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.
Is it possible Nifong's this stupid? No one's that dumb, are they?
____________________
Stupid?
Nah he is being very smart. He only has to answer to the population of Durham, which is almost 50% black, and to his boss, the Mayor, who is black.
Nifong is not concerned with how he looks to outsiders. His goal is winning the primary in two weeks, and the only way he ever stood a chance was to nail some white tail to the wall.
"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?"
I presume you believe the converse - "Like I said, as soon as two WHITE strippers walked in to this house, the (BLACK) 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?"
PLUS; they would have had to taken away after that 12:30 picture, gone to the bathroom, undressed her out of a body suit, choked, raped, beaten, and stranged her, redressed her into her body suit, and taken her RIGHT BACK to where she was in the 12:30 in time for the 12:37 picture!
Multi tasking. ROFL!
ROFLMAO.......I mean REALLY roflmao!
These boys are superhuman.....why did they pick this timeframe...there's a 20+min gap that would be more plausible.....
Because they would have been arrested, eh?
Because obviously they have now understood that she was in that bathroom doing her nails during that time; where else would the wet nail polish come from?
It's virtually impossible.
Yes! You were so right about that last night!
I don't know how long nails take to dry. I don't do nails.
What time was it that the stripper was seen smiling?
I am not surprised this is in chat.
I tried to follow the factual discussion today in between the hijackers whose names escape me or I'd ping them.
I wonder what they were looking for.....I would think after 3weeks the boys would have destroyed any possible evidence if thet had it...I think this may be about the 3rd suspect..
LOL!
Nance DisGrace is unbelievable. I saw part of the show a few days ago where a guest was explaining the context of the "skin them" email and she was actually hissing at him.
She won't be smiling when she is deposed in the near future.
:-)
They weren't dry; the polish is on the rail and on Kim's car.
If she's listening to Abram's on MSNBC at all today she won't be smiling either. She's in a trick box now. No pun intended :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.