Posted on 11/04/2006 1:31:54 AM PST by abb
Joseph Neff, Benjamin Niolet and Anne Blythe, Staff Writers DURHAM - Four days after she said she was raped, the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case told co-workers at a Hillsborough strip club that she was going to get money from some boys at a Duke party who hadn't paid her, the club's former security manager said.
"She basically said, 'I'm going to get paid by the white boys,' " H.P. Thomas, the former security manager at the Platinum Club, said in an interview Friday. "I said, 'Whatever,' because no one takes her seriously."
On March 14, the woman said she was assaulted and raped by three men at a lacrosse team party that began late on the night of March 13. Three players -- David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md.; Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y.; and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells N.J. -- have been charged with rape, sexual assault and kidnapping. All three have declared their innocence and called the accusations lies.
Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong declined to comment on Thomas' recollections. Thomas said he had not previously come forward on the advice of lawyers.
Nifong has said in court that nearly a month after the party, the woman was in his office and appeared too traumatized to talk about what had happened to her. Nifong said that throughout the April 11 meeting with Nifong and police investigators, the woman seemed near tears and had trouble making eye contact.
But less than a week after the party, Thomas said, the woman seemed fine, and weeks later, he realized a friend of his had a video of her dancing at the club in the early hours of March 26.
The accuser never gave any indication that the party was a bad time, let alone that she was assaulted or raped, Thomas said.
"She was as regular as pie," Thomas said. "She didn't do anything different."
The News & Observer generally does not identify the complainants in sexual assault cases. The woman could not be located for comment Friday.
On March 17, the woman showed Thomas a hospital bracelet and paperwork. While she talked about being owed money, the accuser never gave any word or indication of being hurt, he said.
"The other girls would have known if something had happened," Thomas said. "If another dancer had been beat up or raped by a bunch of white boys, there would have been a ruckus."
Records show she had been seen at Duke and UNC Hospitals on March 14 and 15.
Thomas said dancers must sign in when they take guests into the club's VIP room. He said those sheets show that the woman had signed in March 17 and 18. He said she also danced the following weekend.
The club's owner, Victor Olatoye, said the club's records show the woman was dancing at the club March 23, 24, 25 and into the early hours of March 26. Olatoye has no record of her working the previous weekend.
Olatoye said he had given a sworn statement to an investigator in Nifong's office last month initially saying that he had not seen the woman since February.
That night at the club, Olatoye checked his records and called the investigator back to change his sworn statement.
Olatoye said he has not seen the woman since March.
Thomas said he worked as security manager at the club from January through April. He said he had little to gain by coming forward because of a pending cocaine possession charge. Staff writer Joseph Neff can be reached at 829-4516 or jneff@newsobserver.com.
Jarriellived in Alpharetta GA (north metro Atlanta) Alpharetta is an upscale area. Lots of money. Looked up their address, upscale neighborhood.
I recall his parents are professionals.
Seems the driving is the old "rather get money the easy way, than work for it" story.
He had a brother named Damon (sp) who is dead. There was a memorial in the paper "We miss you, Mom, Dad, sister & Nanna." (paraphrased of course).
Do not know cause of death, but I think it was in NC.
His mother posted on a religious site in April "Thank you for your prayers during this difficult time for our family" It had to be in reference to this--baby boy wasin the spotlight.
Purses and Larger Wallets are even sold with False bottoms or secret compartments - but I have to agree, most are altered at home. It's very common.
_
Watts Chapel Baptist Church
3703 Tryon Rd
try_ton_x ... Tryon. It's a stretch.
There's a Eugene, Jr., Campus Ministries, Shaw ... most likely unrelated.
PtBoR,
Do you have a link to the mother's message on the religious site?
Give me a few minutes.
:-)
But of course Evans was the person she failed to pick out with certainty and who she said had facial hair.
Can't find it, but it was a larger church with a huge website.
I think it was local to the area.
I will keep looking.
Thanks, ... very curious how he can fly so low under the radar. I haven't found a record for him, have you? Odd, considering his line of work.
freepmail!
I know it is a stretch, but I cannot believe I did not think to check this. Could there be a family relationship?
Jarriel Lanier Johnson is son of Eugene Johnson and Gayle Hilton Johnson.
Possible relatives to Brian Taylor according to Veromi
Marshall taylor and Thelma JOHNSON (of Durham)
I know Johnson is a common surname, but I have to check this out. Probably nothing. Stay tuned.
Former Herald-Sun owner dies [excerpts- of local interest]
BY WILLIAM F. WEST : The Herald-Sun, Nov 5, 2006 : 10:06 pm ET
DURHAM -- Edward Tyler Rollins Jr., former owner, board chairman and publisher of The Herald-Sun, died Sunday morning at Hillcrest Convalescent Center after a lengthy illness. He was 84.
Associates and relatives recalled Mr. Rollins -- known more commonly as E.T. -- as a man low key yet professional in his approach.
The Herald-Sun's roots date back to 1889, when the old Durham Sun began. It merged with the old Durham Morning Herald in 1991 to form The Herald-Sun.
The Rollins family was active in ownership and management from 1895 until January 2005, when the company was sold to Paxton Media Group of Paducah, Ky.
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-785304.html
* At the time of the sale, one of the last and oldest family owned papers in the country.
Your vote counts in Durham -- so go vote!
John McCann column. Herald-Sun, Nov 5, 2006
Pardon my laziness for not following through on commissioning a poll called "Nifong and the Negroes" to find out whether potential black voters viewed the current district attorney favorably because of his advocacy for the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case.
Best I can do now is tell you the majority of them must figure their 2 cents doesn't matter anyway.
There are 81,372 white people in Durham who are registered to vote Tuesday. Compare that to only 54,041 black people.
Which aren't numbers we can use to definitively conclude anything.
But maybe it says something about the notion that many black folks don't vote because they believe the system is rigged.
And what a shame here when desperate Democrats are itching to win back the once loyal African-American voter base -- here when some pundits believe black people could decide whether control of Congress stays with the GOP or swings the other way.
But because of what's happened in past elections -- shenanigans in Florida, hanging chads, voter suppression by misinformation -- there is no shortage of black people who may exercise their right not to color some ovals on Tuesday.
I voted early -- did it Friday -- and while at the Board of Elections saw some guys in Duke lacrosse gear. Any wonder who they didn't pick for district attorney?
Here's another question: Will my vote count?
Durham NAACP president Charles D. Smith said his organization doesn't have anything set up to monitor the polls for any funny business.
"We're hoping everything will go smooth," Smith said. "Durham has been going fairly well."
But in the event that you even bother going to the polls, if you don't like what you see, call (866) OUR-VOTE. That'll get you to the NAACP's national headquarters in Baltimore, where a command center has been set up. The civil rights organization has lawyers keenly interested in 10 states with histories of voting problems: Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Maryland. As you can see, North Carolina is not on the list, but you can still call.
Explaining the need for such a hotline, NAACP spokesman John White cited polling places not opening on time in Maryland's primary election. There's also concern about some of the new voting machines not leaving a paper trail, creating more doubt among leery voters.
"I think that's something that's overcome through history. It's not something that's overcome overnight," White said.
If my name was Mike Ashe, I'd have a problem with all of this voter skepticism. In case you don't know, Ashe runs the Board of Elections here in Durham and is about the most open government official you'd ever want to meet, one of the most honest. I mean, if he told me I was switched at birth and my mama's not who she says she is, I'd have to consider it.
Yet Ashe said he wouldn't be offended if someone questioned the integrity of Durham's electoral machine.
"No, I wouldn't be," Ashe said. "And I wish more people would question me."
I did. I actually had Ashe prove that my vote wouldn't just be floating around somewhere.
I'll break it all down for you Wednesday after the election.
And I'll let you know if your vote counted. But first things first:
You've got to at least vote.
John McCann's column runs Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/columnists/mccann/
* And E. T. is barely cold yet. Shame on this pathetic excuse for a journalist.
Why the Duke Hoax Continues
Part II: Durham and the Politics of Entitlement [excerpt]
"Nifong is able to drive this case forward because the black voters (and some white liberals) – led by a number of black ministers and other educated black elites* – believe that they are entitled to seeing Finnerty, Seligmann, and Evans convicted of kidnapping and rape and thrown into prison and treated without mercy. Furthermore, I am firmly convinced that most of the people in this category do not care if an actual rape occurred or not; they want a conviction because they believe that the "system" owes a guilty verdict to the community, and they want Nifong and the judges involved in this case to grease the skids to where a conviction will be possible to obtain in what appears to be a court of law. Yes, Nifong has been "pandering," but he has been "pandering" to people who are demanding such conduct. Such is the ugliness of a political prosecution."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson149.html
* A small but controlling minority who specialize in shakedowns.
Former prosecutor alleges harassment
From Staff Reports, N&O Nov. 6, 2006
DURHAM - A former Durham prosecutor said Sunday she filed a complaint with the state court system, alleging that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker and that her complaints were ignored by District Attorney Mike Nifong.
Ashley Cannon, who was a District Court prosecutor, said she made the complaint verbally to the Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh on Friday. She made the complaint on her last day with Nifong's office after resigning to accept a new job as a prosecutor in Orange and Chatham counties.
Cannon said in an interview Sunday that she reported the sexual harassment allegation to Nifong. "Nothing was done about it," she said.
Nifong declined to discuss Cannon's allegation on Sunday, saying it was a personnel matter.
Ken Williams, human resources officer with AOC, said he had not heard about the complaint but would not have been the one to take it. He said if human resources receives a complaint, the office typically will investigate and make suggestions or recommendations to a district attorney, but that his office has no authority over elected officials or their employees.
In Tuesday's election, Nifong, a Democrat, faces a challenge from an unaffiliated candidate, County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, and from Durham County Republican Party Chairman Steve Monks, who is campaigning as a write-in candidate.
http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/506921.html
"A former Durham prosecutor said Sunday she filed a complaint with the state court system, alleging that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker and that her complaints were ignored by District Attorney Mike Nifong."
Come get some?
http://www.ustaxdata.com/nc/durham/durhamtaxlist.cfm?lastName=mangum&firstName=crystal&businessName=&accountNum=&recpNum=&streetNumber=&StreetName=&parcelNum=&Submit=Search
Crystal apparently doesn't pay property taxes....
From a poster named Photius at Talk Left:
And this is from Nifong's most loyal underling, who persecuted Elmo for him! Nifong used to consider her so reliable he got his judge to postpone the Evans noise-violation case just so that she could be the ADA to handle it!
"She made the complaint on her last day with Nifong's office
after resigning to accept a new job as a prosecutor in Orange
and Chatham counties."
She should be very happy in her new job.
Maybe she can launch an investigation into
the Platinum crowd.
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