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.
Okay, you are forcing me to show my ignorance: what is a freak dance expert?
Or perhaps even a Motion to Dismiss for Prosecutorial Misconduct, which would be like going nuclear among these lawyers
You think she was unconscious and the players put her in Kim's car?
If that is so, why hasn't Kim told that to the defense team?
I'd pay good money for a front row seat to watch Bob Bennett wipe the floor with this guy.
Freak dancing is basically a standing lap dance.
They should do a PAY FOR VIEW of this. LOL
What are we missing here?
Where there are holes, it doesn't make sense that there are holes.
Who took her to the hospital.
If Kim, the security guard, and the police officer, plus pictures and no DNA are all on the side of the defense, what the HELL does he have?
So true. This whole scam is totally about race. Ho many rapes do you think have happend in Durham in the last few years? Black on white, black on black, what ever. How about this from last October: An elderly woman was bound and raped in an East Durham home early Saturday, according to police. Did the folks at NCCU demand justice? Personally, I'd be more outraged at the rape of an elderly woman in her own home than a drunken prostitute stripping for drunken students.
She may have said that for all we know.
The photos show the accuser sprawled on the ground, passed out just before 12:41.
Someone physically has to help her into the car at 12:41.
The cop says she is unconscious at 1:30.
The security guard may be saying the same thing at 1:22.
So is there any reason to think she sobered up for a few minutes and passed out again, or was she more likely passed out or unresponsive the whole time?
UNBELIEVABLE!!--no doubt two of the guys who lived there--Bet they wished they'd done their laundry--Who would guess their towls would have their DNA--What a shock!
Come on down; Al Sharpton's suppose to be here Sunday!
1.) I have no idea if she was raped or not. 2.) The case you state may be true but 3.) The people I was responding too did not say anything about the evidence of rape, only that she was passed out drunk, as if that was proof that she was lying and I say that is BS. If she was lying and there is evidence, or no evidence in the case of DNA, of the fact, fine, then rip her a new one, BUT the people making the remarks that I responded too were stating their case simply on her being drunk and that makes them jerks.
As to my "reading" about the case before I post, I propose that you read people's post and understand them before making replies to them, this will save you from incuring people's wrath needlessly. As for me, I just put you down as another idiot who fails to understand what they are reading.
Isn't it obvious? The crack whore was scr****g her brains out all day long in the hood. All of her injuries, and every other indication of rape, occurred then. Now, later that night she had this stripping gig with the Lacrosse team. But she got mad at those cute white boys because they wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole, and so she falsely accused them of rape. How many times do we have to hear this story before we recognize it for what it is, Tawanna?
He has a sworn statement of the accuser she was raped by three guys at the house, he has the SANE nurse examination "consistent with" rape and he has photo identification of the two suspects (plus the towel if it is those two).
The defense does not get to present their side to the GJ, so that is probably sufficient to get a true bill, and therefore Nifong accomplishing something before the election.
Al Sharpton and his Easter Bonnet--quite a thought!
Reminds me of an old saying. 90% of men admit to occasional self-pleasuring; and the other 10% are lying.
If he had waited a week or so, I would have been in the neighborhood. THANK GOD, I'LL MISS THAT!
Charming. No pole?
I wonder where they were from 12:41 until 1:22.
Maybe; maybe not.
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