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.

[Carolinamom]

Just remember: the primary is this coming Tuesday and he's a candidate.

[maggief]

Let's pray for another bombshell before Tuesday. :)

[Neverforget01]

Could the Creedmore police be afraid of the New Black Panthers? Maybe I'd be hazy on details too. This could explode.

[snarkytart]

Just remember: the primary is this coming Tuesday and he's a candidate.

________________

True. I also found it interesting that Nifong never knew about this before hand, according to the article Maggie posted.

How incompetent, Nifong indicts then he investigates.

[I want to know]

Essence Article

Family members said that after the first alleged assault, the young woman underwent about a year of professional therapy and received a course of prescription medication. Her parents said that they were not aware of any other drug use in their daughter’s past, as defense attorneys have suggested. The woman’s mother told ESSENCE that her daughter, who had lived in the same home with her parents and her two children prior to the March 13 incident, appeared to have recovered after the therapy she had following the incident.

I'm not sure if therapy would have started in 1993 when she was allegedly raped or in 1996 when she reported the rape.

[Carolinamom]

LOL There's bound to be one! Heaven hasn't be deaf to our prayers.

I'm reminded of the Irish poet's "The center cannot hold."

[Neverforget01]

Thanks for that. Would the Army take someone who had been on medication for mental health issues? Maybe if it was when she was 14.

[snarkytart]

The mother said the Essence article misquoted her, so who knows.

People need to get their stories straight.
The only people who have been telling a consistent story since the beginning are the accused.

[GAgal]

Brian Bishop was a police lieutenant when he took the report, so he was an experienced officer and probably sensed the three yr. old accusation was somewhat questionable. By not immediately springing into action, but asking the accuser to furnish a written chronology/details, I bet he was testing her credibility and resolve. That approach makes sense to me. Too bad Nifong didn't entertain a similar open mind to her credibility before all the facts were available.

[Neverforget01]

Poor Brian Bishop. Bet he never expected this!

[Carolinamom]

I should have written that Yeats' lines in The Second Coming were "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold."

[maggief]

I think it's telling that the AV has not yet contacted Gary ...

http://www.essence.com/essence/lifestyle/takeastand/0,16109,1188001,00.html

But as both the defense and the alleged victim’s family gear up for what appears to be an extremely challenging court battle, the accuser herself is still refusing to speak to reporters and has not spoken with civil-rights attorney Willie Gary, despite her family’s urging that she do so. Gary, as first reported by ESSENCE, met with the mother Sunday at a local church in Chapel Hill at the suggestion of the Reverend Jesse Jackson [“Accuser’s Family Meets With Famed Attorney”]. Gary has also spoken with the father by phone on at least two occasions. The parents and an aunt have expressed strong interest in having Gary represent the young woman.

“I declare … I really hope she does,” the mother told ESSENCE yesterday.

[Dante3]

Are any poll numbers out on the primary?

[Howlin]

If she didn't tell her parents in 1993, why did they send her for therapy?

And if she lived at home with her two children before March 13, why did she have money problems?

[Sacajaweau]

No problem...He likely won't get the appointment so it won't be up to him. He can say anything he wants.

I have a slight inclination to believe that the little girl might also be a little blackmailer. I'm sure all the cops and the DA know this little chick very well. The DA played it stupid by silencing the Police Chief and running to the judge.

[Carolinamom]

Either of the other 2 candidates would be better than Nifong, but Freda Black has more experience. The winner must have at least 40% of the votes or there will be a run-off between the 2 candidates receiving the highest number of votes.

[Carolinamom]

You nailed it, Howlin! Excellent questions.

[Howlin]

But the new DA doesn't take office until January 1st, 2007.

He'll still be in charge.

[maggief]

And if the kids were with the grandparents on March 13, why did the police need someone to check on the "young 'uns?"

[Sacajaweau]

Good question. I think this is Dip***'s first primary. He replaced someone else. Who's the governor of this fair state??