News-Record.com

A thought: By all means interview the woman. LISTEN to her story. But, in deference to the innocent and not-so-innocent-but-not-criminally-prosecutable members of Duke's Lacrosse team (and their Mothers), perhaps publishing the interview and her side of the story should wait until the DNA comes back and we know exactly who the "other side" is.

I see that the interview with this prostitute "victim" did not ask how many "dates" she'd had through the escort service; how many time she'd had sex for money through the escort service; how many times she'd had sex with multiple partners while "dancing", etc. If this woman ever gets on the witness stand the prosecution's case will be sunk. The defense will have a couple of rows of this prostitute's customers waiting to testify and impeach her.
I'd venture to say that the rape of a prostitute is pretty much unwinnable by the prosecution.
This smacks of a dispute over the payment/bill, not a sexual assault.

I think it a ashamed these people have been tried by the media. I have read many newspapers and saw many tv reports and all have been slanted against these men, with not one fact, that I have heard.The DA has done a great job of using the press to do his work. He has been on tv and contradicts, every thing he says. Question , he says the dna proves nothing.
He states he has enough proof to convict,why has no charges been made??? Could it be this is all about some money for the lady? If someone is guilty by a court, so be it, not by the media.

Offered without comment (except to say it ain't fun reading): an affidavit submitted by Durham police in support of a request for a search warrant, now posted at The Smoking Gun.

(And when I say "offered without comment," that's exactly what I mean. I have no idea who, if anyone, is telling the truth in this case and no basis on which to even speculate.)

I can't help but wonder....Susan Smith falsely claimed that a black man drove off with her children and the "Runaway Bride" (Jennifer Willibanks)here in GA falsely claimed to have been abducted by two Mexican men. Both women lied and were called racists by each respective community and many newspapers (okay, some newspapers stopped at simply calling both false accusations "disturbing")as they were white and falsely accused minorities. As far as I'm concerned, both of them deserved it. In particular, I find Smith to be a totally despicable human being.

So, if it turns out that these accusations against the Duke students turn out to be false or that the victim was assaulted elsewhere and/or possibly by an African-American, I cannot help but wonder how many people and media (this newspaper included) are going to step up and be consistent by labeling her a racist for race baiting and leveling false accusations at members of another race. How about the self-appointed "civil rights leaders" and "community activists"?

Does anyone remember Tawana Brawley? Al Sharpton made a name for himself on that one and to this day has not "apologized" (always a prerequisite for any white person before being "rehabilitated" for doing the same thing) though it has all but proven that her claims were false.

I, for one, hope that if there was indeed a crime as reported by the vicitm that all responsible are punished to the fullest extent of the law and that the young woman gets the justice she deserves. On the other hand, if these claims turn out being false or anything other than what the victim has claimed, I hope the media will be as diligent in its reporting of the racial implications from the black community as they have been with the white community.

As for any admissions of being wrong or apologies from the civil rights establishent if this accusation is disproven, I won't hold my breath as Mr. Sharpton is a fine example. Funny how he went from being a race-bating anti-Semite to being considered a mainstream "civil rights leader" these days.