bissey says they were both back in the car - again he is off on his time, as he is all along I suspect.) One of the partyers apologizes and convinces the women to return to the house (per AV, Bissey, and Kim sort of), maybe with the promise of more money. The partyers could very well have been hoping/counting on paid sex with the performers. At this point some of them may feel entitled to sex anyway, as they have already paid a good deal of money. AV has to get her shoe, anyway, and may think that's all she's going to do. AV is helped out of the car, and groped. Maybe she drops her purse here or it is taken from her. Kim decides not to cool her heels in the car while the AV goes in to make more money. She goes in as well (Bissey says there is no one left in the alley. If one of the women were left alone in the car, he would have mentioned it somewhere). Kim and the AV are separated at the master bedroom door. As Kim is looking at the prospect of paid sex and more cash, she doesn't give much weight to the AV's protests, and may even think they are all show and no aubstance. The AV is taken to the bathroom and assaulted and raped. Kim turns a trick or two. Seligman is nervous and tries to establish an alibi; hence the many calls to locate his gf and get away from there fast (this means the rape would have to be earlier, that the camera clock was fast by several minutes. BTW in some of the articles, it said 2 cameras were used, so the times on the second batch could be right. The defense experts said they could vouch for the seequences but not the times. Bissey had no idea of time and I bet doesn't even know for sure when he actually looked at his cell phone to see "midnight" - can't even remember a precise time.). Of course Seligman is nonchalant as he goes outside. The other rapists get the AV out of there fast onto the back porch, locking her out, before Kim realizes what happened to her. The AV is hurt and confused and still has no shoe and has just been locked out. She bangs on the door and then collapses on the porch and stairs. Her "smile" is actually the beginning of a sob; probably just then she realizes she has no phone or money and that is the topper. The show is definitely over now and the partyers want the evening to end (Kim). Someone has decided they better establish that the AV was outside. Her falling down is even better and he snaps a bunch of pictures without attempting to help her. Ruffled Kim is essentially hustled out to the car where she has to change. Everyone really wants them to leave now and they now have to get the AV into the car, which they do. Kim is annoyed and the boys are too, and they exchange insults. (I think Kim asked the AV about her money but didn't go back in to look. I think she really embellished her story to look better than she was.) Kim threatens to call the cops and they drive off, and everyone else takes off in a hurry. JSwift, this is only a pale second to your masterful prose, but I tried.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#352)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:13:24 PM EST
    Ding, I may not have been entirely clear in responding to you. The defense does not want to say the players called each other false names because not only is it untrue, but it would give credance to the FA's flawed id of Dave, Collin and Reade when she said the three captains, Matt, Dan/Adam and Brett raped her.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#353)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:18:18 PM EST
    IMHO:
    One example is the fact that while David Evans' partial match could not be excluded, there were 14 other profiles out of 3561 total that could also not be excluded. That tells us something. If all of the 3561 could be excluded or if 3000 of the 3561 could not have been excluded that data tells us something else.
    You used this as an example of what important information might be gleaned from keeping DNA profiles from paternity tests on file for criminal investigations. What would happen if it had been a nearly complete profile and an almost perfect match for a rapist or a murderer? What if was only one profile that couldn't be excluded? Think the police might use legal means to require the lab to turn over identifying information on the donor? Regardless of whether or not the donor has any affiliation to the case the police are investigating? That is what I meant.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#354)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:19:26 PM EST
    Lora wrote,
    Let the defense release all the medical evidence. They can; they were given all of it in discovery. They already released the results of the SANE trainee's exam, and had a comment from the MD as well I believe, so what's to stop them from letting us know what's on the other 27 pages? Nothing. Also the full fingernail DNA report. Let's have it.
    Nothing is preventing the release of the complete medical information other than the fact that the judge in the case won't allow it. The defense made a motion to allow for the public release of the medical file, I assume it was denied. A local newpaper, the N&O, also filed a motion to have the medical file released to the public, it was denied.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#355)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:29:01 PM EST
    Lora, the defense probably screwed up when it didn't just release the medical file in the beginning. It wasn't produced to them under seal or with some special confidentiality marking on it, so they probably could have released it when they attached some pieces of the file to their motion. The defense was being cautious to avoid violating some privacy law, that is why they took the safe route and filed the medical file under seal along with a motion for it to be unsealed and made public.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#356)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:36:33 PM EST
    Lora, Nice try. I mean that. I'm glad somewhat stepped up to the plate on the AV side. Your scenario requires that many if not most of the partygoers were aware what was going on and that many would lie or coverup what happened. The old "blue wall of silence." I strongly believe that would not happen. This is too serious. It doesn't explain the lack of physcial evidence. It requires an "adjustment" of a number of eyewitness reports in regards to time etc.... In other words, you need to make up or edit what people who were there said. You need to make something completely up (the part about the Kim and "paid" sex). You just ignore the statements of the players, Kim and most of what the AV said. Since timestamped photos don't fit your timeline, you ignore them. Hard to ignore the watch photos, so you just leave those out. You really give Reade and some other unidentified players for some quick thinking to establish alibis. If they were so bright, don't you think that the idea of a gang rape in a house full of people with multiple witnesses wasn't a good idea. It doesn't address the multiple stories of the AV. You throw in the old "we just don't know" in an effort to add credibility. It doesn't. I would submit that a prosecutor should "know" a few things before he or she proceeds with a case. If your story relies on the need to alter almost every fact or eyewitness acoount that is known, accuses a large number of eyewitnesses of lying or a coverup, disregards all known physical evidence, add a few facts of your own with no evidence from anyone and places your faith in one victim's statement who has made a number of differing statments - well, that is what you wind up with - a story. Not a prosecutable case.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#357)
    by Alan on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:41:28 PM EST
    imho concocted:
    I'm saying she was not on the grand jury. She did not indict the players. She made an accusation. They were formally charged and indicted.
    Note the mood of the first three sentences, where the AV is agent. Note how the fourth sentence mysteriously reverse mood into the passive so that imho can avoid identifying an agent in the indictment. imho tells us the AV makes an accusation. To most of us, but evidently not imho, the set of those who make accusations is congruent with the set of those who are accusers, but no doubt imho will have another view. The set of accusers can be broken down a number of ways. Perhaps imho would like to suggests a different designation for the set of accusers whose accusation is false? The four misleading sentence imho concocted are allegedly an answer to a question of mine.
    Are you, for instance, saying the grand jury would have indicted without the AV's own actions in making the complaint
    That question is capable of a one word answer that is either yes or no. No-one's asked imho if the AV was on the grand jury. Why can't imho answer a simple question?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#358)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 04:46:12 PM EST
    Thanks for stepping up to the plate Lora and now you see how hard it is to make out a workable prosecution case. SomeWhatChunky, I may have a Colt 1911A1 loaded with 8 rounds, and IMHO may have an empty Colt 45 Single Action Army but she does have a mighty powerful bow and a quiver full of arrows to sling around. So I give her no credit.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#359)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:10:16 PM EST
    Thanks Lora. If the two women go into the bathroom at around 12:03, then leave the house, and go out to the car and then come back to the house, that doesn't leave any time for Seligmann, who's strolling down the street to catch a cab. If it took ten minutes to quit dancing, go into the bathroom, go out to the car, be persuaded to come back to the house and be separated, Seligmann is out. Instead of being pulled away from Kim as the AV clings desperately to her, we have a mere separation. And all the other things others have pointed out. Lora, you are a lot more courageous than PB or imho. And didn't Roberts change back into her civvies at some point too?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#360)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:28:39 PM EST
    Lora, Thank you for the timeline. I have been reading long enough to know that you, rather than IMHO or PB, would make the attempt. I share the misgivings that SomewhatChunky has already listed. I hope that you can see how hard it is to produce a timeline that is consistent with the evidence and the AV's accusations. However, your timeline post was far more useful than the recent posts about the details for one issue or another. The details don't really matter if the framework doesn't work.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#361)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:42:03 PM EST
    beenaround, I have to disagree with your use of that article--you need to read the small print. Sometimes taking a snippet from the abstract of study, if you are not scientifically inclined can be dangerous. That study looks at very specific microsatellite sites for hypertension and did find genetic correlation. There is obviously some genetic clustering for race. However, if you do an article search in general for genetic variation among races, you will find that virtually all scientists believe that race is a social, not a genetic construct. Please see the link below to a JAMA article that explains current medical/scientific thinking on race with the following quote as a highlight: "Despite the dictionary definition and common misunderstanding of race as equating to some common genetic stock, abundant research illustrates the genetic diversity present within racial groups. Wilson et al,7 in a study of drug-metabolizing enzymes and genotyping in 8 populations around the world, found that genotypes clustered into 4 groups, but these 4 groups in no way corresponded to the populations from which they were drawn. Wilson et al concluded that "commonly used ethnic labels are both insufficient and inaccurate representations of the inferred genetic clusters . . . [and that] drug-metabolizing profiles . . . differ significantly among the clusters." The Human Genome Project has found that the human population has 99.9% of its DNA in common.8 Genetic similarity cannot be inferred simply based on racial categories.9" http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/292/13/1612

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#362)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 05:58:49 PM EST
    Dr. Fahrenham, that 0.1 percent must make for a hell of a lot of difference, no?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#363)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:08:39 PM EST
    fahrenham, how could race by a "social" and not genetic construct. Are scientists saying that all the differences between the races must be chalked up to evolution alone? And that there are no genetic differences between Asians and Caucasians for example. Or, are scientists saying that very early inter-marrying accounts among genetically anomolous peoples accounts for the difference in appearance between the races. I am very confused here and I am very interested in hearing your reply. I want to learn.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#364)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:17:45 PM EST
    If a vetinarian can order a test to determine whether a mixed breed dog has, for example, was from Beagle stock, how could human race be a "social" construct. Also, doesn't a cat share about 90 percent of the human genome, what about a chimp?

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#365)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:26:38 PM EST
    Newport, it's a confusing construct, I know, and one that took awhile for me to buy into. The basic idea is that the vast majority of genes are shared among the races and that there is more genetic variability WITHIN races than BETWEEN races. Socially and historically, however, people have grouped themselves by race and the idea has evolved that there are more substantial genetic basis for differences that don't exist. This is not to ignore that due to ancient human migration, reproduction within small populations, etc, that certain genetic traits are more common in certain races than others, but they tend to be rare genes even within those groups. AND more importantly, there is nothing to prevent that gene from being passed on in an interracial relationship. So, while sickle cell anemia is most common in black populations, there is also a significant middle eastern and mediterranean population that carries the gene as well. Within enough racial mixing, you could end up with a blond, blue-eyed child with sickle cell. Not at all common, but nothing to prevent it, because these barriers between races aren't real. I hope that makes sense. If you read that editorial from JAMA it might make more sense.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#366)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:34:28 PM EST
    Bob in P. wrote:
    Let's try to try it this way, PB. Nifong has said he has released all of his discovery information. Sooooo, if he isn't violating the law, we have what evidence there is.
    Oh,my mistake. I didn't realize the defense had released to you all the stuff they got from discovery. Not to be churlish with you, but that still doesn't constitute all the evidence. It's mostly just the physical stuff. There are numerous conversations, for example, that wouldn't show up in discovery unless they were recorded. And there are obviously some witness memories that have yet to see the light of day as well. You wrote:
    Name me all witnesses who confirm any of the AV's stories of a gang rape.
    I don't know what people's stories are for where they were during the key times.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#367)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:46:52 PM EST
    PB, so that means you have nothing to lead you to believe that a gang rape occurred? Thanks for the admission.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#368)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:51:27 PM EST
    PB, care to try to construct how a gang rape could have possibly occurred given the evidence that is known? I don't think you do.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#369)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 06:56:53 PM EST
    PB, you also suggest: There are numerous conversations, for example, that wouldn't show up in discovery unless they were recorded. And there are obviously some witness memories that have yet to see the light of day as well. This, of course, is the basest of inventions on your part, but go ahead and amuse us. Tell us how any unrecorded conversations and memories would prove that a gang rape occurred. Don't mean to be churlish, but saying that something may exist doesn't make it so. So you have.....nothing. Thanks for your cooperation.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#370)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:17:13 PM EST
    Thanks, Fahrenam, I'll read the JAMA editorial and see what I can take out of it. But, I do wonder if the genetic differences BETWEEN the races are more significant even though fewer in number than the differences WITHIN the races.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#371)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:25:30 PM EST
    In the last few years Discovery and Scientific American, I believe, have both had big articles on what is race. I have read that there is more genetic difference within Africa than among the rest of humanity. Another thing to remember is that there is a certain amount of plasticity in certain human appearance characteristics that are more easily recognized. Populations that have lived nearer to the equator tend to have darker skins, people farther north have lighter skin. A population that spends some period of time in certain locations tend to evolve for those traits that favor survival. The shape of noses, the shape of the frame, length of the legs, etc. Human size is also plastic. Post WWII Japan, where diet is richer than in its recent history, is producing generations of people much taller than past generations of Japanese. The potential for taller Japanese was always there, just not the diet.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#372)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:29:47 PM EST
    Fahrenam, I am not convinced after reading this article that race is a social construct, it may be, but this article was written with a clear agenda in mind and relies solely on that one Wilson et al. study that I do not understand enough about to draw any conclusions. I shall keep an open mind on this subject. Thank you.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#373)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:53:38 PM EST
    The JAMA article is an editorial about a specific study (Wilson, et. al.) that was published in the journal that week. I though it gave a good overview of race and genetics at this point, because no one scientific study is going to give you the answer you are looking for. JAMA is considered one of the top two preeminent medical journals in the country (New England Jounral of Medicine being the other) and they usually reflect current medical thought. I suggest that if you want to learn more that you avoid individual studies and look for articles that summarize many studies, such as a meta-analysis. Looking at one study out of context can be confusing and misleading.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#374)
    by Bob In Pacifica on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:06:40 PM EST
    Newport, Would you say "Hispanic" is a true race? It's something you can check on a box on a U.S. government form defining one's own race, but an Hispanic can be Mexican, Dominican, Cuban, Brazilian, Chilean, Argentinian, etc. His genetic makeup may or may not contain unequal parts of various Native American subgroups, European or African ancestry. An Argentinian whose ancestors all migrated from Germany can be an Hispanic like a dark-skinned Cuban. Hispanic as a "race" is a social construct. The typical African American is a mixture of African, European and Native American blood. Many African Americans are lighter-skinned than some Hispanics. An African American may have inherited less genetic material from African ancestry than European or Native American. What genetically constitutes an African American? I believe it used to be one sixty-fourth African blood. That was a social construct created to ensure separation between former slaves and the general population to say that someone with so little genetic material from African ancestry would be considered black. We have an African American in this particular case (Kim) who is part Korean. If you have to assign her to a category is she Asian, African American or what? And that doesn't count how much genetic material is from white ancestors on her father's side. To say that Kim is African American has no real scientific meaning. Is a Moroccan or Algerian of the African race? You can say that a dark-skinned African from the West Coast of that continent, say a Nigerian, is a prototypical African and other Africans are variations, but you are making an artificial construction of what is an African. Some New Guinean populations more resemble some West Africans in color, body shape and some facial structures but are actually descended from Asian populations that migrated from China through Southeast Asia and into the Pacific. So if "race" means what you look like, it's pretty meaningless as far as science is concerned.

    Re: Duke LaCrosse Player Passes Polygraph (none / 0) (#375)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:12:13 PM EST
    375 comments, how about a new thread? I just started one here.