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.

[Publius22]

And I'm betting everyone's memory becomes blurry. No way anyone's going to say they didn't find the AV credible.

Then, to me, that's the same as an admission that he didn't find her claim credible.

Wouldn't he be haunted by a gang rape that he believed occurred but went unsolved?

[Dukie07]

I HOPE the defense is WAY ahead of me! :)

[Sacajaweau]

Does anyone really think that these boys were that desparate on that night? Right or wrong, they were looking for amusement. It's not unheard of. They are not RARE exceptions.

I doubt that they specified "black" and "drunk" in their contract.

No one has ever said how long they were supposed to perform and I assume it would be on an hourly basis....say $100 per hour. They've probably used the "you're mean" excuse before but still tried to claim the money. You know what they say about "a woman scorned".

[noblejones]

>>
I took sinkspur's comment about falsely accusing someone of "raping" being doubly worse, to be quite realistic. Not only does it cause greviously harm to the person being falsely accused... BUT it also causes harm to those women who are, in fact, raped -- and because who would believe her, now.
<<

Womyns blindly defending all Womyns who cry rape make it easier for evil men to assault more Womyns in the future.

[Carolinamom]

She even named the alleged rapers....was there no follow up? An enterprizing reporter might locate and interview them, but no doubt they are long gone or definitely would not care to get into the clutches of either reporters or Nifong.

[Neverforget01]

He's using the Clinton defense: "I can't recall"

[Locomotive Breath]

Having never filed as anthing but single or married I, blessedly, don't know the rules for "head of household".

[maggief]

HE SPEAKS!


http://www.wral.com/apsportsnews/9071027/detail.html



Jurors May Not Hear Accuser's '96 Claim

POSTED: 12:20 pm EDT April 28, 2006
UPDATED: 12:20 pm EDT April 28, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. -- A jury might never hear about the rape allegations made to police 10 years ago by the exotic dancer who says she was raped last month by three Duke University lacrosse players, a prosecutor said Friday.

District Attorney Mike Nifong said North Carolina's rape shield law lists "narrowly defined categories" under which evidence of an accuser's past sexual history is allowed as evidence. The court must hold a hearing to determine if the evidence meets those categories and to decide how it can be presented.

"In short, the jury that decides this case may or may not hear the 'evidence,'" Nifong said.

"The media are not bound by the same rules that govern our courts," he said. "Their decisions on what to report and how they report it (can) have a substantial impact on the ability of our system to effectuate justice. That impact is often positive. Unfortunately, it can also be negative."

In the 1996 report, the woman claims she was raped and beaten by three men when she was 14 years old. Authorities said none of the men named in the report was ever charged with sexual assault in nearby Granville County, where the woman said she was attacked.

Nifong's office contacted Creedmoor police Friday morning, seeking information about the incident report, said Mayor Darryl Moss. He and police Chief Ted Pollard said officials there are continuing to look for additional records, but have so far been unable to locate any other paperwork.

(snip)

[snarkytart]

She even named the alleged rapers....was there no follow up? An enterprizing reporter might locate and interview them, but no doubt they are long gone or definitely would not care to get into the clutches of either reporters or Nifong.
_____________________

Yes it is more than interesting that names were given and the police did not even question the guys.

[I want to know]

According to the father (sorry, I know he's not a reliable source)

In an interview with the News & Observer of Raleigh, posted Thursday night on the newspaper's Web site, he said the men "didn't do anything to her."

He also said,

A phone number for the accuser has been disconnected, and her father said Thursday night he remembered little about the incident except going with police to a home where he said his daughter was being held "against her will."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=4124295

Why were the police involved in 1993 and was there ever a report filed in 1993 concerning the incident?

[Carolinamom]

He says he went w/the police to the house....yet now the mother says they did not tell him about the 1993 incident until 3 days ago.

[darbymcgill]

No one has ever said how long they were supposed to perform and I assume it would be on an hourly basis....

Early reports claimed the dancers where scheduled for 2 hours...

[El Gran Salseron]

"he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and missed months of work."

Now I didn't know that and if true is indeed very sad.

However, it begs the question, "If he is now impotent does that explain his now very aggressive nature?"

[Sacajaweau]

Does anyone really think she is filing a tax return on her income from her private business.

[snarkytart]

District Attorney Mike Nifong said North Carolina's rape shield law lists "narrowly defined categories" under which evidence of an accuser's past sexual history is allowed as evidence. The court must hold a hearing to determine if the evidence meets those categories and to decide how it can be presented.

"In short, the jury that decides this case may or may not hear the 'evidence,'" Nifong said.

"The media are not bound by the same rules that govern our courts," he said. "Their decisions on what to report and how they report it (can) have a substantial impact on the ability of our system to effectuate justice. That impact is often positive. Unfortunately, it can also be negative."
______________

What a ____________! (fill in the blank)

I guess he forgets his media blitz at the beginning of this case.

Also, I love how NOTHING will stop him from moving forward with this case...lies,changing story, alibis for accused, no dna, and an old rape claim that sounds like a template for her new claim.
Yet, Nifong still keeps chugging along.

[Locomotive Breath]

I would be interested to find out the psychological "profile" of a gang-rapist. I should think that the "defendants" would have exhibited certain prior behavior that would identify their propensity to commit such an act.

---

Already been done. They play lax and it's a "sport of violence". (/sarc in case you needed it)

Did you get my ping in another thread about the New Black Panthers invading campus on Monday?

[Publius22]

Can someone remind Nifong he's the DA and not a defense attorney?

He should stop blaming the media if his case has reasonable doubt written all over it. He's already making excuses for losing the case. Doesn't sound like a very confident man.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Draper

[ladyjane]

There is something more we don't know about this girl. I bet she is well known in the police department or the DA's office.

Why are they protecting her? Has she helped them in some way in the past? Do the people in the DA's office ever have bachelor parties? Does she have pictures?

[beyond the sea]

"Jesse Jackasson" ............ LOL! Appropriate name.

Thanks for your accolades .................. however another unknown FReeper came up with it a while back ................. I just stole it.

;-)

As you say .......... it fits, except I happen to like jackasses, mules, donkeys, and burrows .............. but not Jesse Jackasson.