Media culpa
First it was to the chair for all of them. Then, after defense attorneys retained by members of the Duke men's lacrosse team announced that DNA testing had exonerated their clients, it was blame the victim - and the DA.
To put it mildly, the news media hasn't exactly availed itself well in the handling of the news in the case of the alleged attack of a North Carolina Central University student at an off-campus house leased by members of the Duke lacrosse team that was reported last month.
Critics of the coverage who didn't like the way that the media had tried and convicted the players can now point to how the media has now let them off the hook by calling for prosecutors to drop the investigation - based on word from lawyers hired by said players that the DNA testing of 46 of the team's 47 members came back with no matches.
Lost in the latest rush to judgment is that Durham County prosecutor Michael Nifong said on Tuesday that the accuser has been able to identify at least one of the alleged attackers.
Also overlooked is the indication that physical evidence from a medical examination conducted on the night of the alleged assault is consistent with what would be expected following an attack described by the accuser.
Memo to the reporters whose experience with the legal system comes down to paying for parking tickets and watching "CSI" and the talking heads in cable-TV-news studios whose most recent views of courtroom drama come from sketch artists: Why don't you leave the heavy lifting here to the people who actually work for a living?
Thanks.
- Chris Graham