The recent lacrosse team rape scandal at Duke University has thrown an uncomfortable spotlight into how election year politics can screw up a case as badly as this one has been.
We have witnesses to the alleged crime changing their stories. We have two team members charged with rape (one of whom wasn't there when it allegedly happened). We have a prosecutor trying the case in the media. The defense team is doing the same thing.
We have DNA results that do not support the charges; the prosecutor is now saying that the FBI crime lab is unreliable and is having a private company do the testing. There is now open discussion that the accuser isn't being honest. On the other side, the team hasn't helped its own cause by refusing to cooperate. And the mud-flinging is well underway from both sides.
There's a technical term for a court case like this: fiasco.
Why proper procedures were not followed in investigating a very serious crime should be looked at when the dust settles.
Also, why all the team players' names were released to the media even though they were not charged with a crime was a poor decision.
It's been one blunder after another. When will it end?
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