Michael Gaynor
October 30, 2007
Duke case: Sure Sam Hummel sure was wrong
By Michael Gaynor

To all you lucky recipients of email, group or individual, related to the Duke case, from Sam Hummel, read them again, carefully, with the benefit of hindsight, and then...do what is right!
________________________________________

THAT man, Sam Hummel, was insistent that Duke lacrosse players had raped false accuser Crystal Gail Mangum.

The date was Sunday, March 26, 2006.

As midnight approached, Sam, then Duke's Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, sent out a group email on a Duke email account: sdh2@duke.edu.

The subject line of that email read: "MONDAY: SPEAK-OUT in response to recent rape."

NOT alleged rape!

Sam was soooo sure, so skilled, so passionate.

The text read:

"SPEAK-OUT & LISTENING CIRCLES 11:30 am — Allen Building Lawn

"This event will be geared toward educating the larger Duke community about the sexual assault that occurred two weeks ago in a house just off East Campus that is rented by Duke students. The event will be audience-input oriented with the intention of compiling concerns the community feels must be addressed.

"After some brief statements there will be an open-mic session and small-group discussions.

"Factsheets will be distributed and large posters will be used to collect comments from the community.

"The event will begin at 11:30 AM on the lawn in front of the Allen Building, West Campus.(directions & parking: http://map.duke.edu/?bid=7753)"

NOT alleged sexual assault, of course.

Sam, you were soooo sure, weren't you?

Yet soooo wrong.

It seemed critical to crack that imaginary "blue wall of silence." Right, Sam?

Of course, getting a member or members of the 2005-2006 Duke University Men's Lacrosse Team to "speak out" in support of what actually was a false gang rape claim would have been a coup.

But you believed it was true then, didn't you, Sam?

How to help "the community"?

Perhaps sending an email in the name of a team member to the other team members to the effect that he would not longer cover up, so others would be smart to speak out, or "share," quickly?

Perhaps accessing email of team members and sending one to the police under an alias, say, "Dukeblues44"?

To all you lucky recipients of email, group or individual, related to the Duke case, from Sam Hummel, read them again, carefully, with the benefit of hindsight, and then...do what is right!

© Michael Gaynor

 

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Michael Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member... (more)

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