Right Side of the Rainbow

Herald-Sun:

… the News and Observer Publishing Co. moved Wednesday to make public certain documents — reportedly pertaining to the alleged rape victim’s medical records — that were filed by defense lawyers under seal.

“In this case, the fact that there are charges of sexual assault is unfortunate and controversial — either because a woman has been sexually violated or because the defendants have been wrongfully accused — but neither is a justification for sealing a court proceeding,” a lawyer for the newspaper wrote.

The lawyer, Hugh Stevens, also said the sealed documents raised questions about [District Attorney Mike] Nifong’s handling of the case. He said that when the conduct of public officials is at issue, it is an added reason for making the pertinent files public.

Meanwhile, several defense lawyers predicted Wednesday that Nifong’s latest 300-plus pages of documentation would do little to help him, since earlier paperwork — in their view — was more beneficial to the defense than the prosecution.

For example, attorneys Joe Cheshire and Brad Bannon have said the earlier documents showed a “very significant and disturbing deficiency” in Nifong’s evidence.

Specifically, there were indications that Nifong began making public statements about the accuser’s medical records even before they were in his possession, according to the two lawyers, who represent Evans.

Cheshire and Bannon said the District Attorney’s Office subpoenaed the accuser’s medical files from Duke Hospital on March 20 — six days after the alleged rape.

However, the files were not printed out in compliance with the subpoena until March 30, and Police Investigator Benjamin Himan didn’t pick them up until April 5, Cheshire and Bannon wrote in court paperwork last week.

But the lawyers said Nifong told a local television station on March 27 that he had no doubt the exotic dancer was raped, based on a “personal review” of her medical records. They quoted the district attorney as saying, “My reading of the report of the emergency room nurse would indicate that some type of sexual assault did in fact take place.”

Citing the 1,298 pages of documentation given them by Nifong earlier, various defense lawyers also have contended there were numerous inconsistencies in the accuser’s version of events, along with unacceptable omissions in a sworn affidavit prepared by police. The affidavit was used by Himan to obtain judicial permission for his evidence-gathering efforts.

Among other things, Himan failed to mention that a co-dancer had described the rape allegation as “a crock,” even though she was with the accuser for all but about five minutes on the night in question, according to defense lawyers. (Link)

By the way, Nifong, where’s the toxicology report? The one that shows the “victim” was given a date rape drug? You indicated to Newsweek that you had one, so where is it?