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.
I would say that the Jackson/Sharpton factor is absolutely crucial to how this all plays out.
If one of them gets involved, the complaints of blacks has "street cred" and it really heats up.
Contrary-wise, if neither of them comes, I think the black anger does not reach critical mass.
I am sure that the reverends are agonizing over whether or not to put their "credibility" on the line.
she really is a vile women, she is never happy unless convictions are made after she deems everybody guilty and; becomes pissed when they are found not guilty
One of the articles from maybe a week ago said that there was no evidence that she had engaged in any kind of sex for some time -- three weeks? -- when she was examined in the hospital.
I wait with you for someone knowledgeable to pop up.
No evidence of sexual activity of any kind, maybe she dreamed she was raped in her induced state of drunkness
It would not be odd for a nurse to be sympathetic to an alleged victim. Let's remember that most alleged rape victims are truthful, first of all, and second, nurses operate from a calling to care for their patients and help them heal, so I don't think the way they approach recording their observations is a function of the propaganda, but it may be in some cases. As long as the nurses record observations accurately and objectively, I don't think their personal sentiments are an issue. But I would not be surprised if there are a few who would fudge their medical ethics a bit if they have an axe to grind against men in general.
Some people have claimed that the alleged rapers could have used condoms. But why did they take DNA samples from 46 players on the team if they had nothing to compare it to? Presumably, the rape kit would have shown some foreign DNA in the stripper. If there had been no DNA on her, then there would have been no reason to test the 46 other guys.
Speaking of WPTF, I salute their work on this matter. It has been a long time -- in this area -- since I even bothered to tune in radio for local news.
WPTF even carried the NCCU thing live. They are all over it!
That would fit with what was posted earlier in this thread:
And she [I think "she" refers to the security guard] said the police did not say they were going to take her to the hospital -- they said they were going to take her [the stripper] to the 24 hour holding tank.
-- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1614665/posts?page=26#26
If the Revs don't show, the indictments must go.
That is the exact reason I would not have submitted to a DNA test if I was one of the players. No reason to do it until they had the tests from the stripper completed first.
What the DA is doing in this case is the exact reason you do not talk to the cops if you think they may be out to get you; even more so if you are innocent.
The discussions about the photographs of the dancers arriving and leaving have described what she was wearing and that the clothing (more like a costume) was intact when she left. She is described as wearing a skin-colored body suit with a red lingerie top and bottoms (I'm guessing those short, silky nylon little dance or jogging shorts). It's been discussed numerous times, and was originally described by one the defense lawyers telling about what all the photos showed.
Yet she was found in a nightgown. How did that come about?
I can almost guarantee you she will not be called. Nifong will shuck and jive about how traumatic the whole thing has been so he will have the reporting officer sworn in and read her statement.
Didn't the security guard at Kroger's describe her as being in see through lingerie? Since it has been reported that her boyfriend took her to the hospital, perhaps he brought her the nightgown/bathrobe?
One possible way I can see this playing out is that at some point (after the May election), the DA announces that she is a "victim of drug dependency" and that her account of what happened was so clouded by her "unfortunate condition" that her testimony is unreliable and the charges will be dismissed by agreement.
The woman is then not charged for making a false accusation, but admitted into a drug treatment program. She fends off possible lawsuits by claiming that her accusation was not made in bad faith, but was a product of her drug dependency.
I feel deprived that we don't yet know what type of dancing she enjoyed - foxtrot? two-step?
I thought it was more like 40%, but I'm really not sure. 10% sounds low to me, but it's been awhile since I noticed any statistics on that subject.
Remember when we were wondering why it took the police so long to get her out of the parking lot .. and to the hospital?
Sounds like we know why now
And for them to pry her fingers off like that .. she most of been doing some major drugs
We use prelims here in CA, although a GJ is available. It's sort of a cowardly route to take, but some prosecutors use it in iffy cases. NC uses the indicting GJ to initiate all threshhold felony cases. There is no defense presented to the GJ.
So having racial slurs thrown your way is a 911 emergency?
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