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http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=4650588

LAX Defense Seeks Accuser's Statements
AP

(10/11/06 -- DURHAM) - Attorneys representing three Duke University lacrosse players charged with rape have again asked prosecutors for the details of any statements made by the accuser, as well as any additional notes and reports from investigators working the case.

In a letter sent to District Attorney Mike Nifong on Wednesday and included in the court file, attorneys Joseph Cheshire and Brad Bannon -- who represent charged player David Evans -- said the information was not included in 615 pages of evidence Nifong turned over to defense attorneys last month.

"We have made these requests time and time again," they wrote. "We understand and appreciate that this is not the only case in Durham and that you have an office to run. ... When, however, you chose to assume control over the investigation and prosecution of this case, you also accepted the attendant responsibilities of producing materials to which, you have acknowledged in court, we are entitled."

Nifong was out of town attending a district attorney's conference Wednesday and had not read the letter, said Sheila Eason, an assistant in Nifong's office.

In April, a grand jury indicted lacrosse players Reade Seligmann, 20, and Collin Finnerty, 20, on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. Evans, 23, was charged with the same crimes a month later. The accuser, a student at nearby North Carolina Central University, told police she was raped in a bathroom by three men at a March 13 off-campus lacrosse team party.

In the letter, the defense attorneys cited an April 11 meeting between Nifong, investigators and the accuser. Nifong said during a procedural court hearing last month that she made no statements and was asked no questions during that meeting.

The letter goes on to cite a court motion in which Nifong states the accuser told him she had not taken Ecstasy on the night of the party, and comments from the chairman of a local political action committee saying that Nifong said "he's the only one that's interviewed this victim."

"It is clear that you have spoken with (the accuser) about the facts of this case. ... It is equally clear that we still have no reports of any factual statements (the accuser) has made to you in the in the investigation and prosecution of this case, whether in the presence of others or not," the attorneys wrote.

The defense also said that it had not received any handwritten notes from Durham Police Investigator Benjamin Himan for his activities in the case after May 15; no reports from Himan after June 26; and no reports from Sgt. Mark Gottlieb since July 14. Defense attorneys also asked for any reports on the activities of Linwood Wilson, an investigator in Nifong's office.