Father learned daughter connected to Duke case from media reports (Duke Lacrosse Coach Threatened)

Knight Ridder Newspapers; WRAL; NBC17 | TONYA JAMESON

[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.

[Joan Kerrey]

yep, best rule is to believe 1/2 of what you see and nothing of what you hear. Let's wait for the DNA. Anything else is speculation

[Howlin]

It's kicking into high gear now; full front page of the News & Observer, complete with picture of the house and map of the area, along with the headline:

Any lacrosse charges 10 days away
DNA Tests: Prosecutors do not intend to release DNA test results.

District Attorney Mike Nifong said Friday that no charges will be filed in the investigation of a report of rape at a Duke University lacrosse party until at least the week of April 10. He also said he won't release DNA results that had been expected next week.

The tests, which are comparing the DNA of 46 lacrosse players with samples taken from the accuser as well as from towels, rags and rugs in the house where the party was held, could be completed next week, Nifong said.

But Nifong said he had no plans to announce the state's evidence before a trial.

"That's just not how we do business, and I would not anticipate that we would treat this case any differently," Nifong said in an interview.

Prominent Raleigh lawyer Joseph B. Cheshire V, who represents one of the team captains, said it isn't fair for Nifong to publicly talk about the case and whether the players were involved, and then not reveal the test results. The captains' attorneys have said they expect the team to be cleared by DNA.

"He'll say whatever he wants to say in public, but he won't say in public what the evidence is," Cheshire said. "Historically, the standard has been in Durham that prosecutors don't go out and call people guilty before they get all the evidence against them."

Um, why?

Article at N&O

Walkers on Duke University's East Campus peer over a stone wall where a woman says members of the school's lacrosse team sexually assaulted her last month. The Durham district attorney says he won't release DNA test results

[Mo1]

But Nifong said he had no plans to announce the state's evidence before a trial

Ummm ... has this dude every heard of a thing called Discovery??

[Howlin]

I guess he thinks he doesn't have to share until a judge makes him; same thing as with Kobe. There must be a handbook..........LOL.

I wonder if he has to devulge it to the defense?

BTW, the defense has hired a private investigator.

[Mo1]

I wonder if he has to devulge it to the defense?

If he uses it as evidence for his case, yes he does

[Brytani]

Isn't that special. He's convicted the entire team publically but now isn't going to charge for another week and won't release the DNA tests?

Good thing is that one of the players lawyers can force the release of the DNA test results. Also, if this DA gets a DNA match, you bet he's going to hand it over to the defense atty of the accused. If the DA doesn't his a$$ will be handed to him during discovery.

Interesting isn't it that first he says DNA doesn't matter, now he says he won't release the tests.

[Brytani]

Let's say they do have a positive DNA match to someone at the party, that in and of itself does not prove rape. This DA better have more evidence than DNA from a potential consensual sex act.

[Mo1]

Interesting isn't it that first he says DNA doesn't matter, now he says he won't release the tests.

My guess is that he rec'd preliminary results of the tests and they aren't looking good for his case

[Brytani]

Even if he doesn't use it as evidence during the trial, if he uses the test as PC to file formal charges against someone, he has the divulge the results.

[Brytani]

He's had the preliminary results for a while now and most likely the results on the matching.

Extracting a DNA profile from a fresh sample takes days, not weeks.

[Mo1]

Let's say they do have a positive DNA match to someone at the party, that in and of itself does not prove rape.

Do you remember the LaSalle College case with the 2 basketball players?

They were found not guilty of rape charges

[Howlin]

The sequence of events that led to allegations of a sexual assault
Timeline: How events unfolded the day of Duke lacrosse party
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Men began to socialize at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. on Monday, March 13, nearly 12 hours before a woman said she had been raped by three men at a party where Duke lacrosse players were present. There was a flurry of activity in the period between about 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. Here is how events unfolded, according to information in court documents, police reports and interviews with the accuser, plus accounts given by Jason Bissey, who lives next door to 610 N. Buchanan, in interviews and in a statement to police. Times of the 911 calls and police movements are exact. Others are estimates.
2 p.m.: Bissey sees at least five men standing in the backyard of 610 Buchanan drinking beer.

4 p.m.: Bissey sees several young men drinking in the backyard.

8:30 p.m.: The accuser is called by her escort agency and told to report to the Buchanan Boulevard house that night.

11:30 p.m.: Bissey, after being out for a while, returns to his apartment . Several young men are gathered near the back door of 610 Buchanan.

11:50 p.m.: Bissey, on his porch, notices two women walk to the back of the house, where a man greets them.

Midnight: Bissey sees the two women go into the house.

12:20 TO 12:30 a.m.: Tuesday, March 14, Bissey hears voices in the alley beside the house. At least two men are discussing money, one saying, "It's only $100." Bissey sees a man leaning into the window of a car parked outside the house. One of the women he saw earlier gets out of the car and says she needs to get her shoe. She walks to the back door of the house.

Between 12:45 AND 1 A.M.: Bissey sees a car, which at least one of the women had been in earlier, speed away. One man standing across from the house, on the Duke campus, shouts, "... Thank your grandpa for my nice cotton shirt." Several men come out of the house; Bissey hears at least one of them say, "Guys, let's go," repeatedly. Within minutes, there is silence. The lights at 610 Buchanan are dim, and no one is outside.

12:53 a.m.: An unidentified woman calls 911 and says a man near 610 Buchanan called her and a friend a racial slur.

12:55 a.m.: Police arrive and see evidence of a party at the house, but no stragglers. No one answers the door, and police can't find the woman who called 911.

1:06 a.m.: Police leave.

1:22 a.m. A security guard calls 911, reporting that a woman is in a parked car at the Kroger grocery store on Hillsborough Road and won't get out. The guard says the woman appears to be intoxicated and is hardly speaking or moving.

1:32 a.m.: Police arrive at Kroger. They talk to the woman, who reports that she was raped at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. She is taken to Duke Hospital for tests, and a nurse finds evidence consistent with

[Brytani]

Exactly why the existance of DNA does not prove rape.

Even slight vaginal tearing doesn't prove rape since that can occur from normal sexual relations.

It is interesting that this DA is so good when it comes to throwing around accusations but tightens up when it comes to producing hard evidence.

[Howlin]

Is it just me, or are there about 40 people unaccounted for in that story?

[alrea]

Just a disagreement over the money for not doing what was expected could have caused plenty of rough housing by anyone involved. It is common to be pressured, threatened and taunted by strippers and escorts also.

[Bogeygolfer]

"IMO this DA really put his rear into a sling when he basically accused the entire team.Another thing, his office if claiming the team hasn't cooperated, according to the team members all have given DNA samples. Sounds like cooperation to me..."

Several of the players refused to give DNA samples and only did so after a court order from a judge.

[Brytani]

Ok, one questioned answered. If the police did take the woman from Krogers to the hospital that would explain a 6 hour call (if that is the call the 6 hour timeframe came from).

The cops can not leave until the intestigation is fully turned over to investigators, until the police give statements to the investigators and in a case like this write up their reports of the incident, including any evidence gathered at the hospital. That can easily take hours.

Now this brings up another question. The 911 call claiming the racist taunts. The call was obviously made via a cell phone. Why, if this woman was raped didn't she immediately use her cell phone to call the police to report the crime and request medical assistance.

I'm gonna end up watching this trial...sigh

[Brytani]

I'm suprised more of the players didn't demand a court order as well.

Reports are that only a few of the Lacrosse players were at the party, yet the DA wants DNA from all the players? Sorry, it's up to the DA to show who was actually present during the alleged incident and than go for DNA. That's called an investigation this DA thinks it's a fighing expedition.

However the fact remains if only a few of the 46 players refused to give a DNA sample that is cooperation and it's a game the DA is playing to say otherwise.

[Brytani]

So the DA hasn't interviewed people at the party to see what they saw? To find out who was actually present at the party? When you're talking 50 people more than 1 is going to tell all in a case like that.

[Bogeygolfer]

"Why, if this woman was raped didn't she immediately use her cell phone to call the police to report the crime and request medical assistance."

Most women don't even report anything when raped and many of the ones that do don't do it for days. Very few indeed report it immediately. I think that's one of many reasons why rape is so difficult to prosecute. My only point is that I don't think that aspect of this case may not be very relevant.