Posted on 04/13/2006 3:21:02 PM PDT by ghost of nixon
DURHAM, N.C. -- A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by members of Duke University's lacrosse team was described as "just passed-out drunk" by one of the first police officers to see her, according to a recording of radio traffic released by Durham police on Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press.
The conversation between the officer and a police dispatcher took place about 1:30 a.m. March 14, about five minutes after a grocery store security guard called 911 to report a woman in the parking lot who would not get out of someone else's car.
The officer gave the dispatcher the police code for an intoxicated person and said the woman was unconscious. When asked whether she needed medical help, the officer said: "She's breathing and appears to be fine. She's not in distress. She's just passed-out drunk."
The black woman, a 27-year-old dancer and college student, told police she was sexually assaulted and beaten by three white men around midnight at an off-campus party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team. The racially charged allegations have led Duke to cancel the highly ranked team's season and accept the resignation of its coach.
No charges have been filed, but district attorney Mike Nifong has said he believes a crime was committed. Attorneys for the players have said DNA tests failed to connect any players to the alleged attack, and they have urged Nifong to drop his investigation.
The radio recordings, obtained by the AP through a records request, are the first instance in which police or anyone connected with the investigation has said the woman appeared to be intoxicated.
Defense lawyers, however, have said time-stamped photographs taken by the players show that the accuser was drunk and had already suffered some injuries when she arrived at the house for the party.
The recording is consistent with "what I have seen of the photo evidence before," attorney Kerry Sutton said. Those photos, she said, showed that she was "way beyond where you would put somebody behind the wheel of a car."
The description of the woman's medical exam -- which Nifong has said is his basis for believing a rape occurred -- does not mention her being drunk. It states only that the woman's injuries and behavior were consistent with having been raped, sexually assaulted and having suffered a traumatic experience.
The woman has told police she and another dancer hired to dance at the party arrived at 11:30 p.m. March 13. The pair reportedly left the house a short time later, fearing for their safety. The accuser told police the two were coaxed back into the house with an apology, at which point they were separated. That's when she said she was dragged into a bathroom and sexually assaulted, beaten and choked for a half-hour.
At 12:53 a.m., police received a 911 call from a woman complaining that she had been called racial slurs by white men gathered outside the home where the party took place.
The defense has said it believes the second dancer at the party made that call. The 911 call from the grocery store security guard was placed at 1:22 a.m.
In it, the caller says, "Um, the problem is ... it's a lady in somebody else's car and she will not get out of their car. She's like, she's like intoxicated, drunk or something. She's, I mean, she won't get out of the car, period."
A police spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the radio traffic.
The case has focused intense national scrutiny on Duke and the lacrosse players and has sparked protests on the elite private university's campus and elsewhere in Durham. The school last week canceled the highly ranked team's season and coach Mike Pressler resigned after the release of a vulgar and graphic e-mail sent by a team member shortly after the alleged assault.
Several of the defense attorneys say they expect the district attorney to ask a grand jury on Monday to issue charges in connection with allegations.
"Rest up on Sunday," Sutton said.
There has been no official word, however, on whether Nifong intends to present the allegations Monday. His next opportunity would come two weeks later.
Think about this: a police officer thinks she's dead drunk; Sports Illustrated is now saying that she didn't accuse anybody or rape and never mentioned Duke.
So when DID she accuse them? Could it have possibly been the time -- 31 hours -- that the Durham City Manager said it took for the "accuser to get her story together?"
If she never named them until 31 hours later, this is O V E R.
You're exactly right.
I wonder how those liberal Yankees feel about "tolerance" now.
False Rape Accusations Are Not Rare
by Administrator @ 3:13 pm. Filed under Politics, Forensic Medicine
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A recent look at TruthLaidBear brings up a statement of “outrage” about a judge ruling a rape accusation false. A common theme among those who are outraged is as stated by one such (Shakespear’s Sister) that:
“Yes, there are some women (and men) who file false rape charges. They are, however, rare, usually quickly identified as false, and are almost always thrown out long before trial.”
Having been involved as an expert in a multitude of cases with significant publicity, I know that it is foolish to be certain of guilt or innocence based on news accounts. I do know, however, that the statement above is simply false.
A study of rape allegations in Indiana over a nine-year period revealed that over 40% were shown to be false — not merely unproven. According to the author, “These false allegations appear to serve three major functions for the complainants: providing an alibi, seeking revenge, and obtaining sympathy and attention. False rape allegations are not the consequence of a gender-linked aberration, as frequently claimed, but reflect impulsive and desperate efforts to cope with personal and social stress situations.” ( Kanin EJ. Arch Sex Behav. 1994 Feb;23(1):81-92 False rape allegations. )
In 1985, a study of 556 rape allegations found that 27% accusers recanted when faced with a polygraph (which can be ordered in the military), and independent evaluation showed a false accusation rate of 60%. (McDowell, Charles P., Ph.D. “False Allegations.” Forensic Science Digest, (publication of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations), Vol. 11, No. 4 (December 1985), p. 64.)
One interesting discussion on the internet is at the CrimProf Blog, where this topic was raised, and a number of former AFOSI (Air Force Office of Special Investigations) comment on this 30% number.
As another review notes:
A “Washington Post” investigation of rape reports in seven Virginia and Maryland counties in 1990 and 1991 found that nearly one in four were unfounded. When contacted by the Post, many of the alleged victims admitted that they had lied.
It is true, of course, that not every accuser who recants had accused falsely. But it is also true that some who do not recant were not telling the truth.
According to a 1996 Department of Justice Report, of the roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases analyzed with DNA evidence over the previous seven years, 2,000 excluded the primary suspect, and another 2,000 were inconclusive. The report notes that these figures mirror an informal National Institute of Justice survey of private laboratories, and suggests that there exists “some strong, underlying systemic problems that generate erroneous accusations and convictions.”
That false allegations are a major problem has been confirmed by several prominent prosecutors, including Linda Fairstein, who heads the New York County District Attorney’s Sex Crimes Unit. Fairstein, the author of “Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape,” says, “there are about 4,000 reports of rape each year in Manhattan. Of these, about half simply did not happen.”
Craig Silverman, a former Colorado prosecutor known for his zealous prosecution of rapists during his 16-year career, says that false rape accusations occur with “scary frequency.” As a regular commentator on the Bryant trial for Denver’s ABC affiliate, Silverman noted that “any honest veteran sex assault investigator will tell you that rape is one of the most falsely reported crimes.” According to Silverman, a Denver sex-assault unit commander estimates that nearly half of all reported rape claims are false.
…
A 1997 “Columbia Journalism Review” analysis of rape statistics noted that the 2% statistic is often falsely attributed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and has no clear and credible study to support it. The FBI’s statistic for “unfounded” rape accusations is 9%, but this definition only includes cases where the accuser recants or the evidence contradicts her story. Instances where the case is dismissed for lack of evidence are not included in the “unfounded” category.
Moreover, the DNA exoneration project is revealing numerous cases of false conviction. In one case, an alleged rapist was identified by the alleged victim, and spent 19 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.
While most of my practice has involved people who are clearly victims, in my image processing consultation practice I have seen multiple cases of false accusation of assault and rape. In one case, a man and a woman, both in the Navy but assigned to different ships, met and had sex while on liberty in Bahrain. The next day, the man approached the ship to which the woman was assigned and asked to see the woman to see if she wanted to go on another date. He was immediately arrested and charged with rape. Upon examination, the physical examination of the woman did not support the kind of assault she said happened, and image processing analysis of the skin injuries showed patterns inconsistent with her story. When asked for samples of the clothing and jewelry she was wearing at the time, she claimed that she had destroyed or burned them. Eventually the woman recanted and admitted the sex was consensual. It turned out that the woman was also sleeping with a noncommissioned officer also serving on the ship she was serving on, who was the person the alleged assailant asked permission of to board on the night he was arrested. When faced with her one night stand asking her lover for permission to board the ship to ask her for another date, she decided to claim rape rather than admit being unfaithful.
Unfortunately for the alleged “rapist,” this did not unfold quickly. The young man was under suscpicion (and assigned to a penal detail) for 18 months before the recantation. By that time, his military career had been ruined.
In a second case, there was a divorce and custody battle over the children. In this case, the mother appeared at the ER with significant bruising and claimed that the husband (who was living in different quarters) had beaten her. He was also arrested, but was released on bail. His only salvation was that he tapped his own phones. Shortly before the trial and subsequent custody hearing, the wife called and bragged about injuring herself in order to get custody of the kids.
I do not know the truth in the case in question, and neither to the other bloggers. However, the claim that false accusations are rare is simply untrue. One may disagree with the judgement in an individual case — there are plenty of false convictions and false acquittals in any real world justice system — but the promulgation of the false idea that accusations should be accepted uncritically is a bad thing.
http://www.billoblog.com/billoblog/?cat=5
I am just glad that I am not in Durham, because I don't know how I could bring myself to vote for that redneck lunatic, Freda Black. With her WWII-era fashions and hairstyles, she reminds me of some Nazi wife. (I was thinking Magda Goebbels but I googled her picture and she is much more pleasant-looking than Freda.)(I am not forgetting that she saved the botched Peterson prosecution with her impassioned close.)
Given that they were yelling racial slurs at the girl, (no one has denied this), I doubt they were all that liberal in the first place. And how they or their parents vote is mere speculation- just because New York, for instance is a blue state, doesn't mean that large section don't vote for Republicans.
Maybe they didn't think it was unusual for a woman who looks like a hooker who is in that condition in a parking lot at that time of night to have some bruises, but if it's correct that the bruises and cuts are on her lower legs which is what I read somewhere around here, they probably just didn't see them during their initial contact with her.
The search warrant return indicates some pills were found, apparently with her belongings. I wonder if the pills were hers and were some kind of heavy-duty perscription pain killers that she's hooked on.
I wonder if she was out of it earlier with one of her johns and he complained to her pimp who gave her a beatdown.
Does anybody know what the story is on her military discharge? A few days after this case was first launched by Nifong into the media, I either read or heard in a news report that she had a less than honorable discharge - a general discharge, I believe. Anybody know what THAT is all about? Rita Cosby interviewed her ex-husband the other night (in shadow, of course) and didn't bother to ask him that - or anything else of value.
Maybe this one wasn't the stripper they hired. Maybe the one they hired subbed the job out to the black girl.
I read that she was only married to him for a few months when she was 19, so I doubt he could add much. I wonder where the father or fathers of the children are? They may shed some light on her character.
..the security guard said that the accuser was out of it in the car, that she appeared intoxicated but she didn't smell anything, and she said that when the police got there, it took a long time to get the girl awake enough to get her out of the car..
--
possible she was slipped something in a drink?
this gets more bizarre every day.
I don't claim to be an expert in this particular type of crime as I only investigated two hundred plus over the years. Even got a conviction where a creep kidnapped and raped a 'working girl'.
For any DA to think about going forward is beyond my imagination. This guy better be looking for a hole to climb into.
You oughta be working for Nifong! I think we can count on hearing this.
This causes me to ask again: Is a blood-alcohol and drug test part of the "rape kit." If not, WHY NOT?
Or is the "rape kit" intended only to assist a prosecution?
Both of the strippers were black- why didn't they ask the first girl to leave? Why did they pay her the $800 if they were unhappy? Some of the actions of the players don't quite make sense, such as why they were upset because they stopped dancing after only three minutes when she was in the condition she was in. If a disgustingly drunk, bruised up stripper came in the door, you would think they would be pushing her to keep her clothes on and leave immediately. If and when the photos are revealed to the public we will get a clearer picture of what really happened.
I hope Bennett is down there to act as a check on Nifong. Somebody needs to throw a net over the sorry SOB, and do it quickly. I hope Bennett unleashes the same dogs of Hell on Nifong that he unleashed on Bubba's bevy of sexual accusers back in '98.
It's time for some Opposition Research! Nifong surely has some dirt SOMEWHERE that he can't afford to have released. I don't usually agree with such tactics, but when somebody is as out of control as this DA is, something has to be done to stop him. In this case, he's ready, willing, and able to ruin the entire life of at least one young foolhardy man for his own political benefit and needs to be stopped by any means available.
The bell cannot be unrung once those charges are filed against the lamb about to be slaughtered on Nifong's political altar.
We only the defense's side yet.
Oh please. Haven't you heard that...
"It's hard out here for a pimp -- when he tryin' to get his money for da rent!"
He won't call her. He'll have the medical staff testify as well as the officer who took her statement and also the one who supervised the search of the property and McFayden's email.
Does anybody know what the racial composition of the Durham GJ is?
If she was slipped something like GHB or such, she would have had to had blood taken and tested pretty quickly to catch that.
I too was curious if the Rape Kit was also used when she was at the hospital altho per reports no DNA was forthcoming, likely pictures and some local ointments were in order and not much more or so it sounds.
My general feeling reading about the rape kit and the initial finding of evidence of sexual assault is that if a woman says that she has been raped, they proceed on the assumption that she has been raped, and any ambigious evidence is interpreted as proving a rape occurred.
Does anyone know how SANE nurses are trained? Are they given the propaganda that women practically never lie about rape? That would make it difficult for a nurse to say otherwise, even if she has vague suspicions. In addition, some one wrote yesterday either here or on another board (I have been following this case quite intensely, and I am beginning to lose track) that many SANE nurses would rather be safe than sorry and say that there is evidence of rape, letting the police sort it out.
Obviously he should do an honest job rather than a political job. But for him personally, he now has nothing to lose by going forward. If he backs down, he has no chance at re-election.
I have been thinking that the community interest will actually be well served by a trial. I think Duke supporters can be counted on to finance the defense and no defendant will have serious jeopardy, even in Durham, although, of course, they will be traumatized and tainted. But the community needs to SEE that there is no case. Of course, they will still howl racism, coverup, etc.
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