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
He probably isn't the best person to talk about the case, considering.
Voter rolls get a boost in Durham
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer, Modified: Oct 14, 2006 03:50 AM
DURHAM - Fueled by voter registration drives at Duke University and N.C. Central University, new registrations surged Friday.
Mike Ashe, director of the Durham County Board of Elections, said his office had been inundated on the final day to register for the Nov. 7 election.
"It seems like everybody from the procrastinator party came in," Ashe said. "The last day is always busy. This is the busiest nonpresidential year that I've had."
On Friday, Ashe said, he collected at least 350 new voter registration forms from NCCU students and 350 from Duke students.
Interest in the Duke lacrosse rape case sparked voter registration drives on the college campuses.
Stefanie Sparks, a paralegal with Ekstrand and Ekstrand, a Durham law office representing lacrosse players who were not indicted in the case, helped Duke students with their voter drive.
Sparks said Friday she thought the registration drive had netted more than 1,000 new Duke voters.
Ashe said that by his count -- and he said the official count would go on through the weekend -- the Duke voter drive had brought in nearly 750 new registrations.
Sparks is part of Ethical Durham, a political group endorsing Lewis Cheek, the county commissioner whose name was added to the ballot this summer amid outrage over District Attorney Mike Nifong's handling of the lacrosse case.
Sparks said some forms collected in the Duke drive were from students in off-campus housing.
In past elections, Duke students have not made up a high percentage of the 140,897 registered voters.
In late August, there were 650 registered voters on Duke's East Campus and 712 registered voters on West Campus, according to Ashe, the elections director.
At NCCU, the school where the accuser in the rape case is a student, 1,357 students were registered to vote in late August.
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/498352.html
* Keep your eyes on the wire.
I think Kim has changed her "opinion" regarding the case but not her story. Initially she said it was a "crock", then in an AP interview she said she thought the guys were guilty. But she has never backed up what the accuser said in her police statement. She has never said they were forcibly separated and that she helped Precious get dressed. Apparently she says on 60 Minutes that this is the first she has ever heard of that. At first I thought that was impossible but now I'm starting to believe it. Her eyes really pop out when Bradley reads that to her.
As for Kim's original handwritten police statement, I think that's as close to the truth as you'll ever get with her. I do think she left a few things out though. Most notably, she left out the big argument she had with the players over money. This was heard by Bissey. She also made a big deal out of the fact that Crystal seemed to have lost her money and she went looking for her things. She may have looked but I think she was trying to throw suspicion off herself. I think it's likely that she stole Crystal's money.
Nice hypothetical direct of Roberts. But you write as if Nifong must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a rape could not be ruled out. What he must do is prove beyond a reasonable doubt a rape occurred [not to mention that the three indicted committed it] and Roberts saying that Mangum did not look hurt or harmed in any way and that she did not see a rape etc. hurts his case.
Showing that Roberts lied about this at times in the past is not going to help him much. She does not have an real incentive to lie and does not benefit from getting on the stand and risking a perjury charge from Nifong.
This is not unlike the discussion here with Jezebelle about whether to count Roberts' lying as starting when she was just trying to dump Mangum at the Kroger or to start evaluating her when the once Mangum claimed rape and this became a serious matter.
Unity concept nothing new to Duke, N.C. Central
Ties between schools go back decades
Stanley B. Chambers Jr., Staff Writer, Published: Oct 14, 2006 12:30 AM
History doesn't support the national media's portrayal of longstanding tension between Duke University and N.C. Central University in the aftermath of the Duke lacrosse rape case.
Cooperative ventures in academia, civic life and social events are nothing new between Duke -- a private research university -- and NCCU -- a state-supported, historically black school. The rape case, in which three lacrosse players are accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a March off-campus party, brought the leadership at both schools to work together in addressing a common issue, said John Burness, Duke's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.
"I think one of the great tragedies of this national public distortion of what happened here was this sense that [N.C.] Central and Duke were enemies or that Duke and Durham were enemies," Burness said. "To people on the ground here in Durham, these are institutions who have worked well together for a long time."
Relationships that go back to when Duke was Trinity College and NCCU founder James E. Shepard was involved with his school. Duke and NCCU students have worked with each other since the 1960s to address community issues. That interaction is no different today with the planning of Sunday's Unity Fest at the American Tobacco Campus.
The event's impetus also came from a major transgression -- three cross burnings in Durham in May 2005. Last year's Unity Fest was an open mic at The Armory for city residents to express their thoughts, but Yvonne Penna, city department of human relations director, felt this year's event -- funded by a $15,000 grant from State Rep. Paul Miller's office -- would be ideal in showing how students from Duke and NCCU can work together.
"There's good and bad in every place, but my experience with these students has been remarkable," she said. "Their sense of leadership is undeniable, and their commitment to work on this together has been demonstrated."
Working together has been a long-standing tradition between the two schools. NCCU founder James E. Shepard was friends with Trinity College president John C. Kilgo, and former Duke president Robert L. Flowers was chairman of NCCU's (then the N.C. College for Negroes) board of trustees from 1925 to 1950, according to a 1991 Founder's Day address by Alex Rivera, who worked at the school for about 50 years before retiring in 1993.
Students from both schools didn't intermingle much until the civil rights movement of the 1960s, said Jake Phelps, 71, a Duke administrator for three decades before his 1995 retirement. Students from both schools gathered at Five Points for anti-segregation demonstrations. Then-Duke president Terry Sanford, who ridiculed the police for arresting protesters, held Sunday morning breakfasts with the community, including NCCU students and administrators, to discuss current events, Phelps said.
"Before that, people from [N.C.] Central would tell me that they felt awkward going to Duke," Phelps said. "[They] thought there was an invisible sign at Duke that said, 'If you don't play basketball, N.C. Central is on the other side of town.' "
Duke and NCCU students were involved with community groups such as the United Organizations for Community Improvement and the Durham Voters Alliance, said Ben Ruffin, a 1964 NCCU graduate who was active in both organizations during the 1960s and 1970s.
"Students at Duke and Central were a vital part of what we were trying to do," said Ruffin, 64, who runs a Winston-Salem consulting firm.
NCCU track athletes used to practice at Duke before the team had its own facility. During the '70s, both squads competed together as an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, said Leroy T. Walker, former NCCU track coach and chancellor.
Walker, a member of Duke's Fuqua School of Business board of visitors since 1993, is another example of the many ties between both schools. A NCCU building bears the name of Benjamin N. Duke, a major benefactor to both schools. A partnership between Duke and NCCU netted a $4.5 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2002 to assist low-income children. And there has been constant interaction between academic departments at both schools, said Burness, Duke's senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.
In the lacrosse case's aftermath, both student government associations have met more often with each other. Duke SGA president Elliott Wolf believes this is the beginning of more interaction between Duke and NCCU.
"What we would like to do with our student groups is establish a dependency on one another, particularly the community-service organizations," Wolf said.
.http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/498573.html
* Clean-up campaign begins.
Love is in the air, every time I look around. Yep, that sounds about right.
That's the thing about "must have done SOMETHING". It's literally guilty until proven innocent.
Yep. If these guys are in the position of having to prove their innocence then they are being subjected to a standard no other criminal defendant in the history of this country has been subjected to.
Even Richard "Belief of it opresses me already" Brodhead has put this burden on them saying he wants to see them prove their innocence.
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This web site is dedicated to raising funds for the defense of the Duke Lacrosse players, and the relentless pursuit to DISBAR MIKE NIFONG, banishing him from law practice forever, as well as promoting a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION into his actions in this case.
The site is under construction at this time but shortly you will be able to purchase and wear your support for the Duke 3. There will also be links to make donations, get current news and updates, and different ways for you to show support for the boys.
Profits from the sale of the T-SHIRTS and SWEATSHIRTS will go to "Association for Truth and Fairness" Duke defense fund.
Please come back soon. 10/12/06
http://www.disbarnifong.com/
You are correct. But the discussion earlier had to do with whether or not Kim had changed the story she told the police with respect to something involving the AV.
The point I was making was that Kim told Hinman on March 20th that she was only out of sight from the AV once, and that was for less than 5 minutes. Himan's March 20th excerpt:
SHE WOULD BE GETTING A CALL FROM THE POLICE ABOUT AN INCIDENT THAT TOOK PLACE. SHE STATED THAT SHE HEARD THAT MS. MANGUM WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, WHICH SHE STATED IS A “CROCK” AND SHE STATED THAT SHE WAS WITH HER THE WHOLE TIME UNTIL SHE LEFT. AND THE ONLY TIME SHE WAS ALONE WAS WHEN SHE WOULD NOT LEAVE AND THAT TIME PERIOD WAS LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES.
In Kim's written statement which was produced on March 22nd.. Kim writes...excerpt...
I left the bathroom, grabbed my bag and exited the house w/ my dancing gear on. I went to my car wanting to leave, but not wanting to leave the girl in the house alone. I changed my clothes in the car where some of the boys were coming to my window asking me to talk to them. I was told by one of the guys that Precious was passed out in the back and could I please do something with her. By this point it seems that the fellas may have been ready for the evening to be over. I told them that if they could get her to my car, I would get her out of their hair. Within minutes, She was being helped out of the back yard and into my car.
We know about the time Kim left the bathroom 12:10 - 12:15 range because Bissey saw them both at the car at 12:20 and she said she left the bathroom alone. We also know that the boys helped the AV to the car at 12:41.
Kim has described an interval of which she was away from the AV which spans about 20 - 30 minutes. Which is not even close to the 5 minutes she claimed in her call to Hinman on the 20th. Nowhere in her written statement did she say she saw or was with the AV after she left the bathroom until the boys brought to the car. If she was consistent she would have said, I went to the car alone, about 5 minutes later the AV showed up without her shoe or purse. She would have said the AV went back to get her shoe and was gone for another 5 or 10 minutes, then the boys came by and told me she was passed out in back of the house. She doesn't say that. Why not? Because it doesn't allow enough time for anything to have happened.
She makes conflicting statements to the cops in my opinion, which is what the point of discussion was earlier.
My little parody earlier was to describe how easy it would be for Nifong to discredit her as a witness since she has lied to the cops so many times.
Maybe you should read Kim's statement. In fact, why don't you?
Pay particular attention to this part, said by Kim,
"forgot to mention that the first time Precious came to the car she left because she felt there was more money to be made. It was after then, that the boys helped her to the car. They carried her by throwing her arms over their shoulders and assisting her walking to the car - I can't remember if only one boy helped or 2."
The reason for the time discrepancy, in my opinion, is that Kim left the argument with the players about money out of her statement.
Frankly, I think Kim and Precious were locked in the bathroom for some time. Kim makes reference to this in her statement when she says she "finally" came out of the bathroom. She also says Precious was going nuts when the guys were repeatedly knocking on the door. The players also say they had trouble getting the strippers out of there. I think then, when it became clear that the show was over and Kim was leaving, the players demanded a refund. Kim refused and an argument started in the house and eventually spilled out into the alley and was heard by Bissey.
Where was Precious? Probably stumbling her way out of the house and thinking about how she was going to get home. Her driver wasn't due for some time so she tried to get through to her escort service at 12:26 and probably staggered out of the house around that time. She fell down the back stairs and was on the ground for a few minutes before the guys managed to get Kim to get her out of there.
Kim made her written statement on March 22nd.. If I'm not mistaken the final version of the AV's statement wasn't documented until April 6th or so.
There's no telling what Kim might have agreed to write if the cops had a final draft from the AV prior to Kim's statement.
In Kim's written statement she say this:
We did sip the drinks but Precious’ cup fell into the sink.
But on the same day Hinman describes her as saying...
. THERE WAS A KNOCK ON THE DOOR AND WE WERE HANDED TWO DRINKS OF EQUAL AMOUNTS. SHE STATED SHE SIPPED THE DRINKS (RUM AND COKE SHE THINKS) BUT PRECIOUS CUP FELL INTO THE SINK DUMPING OUT THE CONTENTS, SHE THINKS THE VICTIM HAD A COUPLE DRINKS FROM HERS BUT SHE WAS NOT SURE.
And even later on May 11th she tells the NandO...
Roberts told Newsweek that players gave them mixed drinks. She did not drink hers; the other dancer drank half her glass, spilled it and then drank all of Roberts' drink. "She started stumbling," Roberts said. "When I think back on it, she had a glassy look in her eye."
She has progressively changed her stories based on whom she thought had the upper hand. Now that it's going against Nifong... So are her stories...
Ah, yes, our Universities, where we nuture critical and objecting thing.
There is no doubt she wasn't very consistent in her interviews. I agree with you in your opinion that she tried to make her story to look much worse for the lacrosse players. However, her original statement to the police appears to be truthful.
My apologies, I stand corrected...
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