ET TU TIMES?

Even the liberal NY Times is now openly questioning the DA in the so called Duke Lacrosse case. Since the Times (along with much of the rest of the press & media) initially ran stories highly sympathetic to the alleged victim, and just as highly critical of the Duke lacrosse team, Mike Nifong might be forgiven for wondering from whence the next blow will come. The Times all but had the boys locked up for life back in April. This is a remarkable turn around.

Prosecutor's Silence on Duke Rape Case Leaves Public With Plenty of Questions
By DUFF WILSON and JONATHAN D. GLATER

DURHAM, N.C., June 9 — When a woman hired to dance at a Duke University lacrosse team party claimed that members of the team raped her, Michael B. Nifong, the district attorney for Durham County, responded with an aggressive, unflinching and very public investigation.

"There's no doubt in my mind that she was raped and assaulted at this location," Mr. Nifong said on national television after the case surfaced in March. Mr. Nifong called other lacrosse players "hooligans" who had aided, abetted or covered up for the rapists. Local police officers seemed equally certain that they had a horrific crime to solve.

But in the intervening months, the case has come to appear far less robust. Three players have been indicted, but evidence that has surfaced, much of it turned over to defense lawyers by prosecutors and then filed in court with defense motions, has thrown the woman's claims into doubt. Mr. Nifong, so vocal at first, has refused to speak publicly about the case since the beginning of April.

The result is a growing perception of a case in trouble. Increasingly, the onus is on the district attorney. People in Durham are asking what Mr. Nifong is up to, whether his prosecution was influenced by politics — he was in the midst of a campaign when the case began — and what other evidence he might have.

Read the rest here.