Exculpatory evidence left out of dna report given to the defense in Duke rape case
December 24th, 2006 | by Craig R. Harmon |[NOTE: I have heavily edited this post from its original form to make it less inflamatory against the prosecutor in the case. If anyone read it in its original form, sorry about that.]
It is by no means clear what judge W. Osmond Smith III will do about what may amount to deliberate prosecutorial malfeasance on the part of the prosecutor in the case but he has broad powers to sanction prosecutor Nifong, including power to remove him from office. If what appears to be the case is what has happened, that would be a fitting prelude to Nifong’s trial for prosecutorial misconduct and huge civil suit for slandered lacrosse team members. I can’t tell you what DID happen at that party but what is clear did NOT happen is that 1. the team members did not have sex with the accuser, 2. the accuser lied about having been raped at the party, and 3. the accuser lied about not having had sex with anyone else for a week before the alleged rape occurred.
Two levels of dna testing have shown that there is no dna from any of the team members anywhere on the clothing of the accuser. However, although you would never know it from the report turned over to the defense, dna from multiple unknown parties have been found in the accuser’s panties. The only dna found that MIGHT relate to any dna found anywhere on anything related to the accuser is dna on fake fingernails which is merely consistent with, but not identifiable as, that of the one of the defendants.
According to this report, the first dna test showed no dna from any of the accused nor from anyone who was at the party where the rape was alleged to have occurred. Second, more sophisticated tests were done. Those tests showed the same results: no dna from any of the accused. However, that positive dna results from multiple, unknown, other persons was left out of the report submitted by the testing company and turned over to the defense, and the director of the lab has said that that information was left out of the report at the request of the prosecutor. Nifong remembers it differently.
The prosecutor has dropped the rape charges but intends to prosecute the team members on charges of kidnap and sexual. My question is, has the case been so tainted by this omission and by the lies of the accuser and by what appears to be prosecutorial misconduct that the charges against the defendants should be dropped altogether? This whole case is so tainted now by errors on the part of the state and the accused have been so vilified by what are now known to be lies, I don’t see how the case, whatever is left of that case, can proceed.
I look for a dismissal of all charges and institution of charges against the prosecutor.
Have a happy whatever you celebrate at this time of year.
16 Responses to “Exculpatory evidence left out of dna report given to the defense in Duke rape case”
By Jersey McJones on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
How the hell can you say what didn’t happen?
JMJ
By Paul Watson on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
Craig,
Don’t be afraid of pissing people here off. I read the original. It wasn’t that bad, althoug as you say, it was a bit aggressive on the prosecutor, but if he’s hiding evidence that would help the defence, which is a crime over here, he certainly deserves a little excoriation.
Besides, if you keep bottling up all the anger, you’ll go nuts and start typing out “all work and no play makes Craig a dull boy” or “Red Rum” endlessly in all your posts.
By Dusty on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
Three cheers for what Paul said! Give em hell Craig..my favorite conservative, well ok..my second favorite..my husband is my favorite conservative.
As for the Duke rape case..this has been a clusterfuck from day one. I am not surprized that anyone is hiding anything from anybody at this point.
By Dusty on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
I forgot:
HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND MERRY NEW YEAR CRAIG!
By Craig R. Harmon on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
Jersey,
gang rape in a bathroom, three guys, no semen, no pubic hairs, no saliva, no blood and yet evidence of sex with multiple partners none of which were at the party. You figure it out.
Paul W.,
I backtracked on it because it is just possible that the head of the lab misunderstood the prosecutor’s instructions on what to put into the report. I mean, the lab is at fault here in any case. What was found in the report, all material evidence, should have gone into the condensed report to the defense. There shouldn’t have been a conversation that the lab guy could have misinterpreted as “leave out the evidence of sex with people not at the party” and even if there had, it should not have been left out. I took it a little easier on the prosecutor because, if he’s telling the truth (and the report says he’s known for turning over ALL evidence in other cases) then he’s not a “lying scum” as I originally labeled him.
Dusty,
Thanks. Have a happy and a merry yourself! Give the secret Conservative handshake to your hubbie from me…oh wait…I guess you wouldn’t KNOW the secret Conservative handshake…you’re not even supposed to know that there IS a secret Conservative handshake…
Please ignore the part about the handshake. There is no secret handshake. Um…eek!
By Jersey McJones on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
Craig, if these weren’t three rich white kids #1 we’d never had heard the story and #2 they’d be up shit creek.
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
Jersey,
#1 you’re right. #2 You’re probably right. Neither makes these guys guilty, the prosecutor innocent or the accuser anything but a liar. The problem becomes how to give poor folk a better shot at the same kind of defense the rich guys get.
By Jersey McJones on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
I bet they did it.
JMJ
By betty on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
I agree! the rape shield laws make is too easy to convict and almost impossible to defend a rape accusation. All a woman needs is her word and her identity is forever protected, while the boy’s reputation is immediately destroyed and he;s most likely going to jail.
Instead of getting upset that only rich guys can afford justice, you should be upset that the state and federal legislatures created laws that make the accused damn to be found guilty solely based on the word of one person.
Rape shield laws are obsolete! Almost 50% of all rape accusations are false and this percentages rises during divorce.
for more information and resources: glennsacks.com
By Jersey McJones on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
Betty, that was one pathetic post.
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
All due respect, all it takes to ruin three young men’s reputation and to put them in legal jeopardy IS one woman’s word as we’ve found out in this case…although it has nothing to do with the rape shield law. Three young men have been under threat of spending the better part of the rest of their lives in prison not just in the face of a single accuser but in the face of zero evidence that a rape ever occurred and, in fact, in the face of evidence that the only sexual activity the woman was involved in involved people (plural) who were NOT the accused. The woman has accused men who weren’t there. She has been shown improper photo arrays, the prosecutor, after months of these kids being under suspicion, admitted that he’d never bothered to interview the accuser…NEVER INTERVIEWED THE ACCUSER!!!
As for the accuser, she swore that no one used a condom (probably to account for semen that she knew would be found on her) until it became known that there was zero evidence from her accused “rapists” at which time she averred that, well, yes, it is perhaps possible that they used condoms. She swore that she was penetrated with penises…now, golly, she’s just not sure WHAT she was penetrated with.
And you, Jersey, bet that they DID IT? Did what? Even the accuser can’t say what “was done to her” (those are sceptic quotes since I don’t think ANYTHING was done to her, at least not by any of the people she accuses of raping her). How do you think three men gang raped this women in a bathroom and left no evidence of their rape on her?
By Jersey McJones on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
No Steve, all it takes are a bunch of stupid kids to hire a stripper for a party, get carried away with her, and wind up in court. How some you cons never put accountability where it belongs???
JMJ
By Craig R. Harmon on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
And how come you can’t get the concept of innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
You want to hold people accountable before there’s an ounce of evidence that there’s anything for them to be held accountable for.
Nice.
By Jersey McJones on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
Just my opinion, Craig. I believe these guys hired a stripper, got drunk, got carried away, and abused the girl. I can’t prove it, the court says they’re innocent, fine. I still think they did it.
JMJ
By Deborah on Jan 12, 2007 | Reply
http://www.westtexasbeat.net/Closed_File_Policy.html
We moved to west Texas. Shortly after, my 15 year old son who has never been in trouble of any sort, was befriended by a drug dealer who presented himself to us as a 17 year old mall worker. Moishe didn’t know anyone in our new town and I cautioned the young man that I was not going to put up with any trouble so don’t do anything to try and lead my son astray. Approximately 2 weeks later, while I was called in to work the mall worker repeatedly call my son to walk across the street and meet him. When Moishe got to the basketball court he saw his friend argue then get into a shootout with some man. The gunman murdered my son’s friend, my son ran for his life, not knowing what was going on. The gunman jumped in the dead man’s truck and chased my son down ordering him at gunpoint into the pick-up. The Lord caused the gunman to not be able to also murder Moishe, just curse and scream at him then leave him standing in the street.
Moishe ran, lost until some men helped him giving him a ride back to our apartment. That night July 11,2005 was the last day I touched my son. Police arrested him because he had blood on the back of his T-shirt as he walked across the parking lot trying to get home. Earlier that day his friend had given Moishe 3 cigars, a small amout of marijuana and some bullets. Moishe crossed that street thinking he was going to go with his friend and smoke the marijuana but found a completely different scene. He told the police what he witnessed but they cursed him, called him names and wouldn’t let me see him. They told me he murdered someone and stole a truck. I told police Moishe can’t drive and is not violent. He has never even had a boy’s fight in the street. The police who came to our apt. threatened me, called me a heathen and girlie because I refused a search of our apartment without a warrant..
I don’t agree with anyone using drugs but Moishe certainly did not kill anyone. He was fast tracked to the adult jail and we got busy! We need help!!! Moishe was rushed through a sham certification/transfer with Judge Barbara Rollins. He is currently in the Taylor County Adult Detention Center in Abilene, Texas. If you wonder why I use my son’s name, the police allowed Moishe to be filmed and his complete face, name and our address was shown on KTXAS(ABC) three or more times daily for the next four days. This allowed us to see there was no blood on the front of his white T-shirt.
I learned after the transfer, that the DA, Harriet Haag had stamped into Moishe’s court file DNA reports that verified what he told them from the beginning. Moishe’s DNA and fingerprints were nowhere in evidence! They knew that all the time! They do not have a murder weapon because the one they have is the dead man’s gun with his fingerprints and DNA. They gave the truck back to the dead man’s family even though he was murdered in that truck. Our lawyer never got to see it.
The police refused to test Moishe’s hands for gunpowder when I repeated asked them to do it I asked all the police and juvenile people for 4 days. It was not done. I knew without speaking to my son he had not shot anyone. He just recently began to eat meat becuase he had refused to eat living creatures most of his life. Police checked his clothes for gunshot residue and there was none. They refuse to admit that the blue eyed blonde drug dealer has lied about what happened to protect herself. She knew the guy who did the shooting and asked to get her dog and purse out of the truck before he took of chasing Moishe. Moishe looked back as he ran and thought she was calling the police. She was calling on her cell but never called 911 to help her boyfriend who had been shot.
People who live here have given me the first and last name of the killer. I even have a picture of him. The police only say he is no longer in town. Why????
Why is Mo in jail for witnessing a crime? How can the DA in this case withhold evidence that shows he could not have done what they alleged. How can a judge set two $250,000 bonds and a no bond on a capital murder charge. How can the DA show only part of the evidence to a grand jury and indict a child?? How can anyone truly say God bless America when such egregious acts are comitted against children right here in in the USA? And why is Dusty in jail?
I am his mom, his sister, his friend…..simply, Deborah
By Deborah on Jan 25, 2007 | Reply
What place is this?????
Today I left Judge Barbara Rollins’ court where our son, Moishe Turner was certified to stand trial as an adult and was remanded to the Taylor County Adult Jail on S. 27th Street, one street over from the juvenile center on S. 26th Street.
Already horrified that our 15 year old son who had never been in any trouble before (no trials no adjudications) could be shipped to an adult jail for witnessing a murder and the only other witness I’m told, is a drug dealer woman who also witnessed the crime but was there with the man who was murdered. She admitted in her police statement that they went to the elementary school campus to sell drugs.
A few weeks after returning to Abilene, Moishe was approached by a young man who identified himself to us as a seventeen year old mall worker.
The young man was allowed into our home. I told him our son’s age and cautioned him not to do anything to get our son in trouble. This has been my routine for years with even our now adult children.
This person was not who he said and began to give Moishe marijuana to smoke.
July 11, 2005, this young man gave Moishe small amount of marijuana, three cigars and a few bullets and told him to hold onto them till later. I believe that he was trying to get my son hooked on drugs. Moishe later told me that the young man had offered him a lot of other drugs but he only smoked a marijuana cigarette.
Around eight-thirty that night, the young man repeatedly called Moishe with me speaking to him the first time on the house phone.
I left the house being called back to work. In my absence Moishe succumbed to the repeated calls and walked across the street to meet Stewart, the person he called his friend. I have the phone record that backs this up.
When Moishe arrived at the school, he was surprised to see other persons there. He saw the woman who identified herself as Stewart’s girlfriend, standing outside the truck smoking and several other people he didn’t know. He noticed that his friend was talking then shouting with another man. He heard his friend say, ” aw hell, Brian man!” then start shooting, with this Brian person returning the gunfire. Brian killed Stewart as Stewart and his girlfriend jumped in Stewart’s truck to escape. Moishe hid behind the truck to escape gunfire. He took off running when he saw a chance not knowing what started all the shooting and the one who called him to come there, he’d just seen murdered.
Brian jumped in Stewart’s truck and chased Moishe down but took time to allow Stewart’s girlfriend to get her purse and dog out before he left. Moishe looked back as he ran, was relieved seeing her on her cell, thinking she was calling 911 for help.
Brian caught up with Moishe and threatened him. I suppose he saw Moishe was a kid and knew Moishe really didn’t have anything to do with what went on between Stewart and him. When he was able to get away, Moishe ran, lost, asking strangers how to get to our apartment until a man gave him a ride home. Moishe only knew we lived by the mall, so with that information, the man brought Moishe near enough to home that Moishe directed him the rest of the way. Police, cars with lights were all around. Moishe thought he was safe knowing he had seen Stewart’s girlfriend on her cell phone. He thought she was calling police. She never did. Moishe was arrested that night as he tried to come home. The police and Stewart’s girlfriend, who was not arrested with her drugs and was covered in blood, began to create a version of events that fingerprint, DNA and other physical evidence scream, lies!
After our son was sent to the adult jail, I went to the court records and learned our son’s DNA, fingerprints, etc., was nowhere in evidence so they wanted to put him in with grown men to terrorize him into confessing to something he did not do. The DA, Harriet Haag and Dan Joiner already knew evidence backs up what Moishe told them that night and completely refutes any other version. The girlfriend is a dope dealer and lying on a 15 year old kid. But she has blonde hair and blue eyes which seem to be the standard of proof in Taylor County.
I would like the FBI, ACLU, Judicial Review Board and President of this United States of America to come clean this mess.
As I fled my family and the nodding Judge Rollins, to see where they were taking Moishe, I saw 2 figures chained at the waist to trees with their hands cuffed behind them. I was numb with fear for what was about to happen to Moishe. Judge Rollins had issued 2, two hundred fifty thousand bonds for Moishe and no bond on a capital murder charge. And they already knew that they had no evidence linking him to a crime! She nodded all through court but I don’t know how she can sleep nights judging children on rumor and courthouse gossip.
Taking my camera and shouting out to the figures in the field just outside the jail yard fence (persons being arrested looking to their right from a police car window would get this sight as their last free world visual) I took off walking, snapping and
calling out to the men. I touched the first one and shook him to wake him up. I looked up in the sky for buzzards and saw none. As I continued to investigate, I realized these were dummies dressed in regular clothes. I am a medical professional and they fooled me. The disguise was excellent with some gauze dressing wrapped over their faces. I knew then I am in racism HELL!!!!!!
I told everybody I saw to get over there and witness, photograph and turn it in to the Washington office of the FBI.
That was over two years ago, my son is still in jail with adults, no bond, no trial, no evidence and no constitution for an American born citizen. Oh…. I forgot to tell you our skin is brown.
I am simply, Deborah…his mom and friend