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.
I would definitely wager that the girls were there for a duo performance involving certain inanimate objects. Not that I've ever saw such a thing back in my fraternity days...
"I don't think that the race issue is that hard to understand. Many blacks resent whites in general for what was done to their ancestors. They do not distinguish among white subgroups. Many Jews emphasized with American blacks because of their own history of persecution and pogroms. Yet many blacks look at Jews as just another type of evil white person, and in the case of Marxist and Muslim blacks, an even more villainous person than are other whites."
Well...like I tried to say before...I don't live in a place where racial tensions are such a problem that it might affect decisionmaking of those in office.
Our population is not very large. The large employers are well integrated as are the local universities and school districts.
The neighborhoods are also well integrated.
So - while we do have problems here, we don't tend to turn on the news and hear about racial tensions or unrest in our area.
I don't think all blacks think the way you describe...but probably many do who were raised to think that way.
I think if you RAISE your children, and INSTILL good morals in their upbringing, you can bypass much of the needed legal knowledge.
Didn't you just feed him last night?
:)
Good post.
Like I said, as soon as two black strippers walked in to this house, the guys should have escroted them out. Nothing good could come out of that. Is it fair, no. Is it is pc??? No. But look at the pandoras box it opened?
The left is completely hypocritical when it comes to shielding the identity of alleged rape victims.
Anyone who was in New York City during the Central Park Jogger case will remember that leftwing black newspapers published the identity of the victim in that case. There was absolutely no doubt she was a genuine victim there. Undoubtedly those same characters are now calling for fully shielding the accuser and her background here.
What's going on with this thread? I tried to post a reply to several differnt posts but instead of getting the reply box it flipped back to the opening article - several times
???????
Well, she's ALREADY lied in the initial police reports!
Waggie, this is a very important distinction! Thank you for sharing it!
I agree, but I find that often times many people are very naive to the bad motives of others.
There are many many bad people out there looking to capitlize on anything, especially a bunch of what is percieved as a bunch of "rich crackers" like in a case here.
Its not fair, but this garbage happens every day in many ways to the unsuspecting.
They hired the black strippers because black strippers are cheaper than white strippers and they give more "entertainment value" per dollar in their performances.
If she falsely accused those young men, it shouldn't be. She should be brought up on charges and made to reimburse the young men's legal fees.
Tell you what, when in you come to NY, look me up and meet me in person, and tell me that to my face and we will see who is bluffing who.
In any event, this case will most liklely get dropped real soon.
They sure got entertainment now didn't they?
Didn't you just feed him last night?
Yes, the nerve of him wanting to eat two days in a row....
What resources do you think she has to pay peoples' legal fees?
Even if she is charged, she will get a plea deal of some sort.
I have to agree. As soon as the players saw these women were black, they would have known trouble was just minutes away if they were older and wiser.
There should be no shielding of either accusers or accused. That's why I thought it unjust that Kate Faber's name was not used in the MSM in the Kobe Bryant case. A few talk show hosts referred to her by name, and caught some flack for it.
Turns out that her story was suspect enough that her team knew it wouldn't hold up in court.
To this day, most of the media will not refer to her by name.
Your first husband, huh? Well, I'm happy to hear that you got rid of that no good, lowdown YANKEE!
Watch the fur fly now!
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