A new Duke suit but

this one has no connection to the university’s disgraceful response to the lies of Crystal Mangum and Mike Nifong which empowered them and contributed to the slandering, libeling, threats and a vicious frame-up attempt – all targeting Duke students who played on the Men’s 2006 lacrosse.

Regarding this latest suit Newsday columnist Ellis Henican said today:

Andrew Giuliani has hit a rough patch in his drive to become a pro golfer -- being tossed off the Duke University golf team, his lawyers say, over "unfounded accusations" and a coach's "bizarre Lord of the Flies scheme."

But New York City's former first son is swinging back hard.

Late Wednesday, his attorneys filed a federal lawsuit in North Carolina, contending the university has violated its obligations to him as a student-athlete and demanding he be invited back to Duke's state-of-the-art golf-training facility.

It's obviously been a tense few months on campus.

On Feb. 11, the lawsuit says, men's golf coach "O.D. Vincent announced to the team that he was unilaterally canceling Andrew's eligibility to participate in the University's Athletics Program immediately and indefinitely.

Andrew and his teammates were shocked. Andrew had no prior notice of what was about to happen. At no time was Andrew ever given an opportunity to defend himself; instead he was summarily dismissed."

No response yet from Duke administrators. "We have not been provided a copy of the lawsuit so we are not in the position to comment," Keith Lawrence, Duke's director of media relations, said Wednesday night. Coach Vincent did not return a telephone message left at his home.

Andrew, 22, is the only son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and broadcaster Donna Hanover. A high-spirited kid and budding sports fan when his dad was mayor, he is now entering his senior year at Duke. He was recruited by the late Rod Myers, who'd coached at Duke for 34 years. Coach Vincent arrived last summer from UCLA.

So why was Andrew suspended? That's not entirely clear. ...

You can read the rest of Henican's column here.

I don’t know enough to comment on the particulars of what Newsday’s Henican says except for one very important thing. It’s this:

Andrew is represented by Durham, N.C., attorney Robert Ekstrand, a Duke law school lecturer and attorney for several former members of the Duke lacrosse team in a civil suit over sex-assault allegations.(emphasis added)

I’ve left the following comment on Henican’s column thread:

You say: "Andrew is represented by Durham, N.C., attorney Robert Ekstrand, a Duke law school lecturer and attorney for several former members of the Duke lacrosse team in a civil suit over sex-assault allegations."

That suit is not "over sex-assault allegations."

Those allegations, part of a vicious frame-up attempt by a now disbarred DA and others, were exposed as lies on Apr. 11, 2007 when North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper issued a public statement in which he said there never was any credible evidence to support the allegations and declared the players "innocent."

The suit is about the violations of the plaintiffs civil rights by Duke University, DU Medical Center, Durham City, Durham Police Department, a DNA testing lab and numerous individuals including Duke's President Richard Brodhead.

Please consider some way you can set the record straight.

Sincerely,

John in Carolina
www.johnincarolina.com

I plan to follow-up with Henican this weekend.

Hat tip: BN