Posted on 04/19/2006 9:33:10 PM PDT by Howlin
(04/19/06 - DURHAM) - An attorney for one of two Duke University lacrosse players charged with raping a stripper at a team party on Wednesday strongly rejected any sort of deal with prosecutors, proclaiming again his client's innocence.
Cotter represents Collin Finnerty, who along with fellow sophomore Reade Seligmann was indicted Monday on charges of first-degree rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. Each posted $400,000 bond after their pre-dawn arrests early Tuesday, and both were released within hours.
School officials have declined to say whether it plans to discipline either of the players, although they have noted the university has historically suspended students charged with a felony.
Cotter said Wednesday that Finnerty, of Garden City, N.Y., has left Durham, although he wouldn't say where he went. Attorney Kirk Obsborn, representing Seligmann, of Essex Fells, N.J., declined to say whether his client has been suspended.
Seligmann and his father spent much of Wednesday working from the law office of attorney Robert Ekstrand, who represents dozens of uncharged lacrosse players.
District Attorney Mike Nifong, who has not granted interviews in weeks and said Tuesday he planned to make no comments about the case outside the courtroom, has said he still hopes to link a third man to the alleged attack.
He did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment about that effort, or about searches by Durham police Tuesday night of Seligmann's and Finnerty's dorm rooms.
Warrants authorizing the searches had not been returned to the court clerk's or magistrate's office by Wednesday evening.
"I can imagine they never quit investigating, but I think it's unusual to be executing search warrants after they've indicted," Cotter said.
Defense attorneys have said they have time-stamped photos from the party, bank records, cell phone calls and a taxi driver's statement to support Seligmann's claim of innocence.
A person close to the case told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the cell phone records show Seligmann called for a taxi at 12:14 a.m., and that according to sworn testimony he left in the taxi at 12:19 a.m.
The bank records show he stopped at an ATM five minutes later, the person added, while information provided by Duke shows he swiped an ID card to enter his dorm at 12:46 a.m.
A member of the defense team, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because the defense is working with players who could still be indicted, showed photos to the AP on Wednesday that show the accuser on the back porch of the off-campus house, with her clothing intact. She is smiling and looking through her purse.
The defense team member said the digital photos were taken at 12:30 a.m., citing an electronic time-stamp known as metadata. Such time-stamps are not visible on the photos. They are created, though, when digital photos are taken.
The accuser, a 27-year-old student at a nearby college, told police she was attacked by three white men at a house where she and another woman were hired to dance at a lacrosse team party. According to defense attorneys, DNA tests conducted on all the players failed to connect any of the team members to the alleged rape.
"I would have to say she is definitely making it up," Cotter said.
Nifong has ordered additional DNA testing, which was originally performed at the state crime lab. Cotter said he believes those results should be "back any minute."
Ekstrand said the defense has also not yet received a report from authorities about any photo identifications of suspects made by the accuser. "I think we're entitled to the report of the identification procedure, and the results of the photo identifications she did," he said.
The allegations of rape led Duke to cancel the highly ranked lacrosse team's season, accept the resignation of the team's coach and begin a series of internal investigations, including one into the behavior of the lacrosse team.
Please forgive me for asking this, but who or what is "BO"?
Why, it's the Bloviater himself, Bill O'Reilly
I took the leak/release of the voice tape of the first policeman who saw her in the Kroger lot as a preliminary sign the police had not signed on with DADA.
Both of my brothers are cops, one actually a detective who works sex crimes. They're disgusted by the whole thing. This DA is blind with ambition and doesn't care who he takes down.
Oh, that BO. I don't watch that any more. I guess since I was out last night, I must have missed some good stuff. A detective is leaking info that undermines Nifong? Too funny! I see the local poll results show that Nifong is trailing, and has higher negatives than favorables. Awww...
Don't be so sure.
O.J juries can acquit an obviously guilty man because of his race and convict an obviously innocent man because of his race..........You know, like the liberal news media does.
Well, they were criticizing him at a pre-election forum for his handling of the case. Of course, everyone there including all three candidates took it as a given that the lax team was guilty even though the DNA had come back negative. I think there's only so much they can say and still appear professional.
(Check out the Reggie Love pics while you're there)
So let me get this straight! Because these young men were engaging in what you consider immoral behaviour, they deserve to be falsely convicted of rape???? If they are guilty of rape, of course they should be convicted, but where is the evidence of this crime?
There seems to be plenty of exculpatory evidence.
Very good point. Too bad in this day in our country race transcends the law with many juries.
Thanks. I'm always looking for it first thing in the morning.
I think you're right about that. I also think there's more to it. I have liberal acquaintances who live in fantasyland. They are absolutely blind to any facts that don't fit their beliefs about politics, race, gender issues, etc. Nifong seems to fit right in with them. He's Don Quixote of the left, out to slay the privileged white windmills on the lacrosse team.
Removed from the "Prom Court" - indicted for "Rape", I believe the boys removed from the prom court with go on with life unscathed. Being indicted for rape with no evidence is a whole different thing.
Very good point. Too bad in this day in our country race transcends the law with many juries.
My California father-in-law assured me that O.J. would be acquitted because of his race. At the time, I though he was really out of touch with modern-day reality and stuck in the 1940's.
I'm older and wiser now.
You know what's scary, think of the jury pool of Durham.
NeonKnight, It seems that ccwoman does not understand why people are discussing who the woman is in this case. Hence the no means no response. ccwoman seems to have:
1. missed the idea that some people doubt that a woman of her past and occupation would have said no but rather how much you willing to pay.
2. bought into the leftist idea that confuses commercial disputes with rape. If someone has sex with a sex professional and then does not pay, it is not rape though the left loves to yell rape if the do not like the accused, but rather it is a commercial dispute and theft of services laws are the appropriate action against the accuse.
Just goes to show when you buy the arguments of the left, sometime you don't clearly think through what others are saying.
If the second round of DNA tests helped the DA, we would know about it by now.
Everyone else says 12:14am. Is this new information?
What I find even scarier is the GENE POOL in Durham!
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