Defense lawyers in Duke case seek additional notes about accuser
The Associated Press
September 18, 2006 5:26 pm
DURHAM, N.C. -- Attorneys representing three Duke lacrosse players charged with rape asked prosecutors Monday to turn over handwritten notes they said were taken by an employee at the mental-health facility where the accuser first said she was raped.
In their joint motion, defense attorneys also asked for copies of any radio communications between Durham police officers connected to the case made in the hours after a March 13 lacrosse team party. A woman hired to perform as a stripper told police three people sexually assaulted her in a bathroom of the off-campus house where the party took place.
A grand jury later indicted three players -- Collin Finnerty, David Evans and Reade Seligmann -- with rape, sexual offense and kidnapping.
The defense has asked several times for records from the Durham Access Center, where police took the woman for involuntary commitment in the hours after the party. She interacted with at least three staff members and was there for 40 minutes, according to defense attorneys, but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said there are no records of her time at the facility other than a simple log-in sheet.
In Monday's motion, defense attorneys said one of the staff members "took handwritten notes of her observations" of the accuser and that she intended to turn those notes over to prosecutors. It is unclear whether those notes were ever turned over to Nifong's office.
Nifong, who has generally refused to talk about the case, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.
Attorneys representing Finnerty and Evans also filed a motion seeking a "bill of particulars," which would detail information prosecutors used as the basis for charging their clients. The motion specifically seeks the time and place of the alleged assault as well as "the specific 'sexual act'" for each defendant.
Seligmann's lawyers filed a similar motion in June. Attorneys for all three players have strongly proclaimed their clients' innocence.
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