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.

[El Gran Salseron]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing.

[ladyjane]

I still remain flabbergasted that Crystal's multiple felonies were pled down to misdemeanors

They are looking out for this girl. WHY? Is she an informant? Does she know something? If the latter, she is a liability.

[GAgal]

One of the original charges in 2002 was "driving with a revoked license". That seems to indicate some previous trouble.

[Sacajaweau]

There was an almost identical aituation on Morey last night. She had lied to her fiance when he caught her cheating. She wanted to fess up before she married him.

[toldyou]

I don't have an answer to that, but I found this interesting:

In the end, nothing matters other than what the woman says. And, as they say, "women don't lie." Obviously, what they say is wrong. (In the US, there are an estimated 520,000 false rape allegations a year — 98.1% of all reported cases. — Eeva Sodhi, Debunking Domestic Violence Statistics; Rape)


http://www.fathersforlife.org/fbi_rape_stats.htm

[I want to know]

Guess we won't be hearing from Brian Bishop.

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. He said he could not remember any details. Reached Friday, Bishop said he could no longer discuss the case.

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

[Sacajaweau]

Informant?? or blackmailer??

[Jrabbit]

hmmmm....will it come out that she reported another 3 man gang rape at age 16? Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Sacajaweau]

Well, Bishop has been silenced!!

[Locomotive Breath]

I found this:
[snip]
Nifong worked as a teacher and social worker before entering UNC Chapel Hill law school. After graduating in 1978, he got an unpaid job at the Durham DA's office. After two weeks, he was put on the payroll as a prosecutor.

Soon he built a reputation for being aggressive and fair-minded, opening his case files to defense lawyers long before the state required prosecutors to do so.

Nifong's tried more than 300 felony cases, tackling many of the office's toughest. In the 1980s, he sent James Pope to death row for killing a pizza deliveryman. The state Supreme Court overturned the death sentence, but Pope remains in prison under a life sentence.

In 1994, Nifong became Hardin's chief assistant, but five years later he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and lost months of work during treatment. After his return, Hardin asked him to bring order to the traffic court - making him less visible.

Some called him "the music man" in traffic court, starting each work day by cranking up music in a second-story office. That was a signal to defense lawyers that it was time for the day's business to begin.

Gov. Mike Easley appointed Nifong as Durham's interim DA in 2005.
[snip]
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/14357904.htm

The DA position became open because Easley appointed Hardin to a judgeship. I read elsewhere that Hardin recommended Nifong as his successor. I also read elsewhere that the position he got in 1994 as Hardin's Chief Assistant was more administrative and did not have him trying cases. So it's really been since 1994 that he personally has tried a big case. I also find the remark about him opening his files to the defense pretty funny given his foot dragging in this case.

[Sacajaweau]

She does seem to be a creature of habit....and they're all bad habits. I'll bet she's taking one stink'n class at the college.

How long has she been going to college? Is she getting aid to go to college...Obviously, yes...she has no money. Does she get welfare, too?? Does she file an income tax report? Probably yes....and the Feds would give her money because of the low income and two kids.

[maggief]

Yet another three gang rape ... LOL!


Between the cousin, ex-husband, mother and father, none of them can keep their stories straight. And we haven't heard the AV's stories yet!

[toldyou]

I thought of the same thing. If they protect her, she doesn't snitch on what "favors" she's done for them in the past. And, in my opinion, I don't think what she's done for them is as innocent as dancing at a bachelor party!

Sorry for assuming, but we all know that something just isn't right here with this DA and police force.

[snarkytart]

One of the original charges in 2002 was "driving with a revoked license". That seems to indicate some previous trouble.
______________

Okay.

Here is my stand point, there is enough real info in this case to be outraged about, I really do not feel like getting too conspiratorial about this.
I think this IS the justice system, people like Mangum get slapped on the wrist all of the time for worst than what she did. Remember the child rapist In Vermont?(I think it was Vermont). Ninety days for admitting to molesting a 6 year old girl!
It happens.

[toldyou]

My very thoughts!

[Jrabbit]

OT....body of missing soldier possibly found at the hotel he was reported missing from. Sad. :-(

[maggief]

Wouldn't Nifong had negotiated that plea?

[ladyjane]

there are an estimated 520,000 false rape allegations a year — 98.1% of all reported cases.

You lose credibility citing statistics like that.

The source you cite says "potential" and the way they arrived at that number doesn't make sense.

[Sacajaweau]

I agree with you. Our cops know all the locals and this chick is likely one of them. Hey...it happens every day. None of our cops bother the girls..except on rare occasions.

They publish only the men's names in a local roundup.

[GAgal]

He was overseeing traffic court in 2002, so he might have known why her license was revoked earlier. I read somewhere she had a number of license suspensions. Nifong may have known of her since 2002 through any of those too.