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.

[Alia]

Crystal has either been benignly neglected, or more as I suspect: horribly spoiled. It's why she can so casually make stuff up -- someone will clean it all up for her. Review what "history" we know about her. This is a spoiled female constantly causing train wrecks.

[Publius22]

Oh, are they stretching!

I swear those clowns on TV wouldn't last two minutes on here. They don't seem to understand some of the basic facts of the case.

Or perhaps they are just deliberately talking about anything other than the AV's previous accusations.

[Peach]

I can't remember his name but the Time magazine guy has been on two shows that I've seen in two days and he's really not very smart at all.

[Peach]

The more I see of these panels, even Abrams sometimes, the more I think former Senator ?? is right when he said (during the Cheney shooting debacle) that the press is all about crap, controversy and confusion. LOL

Good night everybody. Greta is back to Aruba.

[Mad-Margaret]

This is such nonsense!
Obviously, the cab driver was mistaken about the color of Kim's car. But that was the second time the cabbie made a pick up. His mistake about the car color in no way refutes Reade's timeline and alibi.
Yep! We're assuming that the pictures are authentic. There is no way the defense would have released them if they were fake. That's tantamount to pleading guilty.
Why on earth would Kim switch cars to go to the Kroger where she was trying to get Crystal out of the car?
The talking heads are confused.

[snarkytart]

I swear those clowns on TV wouldn't last two minutes on here. They don't seem to understand some of the basic facts of the case.

Or perhaps they are just deliberately talking about anything other than the AV's previous accusations.

___________

In all fairness Greta covered the former rape report last night for the entire Duke segment and once again at the beginining tonight.

It is the fact they do not know the details very well that bugs me.

[snarkytart]

This is such nonsense!
Obviously, the cab driver was mistaken about the color of Kim's car. But that was the second time the cabbie made a pick up. His mistake about the car color in no way refutes Reade's timeline and alibi.
Yep! We're assuming that the pictures are authentic. There is no way the defense would have released them if they were fake. That's tantamount to pleading guilty.
Why on earth would Kim switch cars to go to the Kroger where she was trying to get Crystal out of the car?
The talking heads are confused.
________________

Exactly!

[Dukie07]

Thanks for the recaps, all, as the NBA playoffs are on in our house.

Question: What are the various ways that women who are victims of child abuse (sexual)deal with their pain? (Disclaimer: I am not suggesting, per se, that this is what happened. I am simply curious; just as I was curious to know the psychological profile of a gang-rapist.)

[NCjim]

Oops, you are right - sorry. This whole thing makes my head spin...

[JLS]

Greg: Prosecutors are looking how to poke holes in Defense evidence and this is an area. It's an idea of casting doubt. (Greg isn't well spoken and in fact, is an idiot).
__________________________________________________

At the very least, Greg whoever he is, does not seem to have a good grasp of who has the burden of proof in a criminal trial.

[Locomotive Breath]

The one in the Raleigh N&O today in which Duke University welcomes the New Black Panther Party to protest on campus.

[Howlin]

I saw it tonight on the counter (never even LOOK at that paper, get it for the husband's crossword.)

Shameful.

If I was a parent of a kid considering Duke, that would have done it for me.

[Alia]

Peach.. please set me straight, here. The picture shows BOTH dancers(?) getting into a dark colored car.

But the cab driver says he saw them get into a white car?

What if it were two sets of different women?

[maggief]

It happens ... happened to me the other day. :)

[boldtruth]

Are you saying you believe the times on the accuser's photos appear to be altered? Based upon the framing of the time? Why would the times of the accuser need to be changed? If these photos were indeed taken with a cellphone, those photos can be retrieved from Nextel, AT&T or whomever... And of course the photos will be presented as proof of actual times.. I'm sure the prosecution and defense have this information already... :)

[Mad-Margaret]

The picture is time stamped 12:41. It shows a woman -- presumed to be Crystal -- with her leg sticking out of a dark colored car. An arm -- presumed to be of one of the players -- appears to be assisting Crystal. The car is dark.

At 1:20, we know that the Kroger security guard called 911 and refers to a dark car that an intoxicated woman refuses to leave. Kim claims that it's her dark car.

The cabbie was obviously mistaken about the color of the car that departed Buchanan Street.

We still don't know who drove Crystal to the house and what color the arrival car was.

[Alia]

I was very angry and disgusted when I wrote that post. Sorry if some of it dribbled onto you.

Women who do not report a crime make it easier for others to be preyed upon. And of course to then later say "me too!" after the fact is hidious. If you (rhetorically) shut up then, when catching the rapists would OR COULD have really made a difference, and now wanna wail about it? Like, who believes it? I don't. I don't believe women who claim "me was raped too, but I didn't tell" and then wish to use this as some sort of mood swaying public affector for a lousy DA with a lousy case to use.

I don't believe these women were raped.

If they can't report it when it "happens", maybe they dreamed it. That's exactly how it comes across to me. It's a witchhunt, Salem-style.

Abigail Adams dreams that someone of the "flock" has touched her.. and the Cotton Mather hunt for the "devil" is on.

Disgusting.

[Dukie07]

Duke students received an email today. I will not post the entire email, but here is an edited version:

Subject: Response to Reports of a Possible Demonstration at Duke on May 1, 2006

(snip)
This afternoon, Duke Police were in contact with representatives of That organization. Duke Police were told that the group plans to hold a press conference/demonstration on Durham city property outside West Campus on Monday at 10:00a.m. They informed Duke Police that they have no intention of entering the campus to be disruptive in any way. They also assured us they will not have guns.

Durham Police will require that any demonstrations on city property near our campus will abide by all appropriate state and local laws.

(snip)
We will not let the safety of our campus be jeopardized, nor will we allow our students' lives to be disrupted.

Duke University will have additional officers assigned. Any attempted access by this group to our campus will be tightly restricted and no disruption of the university will be permitted. This information has been conveyed to the representatives of the New Black Panther Party. Again, they have assured Duke Police that they plan to peacefully assemble off of our campus and do not intend to enter university property.

(snip)
Duke Police is taking all necessary precautions to ensure that this is the case.

[ladyjane]

So why isn't the university taking any action against a group that posted pictures of its students?

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Sounds like my rant. I was worried you thought I was a rape Nazi. Feel free to rant anytime, LOL!