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.
I think it was a reaction to the incredible media coverage. Nearly their entire lacrosse program had been villified by, what, 70 interviews form an overzealous, race baiting, running for reelection DA.
Kinda like a restroom in a gas station.....I've learned to be able to *hold it* for about 300miles...LOL
You can't just kick some dirt around :-)
I know what you mean. I was supposed to iron about 20 golf shirts today so maybe I should start doing a few and then just check in here periodically.
Or put a bucket with a capful of PineSol by the door and stick a mop in it. Then get back on FR. The scent lasts for days... giving the illusion of hard work.
That's Miss Marple's theory!
As a practical matter, each game would have become a focal point for all the usual suspects to protest. I doubt they could have played in that atmosphere.
WooHOO......Case explodes in Nifong's face.
LOL!
She lost me during the 2000 election.
hehehehe. The DA won't sleep well tonight.
And please don't mention Cynthia McKinney - this MUST be a political free thread. I just cannot TAKE politics anymore :-)
Tell me, is ignorance bliss?
You can't just kick some dirt around :-)
LOL....but I need to plant my roses...
MSNBC just said again the two dancers were black.
I have some more, but they are trade secrets! LOL!
If it wasn't so heartbreaking, it would be disgusting.
"The idea of imposing strict social codes via the government is abhorrent. I think you'd feel more at home in Singapore or under the Taliban."
Wrong.
I agree with you.
If a bunch of jerks and sluts want to act out, it's their problem as long as they aren't breaking the law.
If you go back to some of my original posts, you will see I was trying to state what you did so lucidly:
"This matter is a special case because Duke, as a private university, has the right to impose moral and social codes on its students. If they violated it by hiring a stripper to perform at a party, the university can punish them accordingly."
Such a situation also applies, or should apply, with respect to certain government employees, teachers, clergymen, law-enforcement personnel, professional athletes, etc.
Society has a right to expect certain social and moral codes be followed for various reasons in certain situations, especially from individuals in a position of trust, authority, or held up as an example for youth.
Most people would agree that a butcher, auto serviceman, insurance salesmen, etc. doesn't need to adhere to any ethical or moral standards aside from those which strictly apply to the service being provided. As long as the guy can fix my car, what he does with his own time is his own business.
I'll iron a few shirts if you plant one rose bush :-)
Personally, I think we're tagged today as lazy housewives.
And credit card receipts!
Do you have a link?
/just kidding ;oD
"Somehow, I think the lawyers will get over it pretty soon. while they may wish their cliets were not indicted, but they have been; it no becomes a battle of skill and wits. Some attorneys live for opportunities like this."
I bet you are right, now that I think about it.
LOL!!!! I always liked Miss Marple. She has a great mind!
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