Duke Lacrosse Accuser Made Previous Report

AP ^ | Apr 27 2006 | AARON BEARD

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

The woman who says she was raped by three members of Duke's lacrosse team also told police 10 years ago she was raped by three men, filing a 1996 complaint claiming she had been assaulted three years earlier when she was 14.

Authorities in nearby Creedmoor said Thursday that none of the men named in the decade-old report was ever charged but they didn't have details why.

A phone number for the accuser has been disconnected and her family declined to comment to The Associated Press. But relatives told Essence magazine in an online story this week that the woman declined to pursue the case out of fear for her safety.

The existence of the report surprised defense attorneys, one of whom has sought information about the accuser's past for use in attacking her credibility.

"That's the very first I've heard of that," said Bill Cotter, the attorney for indicted lacrosse player Collin Finnerty, who along with fellow Duke sophomore Reade Seligmann is charged with first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual assault. He declined additional comment.

Attorneys for Seligmann asked the court this week to order the state to turn over the accuser's medical, legal and education records, and hold a pretrial hearing to "determine if the complaining witness is even credible enough to provide reliable testimony."

The accuser, a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University in Durham, told police she was hired to perform as a stripper at a March 13 party, where she was raped by three men.

According to the Creedmoor police report in August 1996, when the woman was 18, she told officers she was raped and beaten by three men "for a continual time" in 1993, when she was 14. She told police she was attacked at an "unspecified location" on a street in Creedmoor, a town 15 miles northeast of Durham.

The report lists the names of the three men, but no other details. Creedmoor police Chief Ted Pollard said Thursday he had no recollection of the report, and his staff has been unable to find any additional information about it.

Durham police Officer Brian Bishop, who interviewed the accuser in 1996 while working on the Creedmoor force, said Thursday he had a vague recollection of the report but couldn't remember any details.

When asked about the accuser's previous report of rape, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong declined to comment.

Before Seligmann and Finnerty were indicted, attorneys for the players pointed to the accuser's criminal history when answering questions about their clients' legal troubles. The woman pleaded guilty to several misdemeanors in 2002.

[maggief]

Amazing, isn't it? We've heard from 5-6 people and have 5-6 different stories. And, we haven't even heard the AV's version yet. :-/

[Publius22]

It sounds as if the family is talking about the same incident, three boys-one her boyfriend, but their details are way off from one another.

All the wine fed to them by the Essence's reporter let them confused.

[Peach]

One of the female Rape Nazis said the other day that when this charge is proven false, it will set back the women's movement 100 years.

I was surprised at her honesty given some of her previous comments about the case.

[Peach]

A seriously dysfunctional family. And the stripper/hooker is like Typhoid Mary to men.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

My disgust was palpable

I hope the disgust was not towards me.....I didn't mean it in a femi-Nazi, NOW way. I can't stand Wendy Murphy, Nancy Grace and Guylfoil, LOL!

I meant in the context of would the fear of people thinking she was another CGM keep her from reporting it.

Her have affected so many people, ruined so many lives. From the coach who lost his job, to the players suspended right before exams, to a victim who may fear being perceived as another CGM. CGM is trash.

[Peach]

This stripper coming forward in 1996 to identify three boys (one was 13) three years after the event was chilling. When is the statute of limitations up on these claims, anyway?

[Jrabbit]

I don't know....after hearing that the one guy had never heard of her, the one named on the rape report from 96....

See what I mean? Raped at 14....reported it 4 years later

Raped at 16, reported it immediately....???????????

[Howlin]

I thought you were already on it! Done.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I meant in the context of would the fear of people thinking she was another CGM keep her from reporting it.

And to think I make my son go back and write well formed sentences, LOL!

[snarkytart]

Nifong must be pulling his hair out with this crew.

I am not sure if this police report will be allowed in, it depends on the judge.
I will say this though,even if Nifong is confident this former rape report will not be admissible, he as the DA should be concerned with the truth.
He shouldn't be releasing press statements yammering on about FIVE letters from rape victims.

Is he interested in the truth here, or just winning??
Nifong should WANT to know what happened back in 1993/1996 regardless of whether the report is admissible, he needs to make sure this stripper chick he is backing is not lying and innocent people are being charged.

What the *bleep* is wrong with him!

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

It was reported the family said the report is wrong--she was raped at 16, not 14. Who knows?

That family is crazy. I have a feeling there was a whole lot of early sex going on.

[Peach]

Darryl Moss, Mayor of Creedmoore, NC says they found the report in a file and are contacting the DA in that county to see if he has more info.

Greta asks if there's an explanation why she reported the alleged rape 3 years later. A line in the police report asks for a sequence of report and she never provided that information.

The mayor says they are unable to answer if police talked with the 3 boys who raped her. She did name them, but the mayor doesn't know if the cops followed up. (At least one of them says he never even heard about the accusation and didn't know her).

The mayor said she never said where the attack occurred beyond a street but didn't say if it was a house or car or street.

[Alia]

No, no, no... Not at you! Just that these weird women calling Nifong and saying they too had been raped years ago but didn't use their tongues to bother reporting the matter -- and so they have aided and abetted criminals but simply "being so frightened". That's not how its supposed to work in a civilized society.

And yours, was bang on -- about false allegations of rape. So many people's lives are spun upon negatively. It is unfair. It is unjust.

And I still think the rape shield laws should be DONE AWAY WITH. (snarling rhetorically-- not at you!)

[Peach]

Essence Magazine reporter: A family in crisis; reporter thinks the defense was going to go on the offense and get drug treatment records and there's a big difference between someone who takes prescription medication around a therapy that she considers to be a traumatic offense and someone who is in a drug treatment program.

Greta: You said there was a prior assault. In looking at that earlier asault, what did you learn in your reporting.

Reporter: It's a family in a lot of pain and believes in their daughter and thinks in her mind and heart she's been victimized. So we provided that context because we felt it wasn't getting a fair hearing. At the very least, we learned they and she are feeling a lot of pain and don't know who to trust or talk to and afraid.

[Alia]

Whoever said such a thing is a flaming idiot and should consider entering a cult deprogramming institution.

Do you recall who said this?

[Peach]

I think it was that Susan Faling (sp?) on Abrams show but don't remember for sure.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

:-)

[Alia]

The feminists got that law changed to have no limitations.
There is no time "limitation".

[maggief]

Nifong didn't do his homework, did he? Wouldn't it be helpful if the Police Chief was on duty, not out on personal leave during this investigation?!? What's up with that?!?

On Abrahms show Wendy what'sherface speculated that Nifong's press release was paving an exit from the case.

FWIW, I interpreted Nifong to say he didn't know whether the 1993/1996 gang rape claim would be admissible.

[Publius22]

If she gave their names why weren't they arrested? According to the students at NCCU, black men are thrown in jail based upon the slightest suspicions.

Guess not.