Another court ruling in this ongoing saga. It appears that many of the Duke Lacrosse players who were not accused of raper were also suing the city for damages. Most of those claims were dismissed against the city. Here is the article in the
Kansas City Star.
Most of Duke lacrosse players' claims dismissed by U.S. Appeals Court
By Anne Blythe
Though five years have passed since North Carolina’s
attorney general
exonerated three former Duke University lacrosse players of phony
rape allegations, the lawsuits they filed against the prosecutor, the city of
Durham, its top administrators and law enforcement officers remain open
in federal court. But on Monday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals issued a ruling that takes the heft out of much of the former
players’ claims. The three-judge panel rejected their claims for damages
filed under federal law against the City of Durham and its
police department.
The panel allowed the former players to continue with
their claims under North Carolina law that Durham officials violated
their state constitutional rights. The panel also allowed the three
wrongfully accused players to proceed with their state claims that two
police investigators – Mark Gottlieb and Benjamin Himan – engaged in
malicious prosecution.
David Evans, Collin Finnerty and
Reade Seligmann filed their claims after being falsely accused of
gang-raping a dancer at a 2006 team party. The case raised
questions about Durham’s justice system, eventually leading to the
ouster and disbarring of Mike Nifong, the district attorney who led the
prosecution. It also touched on the prickly issues of race, sex
and privilege, both in Durham and nationally. The mentally ill accuser,
Crystal Gail Mangum, who now faces a
murder charge on an unrelated case,
is black and from a low-income Durham neighborhood. The lacrosse
players, for the most part, were largely affluent, white students from
outside North Carolina.
Duke University, which canceled the
lacrosse season shortly after the accusations emerged, settled out of
court with the three exonerated players. But other members of the team filed two other lawsuits in federal court against Duke, the city of Durham, Nifong and others. In
the 58-page ruling released Monday, the appeals court also threw out
all federal claims filed by the team members who were not charged
criminally. Though their cases were different from that of the three
exonerated players, they claimed to have suffered damages through the
course of the investigation. Despite the surviving claims under state
law, Patrick Baker, Durham’s city
attorney, said he was heartened by the
ruling.
“From the city’s perspective, we’re certainly pleased by
the 4th Circuit’s decision to relieve the city from the vast majority of
the case,” Baker said. Baker said the city has spent $5 million
defending claims by the 2006 lacrosse team. Insurance has covered the
bulk of the cost, he said. The players can appeal the court’s
decision several ways. They can ask the three-judge panel to take
another look at their case or they can seek a review by the full bank of
judges.
It was unclear Monday what the next step would be.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/18/3971230/most-of-duke-lacrosse-players.html#storylink=cpy
A young women was injured in a Jackson County accident involving three vehicles. Briana Emert, age 17, was seriously
injured in an accident with two other cars driven by Rhonda Tracy and Zane Richter. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol on December 18, 2012 at approximately
7:58 am on US. 75 approximately one mile North of Holton in Jackson County the accident occurred. The
Police report states that the accident occurred when a vehicle operated
by Rhonda Tracy stopped to make a left hand turn onto Parkway Ave and Briana Emert stopped behind the turning vehicle. A third car driven by a 15 year old, did not slow and ran into the rear end of Briana Emert's vehicle.Ms. Emert was transported to the Holton Hospital.
