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.
Ruffies are GHB, better known as a date rape drug. It makes you appear drunk and in many cases you don't remember what happened while you were under its influence. It's used mostly by scumbags who slip it in a girl's drink and then have sex with her, but I'm sure there are people who take it deliberately to get really F@cked up. You would never take it if you wanted to continue functioning, though. And it would make no sense for her to take it before stripping- unless she is a total idiot.
How long do you think it'll be before Nancy Grace, Wendy Murphy, or Kimberly Guilfoyle say that the boy(s) planned an alibi?
Just like all the other contortions we've heard. They used condoms (when it's not in the accuser's statement); They used fake names; They planned the entire event; Drunk college kids
were careful enough to rape her 3 ways and beat, kick, and strangle her to within inches of her life and managed to leave absolutely no trace of DNA (skin cells, hair, blood, salvia, or semen)!
Told you.
Me, too.
The Rape Nazis are out in full force.
Yes, you did. :)
Okay....just a few minutes ago Abrams was answering his e-mail and stated that the accuser has said the reason that no DNA was present is she thinks now they were wearing condoms.....did anyone else hear this and is this new?
It may make sense for her PIMP to give it to her, if he misled her about the job.
Photos show two minutes after she arrived that she was walking around missing her right shoe. That's an indication of impairment - 2 minutes after arriving. The other dancer didn't have problems keeping track of her articles or keeping two shoes on.
.
Surely the hospital rape protocol would have ascertained this?
I heard it, but that's now how I understood the email. I thought the writer was saying it was his/her own idea that the alleged attackers wore condoms. To my knowledge, the idea of condoms being used came from Nifong.
In any case, there were no traces of the lubricant or powder used on condoms found in the accuser.
Well, Nifong has been stupid all along, so why not continue the charade.
What else can he say it is? Nail polish destroys his already laughable timeline. I hope the nail polish is still there.
I may have misheard...but I was sure Abrams stated that the victim now says the perps were wearing condoms....
No, I think the claim is that three took turns each raping her, one orifice apiece.
That's what Abrams said...
He's hearing that the woman is now saying they could have used condoms. Orally too? Testing discounted that idea.
It was NOT in her original statement.
.
I would assume that someone intoxicated or under the influence would have a hard time putting nail polish on without leaving traces all over the place. Any word on this. I assume the crime scene photos would show this, as would the post 12:30 house shots.
Thanks for confirming....I thought I was having another senior moment...lol
Ok, but why not escort her out of the house if she looked bruised already?
Of course he will.
I wonder how much the SANE findings were influenced by the many cuts and bruises the accuser showed up with, instead of really abnormal injuries to her nether regions.
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