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Duke Lacrosse Accuser Indicted for Murder

Crystal Magnum, the woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape, has been indicted in North Carolina for the murder of her boyfriend, Reginald Daye. She was initially arrested two weeks ago and charged with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly stabbing him with a kitchen knife. He died from the stab wounds four days ago.

It's hardly her first new brush with the law since the Duke case. In February of last year, she was arrested for the attempted murder of a different boyfriend, and ultimately charged with felony first-degree arson and a slew of misdemeanors, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor, injury to personal property and resisting arrest. [More...]

Mangum was facing an attempted murder charge after police in February arrested her at a residence on Lincoln Street, near N.C. Central University. Mangum filled a bathtub with clothes and set them on fire after a fight with her boyfriend, police said. There were three children in the residence, and one of them called 911, according to investigators.

She claimed to be the victim in that incident as well. After the judge reduced her bond to $100,000, a bail bonds company, acting pro bono, posted the bail for her and she was released on home detention. She violated the terms of the bond and was re-arrested. Then the judge reinstated her bond.

A jury convicted her of five misdemeanors but hung on the felony arson count. The judge sentenced her to time served and restored her custody rights.

Judge Abe Jones sentenced Mangum to time served and ordered that she be freed and allowed to regain custody of her children while the district attorney's office ponders action on the remaining count.

Most panelists concluded that by setting her boyfriend's clothing on fire in a bathtub after a fight, Mangum never intended to cause destruction or significant damage to the home where she and her three children lived. Nor did they feel that her doing so was in "wanton or willful disregard of the plain and strong likelihood" of major harm to the building.

The DA decided not to retry her on the arson charge. Her supporters have continually claim she's been treated unfairly in the criminal system due to her accusations against the lacrosse players. Last June, in an interview about the arson case, she insisted:

.... her involvement in the Duke lacrosse case had influenced police handling of the case. "I do feel that I am being unjustly treated because of preconceived notions about my character in the media," Mangum said then.

I don't doubt she's mentally ill and could benefit from treatment. But she's also a menace to others, and her supporters' continued attempts to portray her as a victim of the lacrosse case is absurd.

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  • Display: Sort:
    One versus one hundred (none / 0) (#1)
    by diogenes on Mon Apr 18, 2011 at 11:32:16 PM EST
    "A jury convicted her of five misdemeanors but hung on the felony arson count. The judge sentenced her to time served and restored her custody rights."

    They say that it is better to acquit one hundred guilty people than to convict one innocent one.  On the other hand, an allegedly guilty person who gets off with a hung jury sometimes really then  allegedly kills an innocent person, in this case Reginald Daye. Catch 22, I guess.

    If it is a hung jury, then she was not found (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by MKS on Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 01:38:46 PM EST
    guilty--by definition....

    She has other troubles, however....

    Parent

    You've got the quote wrong, doc (none / 0) (#3)
    by Harry Saxon on Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 06:47:10 AM EST
    but what else is new, aside from your continuing discomfort with the principles of Anglo-American justice?

    Here's the correct quote:

    It is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer.
              o Book IV, ch. 27

    Click or Wikiquote Me

    Parent

    My concern is with the children. Didn't this (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 12:00:09 AM EST
    alleged arsonist see/read "Waiting to Exhale"?  Burn the clothes in the driveway, if burn them you must.

    What an incredibly horrible story (none / 0) (#4)
    by Buckeye on Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 07:53:05 AM EST
    this woman's life has become.  It was the Duke case that first attracted me to this site.  The fact that she still has defenders in this area (I live around these parts) is a statement in how stubborn people can become once they overexpose themself to one side of a contraversy.

    Hopefully, our legal system learned from this case and drives serious reforms (i.e. prosecutorial misconduct, video recording grand jury proceedings, etc.), but I doubt it.

    Gawd, what a train wreck. (none / 0) (#6)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 19, 2011 at 10:16:28 PM EST