Posted on 10/30/2006 3:04:46 AM PST by abb
Second Dancer Claims Alleged Duke Lacrosse Rape Victim Said to Bruise Her By CHRIS FRANCESCANI and EAMON McNIFF ABC News Law & Justice Unit
Oct. 30, 2006 — - The second dancer in the Duke rape case has said for the first time that the accuser told her to "go ahead, put marks on me'' after the alleged attack.
Dancer Kim Roberts made the new allegation -- which she has not shared with authorities -- in an interview with Chris Cuomo that will air today on "Good Morning America."
Roberts' allegation comes in the wake of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's admission in court last week that he has not yet interviewed the accuser "about the facts of that night."
As she drove the accuser from the March 2006 Duke lacrosse party, Roberts told ABC News the woman was clearly impaired and "talking crazy." Roberts said she tried several different times to get the accuser out of her car.
"The trip in that car from the house … went from happy to crazy,'' Roberts told Cuomo. "I tried all different ways to get through to her.
"I tried to be funny and nice," she continued. "Then I tried to, you know, be stern with her. … We're kind of circling around, and as we're doing that, my last-ditch attempt to get her out of the car, I start to kind of, you know, push and prod her, you know."
Roberts said she told the woman, "Get out of my car, get out of my car."
"I … push on her leg. I kind of push on her arm," Roberts said. "And clear as a bell, it's the only thing I heard clear as a bell out of her was, she said -- she pretty much had her head down, but she said plain as day -- 'Go ahead put marks on me. That's what I want, go ahead.' ''
Roberts said the comments "chilled me to the bone, and I decided right then and there to go to the authorities."
'Weighing on My Heart'
Roberts was not aware at the time of any rape allegations, which were first made by the accuser after police had arrived and taken the woman to a crisis center.
In the interview, Roberts appeared reluctant to talk about her new claim.
"It is something that has been weighing on my heart, and I worry that maybe I won't be called to trial,'' Roberts told Cuomo, as she reached for a tissue. "Because all of, so many of her, so much of [the accuser's] statement differs from mine and I, I might not help the prosecution at all as a witness.''
Roberts became visibly upset as she described the accuser's comments for the first time, at one point stopping the interview.
"I don't even want to talk about it anymore,'' she said.
"Why is it so hard for you to reveal that?" Cuomo asked Roberts.
"Because I think it's gonna make people rush to judgment,'' she replied. "It's gonna make them stop listening. … And I don't like this at all. It's gonna make-- It's gonna make people not listen and I, I'm sure you're probably not even going to play this. It's gonna make people not listen to any other part of the story. It's gonna make people so judgmental, it's gonna solidify their opinions so much, that they're not gonna want to hear the other aspects of the case, which I think are just as important.''
Changes in Roberts' Characterization of the Events
Roberts' attorney, Mark Simeon, said she never shared what she says were the accuser's final comments with police, not realizing their significance at the time. He said she would be willing to take a lie detector test about the new information.
Three Duke lacrosse players -- Dave Evans, Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann -- were charged last spring with rape and kidnapping for the alleged attack on the exotic dancer, who had been hired by the men to perform at the off-campus party. All three men have vigorously declared their innocence, inside and outside of court.
Defense attorneys for the players declined to comment on Roberts' remarks.
Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong did not return a call over the weekend for comment.
One legal expert who has followed the case closely from the start said the new information is a clear blow to an already embattled prosecution team.
"To have witnesses appear on a media program revealing information that the prosecutor doesn't know is stunningly inappropriate,'' said Linda Fairstein, who headed the Manhattan District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit for more than two decades.
Roberts has proven to be a somewhat unpredictable character in a case with a seemingly bottomless supply of surprises.
She has said consistently that she doesn't know whether or not a rape occurred. But she has characterized the evening's events differently to different people.
On March 20, when police first contacted her a week after the alleged attack, she called the rape allegation a "crock'' and said that she was with the woman for all but "less than five minutes.''
A month later, in an Associated Press interview, she indicated that she believed there had been an attack.
"I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred -- and I never will. … In all honesty, I think they're guilty. … Somebody did something besides underage drinking. That's my honest-to-God impression."
Then, on June 14, in an interview with National Public Radio, she said she was "unsure'' of how much time passed when the alleged victim got out of her car and went back into the house to get her purse.
"I can never say a rape did or did not occur. That's for the courts to decide. I didn't see it happen, you know? But what I can say is that there was opportunity and it could have happened.''
Simeon told ABC News that she has never shared this new information with authorities simply because she was never asked.
"She hasn't spoken to authorities beyond that very first [March 20] interview that police conducted,'' Simeon said. "She's never met with the DA and has never been called back for a follow-up interview.''
Simeon said she told him she felt her complete story was damaging to both the prosecution and the defense's cases, and as such she believes she may not be called to the witness stand at all.
Fatal Blow to Duke Prosecution?
Nifong, who is seeking reelection next month, stunned defense attorneys in court last week when he said that he has yet to interview the accuser "about the facts of that night.''
"I've had conversations with [the accuser] about how she's doing,'' Nifong said. "I've had conversations with her about seeing her kids. I haven't talked with her about the facts of that night. … We're not at that stage yet.''
The prosecutor made the comment in response to a request from defense attorneys for any statements the accuser has made about the case.
Nifong said that only police have interviewed the accuser, and that none of his assistants have discussed the case with the woman either.
The highly-charged case has sparked an intense, bitter rivalry between Nifong and defense attorneys.
In September, he similarly surprised defense attorneys when he said in court that the attack, which the accuser told police took about 30 minutes, had in fact been only "five to 10 minutes.''
"When something happens to you that is really awful, it can seem like it takes place longer than it actually takes.''
Fairstein, widely considered a pioneer in the field of sex crimes prosecution, said Roberts' allegations do not bode well for either her own credibility or for the district attorney's office.
"In terms of any prosecution, it's troubling when a witness who has been interviewed many times comes up with a completely new statement,'' Fairstein told ABC News. "At some point in a prosecutorial interview, she would have been asked to give them anything she knew, any scrap of information that she had.''
Fairstein told ABC News she was shocked to learn last week that Nifong has yet to interview the accuser.
"That is just against the progress that's been made in this very specialized field,'' she said. "It belies anything a prosecutor would do before making charges. There was no need to rush to the charging judgment in this case. … This whole train should have been slowed down and everybody interviewed before charging decisions. To have witnesses appear on a media program revealing information that the prosecutor doesn't know is stunningly inappropriate.''
mark
Based on the statement, who is the one with character? Not the Blinco cops or the judge.
I missed this article earlier. My apologies to the board...
http://www.newsobserver.com/339/story/504654.html
Challenging assumptions
Sharon Swanson, Correspondent
"I am Colin Finnerty's mother." Mary Ellen Finnerty wrote in response to last month's Our Lives column where I admitted to a prejudiced reaction to male teenage lacrosse players staying at a sports camp next to my 12-year-old daughter. Finnerty's son Colin is a defendant in the Duke lacrosse case.
"It is so important for you to see what kind of man my son is -- as a mother I am sure you know what I mean."
When this case first made national news, I judged Colin Finnerty and the Duke Three based on my own particular brand of prejudice. While others were debating whether these charges represented issues about race, class or the divide between the haves and the have-nots, I was viewing the scenario through the prism of white liberal guilt. I felt somehow responsible that young black women were still being exploited by affluent young white men in the South. I stereotyped the entire Duke lacrosse team.
But then I talked to Colin Finnerty's mother. Mary Ellen Finnerty caught me on my cell phone in the parking lot of Kmart, where I stood for 20 minutes, moved by her story of how this incident has affected her family. I flew to New York two days later to meet her, her husband and their five children.
Yes, it's true their home is spacious, well-decorated and situated on an immaculately groomed golf course in a lovely part of Long Island. But the Finnertys weren't born into the life of the proverbial silver spoon. Kevin Finnerty, Colin's father, who went to college on a swimming scholarship, borrowed the money to buy Mary Ellen's engagement ring. "He's always had to work hard, he was working seven days a week when I met him," she said.
Still, Kevin acknowledged that they are more fortunate than most because they are able to provide the legal resources his son's defense has required.
I don't need to tell you that this incident is tragic for everyone involved. For the Finnertys, they say it has had the effect of making them even closer. I haven't sat down to dinner with the accuser and her family; they are no doubt victims too, no matter whose rendition of the event you choose. But spending the day with Colin's family raised questions about everything I have heard and read about them.
I asked Colin about a story I'd heard about Emily, his younger sister, a petite 12-year-old. He told me that when he first returned home from Durham, Emily spent her nights sleeping on a couch in her big brother's room, wrapped up in his Duke blanket.
"She'd never talk to me about it," Colin said. "It was just her way of being protective, I guess. I don't know if she even understood it completely."
It seems that Emily Finnerty isn't the only one who doesn't completely understand this situation. Like a lot of other folks, I was quick to assume that I knew who the Finnertys were. Stereotypes, like monsters under the bed, tend to dissipate when you shine a light on them.
I wonder now if a 12-year-old girl may be the best judge of the character of Colin Finnerty. And she's the only one not expressing an opinion.
Sharon Swanson can be reached at sk_swanson@earthlink.net.
That makes it real. I could see myself doing that at that age. Sleeping in my big brother's room. This kind of thing hits home for me.
We'll all be in the ground before Cash comes around.
He is what he is.
Yes, I hadn't seen that letter. Sarah is right, it helps to personalize him.
Thanks abb.
I had not seen that. Brings tears to my eyes.
Colin seems to me to be the most vulnerable of the three. I don't know why I have that impression, I just do. Maybe something the "Mom Antenna" is picking up.
I think I am the only supporter of the Lax players who likes Cash.
(so sue me, LOL! Just don't send Nifong after me)
As AnthonySoprano said, he is what he is. You know what you are getting. He will never come around to our point of view 100%. To expect otherwise is foolish.
But you do know what he is thinking and he will speak his mind.
One thing I have noticed is he has posted on most of the boards, but not the board of record...FreeRepublic.
Wonder if he is scared?
Cash! Over here! Come talk to the Pro's!
I'm thinking this is him in the ping list. Not sure, though...
LOL! Cash, is that you?
He seems the most vulnerable to me too. I'm not a Mom yet so it's probably my "big sister antenna". LOL.
http://www.wral.com/dukelacrosseheadlines/9334003/detail.html
A link to an old article regarding the second set of DNA tests costing $23,000. I'll bet that the amount of taxpayer money wasted so far is in the neighborhood of a half million dollars. Voters should know this when they vote next week.
No telling how much the falsely accused are having to waste as well.
The judge and the DA are both idiots. Incidentally, the defense attorney that got these bozos' charge dismissed on a technicality IS THE BROTHER of Tom Manning, a Duke Rape Case co-defense attorney. Now there's an interesting conflict...
This judge also is not familiar with the human race!
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaynor/061031
D.A. Nifong: My political need trumps wise police strategy
Michael Gaynor
October 31, 2006
Lots of Gaynor articles are somewhat rambling. This one was very much to the point.
"Sherwood was at the party the night of March 13, and stayed through the dance, but then left with other underclassmen, he said."
The story on GMA claims that Sherwood was there for the dance. I don't think it's correct though. If he was there, it would be very big news for the defense. We've heard all along that he left before the dance, and I'm certain the actual GMA broadcast said this as well.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=2617301&page=1
Wow. Devon is clearly a superior young man. No doubt there have been some awkward moments for him in all this, in view of the racist slant that Liefong, black groups of Durham, the NBPP, and the media put on this case.
His belief in, affection, devotion and respect for his accused teammates says a great deal about all of them, himself included. His parents and friends should be proud that he didn't succumb to the race-baiting.
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