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.
And Peach knows orgies!
... apparently... lol They have cop shows on MTV???
bbl gotta get some work done. Thanks for gethering so much info, everyone. :-)
Pinz
I would say that the DNA results were as inconclusive as winning the lottery on a Tuesday when it snows in July. Trillions to one odds. How could they say "inconclusive" when there was NONE found on the accuser?
This might be a dumb question, but why would the players be asked for DNA samples, if they hadn't found DNA to compare them with?
Look in the newspapers.
The entire Country is.
Alumni in this thread have expressed their concern about the school's image being tarnished over this incident.
The point is they were visible repsentatives of Duke as they were a Lacrosse team. If they were jsut joe and Jim Schmow students, it probably wouldn't have been this bad.
And WHY did the Lacrosse coach resign right after this broke??
Oh those cops get around :-)
Well, Peach, I guess you do, so I'll have to take your word for it.
The DA has never represented that the DNA was inconclusive. Those are Rita's words and we all know how realiable she is. /s
Let the discovery begin!! We'll find out soon enough.
Maybe she was just at Bullock's bar-b-q and had to use the bathroom.
The 20 minute window has been destroyed as an opportunity for rape.
The first picture after the 27 minute gap shows the accuser SMILING and talking on her cell phone. Impartial Media types have stated that window is not of use to the Prosecution. The woman's story is that she almost died and ended up having to run out of there. So that window is shot to hell by that picture. Also, watches on students in the pics correlate to the time the forensics experts said the Camera had.
.
...and she has complete clarity of what happened while under the effects of the drug for 30 minutes.
Everyone's bodies have DNA on them. Under our fingernails. Someone's hair on our shirt, etc.
So a judge allowed for 40 something lacrosse players to submit to DNA testing to see if any of their DNA matched that found on Crystal.
Amazing she could fight 3 men for 30 minutes and not have any of their DNA under her nails, including the fake ones found in the house, or any of their DNA (hair included) found on her clothing. Which also amazingly enough wasn't torn.
"Black opportunism" is a racist statement?"
Yes.
"Was Tawana Brawley black opportunism? "
No it was Al Sharpeton at his customary vile actions, aided and abetted by the customary gang of associates.
"When this turns out to be a phony charge, how would you characterize a black woman falsely accusing two white men of rape, allowing the black community of Durham to turn out in her favor, and Jesse Jackson to make a big show of coming to town and awarding her a scholarship?"
If that's true, I couldn't print my response on this board.
If she made the IDs within twelve hours of the attack, why did the City Manager blame her inability to provide details as the reason the search of the house didn't come until the 16th?
IMO, my hunch (just like the first 911 call) will turn out to be correct.
There's a reason for a discrepancy in two documents submitted to the court. I think that reason is the DA's interpretation of the evidence.
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Hon, you could just look in a dictionary and find out the meaning of the word orgie. Why don't you do that instead of making a fool of yourself by repeatedly claiming things that aren't true. I'm embarrassed on your behalf.
People tend to get worked into a hysteria over things like this and make silly judgments.
It's not clear why you feel that seeing a stripper is such an heinous act. College kids do those kind of things - it's part of growing up.
I haven't seen an explanation at all. I'm guessing that the DA thought if she really had $2,000 in her possession that it might make her look like a hooker. Duh...
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