Duke Rape Case, My Take

I have purposefully waited for the hype to die down before I blog about the Duke lacrosse rape case. Needless to say, the story has given my hometown unwanted national attention. One of my favorite bloggers, LaShawn Barber, has wrote on this case continuously. Obviously everyone with a pulse down here has been talking about it. I want to put my little two cents in....

The case itself

Like many other people, I was initially shocked when the allegations became public. I believed that a cover up may have been in the works from the amount of time from the actual incident (March 13th) and when the reports first became public. I cautioned people about the protests because we did not know much about the case. Thankfully, Duke cancelled the Georgetown game before it could be played on the 25th. The pots and pans came and from that point forward the media frenzy began. Over the next two months, we have been bombarded non stop with every type of detail in the case. I don't know what happened at that night at that house, we will hopefully learn through the criminal justice process, but my gut tells me this:

• Something happened in that house besides a performance and an argument, I don't really know if it was a sexual assault.

• I really doubt that this case will go to trial. I believe the stripper will not testify because she will fear that she will not be believed or she will be found out.

• I don't believe that Mike Nifong is the Anti-Christ. Once news broke about the case, he had to appear actively aggressive. Unfortunately, our local media and activists turn everything in this city into a racial incident. It sells papers, increase local news rating and gives activists jobs. If Nifong did not actively pursue the case rightly or wrongly, he would have been accused of being a racist and it would have brought more activists in town. In fact, I voted for Mr. Nifong not because of this case, but he had much more experience than his rivals.

• If a sexual assault occurred, the stripper probably cannot identify the culprits due to her unsteady condition. This aspect will hurt the case from ever being prosecuted.

That is my initial take. Only time will see if I am right or wrong.