Saturday, December 16, 2006

Head of DNA lab says he and Nifong agreed not to report results

Newsobserver reported The head of a private DNA laboratory said under oath today that he and District Attorney Mike Nifong agreed not to report DNA results favorable to Duke lacrosse players charged with rape.

He may not fear a charge of Prosecutorial Misconduct, but Nifong should be very worried.
Brian Meehan, director of DNA Security of Burlington, said his lab found DNA from unidentified men in the underwear, pubic hair and rectum of the woman who said she was gang-raped at a lacrosse party in March. Nurses at Duke Hospital collected the samples a few hours after the alleged assault. Meehan said the DNA did not come from Reade Seligmann, David Evans, or Collin Finnerty, who have been charged with rape and sexual assault in the case.

Meehan struggled to say why he didn’t include the favorable evidence in a report dated May 12, almost a month after Seligmann and Finnerty had been indicted. He cited concerns about the privacy of the lacrosse players
Who were charged with rape, and who deserved the exculpitory evidence.
, his discussions at several meetings with Nifong,
Who needed the black vote to get elected
and the fact that he didn’t know whose DNA it was.

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