Accuser in Duke lacrosse case wanted money, man says (DukeLax Ping)

Raleigh News & Observer ^ | November 4, 2006 | Benjamin Niolet, Joseph Neff and Anne Blythe

[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.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

:-)

[xoxoxox]

"Procedurally speaking, the silver bullet to the case against Seligmann,
which will ultimately prove fatal, is how the accuser was shown his picture
three times before finally identifying him as one of her attackers. Along with
every other misstep Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has made
in this case, he will bear the blame when Seligmann’s identification is suppressed
and his case dismissed."

Why would the defense need to debate alibies when all they need to do is trot
out Precious's stripper girlfriends to testify how she made it all up to get the
white boy's money?

Nifong can have them all swear on the Bible a dozen times, but a typical
Durham jury will see immediately what this has been all about from day one.

The defendants need not say a word.

Then perhaps when all these liars and thieves are gathered at the courthouse,
the real arrests can start being made.

[TommyDale]

I hope the investigations don't stop with Jim Black. They need to continue on up the food chain in North Carolina government. I've never seen a state where the Supreme Court candidates actually advertise. I get the feeling that for the most part here, used car salesmen must rank above politicians and judges in honesty ratings.

[Carolinamom]

Off topic...but I've read about the trendous amount of community service that Duke students do/give in Durham. Is there any information about NCC students doing the same?

[xoxoxox]

"I hope the investigations don't stop with Jim Black.
They need to continue on up the food chain in North
Carolina government."

Is not the governor's office the last link in
the chain from the speaker's office?

[maggief]

Both the N & O Brian Taylor article and Jarriel Johnson's statements raise many questions.

Why would the AV call Taylor, whom she didn't know well, at 7 am the next day to pick up her kids? Do the PD and drivers/pimps always check up on the young 'uns?

Jarriel seems to also be in hiding. What do we know about his background?

[JLS]

We have certainly discussed the IDs many many time here, but there is big news in this article. The big news is:

If Judge Smith agrees, under North Carolina law and that of the U.S. Supreme Court, he will suppress the accuser’s identification of Seligmann and any later attempt to identify him in court.

We have wondered aloud here under what circumstance throwing out the IDs means Mangum would not be allowed to ID in court. This says NC law says automatically she would be barred from false IDs in court.

Evans has the same argument. Mangum failed to ID him at least once prior. That makes Finnerty who was not in the original photos because he is so dissimilar to her descripitions possibly at the most risk. Still all of the IDs should be thrown out by a fair judge.

[TommyDale]

"Is not the governor's office the last link in the chain from the speaker's office?"

Yes, but I don't think the Democratic controlled legislature will want to look anywhere higher than Jim Black. He has now been thrown under the bus to protect Governor Weasley.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

This is what so many Carolinians do not understand about the call to throw this out.

I have lived in NC, 2 of my sons are Tarheels by birth (I have a Yankee child, but we keep him locked in the cellar--Just Kidding)

NC does it different from any other state it seems. What Cash and others seems to forget (and I like him) is that the rest of the country regards the trial phase as the end of an investigation. We do not see a trial as the forum to determine if a crime even took place.

(NC does not hold the patent on corruption. We have our share of the good old boy corruption here in North GA.
Don't want anyone thinking I am dissing NC.)

[JLS]

I think most Carolinians know this case should never have been filed, should be dropped and want this case dropped. The problem is Nifong.

As far as I can see the problems with the NC system that are different from the rest of the nation include:

1. The DA having too much power over judges through the schedule.

2. No speedy trial law.

3. No mechanism for DAs to be brought to heel by the state government in rare circumstance like this.

I suspect this situation will cause NC to revisit these ways it is different from other states. Federalism is great. We get to try different policies in different states and see which ones work best. NC has had some differences from the norm in their criminal justice system. The reasons why NC is in the minority on these aspects of the criminal justice system have now become apparent. As I said, I think NC will revisit these because of the abuses of Nifong.

[SarahUSC]

I think Finnerty is the most at risk too. I worry about what a judge will do because there's a tendency to want to make someone the "fall guy" in these things.

[CondorFlight]

"I think Finnerty is the most at risk too. I worry about what a judge will do because there's a tendency to want to make someone the "fall guy" in these things."

But I also hear that his alibi is even better than Seligmann's.

And if ALL THREE can't be placed together with the AV for the rape, then the rape story collapses. I think all of Finnerty's time can be accounted for and there is never a moment when he was out of the sight of others, and could have had the opportunity to commit the rape (absent the famous Duke cloaking device, of course).

[xoxoxox]

Buying the deciding vote in a split chamber
to benefit the governor and his party would
seem to be the highest of political crimes
in a democratic government.

This is a federal investigation of Black and
his conspirators. Maybe the feds are tightening
a noose around the governor's neck.

It should come as no surprise that these same
politicians have a soft spot for strip clubs.

North Carolina's strong DA, weak judge system
seems to funnel the UNC and NCCU law grads
up the ranks of the Democratic party. This is
why they maintain their grip in Raleigh, despite
a statewide electorate that votes for a Bush
or Dole or Helms. Control of the legislature
comes down to a few votes. The black bloc
vote exploits this division very well.

[SarahUSC]

I think Finnerty has a great alibi too. He is clearly innocent. I just worry that his case won't get thrown out pre-trial because he doesn't have as strong an argument on the photo line-ups as Seligmann and Evans. I can't imagine he could ever be convicted.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I will pull my Jariel stuff out later this evening. (I know it is on the hard drive somewhere, LOL!)

BTW, are you paying attention to Longtabber on TL?

I think he is an insider (or close)

This page intrigues me:

http://forums.talkleft.com/index.php?action=profile;u=102;sa=showPosts

Someone needs to invite him over here,LOL!

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

more Longtabber:

"There is a rumor she performs at Quarks from time to time"

Quarks?

The "word" on the street was ( out months ago before Kim revealed the "marks" comment) there was a serious heated discussion in the car between the 2 because the AV "lost" her money when she realized she lost her bag- she wanted a part of Kim's cut and Kim refused- the AV also tried to talk her out of giving the agency their cut- this was the basis for her original claims that Kim "stole" her money

she was under the impression that the police would get it from Kim and give it to her

Notice in all versions- thats one detail that has remained the same from her- she never claimed the Dukies took her "money" it was ALWAYS Kim

---

Imagine someone testifying that she called after a 'violent rape" to CONFIRM an EARLIER message for ANOTHER MEETING with a regular client that was "conflicting" with the scheduled 2 hours the Dukies and thats why she HAD to leave before the 2 hours was up. This is why Nifong tried so hard arguing it was NOT her phone and nothing relevant- her "outcall" is indeed important but NOT as important as the INCOMING calls

HINT- that phone ALSO had INCOMING CALLS you havent heard about, there was a REASON she put on her nails AFTER the dance ( dressing up to go HOME? LOL) and "hypothetically" the remark about "more money to be made" is out of context- she wasnt referring to the Duke party- she was after her stuff to LEAVE for "more money" elsewhere

---

There are 2 ways to look at this- either she actually had 2000 or she "upped' the sum based on the rumor she expected the DPD to turn over all money found and she "guilded' the lilly so to speak.

My personal OPINION is that she in fact DID have the 1600 on her ( in addition to the 400 she got thus making it 2000) and heres why.

She picked a SPECIFIC amount and it has never VARIED- in cases i have had where people were naming losses, very FEW named a "specific" amount- it was always like "I had about 200 in my wallet etc

Also, from dealing with her type- most of them have a "habit" of keeping their money CLOSE to them ( and normally within eyesight) because they are ever fearful of people stealing it ( especially in the dressing rooms at clubs)

I have seen them "surgically alter wallets and clothing for "secret compartments"- I have seen them carry around a salt shaker with it rolled up, "double cigarette packs" and knew one who had a "kewpie" doll necklace she always wore with money stuffed in the bottom. Many times dancers will carry a small bag( with their money) and place it center stage at the back near the mirrors while they dance.

Its very possible she kept her "weeks pay" with her and if she actually DID loose a weeks money- that would further explain her "desire" to "get money" from them

---

HUGE HAT TIP TO LONGTABBER AT TALK LEFT

[Locomotive Breath]

Well, never mind the ID's, if CF has an alibi as good as RS's then he's in the clear too. I worry about DE who lived in the house and cannot demonstrate that he was not there when the crime was supposed to have occurred.

[maggief]

I looked up some stuff on Jarriel. He seems to live with his parents at age 32. His father may have co-signed his car loan. Not sure what dad does but the house value seems above average. Is the sister studying for her masters degree in computer science? Jarriel is quite the under-achiever driving Precious to her "appointments."

I wonder what connections his parents may have. Jarriel has stayed clear of the media.

I was curious if one of the drivers or the ex-manager at Platinum was the WTVD poster who's seen Prescious dancing recently, but as far as I know none of them drive a white? 2005 Lexus GS300. ;oD

[SarahUSC]

If DE didn't have a mustache that night, I don't see how he could be convicted. She is 90% sure of DE IF he had a mustache. No mustache, no case.

[Hogeye13]

"Off topic...but I've read about the trendous amount of community service that Duke students do/give in Durham. Is there any information about NCC students doing the same?"

Actually there is a program that requires it at NCCU. Called ACSLP. In order to complete a degree program a student must complete 120 hours of community service. Crystal Mangum has now completed 15 hours. I am curious if "naughty dancing" at the strip club or using a device for a couple in a private showing was her community service.