Posted on 11/04/2006 1:31:54 AM PST by abb
Joseph Neff, Benjamin Niolet and Anne Blythe, Staff Writers DURHAM - Four days after she said she was raped, the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case told co-workers at a Hillsborough strip club that she was going to get money from some boys at a Duke party who hadn't paid her, the club's former security manager said.
"She basically said, 'I'm going to get paid by the white boys,' " H.P. Thomas, the former security manager at the Platinum Club, said in an interview Friday. "I said, 'Whatever,' because no one takes her seriously."
On March 14, the woman said she was assaulted and raped by three men at a lacrosse team party that began late on the night of March 13. Three players -- David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md.; Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y.; and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells N.J. -- have been charged with rape, sexual assault and kidnapping. All three have declared their innocence and called the accusations lies.
Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong declined to comment on Thomas' recollections. Thomas said he had not previously come forward on the advice of lawyers.
Nifong has said in court that nearly a month after the party, the woman was in his office and appeared too traumatized to talk about what had happened to her. Nifong said that throughout the April 11 meeting with Nifong and police investigators, the woman seemed near tears and had trouble making eye contact.
But less than a week after the party, Thomas said, the woman seemed fine, and weeks later, he realized a friend of his had a video of her dancing at the club in the early hours of March 26.
The accuser never gave any indication that the party was a bad time, let alone that she was assaulted or raped, Thomas said.
"She was as regular as pie," Thomas said. "She didn't do anything different."
The News & Observer generally does not identify the complainants in sexual assault cases. The woman could not be located for comment Friday.
On March 17, the woman showed Thomas a hospital bracelet and paperwork. While she talked about being owed money, the accuser never gave any word or indication of being hurt, he said.
"The other girls would have known if something had happened," Thomas said. "If another dancer had been beat up or raped by a bunch of white boys, there would have been a ruckus."
Records show she had been seen at Duke and UNC Hospitals on March 14 and 15.
Thomas said dancers must sign in when they take guests into the club's VIP room. He said those sheets show that the woman had signed in March 17 and 18. He said she also danced the following weekend.
The club's owner, Victor Olatoye, said the club's records show the woman was dancing at the club March 23, 24, 25 and into the early hours of March 26. Olatoye has no record of her working the previous weekend.
Olatoye said he had given a sworn statement to an investigator in Nifong's office last month initially saying that he had not seen the woman since February.
That night at the club, Olatoye checked his records and called the investigator back to change his sworn statement.
Olatoye said he has not seen the woman since March.
Thomas said he worked as security manager at the club from January through April. He said he had little to gain by coming forward because of a pending cocaine possession charge. Staff writer Joseph Neff can be reached at 829-4516 or jneff@newsobserver.com.
Tommy's on top of it!
Some believe Nifong's support is a mile wide, but only a inch deep.
_
BTW, at other colleges:
*Three Notre Dame football players are charged with rape in 2002(?). Does Notre Dame cancel the football season? Are you kidding!
*University of Colorado football players are accused of rape in 2001(?). Not even a whisper of canceling the football season by the most outspoken critics. In fact, football coach Gary Barnett reportedly said that the allegations have not distracted the team as they prepare for the Fiesta Bowl.
*There are other similar cases, nowhere a suggestion that the whole season be canceled. Of course, they did not have the likes of a Broadhead running the school.
If the harassment case is strong and the complaint valid, it could be another way to get Nifong out of office if he wins the election.
Crazies suddenly a fire hazard?
Posted at 4:56 PM by Jon Ham
Out of the blue, it seems, Durham’s fire marshal says the Cameron Crazies have been violating fire codes for, well, years, I guess. Fire Marshal Kenneth Crews has ruled that crazies behind the press table must now be on a bleacher and not on the floor, and the grad students also must be farther back from the floor. Lots of people are wondering what caused this sudden fit of enforcement:
Men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski expressed concern about the implications of the sudden policy change.
“Did we do something wrong, and if that is the case, then how might we be able to solve it without hurting the students?” he said. “They’re on the team too, so they should be as close to the court as possible.”
I’m sure some students are wondering if the fire marshal is a friend of Mike Nifong’s and police investigator Mark Gottlieb.
http://triangle.johnlocke.org/blog/
place saver
http://johnsville.blogspot.com/2006/11/cannon-v-nifong-couch.html
The point really is not as much that lacrosse is not football as lacrosse as of yet does not mean that the Universtiy is violating TV contract by canceling games. Of course they were violating conference contracts and I am sure they took some heat for that.
Though they won't admit it, I bet canceling the season is the action Duke right now regrets the most. That imposed costs on others like UVa, UMD, UNC, etc.
If Durham hacks now want to mess with Duke basketball, they will quickly find they have bitten off more than they can chew.
BTW, is Duke on the Durham/Orange Co. line? Could Duke remove itself from Durham and join Orange Co?
Durham DA race is hot
By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun, Nov 6, 2006 : 9:39 pm ET
DURHAM -- Voters are set to go to the polls today to settle a variety of state and local elections, none hotter than the race for district attorney in Durham County.
Incumbent DA Mike Nifong faces challenges from County Commissioner Lewis Cheek and write-in challenger Steve Monks.
Campaign workers for all three men spent Monday preparing for today's election, lining up precinct-watchers to greet voters and making sure prospective supporters understand the rules that will govern the balloting.
The candidates, meanwhile, traded barbs.
Cheek -- who has said he won't serve if elected, instead allowing Gov. Mike Easley to appoint a new prosecutor -- lent his voice to a so-called "robo-calling" effort that placed automated messages on voters' answering machines. His supporters also bought newspaper advertisements that said Nifong's handling of the Duke lacrosse case "embarrassed us all with his unprofessional and unethical behavior."
Monks was also active on the advertising front, saying in one that Nifong had contributed to Durham's image as a community that's "gang-ridden, crime-ridden, corrupt [and] controlled by a political elite." He maintained that Cheek's strategy would exacerbate matters by leaving the selection of the next DA up to the same governor who picked the incumbent.
Nifong fired back at the challengers with an e-mail to supporters that accused Cheek and Monks of running single-issue campaigns. "They have endeavored to make this election something it is not: a referendum on a single case that [they] view as a threat to their sense of entitlement and that they do not trust a jury of Durham citizens to decide," he said in the e-mail.
One key group of Cheek supporters, the Recall Nifong/Vote Cheek committee, planned to post volunteers at 20 to 25 of the county's 56 precincts. The group's leader, Beth Brewer, said pro-Cheek activists selected the precincts based on their size and the candidates voters in those precincts backed in the May primary.
Monks' campaign manager, Charlotte Woods, said her candidate is expecting volunteer help today from college Republicans from Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. She added that she'd fielded many phone inquiries from potential supporters who wanted to know how to cast write-in votes.
The Cheek campaign was also trying to make sure would-be supporters understood that the rules on straight-party voting allow them to cast such a ballot and also vote for Cheek in the DA's race.
County Board of Elections Director Mike Ashe said a vote cast for either Cheek or Monks would override the straight-ticket preference in that race alone and not affect a voter's choices in other races.
Ashe said 4,775 Durham voters have already cast ballots by visiting the Board of Elections during the one-stop voting period, which ended Saturday.
The one-stop turnout for today's general election was significantly higher than it was for the May primary, when 1,309 people cast ballots. Only 1,073 people cast one-stop votes in last year's City Council elections.
Ashe nonetheless wasn't taking the early count as a sign of things to come today. "We had better-than-expected turnout for the one-stop voting, but don't know if that translates to Tuesday or not," he said. "It's very hard to do comparisons election to election."
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-785634.html
Each election has a variation for workers
Director inserts humor in sessions
Eric Ferreri, Staff Writer, N&O, Published: Nov 07, 2006 12:30 AM
DURHAM - When it comes to running an election, Mike Ashe seems to know everything.
Without looking, Durham's elections director can tell you that the types of identification a citizen can show in order to vote are explained on page 52 of the elections manual.
He knows -- again, with no manual in sight -- that information on the five signs that must be posted at all polling sites is found on page 9. At the bottom of the page.
And he knows the value of a joke. Which is why, during the several training sessions he held in the two weeks before today's elections, Ashe repeatedly stressed the most important thing all poll workers must remember.
"Never, never turn anyone away for any reason," he says.
"Why?" he asks.
He slides a three-word phrase onto his overhead projector, and the 50 or so folks in the room erupt in laughter.
"We're not Florida," it reads.
In all, about 350 people will staff Durham County's 56 voting precincts today. There's a lot of white hair in this crowd, a lot of experience that Ashe rewards with commemorative lapel pins. Dozens have worked the polls for at least 20 years. Nine have put in at least 32 years. Still, they troop in each year for their mandatory brush-up course.
"There's always something a little bit different," said Connie Hinshaw, 69, a 36-year veteran of Election Day. "It helps remind me of things maybe I haven't thought about."
This year, poll workers need to know which variations of "Steve Monks" will get the write-in candidate an official vote. Monks, a local lawyer, has emerged as a long-shot candidate in the highly anticipated election featuring controversial incumbent Mike Nifong and County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, whose name is on the ballot but has already said he won't take the job.
Lest poll workers not be sure of what scribbles count for a Monks vote, Ashe has made a list of 16 possible variations, including 'Mok," "Steve" and "Munk".
"It's an election," Ashe points out. "Not a spelling test."
Ashe is half-comedian, half master-of-ceremonies during these training sessions, which he seasons with more than a pinch of patriotism. All volunteers recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the outset and later stand to recite an oath of office. Ashe directs all this with effervescence and a constant smile, an American flag tie -- one of at least 15 that he owns -- splashing a tasteful black suit.
A woman asks about a voting form. Silly question, apparently. A half-dozen voices immediately begin answering, the volume rising until it becomes impossible to hear anything.
Ashe quickly brings everyone to silence.
"OK," he says. "Everyone got it right!"
Though a stickler for the rule book, Ashe allows church and state to intersect just briefly as he puts in his request for a smooth Election Day with no glitches or vote-counting controversy.
"Let's all say a group prayer," he announces. "We don't care who wins district attorney. We want someone to win by a whole bunch!"
http://www.newsobserver.com/145/story/507188.html
Former assistant DA files complaint
By John Stevenson, The Herald-Sun
November 6, 2006 10:19 pm
DURHAM -- Former Durham Assistant District Attorney Ashley Cannon confirmed Monday that she has filed a sexual-harassment complaint against someone in her old office.
She said the complaint was filed with the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in Raleigh, which oversees judicial operations statewide. This could not be confirmed with the administrative office Monday evening.
Cannon said one element of her complaint was that District Attorney Mike Nifong failed to take action when she informed him of the alleged harassment.
Nifong had no comment.
Cannon would not name the person who allegedly harassed her or provide any further information.
Friday was her last work day at the Durham District Attorney's Office. She began a new job as an assistant prosecutor for Orange and Chatham counties on Monday.
"I really don't want to get into the details of it," Cannon said of her complaint. "It's something that needs to be handled by the AOC. I can't discuss it further. I'm just starting a new job."
Cannon's complaint marked the second time in a year that a Durham court official was accused of sexual harassment.
Late in 2005, former Public Defender Bob Brown was suspended and then resigned for alleged harassment against one of his assistant attorneys. The woman claimed Brown bothered her with numerous comments, gestures and actions -- but no actual touching.
Meanwhile, Cannon's former boss -- Nifong -- is up for election today in a campaign that has been marked by acrimony and virulence.
A veteran of 27 years as a Durham prosecutor, Nifong faces challenges from local Republican Party Chairman Steve Monks and County Commissioner Lewis Cheek, who has said he would not serve if elected.
Monks and Cheek are running on an unaffiliated basis. Cheek's name will be on the ballot, but Monks is running on a write-in basis.
If Cheek polls the most votes, Gov. Mike Easley would appoint someone to serve in his place.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-785638.html
Nothing is going to happen to Nifong over this case, imo.
The only way he is going down is if he loses the election.
If he wins the election, which he likely will, he will see it as a vindication of his methods and be bolder than ever, and this case will grind on to trial in 2007 just as he has been saying it will.
IMO, if the fong wins the election, he has won the whole battle.
Nope. Not even close. He'll be disbarred. Count on it...
Well, I hope so because I certainly think he should be.
I can't see any public official doing anything after the people of Durham have endorsed him and his methods, though.
http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2006/11/07/News/Security.Guard.Alleged.Lax.Victim.Sought.Money-2444038.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com
Security guard: Alleged lax victim sought money
Adam Eaglin
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