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Fellow dancer confirms claim

By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Nov 2, 2006 : 10:27 pm ET

DURHAM -- Following in the footsteps of a former bouncer, another person has surfaced to refute a club owner's claim that the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case stopped doing exotic dances at his Hillsborough nightspot in February.

A fellow dancer now contends she saw the Duke lacrosse rape accuser performing at Hillsborough's adults-only Platinum Club after the night of March 13-14, lawyers close to the case said Thursday.

The timeline is critical because the accuser alleged she was raped the night of March 13-14 by three men during an off-campus lacrosse party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. She then complained to physicians and police that she suffered extreme pain for days.

Lawyers did not reveal the other dancer's name or make her available for an interview Thursday.

They said only that it was not Kim Roberts Pittman, who performed with the accuser at the 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. party on the night the rape allegedly occurred.

Since then, Roberts has branded the rape allegations as "a crock." She also told ABC TV last week that the accuser asked her --Pittman -- to put marks on the accuser's body, apparently to make it appear the accuser had been assaulted.

District Attorney Mike Nifong could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Including the newly surfaced dancer, at least three people now refute club owner Victor Olatoye's assertion that the alleged rape victim did not perform in his nightclub after February.

In a sworn affidavit, a copy of which was obtained by The Herald-Sun this week, Olatoye said he had reviewed a recent CBS TV "60 Minutes" video clip that purported to show the accuser dancing in his club on March 26.

He disputed the timing of the clip.

"The video is at my club and was prior to the rape," Olatoye wrote. "I am certain of this because [the accuser] has not stripped at my club since the rape occurred."

But, as reported in The Herald-Sun Thursday, former bouncer H.P. "Fats" Thomas told several defense lawyers he watched the accuser perform on March 17, 18 and 26. The woman's movements were supple, athletic and almost contortionist in nature, the attorneys paraphrased Thomas as saying.

In addition, as previously made public, a one-time driver for the alleged rape victim -- Jarriel Lanier Johnson -- told police in April that he took the woman to the Platinum Club between 11 p.m. and midnight on March 10.

Johnson's statement to officers is contained in court files.

"She went in and I remained in the car," he said. "Around 2 a.m. I go inside to find her. She asks me if we can stay for about another hour. She then asks me if we can stay just one more hour. We leave at 4:30 [a.m.], when the club closes."

Three young men have been charged with raping the woman. They are Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans. Each of the three has proclaimed his innocence and each is free under $100,000 bond awaiting a trial that is expected to occur next year.

Durham lawyer Bill Thomas, representing an unindicted lacrosse player, said Thursday -- not for the first time -- that the combined weight of information about the accuser's conduct should encourage prosecutor Nifong to reexamine his case.

"She's at the hospital telling them she needs narcotics because of extreme pain, yet she was dancing normally at night," said Thomas. "She was clearly dancing. There's no question about it. It's troubling. The dike is going to break at some point. The truth is going to come out, and the whole world will know these boys [the indicted suspects] are innocent."

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-784438.html

On March 24, when The News & Observer reported that 46 lacrosse players had been ordered to submit DNA, the woman spent the morning inside her parents' home as her two young children explored the yard.

As she stepped off the screened-in porch, a gym bag slung over one shoulder, she was met by a reporter. Upon learning that reports of her allegations had surfaced in the newspaper, she put a hand over her mouth and gasped. Tears welled in her eyes.

She reported the incident, she said, because many men don't believe forcing a woman to have sex is a "big deal." She pulled her 7-year-old son toward her on the sidewalk.

"I'm just trying to get on with my life," she said softly.

Since then, she has not spoken publicly.

http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/429338.html

I'll bet I know what was in the bag.....