Posted on 10/11/2006 1:52:56 AM PDT by abb
DURHAM -- A CBS "60 Minutes" segment on the controversial Duke University lacrosse rape case is expected to air Sunday evening and will include interviews with all three indicted players and Kim Roberts Pittman, the second dancer at the party where the attack allegedly occurred.
CBS would not comment on the show. The network's normal practice is to withhold information about "60 Minutes" broadcasts until a few days in advance.
But Pittman's lawyer, Mark Simeon of Durham, confirmed Tuesday that his client was interviewed. But Simeon ended a telephone conversation before fielding a question about what Pittman told the interviewer.
An exotic dancer at the time, Pittman was with another dancer who claimed she was raped and sodomized by three lacrosse players during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.
Pittman since has been quoted as saying the rape charges were "a crock." She also told police in a March 22 handwritten statement that she and the accuser ended their performance when someone at the lacrosse party "brought out a broomstick and ... said he would use the broomstick on us."
"That statement made me uncomfortable and I felt like I wanted to leave," Pittman added. "I raised my voice to the boys and said the show was over."
Pittman said she then asked the alleged rape victim to leave the party with her. But she said the accuser "felt we could get more money and that we shouldn't leave yet."
According to Pittman, the accuser "began showing signs of intoxication" early in the dance performance and was "basically out of it" by the time it ended.
Pittman finally drove the other dancer to a Hillsborough Road grocery store, from which a 911 call was placed to police.
There is nothing about an alleged rape in Pittman's written statement, which is included in public-record court files.
All three defendants also were interviewed for the "60 Minutes" segment, sources told The Herald-Sun. The interviewer is veteran reporter Ed Bradley.
The three -- Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans -- remain free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year. Each maintains he is innocent.
Neither they nor their families could be reached Tuesday for possible comment about the CBS show, and their attorneys had no comment.
Defense lawyers apparently will not appear on the television program. Neither will District Attorney Mike Nifong, who has been widely criticized for allegedly rushing to judgment in the case and making inflammatory public statements before he had sufficient evidence.
For the past four months, Nifong has not discussed the situation publicly. He was out of town on business and unreachable for comment Tuesday.
Benjamin Himan and Mark Gottlieb, police investigators in the lacrosse case, also could not be reached. But sources said the two had not been interviewed by "60 Minutes" as of Friday.
The Police Department repeatedly has declined to discuss the lacrosse incident.
It could not be determined Tuesday if a one-time driver for the alleged rape victim, Jarriel Lanier Johnson, was among those Bradley contacted.
"I have nothing to say about it," Johnson told The Herald-Sun by telephone before hanging up.
But Johnson gave police an April 6 handwritten statement about an "appointment," "a job" and a performance the accuser had at three different hotels in two days not long before the alleged rape.
Johnson also said she had sexual intercourse with him during the same time period.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-777449.html
PING! DRUDGE SPILLS!
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm
Whoa!
Add "nope" to "crock."
Must see TV.
I'll be waiting for ESPN's apology to the Duke team after this case is thrown out. I occassionaly watch those miserable liberal reporters on the Sports Reporters and their coverage of this incident was awful. They already convicted these guys and anybody who disputed the rape claims were just disgusting people.
more...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/11/60minutes/main2082140.shtml
(CBS) The dancing partner of the woman who accuses three Duke Lacrosse players of raping her refutes a key part of her partners account of the alleged crime.
Kim Roberts, who danced at the same party where the alleged rape took place, makes the revelation in an interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley this Sunday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Roberts' answer to Bradleys question directly contradicts a crucial statement the accuser gave to police. Bradley asks whether she, Roberts, who goes by the stage name "Nikki" when she performs, was holding onto the accuser at the beginning of the alleged crime.
Says Bradley, "In the police statement, [accuser] describes the rape in this way: 'Three guys grabbed Nikki,' 'That's you,'" says Bradley, "'Brett, Adam and Matt grabbed me. They separated us at the master bedroom door while we tried to hold on to each other. Bret, Adam and Matt took me into the bathroom.' Were you holding on to each other? Were you pulled apart?"
"Nope," replies Roberts, who says she was hearing this account for the first time.
Roberts also denies the accuser's statement to the police that after the alleged rape, Roberts came into the bathroom and helped one of the rapists dress her.
When pressed by Bradley about whether she saw signs of rape from the accuser, such as complaining about pain or a mention of an assault, Roberts says, "She obviously wasn't hurt...because she was fine."
Bradley's report also contains interviews with the three defendants, Collin Finnerty, Reade Selligmann and David Evans, all of whom proclaim their innocence, and others involved in the case.
All will depend on the "stage presence" each of the boys has. David Evans had poise and confidence, even though you could tell how shaken he was. He showed a concern for others involved directly and indirectly.
Had my son been placed in those circumstances, he would have made GW's "strategery" statement look like Sir Lawrence Olivier's Hamlet. The key is knowing your strengths AND your weaknesses.
Sounds like Kim isn't exactly dazzled by Liefong's handling of her violation of probation prosecution.
It also sounds like she's gotten some legal counsel instead of an agent.
The Fonger is in deep caca...
A joke in a Soviet Union that goes like this? Who is Ruth kidding? Soviet Union was not a democracy like US. Brezhnev was not elected by the people. He was the leader of the communist party. Why in the world would old Soviet Union joke claim what Ruth says it does?
Ridiculous comparison that makes no sense to me at all.
If this plays out as advertised, how can Nifong dare to continue. If he loses Kim what does he have? Moreover, he doesn't just lose Kim, Kim becomes a potential defense and impeachment witness.
I hope somebody keeps track of Nifong's whereabouts on Sunday evening.
Nifong didn't lose her. She never claimed she and Precious were pulled apart, not in any of her stories she told on TV, not in her police statement. You can't lose what you don't have.
Her stories she told to the media changed from her police report, but in none of those stories she ever claimed she and Precious were pulled apart, or that she showed up in the bathroom and helped Precious dress.
Well, black Durhamites got Durham into this predicament. Nifong made fools of them or, more accurately, provided them with the perfect storm in which they could show what dumbass fools they are. It's up to them to get Durham out of it. They can accomplish this by either staying home on election day or voting for Cheek and taking Easley's potluck.
OK, but are you suggesting she may still give evidence that helps Nifong? If so, what might that be?
The point is that Precious made these statements and Kim is denying the truth of Precious's statements.
Well, Jez, there's lots of bad guys in this drama. The pot-bangers for exploiting on to it for social activism, the Duke 88 for the same thing, Nifong for his criminal activity, the NandO and HS for setting fire to the lynch mob - plenty of blame, no doubt.
But IMO, the real worm, and I mean scummy, weaselly, detestable creature, is Brodhead...
Maybe someone suggested she tell the truth. Certainly makes the details easier to keep up with.
I think as someone above said, that Atty, told her to cut the PR and tell the truth, or she could be in more trouble than she already has been.
The second one doesn't work for me. What do I need to do to be able to see it?
If Kim doesn't back the sequence of events as told by the FA, it seems about all the Fong has is Crystal telling the story du jour & wishful thinking.
Well, in her police report she claimed that she was with Precious for all that five minutes. She also admitted she was in the bathroom with Precious before and after the show. She also admitted she and Precious were given drinks in equal amounts, both sipped those drinks, but Precious spilled her drink because her cup fell into the sink. I am really not sure as to what she would actually tell Bradley.
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