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.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

I caught that on XM while taking son to pitching lessons. Sounded like Sean gave her a good verbal slapping. She did not want to give it up.

Pirro sounded balanced and reasonable.

[toldyou]

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

[Tarheel]

How long ago was the Tawana Brawley episode? Didn't Tawana claim several (how many?) policemen raped her and threw her in a dumpster? Could Ms. Crystal have concocted a similar story when she was 17 for the notoriety?

[Ken H]

This case is a textbook for why a prosecutor should not get involved in a case until the police have completed their investigation.

I can't imagine he endeared himself to the Durham PD, either. I'm sure they're quite content to see him hoist on his own petard.

[mystery-ak]

According to what I heard on Rita's show, the father found out about the other supposed rape just a view days ago. No one informed the father when it happened for fear that he would get hurt.



I heard that too....but then her mother says she had to be treated for a nervous breakdown and the AV was living with her parents...didn't the dad notice that something was going on and did he ever wonder where his daughter was...I'm sure the parents were taking care of her kids while she was being treated........my head hurts

[toldyou]

How much do you wanna bet? :)

[toldyou]

I do, however, know what you mean.

[nopardons]

There was DNA under her false fingernails...lots of it; hers and multiple others, NONE OF WHOM WERE ON THE DUKE LAX TEAM, she NEVER said she was raped, when the police found her, passed out drunk/zonked on drugs, the first time she mentioned "rape", was when she was in the drunk tank, Kim, the other stripper, called 911 to report that she was called the N word , when she drove by, errrrrr walked by a house whose numbers she gave, but whose numbers are NOT clearly seen from the street.

Kim, the second "stripper", drove Crystal to a Kroger's, then asked for help, to get her out of it, from a security guard there. But, oh, oh, the security guard called the cops and told them that "a strange woman was in someone's car, drunk, and wont get out." That's what Kim must have told the guard.

The strippers went to a HOUSE, not to someone's dorm room, but yes, I agree with you.

There's tons more info, yet you came onto to this thread and BLAMED THE DUKE GUYS for "something ugly" happening to Crystal. So YES, you did make a decision on what happened; your have NOT waited "to make a decision" at all.

[JLS]

I think Red6 hit on it too. But of course less publicity would not have mattered that much either. She picked people with the resources to defend themselves.

[Sacajaweau]

Would like to keep this friendly...How about one line of

Na na na na na na.

[F.J. Mitchell]

I agree with your addendum to the no's in the poll.

As in-No...same old, same old.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Maybe she was raped twice before by three white men. :-)

[Law is not justice but process]

What do you think of the admissibility of the prior accusation? If they have an admission on record somewhere, it would clearly be relevant to credibility and thus admissible (e.g. a prior plea or conviction to filing a false police report). Short of that, I suppose the trial judge would have to base the relevance determination on a clear and convincing evidence standard. If there is not clear and convincing evidence the prior rape never occurred, then it might not be admissible for credibility or otherwise. If the charge was just dropped without further investigation, it might not meet the standard for admissibility.

What say you?

[Alia]

confirmed that the alleged victim reported the incident to police in that jurisdiction, the young woman declined to pursue the case, relatives say out of fear for her safety. Officials from both the Granville county sheriff’s department and the Creedmoor police department said they were unable to locate any records of the incident. They also added that this does not mean that the assault did not occur.

Did the AV's family witness, in any way, the AV filing the report? By phone or in writing or by mail?

Say that they did: What fears, exactly, kept her from reporting the case? The family had to know. What is her family hiding?

[writmeister]

I agree. There must be some showing that the prior accusation was also false.

[Alia]

If you do find this term, could I ask you to please ping me too? :)

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Alan, she fell down the steps 'cause she was passed out drunk!

[JLS]

Ted Williams isn't too smart.
___________________________________

I like Williams. I wonder if in these situations that they don't draw straws and the loser has to take a particular side of a case in the news? And of course as an African-American he might not be too upset to present her side of the story as pathetic as it is. They do have to have more than one view on a panel, I guess.

[Sacajaweau]

I doubt it is admissable UNLESS it was an admitted "false accusation".

[Trailerpark Badass]

It sounds like something ugly happened that night, and because of the accuser's occupation and unsavory past, some very sick young men may get away with an anwful crime.

"Sick young men"??!! Sick young men who have managed to work hard enough to earn athletic scholarships at the top level of their chosen sport? Who have managed to have the grades to get admitted to Duke (this ain't basketball or football)?

Compared to a known hooker/stripper/mental patient/adulterer/liar/convict?

Are you on crack?

I'll tell you what happened that night: this "hard-working young single mother" reverted to her conditioned response by crying "Racism/ Sexism/ Classcism" when she found herself in the psych ward of the hospital, facing the loss of her kids and some prison time.

Don't be so damn stupid.