Posted on 03/31/2006 8:03:52 PM PST by Howlin
DURHAM, N.C. - The father of the woman who has accused members of the Duke lacrosse team of sexually assaulting her said he didn't find out that his daughter was the reported victim - and that she is an exotic dancer - until a reporter visited his house.
The retired trucker who lives in Durham said he saw his daughter the day after the reported attack, but she didn't say anything was wrong. She even left her car at the house for several days because he said she didn't want to drive it.
Her father, a quiet man who tinkers on cars as a hobby, said he saw news reports about the attack.
"I didn't know it was my daughter," he said. The Charlotte Observer generally does not name victims of sexual assault, so his name is being withheld to protect the identity of his daughter.
The case has ignited campus protests and stirred racial tension in Durham. The woman at the center of the case is black, and the men she accuses are white. She also is a student at N.C. Central University, a historically black college near Durham's inner-city, compared with the more expensive Duke campus.
DNA tests have been conducted on 46 of the lacrosse players, who deny the allegations. A 47th member, who is black, was not tested because the woman said her attackers were white.
Last week, a reporter stopped by the reported victim's house looking for her, the woman's father said, but he said he didn't know what was going on. He called his daughter and she said the district attorney told her not talk to anyone.
"(She) didn't tell us anything about it," he said.
He said he also found out through the media that his daughter, who is the youngest of three, was an exotic dancer.
"She always told me she was going to work," he said.
On Friday, he installed a timing belt in a car and watched his daughter's two children play outside the house. He said working on cars and playing with the grandchildren helps take his mind off what's happening with his daughter.
He said she seems to be doing "pretty good," and so is the rest of the family. He said they haven't talked much about the reported incident, but it weighs heavily on his mind. He said he's grateful that N.C. Central has been so supportive, but he doesn't like how his daughter has been portrayed in the media. And he's especially frustrated that no one has been charged in the connection with the allegations.
"If it had been anybody but them, they would have been locked up, but yet they didn't because it's Duke," he said. "I hope them boys - if they did it - I hope they get what they deserve. I hope they don't go lenient on them."
District Attorney Michael Nifong said he's waiting for results of the DNA test and that he does not expect to file charges in the case any earlier than next week.
I see what you're saying but it doesn't really answer the question.
She calims to have been raped by 3 men, all of whom she known the first name of. She is also able to state that all three are members of the Duke team. Yet, the DA is not looking at the DNA of those three members, he's going after the entire team.
Secondly, how would she known those three our of close to 50 at a party were members of the team. Wearing their jerseys? I'm skeptical that a paid exotic dancer who admits to turning tricks would know the difference between a Lacrosse jersey from a basketball jersey. It leaves the question, how did she identify them as part of the team?
The third reason I'm so skeptical over this is the claim that only 3 pulled her into the bathroom and yet no witness to this has come forward? Out of 50 people? That doesn't fly in my book.
Questions questions - my minds in overdrive over this one...
Ummm excuse the spelling/grammar mistakes in that previous post - I'm so tired my eyes have sunk to the back of my head and are falling towards my backside!!!!
Did the alleged victim herself actually say to the police that they were lacrosse players? Or did the police learn they were lacrosse players only after the police went to the house and identified the people living there and learned they were the lacrosse team captains, and that there had been a party there for members of the team? Based on the first 911 call (assuming that was made by the strippers as I surmise), the strippers may have been under the impression it was a "frat house" where they performed.
been reading the thread..excellent insights from you all, but I have a few coments/questions to toss out..
1. SJB..wonderful plausible reconstruction..here's a twist to consider. Strippers/exotic dancers/prostitutes ALWAYS get the cash up front...It's the first thing they do..So, one would ask, where do they put the money while they perform...Suppose the team agrees to pay them..everything is copacetic..then while they're doing their thing, some of the guys decide, they'll steal the money from her purse...grab her bag..that's what triggered the altercation...
2. Some comments have suggested that she came from an ecort service, a euphamism for prostitution. Has this been addressed/inveestigated yet in the media? It's not real hard to do...
3. Re the team members voluntarily giving DNA samples, how does NC law handle this? If they are cleared, are the genetic profiles destroyed, or are they entered into the state's DNA database for all time?..
Yes--that struck me also. Sex in the car with someone else that night?
Oh, now that's interesting. I haven't been following this very closely, but I distinctly remember someone saying on one of the early threads, that no one but lacrosse players were at the party.
A very, very possible scenario. Nicely done.
I'm not going to say what I think about that, and will chalk it up to the late hour of the post and perhaps alcohol.
you know, i can't stand Duke. xshub is a huge Syracuse lacrosse fan and Duke was #2 in the nation in LAX according to xshub so we were prepared to be happy that this was going on. But after i heard the very first news account, i was skeptical about it. i don't think they did this.
For the part to disperse that rapidly sounds pretty fishy. Could be they ran because they knew they were in trouble?
You have obviously never seen a situation where an innocet person who answers questions from cops gets charged and wrongfully convicted. I know of several instances.
bttt
Great Thread, Howlin. Sir John Barley -- yours is very plausible. If I had the time at moment, I'd ADD the Police Timeline INSERTS IN BOLD in your analysis. Why? The times of the calls and official "timeline reports" are pertinent. Just strikes me that there's too much "activity" alleged to be happening within the timelines of "official reporting". Yes, the story stinks to high heaven.
"Was there no line-up or sketch of the alleged perps? I don't get it, can't she identify her attackers from their team pictures?"
Bingo!
It's not like the reported attackers jumped her in a dark alley. She had to have gotten a good look at them. It's not like the DA has to find them in the entire city of Durham or even in the entire Duke U. student body. There are 46 white players (47th is black and is not a suspect) on the lacrosse team. If she can't ID them from photos or a line up then I can't see how there's any case. Normally a positive visual ID is enough to press charges even without DNA.
I think she was mistaken when she told the DA that they were on the lacrosse team and he jumped right on it in public. Was he so stupid as to think that the party was exclusively lacrosse players? Now he's having to backpedal and his credibility is taking a hit.
Very nicely put together, SirJohnBarleycorn
That makes the most sense of what could have happened
This was exactly the scenario I was envisioning.
The job of the DA and the police is not to find out the truth. Their job is to build and prosecute a case. Hugely different tasks.
She alleges they then began to sexually assault her. She also claims to have been "hit, kicked and strangled".
How big was that bathroom to fit 3 big guys and the girl where a fight/struggle occurred??
Re-read what I posted. Rape and Child Molestation are accusations where the person is pretty much guilty until they're proven innocent.
If these kids did not have a lawyer to protect their rights, to make sure the DNA wasn't going completely overboard trying to find evidence where no evidence exists and to assure the legals right of the accused are not trampled on, they very well may be convicted wrongly.
Rape is a he said/she said crime. Even when DNA and trace evidence is found it's still her word against his. Baring cases where a woman has obviously physical abuse consistent with a violent rape.
Here you've got a woman who is making an accusation, a DA that's has the names of the 3 supposed "rapists" and yet is going after an entire team. He's fishing trying to get a conviction and the only way to protect yourself is by hiring a person who knows as much about the law as the DA does - that would be another attorney.
That I am not sure about, Howlin would probably know having followed the case from the very beginning and being in the area.
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