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 wouldn't find it unusual if the numbers were removed because of the threats coming from the community although there probably would be residue that would make the numbers noticeable although probably not from the street.
Well, considering that they went door to door last night advising the residents that there had been threats of driveby shootings, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
It would be odd to remove the house numbers and LEAVE the fingernails, wouldn't it?
From this new AP story, the house is now vacant.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20060402/D8GNL0CG0.html
Further, it alludes, but is not quite clear to me, that Duke University is the actual owner of the house.
I've been curious as to why the full street address has been prominent in this story when usually the press is more coy (i.e. "610 N. Buchanan" instead of "the 600th block of N. Buchanan"). Normally, they protect the actual address much the way they protect the identity of the victim. That's just one aspect to this I find odd. It might be because it's not owned by an individual but rather by the college so they don't feel the need to guard the identity of the house. But the true owners might.
This AP story also takes a "more than meets the eye" approach yet without declaring sides. It does seem as if they are being sympathetic to Duke in a way they wouldn't be to, say, a Republican office-holder.
It also mentions a Duke wrestler who has been 'assured' that no rape took place.
You know, it could very well be that the dancer showed up, heard some racial slurs, decided to stop the show, went to the car, was told if she left she wouldn't be paid, was persuaded to go back and finished but made up her mind she was going to get back at these students by screaming rape and leaving some evidence behind (like the fake fingernails).
If the neighbor is correct about the "cotton shirt" line which allegedly happened on her first trip back to the car, I could see that this could have been part of her plan.
Mistake. When I said that comments on this 'board' I meant on this thread.
The original search warrant is available here.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0329061duke1.html
See, I read it differently; I grew up in North Carolina and, even though I'm white, I, too, have been subjected to those attitudes from the Dukies. But it's just life, it's just something we have lived with here for years and years; it might surprise you to know that a couple of weeks ago on the Sunday of the ACC Tournament final game, Duke against Boston College, a new team to the conference, the ONLY people in this state who pulled for Duke were people who went to Duke; everybody else -- and I mean everybody -- was pulling against Duke! They are just hated that much.
But it's just a part of life, you know? It's nothing that "held me down" or "repressed me" or anybody I knew; we mostly mocked them.
The one thing that has always fascinated me during basketball games is, as I look down the rows of drunks hopping up and down for hours on end, I'm thinking to myself, "Doctor, lawyer, bank president, lawyer, doctor..."
It's kind of scary.......LOL.
That is an interesting article though, even though I disagree with some of it. I cannot find any court order for the other players' DNA tests and their attorneys have said that they went voluntarily.
Duke does own that house -- I believe they bought it from the owners with the intention of tearing it down because the families around it have carped for years about the "college hijinks" that go on there. Of course, they are idiots who bought houses across the street from the East campus, thinking they'd live in a hip place and now they want the kids out of there -- it's ruining THEIR neighborhood.
Something else interesting I heard today: almost the entire team is on the ACC Acadamic List, whatever it is called, good grades.
For what it's worth, I can imagine that very scenario you've suggested; I think she got scared/offended, left, they apologized and asked her back and maybe somebody made a move and things went from bad to worse.
But I still think that if those boys had the slightest clue that they were in any kind of trouble, they would have scrubbed that house from top to bottom; a house that 3 jocks lives in is an easy place to spot FOUR FAKE FINGERNAILS, wouldn't you say?
Also, the next door neighbor, Pissy, or whatever his name is.........LOL....seems to have a full time job watching that house, doesn't he? He is beginning to sound like a male version of Gladys Kravitz, not to mention the fact that his "story" seems to be EVOLVING from day to day, as he "fill out" the details.
Your opinion carries enormous weight in these here halls.
There are plenty of people here who disagree with you, I can assure you!
But I hope you mean in a good way.
You have a problem with reading comprehension? I said you can't trust the cops or the DA
I said one would not need an attorney at this point because you simply tell the cops you are not going to talk to them and to get off your property unless they had a search or arrest warrant. You don't step outside, don't allow them in, and you most certainly do not go down to their office to talk to them. They cannot make you talk to them and if they arrest you without probable cause, you will sue their asses off; and win.
Now, if yu don't know your rights or the law, it might be advisable to consult an attorney.
Most assuredly in a good way. I have recently changed my fr name when it was pointed out to me that my prior choice left folks with the wrong impression. I've posted with you before and think you are a great asset to FR. My last post was deliberate as I wanted to be clear that your opinion here does have an impact.
Well, it is late and I was thinking about what you said concerning this case.
Maybe I am slanted; I've been a court reporter for 25 years and I guess I'm kind of jaded. I'm suspicious of everybody in the courtroom, including the judge and the attorneys.
Basically, they all lie. When people ask me what court reporters do, I tell them that we swear people in and then watch them lie. :-)
But I am set on autopilot to question every word out of people's mouths. And since I am right here, listening to this 24/7, I'm hearing all the discrepancies in all the reporting and in all the interviews; it makes me TENSE, to say the least. I'm interested in the TRUTH, not the spin or the twisting of the law, by either attorneys or DA's.
And I'm a trial junkie, that's for sure.
BTW, I think you are getting our rain!
Thank you for your kind words.
Everybody is jaded, we just happen to be right. Lucky us. I wish we could forget the trivial crap and focus on the gents/gals in harms way.
This is true!
We're all in harm's way, IMO, and I'm messing around with this. :-)
Honestly, though, stories like these keep a lot of us from going postal. It's like a diversion.
Take up golf. Now that will piss you off. Whoever said a 'great walk ruined' was simply a piker.
Churchill said that.
I'm going to bed -- here in North Carolina we have "sprung" forward.
Nite.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I suspect the rape might be trumped up and may have been sparked initially by some racial comments that the stripper first took offense to and then decided she could exact a deeper revenge by yelling "rape" instead of "racist", thinking the former would get the boys in more hot water than the latter.
BTW, the next-door neighbor has some good reasons to check up. If you go back to the picture you posted earlier, there's not much separating the jocks house with the neighbor's house (if that's the right neighbor). If the neighbor's not a student, he's probably had it up his eyeballs with loud parties and loud music coming from next door. It also mentions he was smoking a ciggy as he observed which could be because he isn't allowed to smoke indoors.
The article also ID's the 1st caller as black. When I heard it replayed, the caller sounded white to me. She also referred to her "black girl friend".
I agree. She sounded white and you're right, she referred to her "black" girlfriend.
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