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.
She is flat out lying.
I'll get you the comparisons.
And I suspect a very good one.
I think many of you misunderstand the points he has been trying to make, even if it seems pretty clear to me.
Granted, he has made comments about the life of ease some kids from wealthy families, but that should be no shock to anyone.
The larger point I think he was making is that kids from rich families have access to the funds to provide an excellent defense in cases like this; but kids from a poor family would likely get railroaded by a prosecutor and lazy public defender. He also seemed to be implying that a dishonest prosecutor, and there are plenty of them, really don't care if the accused is guilty or not; they just want a conviction.
It seems to me his 'issue' is that the courts are not just and he is pissed off that they aren't. Whatever cynicism he has is based on reality and not some myth.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=4091290&ft
Bruises are clearly visible on legs and thighs" at midnight.
LOL - that's 45 minutes of my life I will never get back. Anyone think this is all sort of persona she puts on? I know she is unstable from what happened to her fiance, but sheh seemed like she was going to cry at the end of the show tonight.
Also, if I were a service member, I wouldn't want Nancy Grace "honoring" me - the association with her would make people think I was a nut too.
Thanks!!!
I don't think the police gave her clothing. It was a red see-through nightgown, so it's not something a hospital would have on hand, either. They'd just give her a hospital gown.
As we say here in the South--I think you 'settled his/her hash'.
She ain't gonna make it to trial. I see a nervous breakdown on the air...
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=4091290
And there's one more from Dan Abrams
here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1616498/posts?page=8#8
That was the problem that got him off on the wrong foot. His posts came across at being perpetually pissed off at children of wealth because they won't have to work as hard as he did.
Poor kids can be asses just like wealthy kids can.
Thanks Howlin...I just read it...I can see why you changed...lol
What a freakin' liar that woman is. Thanks for the links. That woman is absolutely nuts!!
AGAIN!? They are still searching for more evidence--another fishing episode.
Exactly.
If I have this right, they are now claiming that the rape took place between the 12:30 picture and the 12:37 picture.
Why are they searching now. If they had anything to hide, it would have been long gone by now. Wouldn't put it past the police to try and plant evidence.
That's becoming the broken record in this case, "The DA refuses, The DA refuses, The DA refuses..........."
Gotcha.
Listen to this guy on Rita.........he's telling it like it is.
Seems like the timeline and accusations change nightly in response to the defense pointing out discrepancies.
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