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.
Maybe, but they do not perp walk everyone. There is no reason to be showboating with one particular set of innocent until proven guilty. If they are guilty, I would love to see them hang, but they should be given the same respect and concern we give known criminals.
Quoting Ann Coulter, we don't know they are guilty until Dershowitz takes the case.
I was just going to ask if the defense could now ask for her financial and phone records. I'd think they could do this anytime now that their client has been charged by her.
And is that who she was calling? Her ride.
If any freeper has a more appropriate sceen name than me; I don't know who it is.
No, he will win now. Unless they blow him out of the water before then.
And the thing is, the more they attack him, the more votes he may get.
Sort of a make-it-up-as-you-go-along rolling claim?
Did the bf drive her to the party and was to pick her up?
Is he the escort's escort, if you catch my drift?
Again, that should be easy to confirm.
Did you see my notes way upthread that Rita says that the accuser did ID the two players that morning after she left the hospital? Rita said they took her to the police department and she ID them.
That's the first I'd heard that and I don't think it's correct, considering Rita is also the same one who says the DNA is inconclusive.
What time did Crystal go to her father's house that morning, do we know?
"I feel that he has recklessly set up a situation where a Durham jury will sends 2 innocent young men to prison on the gut feeling that "something happened" rather than the facts."
Well, lets hope that doesn't happen.
If they are guilty they should do the time.
If they are innocent, the DA is in trouble.
Phew!!!
I'm glad I'm wearing my asbestos underwear!!!
Isn't there unverified reporting that the bf is the one who took her to the hospital and we all wondered how the police could let her out of their chain of custody?
Maybe this was a 'slip' to warn that they do indeed know what her activities were and that 6:00 is an important time that they have noted. don't know if she can stop this train wreck now, but I bet she's beginning to wish she could.
This woman won't know what hit her once the defense lawyers cross examine her. This will be more amusing than watching Scott make up his scenario as he went along.
At least no one is dead here. But those players and their parents are being put through probably unecessary hell. Guess I just made my decision about whether or not I believe her. :-/
Pinz
Didn't her father say he learned from the media that Chrstal is a stripper/'escort'.
The link to the original police report is in one of these threads. She did state that $2,000 had been stolen, then changed it to $400. My question was "What was she doing with that kind of cash?" (the $2,000) The $400 amount represents her half of the supposed $800 she and the other stripper were to be paid. I suspect they took back the excess $240 since she failed to perform according to her agreement. 4 minutes doesn't translate to $800 worth of dancing. That equates to
$12,000 per hour. Even Jesse Jackson doesn't make that much in one of his typical shakedowns.
And the thing is, the more they attack him, the more votes he may get.
So is the election county wide? I could imagine that many Durhamites are kind of tired of seeing their city/county dragged through the mud and would just like it to go away. The die-hard Duke haters will vote for him, but I'll bet he's created more than a few Nifong haters.
Uhh.
No.
Even if they were not guilty, this entire episode shows what can happen if students don't behave appropriately.
Even they are innocent, they have slimed Duke in the media by their inappropriate behavior.
If they like orgies, wait until after they graduate.
You're right--Nifong is playing the media and his electorate like a fiddle. I'm sure he's hoping to drag this out through election day, then drop the "mother of two stdent" aka the stripper, like a hot potato...And the media played right along.
I think I found another misrepresentation by the DA.
I'm sure you remember how he misled the press into reporting that the dancer's $400.00 was found on the bathroom floor, when, in fact, $160.00 was found in another room of the residence. Apparently, the DA thought that the $160.00 was consistent with her 400.00 because it was in twenties.
The women are saying that early on a remark was made and that they took great offense to that and it went downhill from there. The Team's Defense lawyers are contending that the women locked themselves in the bathroom and the accuser did her NAILS. This is not insignificant because doing one's nails is NOT CONSISTENT with any of the other statements the two women have made. It also shows a comfort level, if one was to do their nails.
Okay, Here's where I think The DA is misleading.
On the search warrant of 610 Buchanan, it clearly states (and search warrants have to be exacting) that they found 5 fingernails - FIVE fingernails.
Later, when the DA is trying to get a Judge to approve an action by his office, DA-Nifong writes in an offical document that they recovered FOUR Red artificial nails consistent with the accuser's statement. The media picks up on this and it's reported EVERYWHERE that 4 Red polished artificial fingernails are found just like the woman told investigators they would find.
BUT THEY FOUND FIVE. The DA is specific when he describes them as 4 RED artificial CONSISTENT with the accuser's statement. I'm thinking the FIFTH nail is UNPOLISHED and that would bring veracity to the Boy's claim that she did her nails in that bathroom. This would be a huge departure from the story she has told the DA.
I really believe the DA (like the $400.00) is cherry picking the evidence and presenting to the Media what he feels is consistent and wholly ignoring (and not reporting) the inconsistencies.
.
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.