Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Duke Lacrosse Accuser Made Previous Report
AP ^ | Apr 27 2006 | AARON BEARD

Posted on 04/27/2006 4:27:11 PM PDT by 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.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: duke; dukelax; nifong
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 961-980981-1,0001,001-1,020 ... 1,641-1,653 next last
To: toldyou

This was posted by xoxoxox

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1618930/posts?page=117#117

The News & Observer *

February 1, 1992

**Police* probe a relief to city SBI will study call girl charge*

Author: JANE STANCILL; Staff writer

Edition: *DURHAM*
Section: NEWS
Page: B1

/Index Terms:/
*Durham*
*police*
SBI
DCC
*prostitution*
LEAD

Estimated printed pages: 2

Article Text:

*DURHAM* -- Now that state and federal agents are looking into
allegations of wrongdoing surrounding the *Durham* *Police* Department,
everyone from City Hall to Main Street is breathing a sigh of relief
that outside agencies are finally entering the case.

District Attorney Ronald L. Stephens has called the SBI into the
investigation involving allegations that a *prostitution* ring operated
out of the *police* department and the handling of an in-house probe of
the charges. He's asked agents to look at possible obstruction of
justice, intimidation of witnesses and even perjury involving the
complex case.

"There needed to be someone totally independent to come in and in a
professional manner review all of this and make some determination on
substantiated facts as to whether things were done appropriately and
legally," Stephens said.

*Police* Chief Trevor A. Hampton says he also has asked the SBI -- as
well as the FBI -- to enter the case.

On Friday, City Council members said it was time outside investigators
came onto the scene. "I think it will raise the comfort level of
everyone involved," said member Sylvia S. Kerckhoff.

Others said the *police* department should never have been investigating
itself in the first place.

"Hindsight is 20-20," said Mayor Harry E. Rodenhizer Jr. "We were not
aware of the first two investigations. But I would have been in favor of
an outside investigation from the start."

An internal investigation was conducted over five weeks late last year
by officers from the force's own organized crime division. That's when
allegations of the call-girl operation and other sexual misconduct
surfaced, but no criminal wrongdoing was uncovered.

The department's investigation focused on five employees, including
Wiley Davis Jr., former career development manager, who resigned earlier
this week amid allegations that he falsified his academic credentials to
attain his city position.

But some have speculated the investigation may have been compromised
from the very beginning. It started out in the department's own
professional standards division and then was handed over to the vice
officers.

Hampton has said the vice officers may have violated federal laws by
making some procedural errors during the probe. But Capt. George B.
Hare, who leads the vice unit, has staunchly defended his investigators.

And on Friday, he welcomed the outside agencies into the case.

"It will get a fair review," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in SBI
and any federal investigations. So far, the chief has been in full
control of information presented to the City Council and the public.
There are more details."

Meanwhile, officers on the street said morale has already started to
rise with news of the pending investigations. During the past three
weeks, some officers have said it was hard to

concentrate on doing their jobs.

"This has been an explosive issue to everyone," Hare said. "Maybe with
the SBI, we can get things back in perspective and get back to what
we're supposed to do."

Beginning early next week, several agents will start reviewing documents
and conducting interviews at the department.

"I hope it won't take long," said SBI director Charles J. Dunn Jr. "But
you never know until you get into it."

###(Shorter version of this story appears in final edition, page 3B)

Copyright 1992 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.
Record Number: RNOB70363

117 posted on 04/22/2006 2:28:28 AM CDT by xoxoxox


981 posted on 04/28/2006 11:34:38 AM PDT by maggief (and the dessert cart rolls on ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 975 | View Replies]

To: toldyou

Oh come on! 98% of all rape allegations are false? That doesn't make sense.

Of course nothing is making sense these days.

And YES you ARE a credible person!!


982 posted on 04/28/2006 11:35:05 AM PDT by ladyjane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 965 | View Replies]

To: Jane Austen

Were are in Chat.


983 posted on 04/28/2006 11:36:14 AM PDT by maggief (and the dessert cart rolls on ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 972 | View Replies]

To: Locomotive Breath

It was a preposterous verdict. For the Klan, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.


984 posted on 04/28/2006 11:38:46 AM PDT by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 980 | View Replies]

To: Howlin

I wish both groups would just "take it outside" (the country).


985 posted on 04/28/2006 11:41:16 AM PDT by Locomotive Breath (In the shuffling madness)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 984 | View Replies]

To: Howlin

And to the point, I wonder what's going to happen Monday if armed NBPP members try to enter campus.


986 posted on 04/28/2006 11:42:21 AM PDT by Locomotive Breath (In the shuffling madness)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 984 | View Replies]

To: Locomotive Breath

Are they saying they are going on campus???????


987 posted on 04/28/2006 11:44:52 AM PDT by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 986 | View Replies]

To: Howlin

Howlin, hadn't you seen this?

Panther group plans to visit Duke
The New Black Panther Party says it will deal with lacrosse players charged with rape


Michael Biesecker, Staff Writer

DURHAM - The national chairman of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense says his group intends to march at Duke University on Monday to "deal directly" with lacrosse players about charges of rape of an escort service dancer at a team party.
Duke's campus police are coordinating with the Durham Police Department to prepare for the black-separatist group, which has a reputation for coming to its protests armed.

Malik Zulu Shabazz, a Washington lawyer who is the leader of the New Panthers, said he will be in Durham to rally with local black leaders and monitor progress of the criminal case against Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, the two students charged with raping and kidnapping the dancer.

"We are conducting an independent investigation, and we intend to enter the campus and interview lacrosse players," Shabazz said Thursday. "We seek to ensure an adequate, strong and vigorous prosecution."

Duke is a private institution, and its campus is private property. Shabazz said he has not sought permission to enter but that his group has "received no word that we are not welcome."

John Burness, Duke's vice president for public affairs and community relations, said Thursday that the university will allow a controlled march on campus, as long as the New Black Panthers follow specific rules.

"As an institution we support free speech, and we will treat them like any other group," Burness said. "But we do not permit weapons. We will take necessary steps to keep the campus safe."

One of the key tenets of the New Black Panthers is owning firearms and knowing how to use them, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a national Jewish group that has monitored Shabazz and his followers for years.

"They are a racist and anti-Semitic group," said Myrna Shinbaum, a spokesperson for the New York-based league. "These guys come armed. They carry shotguns to demonstrations. The authorities down there should know this."

Asked whether his followers will be armed when they come to Duke, Shabazz chuckled and said, "I don't know if I can comment on that."

A flier distributed by the group this week displays photos of Finnerty and Seligmann and calls for those who have "had enough of disrespect and racism from Duke" to assemble at the front gates of the university's West Campus at 10 a.m.

"We as black men cannot sit idly by and allow white men to rape black women, regardless of what our sister (who by nature is a queen and a divine black woman) was doing," Shabazz is quoted as saying in a media release announcing the event.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Shabazz said he and several local black leaders will meet with Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong about the case Monday. Nifong did not return a message late Thursday seeking to confirm that a meeting is planned.

A "town hall" meeting is also planned at 6 p.m. Monday at St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church on Fayetteville Street. Shabazz is set to be the keynote speaker. The Rev. Philip R. Cousin Jr., the minister of the church and a Durham County commissioner, did not return calls about the event. Representatives of the NAACP and the Nation of Islam are also expected to attend.

New Panthers' origin

The New Black Panthers is listed as a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization more often cited for its efforts to monitor the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists. The Panthers is also disavowed by the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, named for the activist who helped found the original Black Panther Party in 1966.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the New Panthers are a black separatist militia founded in 1990 by Khallid Muhammad, who was removed from a top leadership post at the Nation of Islam after Louis Farrakhan reportedly found his statements against Jews, Catholics and homosexuals too radical.

Shabazz became the group's leader in 2001, after Muhammad's death. He has drawn media headlines in recent years for claiming that Jews were evacuated from the World Trade Center before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and voicing support for Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker" who was found eligible for the death penalty this month for his role in the Sept. 11 plot.

Shabazz, who said the group's current membership numbers in the "low thousands," backed away from claims published in a Durham newspaper Thursday that the New Black Panthers are providing security for the dancer and her family after she received death threats.

The accuser's mother told The News & Observer on Thursday that Panthers came by the family's house Wednesday and offered their protection, but the family declined.


988 posted on 04/28/2006 11:47:47 AM PDT by Raebie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 987 | View Replies]

To: maggief

I wonder where AV's mother works?


989 posted on 04/28/2006 11:47:54 AM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 981 | View Replies]

To: maggief; xoxoxox

Ping to you, xo.


990 posted on 04/28/2006 11:48:11 AM PDT by Miss Behave (Beloved daughter of Miss Creant, super sister of danged Miss Ology, and proud mother of Miss Hap.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 981 | View Replies]

To: Raebie

Oh, yes, Malik is here, in his full glory, trying to horn in!


991 posted on 04/28/2006 11:52:23 AM PDT by Howlin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 988 | View Replies]

To: Raebie; Howlin

I put it in another thread first thing this morning.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1623046/posts

I guess I should have pinged Howlin the almighty master of the ping list, but ya'll were having so much fun over here that I figured this was the thread of the day.


992 posted on 04/28/2006 11:53:33 AM PDT by Locomotive Breath (In the shuffling madness)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 988 | View Replies]

To: Howlin

I sure as heck hope they aren't staying at my hotel next week!!


993 posted on 04/28/2006 11:54:06 AM PDT by Dukie07
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 991 | View Replies]

To: maggief

Thanks so much. I will never understand how you come up with the past posts and threads so fast!!

Bye.....have a date with a nine year old at a little league baseball game.



994 posted on 04/28/2006 11:54:09 AM PDT by toldyou
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 981 | View Replies]

To: Locomotive Breath

They'll be on campus. The question is, will they be armed?


995 posted on 04/28/2006 11:54:26 AM PDT by Raebie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 986 | View Replies]

To: Raebie

I can't imagine Duke allowing the Aryan Brotherhood to march on school property in solidarity with the mostly white lacrosse team. I'm amazed they are allowing a Panther Parade through the campus. Maybe there is a Hezbollah chapter who'd like to seek out Jews for special attention. It doesn't make sense to me, armed or not.


996 posted on 04/28/2006 11:55:03 AM PDT by GAgal
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 988 | View Replies]

To: Howlin

Howlin, can you add me to your ping list? I had to search to find where everyone was. The thread isn't showing up on the latest threads.

TIA!


997 posted on 04/28/2006 11:55:46 AM PDT by Raebie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 991 | View Replies]

To: Raebie

I'm sure they'll try to be. If they are, what is Duke going to do to disarm them?


998 posted on 04/28/2006 11:56:00 AM PDT by Locomotive Breath (In the shuffling madness)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 995 | View Replies]

To: GAgal

"John Burness, Duke's vice president for public affairs and community relations, said Thursday that the university will allow a controlled march on campus, as long as the New Black Panthers follow specific rules.

"As an institution we support free speech, and we will treat them like any other group," Burness said. "But we do not permit weapons. We will take necessary steps to keep the campus safe."


Burness has lost his mind.


999 posted on 04/28/2006 11:56:59 AM PDT by Raebie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 996 | View Replies]

To: Locomotive Breath

Have them arrested?


1,000 posted on 04/28/2006 11:57:10 AM PDT by Dukie07
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 998 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 961-980981-1,0001,001-1,020 ... 1,641-1,653 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson