Criminal Law

"We Are Not Radicals"

Posted on May 11, 2013
 .  . . writes proud, defiant member of the Group of 88.In his co-authored op-ed, and after implying that his conduct might somehow be comparable to the brave civil rights activists who participated in the Greensboro sit-ins, Group leader William Chafe runs through a litany of policies that prompted him to violate the law...

More on Penn State & Accountability

Posted on May 07, 2013
I?ve written extensively on the contrasting approaches to accountability between Penn State and Duke. The Penn State trustees, although they remained asleep at the switch for years, at the very least acted aggressively once the Sandusky allegations came to light...

The Orin & Selena Show

Posted on April 22, 2013
In the early stages of the lacrosse case, Orin Starn distinguished himself as among the Duke faculty members most eager to exploit his own students? distress to advance his campus agenda. The Sociology professor never seemed to miss a chance to condemn the lacrosse players?and Coach K, after he belatedly spoke up against the faculty mob?as part of his crusade to transform Duke into a version of Haverford or Swarthmore, schools with insignificant athletics programs...

News from Maine

Posted on April 16, 2013
After six subpoenas, two court hearings in Maine with several attorneys flown up from North Carolina, and multiple letters to my attorney, Duke's efforts to weaken the First Amendment rights of all news-gatherers in Maine ended below, with Judge Rich's dubious order officially vacated:

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Neff a Pulitzer Finalist

Posted on April 15, 2013
For those who hadn't seen the news, Joe Neff was part of a team of reporters at the N&O and Charlotte Observer who were finalists for the Pulitzer for local reporting, for "for their tenacious joint project investigating how the state?s major nonprofit hospitals generate large profits and contribute to the high cost of health care...

Curious Commentary

Posted on March 15, 2013
A few instances of . . . curious . . . commentary over the last couple of weeks: two items prompted by the settlement of the Carrington suit; the third by continued debate over the OCR mandate for colleges to lower due-process protections for students accused of sexual assault on campus...

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 06, 2013
"Duke University has a long tradition of guarding responsible academic freedom for its entire instructional staff, and the university itself cherishes and guards against incursions upon its own essential academic freedoms."See below, statement of Duke attorney Tom Segars to Judge Brock Hornby.

Duke Confronts the First Amendment

Posted on March 04, 2013
As some DIW readers know, last summer, I received several subpoenas from Duke, demanding among other things my confidential communications with hundreds of people relating to the ?lacrosse incident? or discussing in any way President Brodhead?s ?job performance...

News from Maine

Posted on March 01, 2013
Despite the Carrington settlement, earlier this week, Duke's attorneys informed the Maine District Court that the dismissal of Carrington did ?not impact? its subpoenas against me in the parallel McFadyen (Bob Ekstrand) lawsuit.Thanks to some effective lawyering by my attorney, Patrick Strawbridge--and still awaiting a decision from Maine District Court judge Brock Hornby, who peppered the Duke attorneys with skeptical questions during January oral argument--Duke has just indicated that it has withdrawn its subpoenas and ceased its attempts to compel me to reveal confidential, unpublished communications with sources for the book and blog...

Carrington Lawsuit Settled

Posted on February 27, 2013
The Carrington lawsuit, the most significant of the lawsuits against Duke, was settled today. No settlement terms were released--but given the overt hostility of the 4th Circuit to the lawsuit, and the ruling by Judge Beaty affirming that the student bulletin and faculty handbook aren't legally worth the paper they're written on, the decision can't be seen as much of a surprise...

Mangum Update

Posted on February 20, 2013
WRAL reports that false accuser and accused murderer Crystal Mangum has posted a $200,000 bond and is now out of jail, awaiting trial. The article doesn't reveal the source of the cash. Presuming Mangum hasn't suddenly inherited money, it would seem as if an unexpected financial backer has delivered for her.

Campus News

Posted on February 11, 2013
A few items from Duke and other campuses:First, a horrifying story of anti-Asian prejudice from a Duke fraternity (followed, a few days later, by reports that at least some Duke students?there are debates about how many?were mocking a NC State basketball player over his grandmother?s death)...

Only in Durham, Vol. 99

Posted on February 04, 2013
ABC-11 brings welcome news that Durham is scheduled to open a new county courthouse. As part of the design, the county created a mural containing photos honoring some of the key legal figures in the county's history.The photo array includes these two items:Only in Durham could the hall of justice feature photos of chief prosecutors removed for unethical behavior...

Professor Hattery Analyzes the Lacrosse Case

Posted on January 25, 2013
Angela Hattery is a professor at George Mason University, where she serves as the associate director of the school?s Center for Women and Gender Studies. (This semester, she?s teaching a course in theoretical perspectives in women and gender studies.) She came to George Mason from Wake Forest, a North Carolina university around 75 miles from Duke, where she also taught gender studies classes...

UNC & A Credulous Press

Posted on January 19, 2013
Last year, in a post over at Minding the Campus, I examined how the University of North Carolina responded to the Obama administration?s ?Dear Colleague? letter. That document required all colleges receiving federal assistance to change their sexual assault procedures...

Updates

Posted on January 14, 2013
A few updates in a quiet period for case-related developments:(1) Attorneys for the three falsely accused players have indicated they plan to appeal to the Supreme Court the 4th Circuit?s ruling dismissing?before discovery even had begun?their federal civil rights claims against Durham and Durham employees...

The 4th Circuit (Essentially) Frees Durham

Posted on December 17, 2012
The 4th Circuit (as previously predicted, based on the tone and substance of the oral arguments) has issued a ruling that for all practical purposes ends the civil suits against Durham and associated parties.A basic summary of the opinion and concurrences:(1) The panel dismissed all federal claims...

Ken Burns' "History" Lesson

Posted on December 11, 2012
[Update, 11 Dec., 4.22pm: It turns out that his Phoenix interview wasn?t the first occasion in which Burns had referenced the lacrosse case through the ?inconveniencing? lens. Here he was in a November interview with the Collider. Mused the filmmaker,Do you remember in 2006 the white Duke lacrosse players that somebody had falsely charged?  Remember that?  Do you know what happened?  The prosecutor was fired...

Murphy, Paul, and Due Process

Posted on November 27, 2012
Two names from the past in the news.The H-S reports that the State Bar disciplined former Nifong ADA Jan Paul, who left the DA?s office last year. (A one-year suspension of her license to practice law was stayed.) Paul was disciplined for abusing her authority as she prosecuted a case of alleged sexual abuse of a child...

Penn State, Duke

Posted on November 04, 2012
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier was indicted last week; I wrote about the move at Minding the Campus.The move came as little surprise, given the evidence against Spanier uncovered by the Freeh Report. Indeed,  perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the grand jury presentment against Spanier was how closely the document tracked--in terms of evidence and basic argument--the Freeh Report...

Updates

Posted on October 30, 2012
A few updates:False accuser Crystal Mangum, currently awaiting trial on murder charges, has petitioned the court to intervene in the civil suit filed by the falsely accused lacrosse players. (That lawsuit is on hold, pending a decision by the 4th Circuit...

The 4th Circuit Hearing

Posted on September 21, 2012
Earlier this week, Durham went to the 4th Circuit, in an attempt to terminate the civil suit filed by the falsely accused players?before discovery has even commenced. I had previously speculated that this was something of a longshot effort, given Judge Beaty?s summary of Durham?s highly troubling basic contention: that ?no provision of the Constitution has been violated, and that no redressable claim can be stated, when government officials intentionally fabricate evidence to frame innocent citizens, even if the evidence is used to indict and arrest those citizens without probable cause...

Farred, Chafe, and Presumers of Guilt

Posted on September 15, 2012
One of the more intriguing admissions about the Group of 88 came in 2007, from a prominent member of the Group, history professor (and former Duke administrator) William Chafe.  ?Most of us,? he told the Chronicle, ?never presumed guilt.?In one respect, the remark was preposterous, given that the statement Chafe and the other 87 signed stated without equivocation that they believed something ?happened? to false accuser Crystal Mangum...

Penn State Followup

Posted on September 10, 2012
A few weeks ago, disgraced former Penn State president Graham Spanier launched something of a media blitz. His attorney held a press conference denouncing the Freeh Report (while conveniently saying that Spanier, who wasn?t present, would answer the tough questions about the report?s factual findings)...

A Comment on the Herald-Sun

Posted on September 05, 2012
Careful (or even not-so-careful) readers of the Herald-Sun cannot help but notice its recent pattern of inserting unexplained editorial judgments into ?news? articles that reference either Durham-in-Wonderland or Until Proven Innocent. (Curiously, the articles in question do not mention the title of either the book or the blog...

Updates

Posted on August 13, 2012
Updates on two pending legal matters:WRAL reportsthat the State Bar has declined a request from ex-DA Tracey Cline to defer her disciplinary hearing, which currently is scheduled for the first week of October.Cline wanted the Bar?s proceedings delayed until after she had exhausted her longshot appeals of Judge Hobgood?s order removing her from office...

Bitter-Enders

Posted on August 06, 2012
In our WSJ op-ed, Stuart and I noted that?thanks largely to the Freeh Report?Penn State had responded to administrative failure far more effectively than had Duke handled its response to the lacrosse case. Yet, we argued, a potential problem remained, in which ?Penn State may be doomed to follow Duke's unfortunate example...

Duke's Deposition Strategy

Posted on July 31, 2012
The H-S brings news this morning that Duke?s attorneys have succeeded in obtaining a protective order to protect discovery items from being revealed before trial. Such an approach would come as little surprise: a university, after all, for which the Bowen/Chambers report remains its sole official word on how theadministration botched its handling of the lacrosse case would hardly be eager to have material emerge publicly that would contradict the party line...

Updates

Posted on July 20, 2012
A couple of updates:Stuart Taylor and I had an op-ed in yesterday?s Wall Street Journal, examining the . . . considerable gap between how Penn State responded to the scandal of the Spanier/Paterno cover-up and how Duke?s trustees and administration responded to their lacrosse case failures...

Duke's Version of Freeh

Posted on July 13, 2012
I have a post over at Minding the Campus examining the Freeh Report?and what the document says about the continuing need for oversight by trustees. In short, at Penn State, the trustees failed in their fiduciary duties, and the university will now pay the price...

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