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.
Howlin
Do you have a link to this defense claim? I had to actually work this morning and can't possibly make it through this entire thread from the start.
I happen to think it is immoral to hire strippers, but that doesn't mean guys who do should be convicted of rape. To assert that would be akin to saying, "If a woman is a stripper, she deserves to be raped."
Doesn't it make a difference on where you live? For Example if you are in the county a sheriff arrests you. But if within the city limits the police do.
I have no idea what they are going to do, other than unload on this DA.
I said once before that after all the media mess the only way I could think of for them to prove they are absolutely innocent is to go to trial.
And just why would you think a defense attorney would not want this to go to trial?
My office is within our city limits; however, sheriffs have made an arrest or two on my premises over the years.
Doesn't it depend on where you get booked and who is doing it? Delay was able to pick out a friendly department that allowed him to keep him suit jacket, tie and US Flag pin on. They also allowed him to smile.
I would image that most departments insist that the person look straight ahead with mouth closed.
May be just a minor procedural thing. We live in the heart of our county. The local Police Departments very seldom serve arrest warrants. For whatever reason, arrest warrants are almost always served by the county Sheriff's Department.
It's on the frontpage of foxnews.com
Depends. The sheriff has jurisdiction within the courthouse. The police certainly srrest people caught in the commission of crimes within the city, but warrants for arrest are generally executed by the sheriff. I'll try and fine the NC statute covering this.
Aren't major crimes always tried in state courts. State courts are administered by the counties.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, though. :-)
And that is what I meant in
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1616934/posts?page=1072#1072
they should not have to prove their innocence at all.
He's a sophmore (Finnetry) and she thinks a family member was there today.
Plays tape of Kim again. There was nothing overtly banged up or bruised about her (Crystal). She's going to testify and says there are a lot of rumors out there from the defense but confirms that she didn't see a rape.
Kim says there is a 20 minute window where she didn't see the girl (Crystal).
Rita continues that Kim told her that the girl's condition deteriorated so much she couldn't even talk or walk or say her name and from the moment they left, they never talked and she just drove to Kroger.
So I am learning! Thanks.
I came into the Rita segment late..but she also said that Kim thinks the victim was slipped something in her drink....
You continue to presume the worst while at the same time disregarding any of the evidence that points towards innocence of the boys.
No DNA - no prob.
911 call about racial epithets while no mention of rape - no prob.
Accuser drunk - found in another's car - no prob.
Accuser's former run-ins with the law-including grand theft auto, high speed chase, attempt to run over officer, various DUIs - no prob.
Daily threats/protests/flyers presuming guilt - no prob.
I could go on but you are simply wedded to some class angle that therefore presumes the players guilty while at the same time giving the accuser a clean bill-of-health because of her social strata (where in fact those involved in her trade and good at it can made astounding money - much of it under-the-table.)
You are never to be taken seriously again - at least where law-and-order issues are concerned.
Which claim?
Yes, she thinks a date rape drug or some thing was used. If they didn't do tox tests at that hospital, it was a huge mistake.
Also, why was the accuser smiling and talking on a cell phone as she left the house but shortly after that, Kim says she couldn't even talk in the car?
It will necessary imo to discover where Chrystal was and the reason she was late getting to the party....and what she might have had to drink before her arrival.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.