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.
Thanks! That may be the excuse they used. FWIW, I don't buy it.
Okay, thanks. Gosh, what a mess.
He's praying those Labcorp tests prove one of them did it.
Bump and bingo! It really is sad to know that what I must tell the kids about The Police is the opposite of what my parents told me. The rules now are: the police look at you as the enemy, their main job is to put somebody -- anybody -- in jail, etc.
The worst is trying to explain to them why you have to tell the truth, but not to the police, as this example clearly shows.
Your post made slogging through this thread worth it! ;)
I thought the defense attorneys requested the seal, but smoking gun has motions to seal signed by Nifong stating they both were a flight risk.
Further, they are dated April 12, but stamped the 10th.
Right now, its more like Lacrossed.
Oh dear....that does change things, doesn't it? How unfortunate for the dastardly Durham DA if his protege and vote getter picked 2 of the team who weren't even there!!
ROFLMAO!!
Good. I wouldn't want anybody to think I agreed with you about one thing.
Why'd Nifong pick Labcorp, anyone know?
Does he yet know that the first two can prove they'd left by the time the events in question occurred? (If, in fact, they can.) And if that doesn't pan out is he going to work his way through the entire roster?
Nifong is really the lowest piece of scum I have ever seen in the legal system.
The DA is a complete joke and should be thrown out of office for this stunt
No, all I knew about the case is what I read scanning some FR threads on the matter, and punching up a couple of videos at other websites.
How about adding the local constabulary to that list if this info is news to them.
Hey, Howlin'!
What is the world is a diehard NC fan doing siding with Duke?
Tsk-tsk.
Gonna have to tell Dean Smith about this!
These two mug shots of these guys I have seen are pretty bad............. but these young men from Duke have justice on their side.
Glen Reynolds! Is that you? Hey ya'll, Instapundit's here!
:0
STFU!
You add absolutely nothing cogent except an extreme class animus selectively applied and reasoned.
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