February 18, 2010
" The North Carolina woman who falsely accused a group of Duke lacrosse players of rape was arrested last night for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend and threatening to stab him. According to Durham cops, Crystal Mangum, 31, got into a violent altercation with Milton Walker last night and set his clothes on fire in a bathtub. According to court warrants, Mangum attacked Walker by "scratching, punching, and throwing objects at the victim," who was not arrested. She also threatened, "I'm gonna stab you motherfucker." Firemen were called to extinguish the bathroom blaze while Mangum, Walker, and three children were evacuated from their Lincoln Street residence. Mangum, pictured in the below mug, was charged with a variety of crimes, including attempted murder, arson, simple assault, communicating threats, resisting arrest, and child endangerment. The murder count stemmed from her bid to injure Walker via the arson. Mangum is being held in the Durham County jail in lieu of $1 million bail. A Durham Police Department arrest reportnotes that Mangum had not consumed drugs or alcohol before the 11:30 PM incident, and that she has a Mickey Mouse tattoo on her left arm and a Smurfs tattoo on her right leg. In 2006, Mangum, then working as an exotic dancer, claimed that she was sexually assaulted while performing at the Duke lacrosse party. Rape charges against three athletes were eventually dismissedwhen the North Carolina attorney general determined that there was insufficient evidence to back Mangum's claims. (7 pages) . . . "
Point of View
Perhaps now, any lingering doubts regarding the innocence of the Duke Lacrosse players, can finally be put to rest. In 2006, when I first heard about the supposed "rape" of this woman, then read the original complaints against the players, my gut instincts told me that everything about the case stunk to high heaven. Nothing about her story made any sense whatsoever.
It was immediately apparent to me that Crystal Mangum's story was not only completely illogical but, based on simple physics alone, highly improbable. Yet, the media, the public, politicians, law enforcement, and even supposed "professionals", who should have known better, took that bone and ran with it for all it was worth.
Their obvious delight at being able to crucify those "rich white boys", without a shred of evidence, was almost palpable. It was sickening. No one was stepping up to the plate and saying, Wait a minute here... No, of course not. Why bother? There was too much to be gained doing it the other way. Shoot, why let little things - like actual Legal stuff - get in the way?
Why bother with little things like ... ugh ... evidence, such as the transfer of evidence, DNA, matching patterns of injuries - yeah, that one's a biggie - contradicting statements made by Mangum, apparent drug seeking behaviors, exaggerated complaints of pain during the SAFE exam, and, also very important, the complete lack of experience by the SAFE nurse doing the exam, followed by her (strongly questionable) statements to law enforcement. I could go on and on.
I remember researching the web, back then, trying to find anything written by other forensic professionals, including other forensic nursing examiners, to see if anyone was speaking out, saying, everyone needed to step back, and take a real good look at what was really happening in this case. Sadly, I found nothing.
It seemed to me that the very experts, who should have been shouting out loud and clear, that the "facts" in this case, just weren't adding up, were being very quiet. I couldn't understand why.
We're not here to back up the alleged victim. In fact, contrary to much public opinion, we are not victim's advocates. We're here to help see that justice is carried out. No matter where that may lead. We are required to be impartial. It's part of our job.
But, I also feel it should be part of our job, as medical-legal professionals, to speak out when there is a possibility of a miscarriage of justice going on, especially when there is such horrendous public vilification of anyone who is, under the law, Innocent Until Proven Guilty.
So, I took a deep breath, fully expecting to be condemned for a traitor, because, A woman would never lie about something like rape, and started to work. Hoping against hope, that someone, anyone, would listen to the truth, and pass the word along. Along the way, I found others doing the same thing.
People like Professor KC Johnson and his Durham in Wonderland, and Michael Gaynor's Column, Professor William Anderson's articles at Lewrockwell.com, all the wonderful people over at Liestoppers , and many others, who so graciously passed on the information I provided, via this blog and private emails, to the the public. To all those people, I will be eternally thankful for helping reach the very people who needed to hear the truth: the public. We are all judged, in this life, by our peers.
Unfortunately, in this day of instant information technology, those peers could be found the world over, making a hellish life for the Duke Lacrosse players, who were determined, publicly, and unfairly, to be Guilty Before Proven Innocent.
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