Michael Vick Is Nothing Like Duke Lacrosse Defendants

Gerald Poindexter, the Virginia prosecutor who could file dog fighting charges against Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, said he's moving slowly in the Vick case because he's chastened by the three innocent Duke lacrosse players who were accused of raping a stripper at a team party:

Poindexter said he is reminded every day of Durham, North Carolina Prosecutor Mike Nyfong who went public with accusations of rape against three Duke lacrosse players that turned out to be untrue.

"I go back to that. He was pushed by politics. I'm not going to be driven by that," explained Poindexter.

Restraint is certainly a quality the Durham prosecutor lacked, but let's make one thing absolutely clear: Michael Vick is nothing like Duke lacrosse defendants Reade Seligmann, Colin Finnerty and David Evans (pictured). In fact, it would be hard to come up with two cases more different.

In the Duke lacrosse case, the only evidence was the eyewitness testimony of one accuser, who turned out to be lying. There was no physical evidence whatsoever against the three Duke defendants. In the Vick case, investigators have mounds of physical evidence: bloodstained carpets, treadmills, rape stands, restraints and the dogs themselves. The only thing we don't know yet is whether an accuser can provide eyewitness testimony against Vick.

Furthermore, in the Vick case, the defense strategy has been to keep completely silent: Vick won't say anything, even whether he'll be exonerated. (And that's fine, he's entitled to keep silent.) In the Duke lacrosse case, the defendants said they were innocent.

Finally, no one who knows Vick is coming forward to say, unequivocally, that there's no way he's involved in dog fighting. Some friends of Vick are saying privately that he's involved in dog fighting. In the Duke case, dozens of people who personally knew the defendants came forward to say there was no way they were rapists. That included friends, family, and the entire women's lacrosse team at Duke.

Is Vick still innocent until proven guilty? By law, of course he is. But don't mistake him for the demonstrably innocent Duke lacrosse players.

(Photo: Getty Images)