Posted on 04/18/2006 3:26:57 AM PDT by Mad-Margaret
DURHAM -- A day after a grand jury indicted two Duke University lacrosse players in connection with a reported rape, two men emerged from a sheriff's deputy vehicle and were led, handcuffed, into the magistrates office at the Durham County Jail at 4:54 a.m. today.
The arrests stem from a party that began March 13. The accuser, who is a mother of two, an N.C. Central University student and an escort service dancer, told police March 14 that she was sexually assaulted by three men in a bathroom at an off-campus house shared by three lacrosse team captains. The accuser is black; she said her rapists were white.
Defense lawyers said players maintained that there was no sex at all. They said the accuser concocted the story, that she was drunk and injured late March 13 when she arrived at the three-bedroom house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.
"... Two young men have been charged with crimes they did not commit. This is a tragedy," Bob Ekstrand, who represents team players, said Monday in a prepared statement. "For the two young men, an ordeal lies ahead. They do not face it alone; they face it with the love of family and friends and strengthened by the truth. They are both innocent."
Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens sealed a manila envelope containing the indictments shortly after the grand jury finished its business Monday. The judge cited a state law that requires everyone involved in a case, including witnesses, to keep the indictment secret until a suspect is arrested.
Last month, a judge ordered DNA tests on the team's 46 white players; he excluded the only black team member. The players' attorneys say the tests showed none of the players' genetic material on or in the woman.
Nifong, bolstered by a medical exam that found injuries on the woman consistent with sexual assault, says he is confident that she was assaulted in the university-owned house. Nifong said last week at a forum at NCCU that the accuser identified at least one of her attackers.
Until Sunday night, the only other witness, the second woman hired to dance at the party, had remained silent. In television interviews, she told her story.
The woman's attorney, Mark Simeon of Durham, declined Monday to make her available for an interview. She spoke on the MSNBC cable news network, which did not identify her and showed her in silhouette. Simeon confirmed that it was his client on MSNBC.
The woman told MSNBC that she did not witness a rape and does not know whether one occurred.
The woman said she arrived thinking that she would be dancing at a bachelor party of 15 people. She was not expecting a party of lacrosse players, many of whom she said were in a drunken stupor. The woman said she was infuriated to learn that some players photographed her dancing.
The accuser did not appear to be on drugs or to have been drinking when she arrived, the second dancer said. She was "absolutely fine and in control of herself."
When the accuser left, less than an hour after she arrived, she was incoherent and stumbling, the second dancer said.
"She couldn't really walk on her own," the woman said. "She really couldn't get her thoughts together enough to answer any questions. ... She was a different person than I met at the beginning."
The second woman said she was the person who called 911 as the party was breaking up, to complain that some lacrosse players had used racial slurs. "The boys hollered the 'N' word," she said. "I was upset and called 911."
She said she pretended to be a passer-by because she didn't want people in her life to know about her job as an escort service dancer.
It is unclear how that woman's story would affect the case. Players' attorneys have said she would only help them. By day's end Monday, Nifong left without talking to reporters; it remains unclear what evidence he has.
Throughout Monday, there were many more reporters on the sixth floor of the courthouse than the 18 members of the grand jury panel. Reporters tracked the district attorney's movements in minute detail. Just after noon, Nifong emerged from his office and walked across the hallway to the bathroom.
Reporters surrounded the bathroom door in a crowd that included five television cameras, three still photographers, sound men with boom microphones and at least a dozen print reporters. At the sound of flushing, the group tensed, raised cameras and prepared. Nifong did not emerge with news.
"I no longer get to go anywhere in my community without people knowing who I am," said Nifong, who faces two challengers in a primary election May 2. Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741 or ablythe@newsobserver.com.
What was that "did not return her to a safe place" about?
LOL. But will it get more interesting today or should I do some real cleaning today to be ready for tomorrow :-)
Since when does sympathy and constitutional rights have anything to do with each other? Who said give them an unfair trial? All I meant was, those shopping around for a poor, hapless victim have PLENTY of other places to look than to these chumps.
Really.
Those who swore out affidavits that led to the indictments might be subject to civil liability und 42 US Code Section 1983, 1985. If the DA gave legal advice to the cops in this matter, he might also be liable. If the cops had access to evidence of the innocense of the individuals and refused to look at it, they could be civilly liable based on deliberate indifference.
They might also have a civil rights claim against the city.
There is no DNA connecting them. Zip. Nada.
She says she fought off 3 guys for a half hour and you think there wouldn't be DNA under her fingernails? At least.
From what I've heard, the men were pissed at the brevity of the show and the woman's demeaner; they responded with racial insults and possibly refused to pay the agreed amount, and the woman retaliated by making up this story. But this is a college lacrosee team, not a street gang or the mafia or the Clinton White House, and I think if a rape really occurred several of the players - not necessarily the perps - would have admitted it.
It will be interesting to see if the two suspects are discharged from school now. Even more interesting imo, if they aren't.
ROFL. I'll never, ever forget Rita the night she misreported the SCOTUS ruling in Gore v Bush. She's unwatchable, imo.
And it was reported upthread that she said the DNA tests were inconclusive. I've got rocks in the yard smarter than she is.
I'm confused...I thought the defense said they weren't there?
Who knows what about her nails? Maybe they were fake and popped off easy. Maybe they were short underneath and couldn't grip. Who Knows.
The president's actions have added to the media presumption of guilt that has been heaped upon these men. I still do not have a real opinion on what happened, but I think the way this has played in the media and the actions of people who should know better have been atrocious.
Thanks, maggie. Very interesting.
I could respond but instead will let the other Freepers who replied with common sense to have submitted an answer on my behalf. Thank-you Freeper Counsel!
The DNA found on the towels in the bathroom are from the residents of the house, not from the suspects.
And still not be able to identify the third---It's been a month..If somone had done all that she claims how would you not be able to identify?
******
correct
If this entire affair turns out to be a fabricated story on the dancer's part, the hurried and unwarranted dismantling of the lacrosse program should be immediately addressed and rectified. I can only guess how many prospective college students were counting on a lacrosse scholarship to help with expenses.
Swiffer has an entire line of products that will help us get through this!
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