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.
"Loco also names the accuser ("Mangum"). I don't know where that is coming from, or, for that matter, some of the other information in the post."
lots of info on these long, early threads:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607267/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1612145/posts
"Great minds think alike.."
"Looks like the DA's case is really falling apart. How stupid can this DA be?"
He's not the least bit stupid. He is aware that he is given prosecutorial immunity. Unless it can be shown he knowingly, deliberately, and maliciously abused his discretionary power, he is safe from any suits by those damaged by his shameless grandstanding.
Thnik of all the publicity he would have missed if he didn't keep the case going.
Who're ya gonna believe, that lyin' DNA or the nice prosecutor?
12:52 -- first 911 call
1:22 -- security guard calls 911
1:30 -- police officer calls dispatcher.
***BTW, I just heard that complete call; there are a lot of codes in it that I don't understand, but he DEFINITELY says he is taking her to the 24 hour holding cell.
From the ESPN interview with the hospital:
"The source says the woman entered the hospital well after midnight March 13 wearing a red nightgown and nothing on her feet.
"The woman was discharged after approximately five hours."
So if they took her to the drunk tank, she wasn't there long. She's probably at the hospital no later than 3 am or so, depending on how one interprets "well after midnight".
Nice turn of the phrase.
As are the packs of even pettier press parsers picking parrot-like at their PCs and promulgating his class-war driven 'get-whitey' lies from coast to coast.
Is that a sobriety test? :-)
It was March 14th.
I had though it had to be less than the thirty minutes, too, until the defense lawyers gave the time stamps on the photographs and their statement that the women were in the bathroom for 27 minutes. Yet Kim's story is that she didn't go back in the house, which I've never believed because everybody EXCEPT Kim originally said they left together. What was she doing during that half hour if Mangum was being raped? It never added up until the defense lawyers said they were in the bathroom, but then the question became what were they doing in the bathroom for so long? And, with that much time in the bathroom, why would she leave her stuff there? To set them up? Maybe, but she wouldn't have to leave her cell phone and $160 to establish the setup. It's still a mystery. Why would Kim be so adamant about not giving Mangum a ride? Why wouldn't they just bolt, and Kim would just give Mangum a ride? What's the big deal? Unless she feared the players were going to come after them for the money and she didn't want to be chased/wreck her car/get stopped by the cops, etc.? If that was the case, then maybe Mangum was giving Kim a song and dance about starving kids and please help me get out of here with the money, etc.? Maybe Kim wanted Mangum's BF/pimp to handle it and, as you suggested, they couldn't reach him, so Kim relented and agreed to give her a ride but not if she took the money because she (Kim) didn't want any trouble? Women working for escort services generally don't work for the kind of guys who want police attention drawn to their operation because causing it could be painful for them.
He said she was unconscious.
VERY stupid!
Didn't the SI article say she was there five hours?
yes, so if she called her father when she was released that would put her admission around 3 a.m.
Here's the link where you can hear the audio tape:
http://www.wral.com/index.html
The very first article.
Hey, can some of your police officer types listen to the audio in 292 and tell us what is says?
bttt
10 4 good buddy....wait thats trucker talk
bttt
Heh Heh Heh - nah it's a 'stay-awake' exercise. Had a fifteen-hour day so far, my 12th or 13th so far this month -- and got a while longer before I'm done.
There are two time periods to keep in mind. Since the defense side says they have time-stamped photos backing their version, I'm inclined to lean toward that at this point.
The women start dancing just after midnight and only dance around 4 minutes. They then lock themselves in the bathroom (say, around 12:08).
They are in the bathroom for 27 minutes together (this is the FIRST critical time period). We can speculate on what was going on. But anyway, around 12:35 or so they bolt out of the house together, and get in Kim's car.
The accuser is overheard by the neighbor telling Kim she forgot her shoes, has to go back in. The defense says the boys locked her out, and she was banging on the door. She never actually reentered the house. THAT was why she never got her stuff.
She passes out for, let's say, about 5 minutes on the back porch/yard (this is the SECOND critical time period). At 12:41 a guy goes out, lifts her up and gets her into Kim's car. Kim drives away and a few minutes later makes the first 911 call.
The prosecution version according to the search warrant is BOTH women went back into the house after initially getting in the car to leave. They were then "separated" and there was a 30 minute period when the accuser was beaten, strangled, raped and sodomized.
The two stories are inconsistent, but the defense says they have photos to back their version.
Well, your alliteration is still in fine form!
I have not paid much attention to this ...after the 30 minute "gang rape" what happens next? the college kids just let the woman go?
Uhhh.... I dont buy it
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