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.
Just got back from son's track meet (I hate track, but he did jump 6 ft today-pardon the Mom brag).
I heard on XM Megan Kendall say the new tests were are hair samples (head and public hair). Sources say they might be ready as early as tomorrow.
Well he does know the construction industry.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear Nifong claiming the ATM isn't reliable because it was made by Diebold.
If the accuser is even found to have lied about something, the jury can discount the rest of her testimony. And if one or both of those kids have alibis, it's over.
Me too! He came running thinking maybe we'd caught OBL or something :-)
And every single kid person I have ever known that had everything handed to them wound up unable to get it for him or herself.
A few of my clients are VERY wealthy, not wealthy, but VERY wealthy. Their kids are all marshmellows. I had one client force his son to work with me for a summer just to get a dose of what it is to hustle. The mother, the spoiler of the two, was mortified, but you know what, the father thanked me to no end and I was asked to give a speech at Scarsdale H.S. about life after school. Half the girls showed up in bunny slippers and pajamas.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear Nifong claiming the ATM isn't reliable because it was made by Diebold.
lol......shhhhhhhhh don't give them any ideas..
Yep. I said way back when that Mangum's race-baiting backers will determine which of the boys come from money. Then all they need are names and photos, readily available - plastered everywhere - and, perhaps even with Kim's help, pick out two or three who they sort of remember were there.
It sounds like they misfired in at least one case, and that misfire will taint the identification of the other one who doesn't have an alibi.
Has anybody stated whether either of the chosen players are in any of the photographs?
If I were a prosecutor, I would want all test results before I indicted someone. I guess I would make a bad prosecutor.
The guy that was a gentleman and went out and helped her into Kim's car is VERY VERY LUCKY he didn't manage to get sweat, hair, saliva or skin cells on her in the process or he would be looking hard at 12 yr minimum sentence.
Sorry, DaGman, but after witnessing the O-J trail, I'd have to say that's blind faith in a jury.
Actually, there was some stuff; but it appeared that when the women said to stop, he did.
Megan Kendall. That's who it was. I shouldn't have typed guest but I couldn't think of her name.
Congrats to son; you're entitled to brag about him.
ROFL!
The plot thickens, doesn't it?
It's such a nuisance to have to stop reading and posting to keep them fed, isn't it? LOL! It interrupts me almost everyday.
Its funny the flaming I get on this board.
I actually don't mind it, since I know most of the people on this board have not a clue about how these things go down.
Just the hard facts.
I think it is Justice For Her....lists the players and info about them...
Another Rovian plot, lol.
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