Posted on 10/11/2006 1:52:56 AM PDT by abb
DURHAM -- A CBS "60 Minutes" segment on the controversial Duke University lacrosse rape case is expected to air Sunday evening and will include interviews with all three indicted players and Kim Roberts Pittman, the second dancer at the party where the attack allegedly occurred.
CBS would not comment on the show. The network's normal practice is to withhold information about "60 Minutes" broadcasts until a few days in advance.
But Pittman's lawyer, Mark Simeon of Durham, confirmed Tuesday that his client was interviewed. But Simeon ended a telephone conversation before fielding a question about what Pittman told the interviewer.
An exotic dancer at the time, Pittman was with another dancer who claimed she was raped and sodomized by three lacrosse players during an off-campus party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. in mid-March.
Pittman since has been quoted as saying the rape charges were "a crock." She also told police in a March 22 handwritten statement that she and the accuser ended their performance when someone at the lacrosse party "brought out a broomstick and ... said he would use the broomstick on us."
"That statement made me uncomfortable and I felt like I wanted to leave," Pittman added. "I raised my voice to the boys and said the show was over."
Pittman said she then asked the alleged rape victim to leave the party with her. But she said the accuser "felt we could get more money and that we shouldn't leave yet."
According to Pittman, the accuser "began showing signs of intoxication" early in the dance performance and was "basically out of it" by the time it ended.
Pittman finally drove the other dancer to a Hillsborough Road grocery store, from which a 911 call was placed to police.
There is nothing about an alleged rape in Pittman's written statement, which is included in public-record court files.
All three defendants also were interviewed for the "60 Minutes" segment, sources told The Herald-Sun. The interviewer is veteran reporter Ed Bradley.
The three -- Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans -- remain free under $100,000 bonds as they await a trial that is expected to occur next year. Each maintains he is innocent.
Neither they nor their families could be reached Tuesday for possible comment about the CBS show, and their attorneys had no comment.
Defense lawyers apparently will not appear on the television program. Neither will District Attorney Mike Nifong, who has been widely criticized for allegedly rushing to judgment in the case and making inflammatory public statements before he had sufficient evidence.
For the past four months, Nifong has not discussed the situation publicly. He was out of town on business and unreachable for comment Tuesday.
Benjamin Himan and Mark Gottlieb, police investigators in the lacrosse case, also could not be reached. But sources said the two had not been interviewed by "60 Minutes" as of Friday.
The Police Department repeatedly has declined to discuss the lacrosse incident.
It could not be determined Tuesday if a one-time driver for the alleged rape victim, Jarriel Lanier Johnson, was among those Bradley contacted.
"I have nothing to say about it," Johnson told The Herald-Sun by telephone before hanging up.
But Johnson gave police an April 6 handwritten statement about an "appointment," "a job" and a performance the accuser had at three different hotels in two days not long before the alleged rape.
Johnson also said she had sexual intercourse with him during the same time period.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-777449.html
Excellent article, one of the best in a while. Very high on the recommend list of required reading for this case.
Bumpo!
Do you happen to have a link? I remember reading the quote, something about "you LD white boys gotta pay for it" or something to that effect. I'd love to add a link to the quote to my timeline next to the "slap" reference in Ekstrand's statement.
I don't think that's an integrated neighborhood where they lived, is it?
National Journal: An Outrageous Rush to Judgement by Stuart Taylor
I read an article in the last couple weeks that said "the house was in a predominantly black neighborhood that bordered the walled campus of Duke" or some such.. I'd really be pressed to find it again...
I was just repeating what I had read. I don't know it for a fact...
I found it, it wasn't this article but it was a blogger talking about this article somewhere. They called it Walltown
We'll have to break down and watch this segment of 60 Minutes. Oh agony.
I'll be watching and praying. I've been gearing up for this every evening -- prayer changes things.
Jez, this is the first thing I thought of too. They can edit it however they want. I don't trust CBS. This makes me really nervous. This will be people's first time hearing Collin and Reade and I just hope it works out okay.
The defense has been very careful so I don't think they would offer them up unless they had some idea of what 60 Minutes' approach was going to be. Would they?
Oh man, I don't know. The only thing I feel sure of is that Kim will put on one hell of a performance.
Of course they may attempt to spin it, afterall it is cBS, but maybe not. We won't know until we see it. But I'm hoping all the exposure will at least get the trial moved out of Durham if it goes that far. I only hope that it will have enough of an influence on the election to send the Fonger packing.
Maybe she will stick her tongue out for the camera. :)
The neighborhood where the lax house is located is "Trinity Park". Not the same as Walltown.
Great. That's all we need. Another performance by Jabba the Slut.
I've been doing 123nc searches for combinations with her birth date. I found 4 other minor charges, but nothing significant. One interesting thing I found was a charge of communicating threats under the name Crystal Mangum Mcneill in 1998 with a plea of not guilty and a verdict of not guilty 98CR021647. There was also a simple assault charge in 1998 under Crystal Gail Mangum, but the disposition of the charge is unclear. 98CR012751 was the case number.
I could not find anything on any of the case numbers mentioned in that defense motion. They must be under soem other name or something.
Obviously their lawyers approve of their appearance on 60 minutes. What do the guys have to gain by this?
Yeah Ken_H linked the origingal story on Nifong campaign financing near the bottom of the old thread. Let me under score it. Everyone should read this:
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2006/10/follow-money.html
If there are to be criminal charges or a tort case against Nifong after this case is done, the follow the money essay will begin the outline of the evidence.
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