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.
But being a stripper (exotic dancer, prostitute, or whatever) doesn't fit this description?
I wonder how long it will take to move it to chat?
She's in that protected class of people. Underachieving, single mother, minority.
And somewhere in her alcohol and/or drug induced stupor she decided that she could use a bunch of rich, white college guys as her own private lottery jackpot.
Well, it's just 5 a.m. on Mr. Robinson's coast. We have a little time left. ;-)
LOL. Actually, I don't mind being in the back room - makes it less likely the disruptors will find us.
And did you hear the woman on Brit's show last night; she said the woman just happened to accuse the students who come from the two most wealthy families on the team.
Sorry, just got back home ... looks like I missed it CDT.
And that fact is going to come back to haund Nifong.
While others have noted how easy it is to do title searches, etc., it's also somewhat easy to find out if someone has been looking into your financial background.
Since it took the stripper 3 weeks to ID those guys, I wonder if she was steered to those 2 guys or if she did the searches herself. If she did the searches, even at the library, it should be easy enough to find.
There was a web site that had the info; I think the informaiton has been removed from that site since FNC exposed it last night.
When you consider that any financial information that was gleaned was for the PARENTS and not the players, Nifong and/or the stripper are open to major invasion of privacy cases.
Second set of DNA tests (hair, I think) expected today.
Thunderstorms moving is so if I disappear for a while, you'll know why.
The unidentified man is his Dad. Imagine running a red light when media hounds are falling on each other for a picture. If ir was my son I'd run over the cameramen and go through the lights.
Thanks for the info, Krankor.
Okay, I'm theoretically supposed to be working anyhow.
The DA will make a big deal about hair samples, especially pubic hair. What the media will ignore is the fact that this is a bathroom shared by a bunch of COLLEGE GUYS, the floor is likely covered with pubic hair.
If I were defense attorney, I'd just collect my exculpatory evidence, delay any action by the DA as long as I could until after the primary election. Then, I would throw it all on the table at once so that the DA has a nice ready-made excuse for dropping the case.
If they do it too early, Nifong's desperation will just lead him to change the timeline.
I don't quite know what to say about that without seeing all the words. :)
LOL !
But I suspect I'd be banned if it were complete.
And you're welcome to play with it. No shortage of talent on your part.
Oh, I have a clue about how things go down. Your observations are correct. In fact, some folks deep down know you're right, but they're too scared to admit it.
I found out some bad news regarding going for an appeal. Not me, my bf. White male. Divorce. Ex wanted house. Get it? Almost 20k later, his POS lawyer tells him to plead "no contest". I say BS. Now I'm finding out filing an appeal is a joke : (
Video link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316/
'TODAY' SHOW NEWS VIDEOS
• Abrams discusses Duke party photos
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