Not to beat a dead horse too hard, but the story of Danmel Ndonye’s false gang rape accusation is nowhere to be found in today’s Newsday. Before the qualifying “false” was added, it was one of the biggest stories in Nassau County, national in fact. Now, silence. The District Attorney’s trick worked well.
Given that there’s but one newspaper that covers Long Island, New York, and that one Newspaper ran a story about what District Attorney Rice’s opponent in the upcoming election that barely mentioned the opponent, and included little more than a snippet of what Joy Watson had to say, it seemed appropriate that someone provide both the forum for her thoughts as well as a reminder that the story may have died, but not the issue.
Joy posted a comment about the case and Kathleen Rice’s decision to let Ndonye have a free ride. It appears here complete and uncensored through the filter of a reporter’s keyboard.
Today is Monday, Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement. It’s a day to remember sins, not forget them.
Given that there’s but one newspaper that covers Long Island, New York, and that one Newspaper ran a story about what District Attorney Rice’s opponent in the upcoming election that barely mentioned the opponent, and included little more than a snippet of what Joy Watson had to say, it seemed appropriate that someone provide both the forum for her thoughts as well as a reminder that the story may have died, but not the issue.
Joy posted a comment about the case and Kathleen Rice’s decision to let Ndonye have a free ride. It appears here complete and uncensored through the filter of a reporter’s keyboard.
I welcome this opportunity to spell out my reasons for outrage over the DA Rice’s failure to prosecute. The false allegation is indeed a crime. Failure to charge sends a message to those who make false allegations – if you lie, and in this case potentially sending young men to prison for 25 years, but are troubled, the DA will give you a pass from the criminal system. Why do we need judges? Why do we need police? Let the DA handle everything. And isn’t it fair to say that anyone who would falsely accuse someone of rape is troubled? Is the DA, by her conduct, suggesting anyone who makes such an allegation gets a pass??Given the importance of the race for District Attorney, coupled with the importance of the decision to let a person who accused five men of a rape that never happened go unprosecuted, people should know more than what the one organ on Long Island deigns to tell. It should not quietly fade away over the weekend.
More importantly, Rice’s decision downplays the impact on the lives of these young men and their families. They are the true victims of a false allegation motivated by a young woman unable to explain her whereabouts and condition to her boyfriend. The focus should stay on the criminal conduct, the only criminal conduct in this case, that of the false accuser.
To suggest that charging this woman would deter true victims of rape is illogical and wrong. The prosecution of false accusers will provide greater support to those who are true victims because the public will come to realize that false allegations will not be tolerated.
For Rice’s spokesman to categorize my reaction as “shoot first and ask questions later” is also illogical and ignores my 20 years as a Nassau prosecutor, handling Sex Offenses for over 7 of those years. While false allegations in Nassau might be new to Rice, I have handled such cases, resulting in arrests, exactly as I proposed in the media.
There could be an entire new thread about the expense to the taxpayers of this County caused by this false allegation, but that’s another story. As is Rice’s failure to mention that her office signed off on the charges before they were brought.
Without comment, Rice’s camp attacked my motives as political. I am proud to be a candidate for DA. The mishandling of this case is additional evidence of why I should be elected on November 3rd.
Today is Monday, Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement. It’s a day to remember sins, not forget them.
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I’m reminded of the SNL skit where one of the cast, playing Nancy Grace, did a PSA sort of thing reminding us to consider the needs of the forgotten victim: the false accuser.
Apparently, the present District Attorney saw it, and didn’t realize it was supposed to be a joke; her opponent, it seems, wasn’t so easily gulled.
And just to add on: with all due respect to the prominence of SJ, it’s absurd and pathetic that the heavy lifting on this story is being done on a CDL’s blog. The folks in Nassau County have an election for DA coming up, and they ought to have good, solid reporting on both how the present occupant of the office handled this outrage, and what her opponent says about it, and not have to know where to go on the Internet to find it.
Ah, if only there were some company whose business it was to find out matters of interest to the public, research and edit such, and then print such reports on inexpensive paper for widespread distribution…
In the interest of candor should point out that I know Joy Watson and believe she would be a superior DA. I should also point out that I am a CDL, have been an ADA and a Special Prosecutor for Corruption in NYC.
Newsday has almost totally ignored Joy’s candidacy. If that weren’t enough the paper has been a cheerleader for the current DA since she came to office,
The decision not to charge the false accuser is merit less and smacks of the pandering and political considerations that Rice brings to her office.
Jdog is on the money when he writes of the absurdity in this situation. Newsday cannot be trusted to adequately cover this race.
It is disgraceful that an important race such as this should be ignored by the only Newspaper on Long Island, now owned by Cablevision’s Jim Dolan. I am sorry that the only place where the candidates can provide access to their message is a stinky little criminal defense lawyer blawg like SJ. On the other hand, at least there is one place.
Sir, The majority of us obtain our news from the net. Daily papers are either going under or being bought out by Belo and the like.
If we want to hear about news that happened in another state over a week after it broke, we have to consider CNN / HLN. I am very thankful for being able to trust S.J. to follow up and to beat it like a one armed jokey, when needed.
“The ol gray mare ain’t what she used to be” Kathleen Rice is toast. Where is the outrage? Right here & we can only hope it’s here for the long haul. Thanks.