Posted on 04/18/2006 3:26:57 AM PDT by Mad-Margaret
DURHAM -- A day after a grand jury indicted two Duke University lacrosse players in connection with a reported rape, two men emerged from a sheriff's deputy vehicle and were led, handcuffed, into the magistrates office at the Durham County Jail at 4:54 a.m. today.
The arrests stem from a party that began March 13. The accuser, who is a mother of two, an N.C. Central University student and an escort service dancer, told police March 14 that she was sexually assaulted by three men in a bathroom at an off-campus house shared by three lacrosse team captains. The accuser is black; she said her rapists were white.
Defense lawyers said players maintained that there was no sex at all. They said the accuser concocted the story, that she was drunk and injured late March 13 when she arrived at the three-bedroom house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
"... Two young men have been charged with crimes they did not commit. This is a tragedy," Bob Ekstrand, who represents team players, said Monday in a prepared statement. "For the two young men, an ordeal lies ahead. They do not face it alone; they face it with the love of family and friends and strengthened by the truth. They are both innocent."
Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens sealed a manila envelope containing the indictments shortly after the grand jury finished its business Monday. The judge cited a state law that requires everyone involved in a case, including witnesses, to keep the indictment secret until a suspect is arrested.
Last month, a judge ordered DNA tests on the team's 46 white players; he excluded the only black team member. The players' attorneys say the tests showed none of the players' genetic material on or in the woman.
Nifong, bolstered by a medical exam that found injuries on the woman consistent with sexual assault, says he is confident that she was assaulted in the university-owned house. Nifong said last week at a forum at NCCU that the accuser identified at least one of her attackers.
Until Sunday night, the only other witness, the second woman hired to dance at the party, had remained silent. In television interviews, she told her story.
The woman's attorney, Mark Simeon of Durham, declined Monday to make her available for an interview. She spoke on the MSNBC cable news network, which did not identify her and showed her in silhouette. Simeon confirmed that it was his client on MSNBC.
The woman told MSNBC that she did not witness a rape and does not know whether one occurred.
The woman said she arrived thinking that she would be dancing at a bachelor party of 15 people. She was not expecting a party of lacrosse players, many of whom she said were in a drunken stupor. The woman said she was infuriated to learn that some players photographed her dancing.
The accuser did not appear to be on drugs or to have been drinking when she arrived, the second dancer said. She was "absolutely fine and in control of herself."
When the accuser left, less than an hour after she arrived, she was incoherent and stumbling, the second dancer said.
"She couldn't really walk on her own," the woman said. "She really couldn't get her thoughts together enough to answer any questions. ... She was a different person than I met at the beginning."
The second woman said she was the person who called 911 as the party was breaking up, to complain that some lacrosse players had used racial slurs. "The boys hollered the 'N' word," she said. "I was upset and called 911."
She said she pretended to be a passer-by because she didn't want people in her life to know about her job as an escort service dancer.
It is unclear how that woman's story would affect the case. Players' attorneys have said she would only help them. By day's end Monday, Nifong left without talking to reporters; it remains unclear what evidence he has.
Throughout Monday, there were many more reporters on the sixth floor of the courthouse than the 18 members of the grand jury panel. Reporters tracked the district attorney's movements in minute detail. Just after noon, Nifong emerged from his office and walked across the hallway to the bathroom.
Reporters surrounded the bathroom door in a crowd that included five television cameras, three still photographers, sound men with boom microphones and at least a dozen print reporters. At the sound of flushing, the group tensed, raised cameras and prepared. Nifong did not emerge with news.
"I no longer get to go anywhere in my community without people knowing who I am," said Nifong, who faces two challengers in a primary election May 2. Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or ablythe@newsobserver.com.
Isn't it great? Someone that is not turned upside down.
An unemotional legal analysis that doesn't portend good things for the DA.
It is good to know that the Finnerties have the resources to pursue a civil case once this thing becomes so laughable that the criminal case is dismissed.
It would be fun to get the stripper under oath and discover how it was that Colin Finnerty was chosen as the fall guy. Was she educated about his backround by a third party? Did someone tell her about his prior arrest? About his family's wealth? And who was it that told her these things?
The stripper might not have any resources to pay off a civilverdict, but if it turns out the State violated Finnerty's civil rights in some manner, he might get a well deserved pay day.
Fishing or Fitzing?
Hmmm...
This is my previous post on the subject:
"Defense attorneys say the lacrosse players requested two white dancers for the party, but the two African-American women showed up."
Sorry. Wihtout attribution to the attorney and an actual quote I simply don't trust this source. I see no benefit for the defense, at least at this point, to admit such a thing.
During the trial, if it gets to that point, then yes the defendants may admit that they asked for two white dancers and were angry/disappointed when tow black dancers arrived.
Yet it would seem their main reason for disappointment may have been the fact that the accuser was giving a horrific, drunk performance by any standard, slapped a player for suggesting a broom be part of the act (one of the more murky issues) then disappeared for thirty minutes in the bathroom.
Again no attribution or quote then I don't have any reason to believe it.
The hoot would be watching the race baiter Jackson get scammed out of the $$$ he promised to give the accuser for her defense. Sweet justice.
Has anyone looked at any child protective service records concerning Chrystal's children?
Seems to me that if there is definitive proof of the innocence of any defendant, the lawyer should apply strong public pressure to have the DA drop it. No need for clearly innocent defendants to loose a year of their life and feed a $250/hour legal meter for months.
Yep. Throw everything out there and shout as often as possible that the young men are innocent. I'm not understanding those who say that holding on to evidence until discovery is a good idea. Nifong has already tainted the jury pool through the media; fight fire with fire, and it appears the truth is on the side of the defense.
I'm not sure. Send it to me in Freepmail and I'll see if I can post it.
I'll be watching for your report in July.
The woman who was just on with Brit Hume (rerun) says that somehow this girl was lucky enough to pick the two players who are rumored to be the most afluent.
And she said that their names and addresses -- and their family names and addresses -- were listed on a web site called justice for her.com or something like that.
Not that I know of; that certainly has been discussed as one reason she didn't want another arrest.
I just saw that, too. Oh, how interesting!
Who's not going to say another word, the attorney or the boy?
If you mean him, he won't have to; I've never seen attorneys this furious; they said tonight that even the attorneys whose clients were indicted are now going to work on the defense of these two boys.
He won't have to open his mouth; they'll do it for him.
And today's the day Nifong has to start sharing everything he has.
You obviously have never met or seen Freda Black!
I just posted the following on another thread. What do you think of this theory? ........
I heard or read that when Kim drove the accuser to the shopping center area, and after the security guard questioned them, her boyfriend/pimp, picked her up and took her to the hospital. I think this is when the "rape" took place. If the nurse/doctor insisted there was evidence of a recent sexual assult, why don't they take the boyfriend's DNA and compare it to what they found on her?
I think the key here is....who took her to the hospital? If it was the boyfriend, she and he could have planned at this time to blame the Duke boys for the "rape."
I just saw it too--Catching up after a couple of busy days. If it is wealth Mangum was looking for, she sure got 'lucky" with Seligmann..maybe that website proves it wasn't luck.
No.
During the Mike Peterson trial, I thought she was going to beat the crap out of some of the witnesses.
And when she summed up to the jury, talking about Peterson's relationship with men, she said:
"You saw the rest of the things on his computer. Once again, these things are so filthy we can't even show them on TV. Filth. Pure T filth. "
It was a classic!
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