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Rape Accuser Had Photo ID'd Possible DNA Match
NBC CHANNEL 17 ^ | 5/11/06

Posted on 05/11/2006 9:17:59 PM PDT by TexKat

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke lacrosse player whose DNA may match tissue found under the fake fingernails of an exotic dancer who claims she was raped was identified in a photo lineup with 90 percent certainty, sources tell NBC-17.

The Durham Herald-Sun reported Thursday tissue found under the accuser's acrylic fingernail came from the same genetic pool and was "consistent" with the bodily makeup of one of 46 lacrosse players who gave DNA samples for testing.

The paper cites several sources and said scientists also ruled out a possible match with any of the other 45 students, according to the sources.

If accurate, the fingernail tissue match would offer the first DNA evidence potentially linking the dancer and an alleged attacker.

But because a complete DNA pattern was not obtained from the tissue, it was not possible to match it with the nearly 100 percent certainty that DNA results usually offer, the sources added.

90 Percent Certainty

Now, NBC-17 has learned that the player is not one of the two already accused in the case -- Reade Seligmann, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, of Garden City, N.Y. He is, however, a player that the alleged rape victim picked out in a police lineup with 90 percent certainty.

The 27-year-old North Carolina Central University student told police she was beaten and raped by three lacrosse players while she performed at a March 13 team party. She said she clawed at the players in an effort to fight them off.

Never Applied?

Defense attorneys claim, however, that nothing about the reported possible DNA match means anything to the case if you look at the type of fingernails, where they were found, and if you look at a picture of the accuser's hand shortly after she arrived at the party.

According to defense attorneys, police found four stick-on acrylic fingernails in a trashcan at 610 Buchanan Street, the house where the party took place. The tissue connected to the possible DNA match was found under one of those fingernails.

But defense attorneys said the third player accused lived at the house and it is no surprise that trace amounts of his DNA could be found inside his own trashcan. They also said they don't believe the type of fingernails that were found -- the kind that are applied with an adhesive strip -- actually ripped off during an attack. They don't believe the fingernails were ever applied and they say they have pictures to prove it.

NBC-17 has seen a picture of the dancer's hand at the house when she performed her dance routine. It appears that long, fake fingernails were on some of her fingers in that photo, but not all of them.

Other photos show what defense lawyers believe is red fingernail polish on the walls of the house and on the railing outside the house. They believe the accuser was painting and applying her nails while at the party.

Defense attorneys admit that none of them have seen the DNA report the Herald Sun article is based upon, but they said if District Attorney Mike Nifong has the DNA report, their clients are entitled to see it.

Accuser's Father Responds

The accuser's father called reports of a DNA break in the case long overdue.

"I wasn't surprised to hear that. I feel like we should have learned it before," he said.

Kim Roberts, another dancer who performed at the party where the alleged attack took place, paid an emotional visit to the accuser's parents on Thursday.

"It was real emotional -- she was crying, my wife was crying. She said that she was sorry she left (outside) the house before my daughter did," the accuser's father said.

Authorities said they would know what the DNA shows by early next week.


TOPICS: Local News; Society; Sports
KEYWORDS: daysofourlives; duke; dukelax; durham; thedukesaga
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To: snarkytart

I disagree completely. They had a copy of his taxi license - so they KNEW where to find him. They couldn't bother to look?

I smell intimidation tactics.


121 posted on 05/12/2006 6:16:17 AM PDT by MortMan (Trains stop at train stations. On my desk is a workstation...)
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To: GAgal

Thanks for correcting me!!


122 posted on 05/12/2006 6:16:38 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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To: MortMan

Sure would like to see a copy of the warrant...


123 posted on 05/12/2006 6:16:54 AM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: GAgal
The Duke Report stated that the Duke police did contact Sue Wasiolek (Assistant VP of Student Affairs and Dean of Students) on the morning of March 14. She in turn immediately contacted the lacrosse coach (Mike Pressler) and others in the athletic department, who in turn contactd members of the lacrosse team. They did know of the allegation by the victim the morning after the party (March 14).

What probably hurt the players was the Duke police report. They were lulled into a false sense of security that all this would "blow over" according to the report because the victim had "changed her story several times." The three residents of the house did cooperate (a total of 25 hours being interviewed without counsel) but probably thought they were only there as cooperating witnesses because of the Duke police report.

124 posted on 05/12/2006 6:16:59 AM PDT by I want to know
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To: GAgal

Amazing!! NiFong is covering for which politician who likes a little on the side. It sure looks like this chick is well known by the police department...and the DA's office is attached at the hip.


125 posted on 05/12/2006 6:20:10 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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To: maggief
Who is representing Kim? Someone is trying to clean up her image. It reminds me of the the rehabilitation of Amber Frye and the visit she paid a visit to the Rocha family. Is

I agree with you!

126 posted on 05/12/2006 6:26:24 AM PDT by TexKat
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To: Neverforget01

Bump!


127 posted on 05/12/2006 6:28:45 AM PDT by TexKat
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To: MortMan

You disagree with what?


128 posted on 05/12/2006 6:29:33 AM PDT by snarkytart
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To: TexKat
I REALLY don't think there is any comparison between Amber Frye and this "Mother of the Year".

Amber was conned big time. I thought she was very brave to help the police. I'm not sure I would have been as brave.

129 posted on 05/12/2006 6:29:33 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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To: maggief
They can clean Kim up all they want, the real her comes out as soon as she opens her mouth and her head starts moving side to side.
I can see a defense attorney making her pissed on the stand and she winds up saying something completely devastating to the prosecutions case.
130 posted on 05/12/2006 6:32:22 AM PDT by snarkytart
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To: Sacajaweau

Nifong was in charge of negotiating traffic related offenses in 2002 when the accuser was drunk, stole a cab, drove the wrong way with lights off, and tried to turn a police officer into a hood ornament. The incident is best described below under the section "In trouble with the law" (it takes a long while to load):

http://www.newsobserver.com/122/story/429338.html

The sweetheart deal he gave her is so out of proportion to what she did and the potential loss of life she could have caused, it does make one wonder why. It seems impossible Nifong wouldn't have remembered her when this case appeared.


131 posted on 05/12/2006 6:33:08 AM PDT by GAgal
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To: Protect the Bill of Rights
The serving of the warrant could work both ways. As I stated on an earlier thread, Mostafa has given a statement to the DPD. We don't know what he told the DPD and if any of it is favorable to the AV's allegations.

I think this helps the defense. They can work to get this cleared up (find out why the warrant was issued, get the facts concerning the 2003 case) before putting Mostafa on the stand so that Mostafa's credibility will not be impeached.

Both the defense and prosecution will run checks on their witnesses because they don't want any surprises to come out at trial. The defense has been handed a gift because they can now rehabilitate Mostafa and won't be blindsided at trial by the 2003 warrant.

132 posted on 05/12/2006 6:35:45 AM PDT by I want to know
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To: snarkytart

In one of her interviews the writer said Kim spotted Butch Williams on tv and jumped to her feet and started "punching the air". Despite her extreme makeover, the AP video of the real Kim will be played in court. I found her "shoulder brush-off" re the players ease at proving their innocence very telling.


133 posted on 05/12/2006 6:38:32 AM PDT by GAgal
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To: snarkytart

It appears to me that someone is coaching her. Do you think she came up with the Good Samaritan visit to the AV's family home on her own? I don't. Between now and the trial there will be plenty of time to coach Kim for the witness stand. And, $he i$ motivated.

The first order of business may be to clean up her image in the media. Too bad for her that he recent interview went virtually unnoticed due to the DNA and cabbie stories.


134 posted on 05/12/2006 6:40:55 AM PDT by maggief (and the dessert cart rolls on ...)
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To: snarkytart

You stated that the article wasn't too bad, in your view. I disagree. No matter how they couch it in acceptable language, they are still concluding that the actions were entirely on the up-and-up.

The police actions have the odor of intimidation, IMO. The paper ignoring the scent is a problem.

Sorry I was unclear on what I was disagreeing with! ;-P


135 posted on 05/12/2006 6:41:52 AM PDT by MortMan (Trains stop at train stations. On my desk is a workstation...)
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To: maggief

he=her


136 posted on 05/12/2006 6:42:13 AM PDT by maggief (and the dessert cart rolls on ...)
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To: I want to know; Protect the Bill of Rights
Arrest no ploy, DA says

Warrant served on witness in case

Samiha Khanna, Joseph Neff and Benjamin Niolet, Staff Writers DURHAM - Durham police had no ulterior motive when they arrested an alibi witness on an old misdemeanor warrant, District Attorney Mike Nifong said Thursday.

The Wednesday arrest of Moezeldin Elmostafa -- -- a cab driver who says he can provide an alibi for one of two men accused of raping a woman at a party held March 13 by the Duke University men's lacrosse team -- drew fire from defense attorneys, who said the arrest of a key defense witness was equal to intimidation.

It is common practice for police to run the names of people involved in a case because they don't want any surprises when the case goes to court, police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Thursday. Investigators, who took Elmostafa to jail on a 2003 warrant for misdemeanor larceny, did not ask him specific questions about the lacrosse case, she said.

There is no unit of officers at the Durham Police Department charged with clearing old warrants, which, as of last fall, exceeded 10,000. So when officers discover an unserved warrant and know where the person is, they should serve it, Nifong said.

That was the goal the two investigators, Benjamin Himan and R.D. Clayton, had when they approached Elmostafa, authorities said.

"It came up in the context of we were collecting information on potential witnesses," Nifong said.

Ernest Conner, a Greenville lawyer who represents defendant Reade Seligmann, sees the arrest differently.

"It appears to me they are trying to pressure a witness who supports our defendant's rock-solid alibi," Conner said Wednesday.

Defense lawyers say Elmostafa's statements in the Duke investigation can exonerate Seligmann, who has been indicted in the case along with lacrosse teammate Collin Finnerty.

137 posted on 05/12/2006 6:45:14 AM PDT by TexKat
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To: I want to know
They may make him out as a no good witness, EXCEPT that there are phone calls between the boys and himself (and I expect a call center), the video at the ATM and the video of the boys entering the dorms.

The records are easily obtained AND there's even a possibility that there is GPS data attached to the phone call records AND any photos taken at the Duke House with a phone system.

The time line is VERY narrow here....A 15 minute rape session with no DNA is pretty hard to believe.

The person who examined her can't tell whether bruising from rough sex and/or rape occured at 12 midnight or 3 hours earlier. No one has addressed "Where was She?" before she arrived at the Duke house?" Notice also that all the talk about her being bruised up when she arrived at the Duke House has disapppeared!!

138 posted on 05/12/2006 6:48:49 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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To: maggief
Yes, she is all about image and PR now, after all she is looking for a PR firm to get some cash out of this.
However, I still say that when she gets rolling with her mouth she sounds like what she is.....a low class hustler.
139 posted on 05/12/2006 6:51:00 AM PDT by snarkytart
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To: TexKat

It may also be that this same cabbie had delivered a politician to a "secret address" at one time and they wanted to make sure that he didn't remember.


140 posted on 05/12/2006 6:55:23 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
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