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.
Do they issue interim suspensions when professors are charged with felonies??
I wonder what part of presumed innocent they don't understand?
I'm having very unkind thoughts about Duke right now.
The police took pictures of them within days; if there had been scratches on them, they would have been arrested on the spot.
I missed your post last night; that is VERY VERY funny!
These days, fraternization is a big no-no. However, I think these days, both the professor and the student should be disciplined for these reasons :
1. The teacher should be disciplined/fired for abusing his/her authority.
2. The student, if doing this with consent, should be disciplined/expelled based on academic dishonesty.
Would you discipline the student for academic dishonesty (which can result in the student being expelled) if they had a consentul sexual relationship with their professor and they got preferential treatment (like they slept with the professor and got an A)? To me, that is a clear case of academic dishonesty...it's no different than cheating on an exam.
You are right. I misread the last line in that post, and was recalling how the media trashed the young lady's reputation in their defence of the Basketball bozo.
2 Duke coeds interviewed on Fox....handing out "Innocent" T-shirts. Mentioned that what a coincidence "dancer" ID'd 2 of the most affluent guys on the team. Banners hanging from dorms in support of the guys.
Thank you, maggie
How convienient that the DA doesn't have a timeline....
Thanks maggie....
What a wonderful graphic! Thanks so much for that.
Finnerty's attorney speaks out to FNC for first time now.
Finnerty's attorney, William Cotter:
Not going to discuss evidence now. I've never been a DA or assistant DA so I won't tell anyone how to do their job (with regard to DA).
Q: How will you defend your client?
A: We plead not guilty and both sides will be heard and we'll present evidence.
?: Can you prove your client wasn't in the house that night?
A: I'm not going to discuss this.
SO WHY IS HE EVEN ON TELEVISION? Stupid.
ROTFL
$$$$
;)
This is the most useless interview I've seen in a long time. Anything FNC paid this guy was too much.
Thank You Maggie--however--the pictures show Reade at the party--He must have left early.
I'd hire this attorney in a heartbeat...
>>Mr. Seligmann and Mr. Finnerty were apparently suspended from Duke on Tuesday, two weeks before final exams. Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, issued a statement saying that the university issues interim suspensions when students are charged with felonies but that he could not discuss the case further because of a student privacy law. <<
Just to add insult to injury. I hope that the DA gets his A$$ handed to him, and then gets sued....I'm steaming mad!!!
I'm not saying he's a bad attorney. I'm saying that the interview is worthless and shouldn't have been made unless he has something to say besides his client is innocent.
Reade Seligmann timeline:
midnight and at 12:02 a.m. girls dancing
??? phone bill records reviewed by ABC show that the defendant's cell phone made at least two outgoing calls.
12:19 a.m. ABC News traced the steps of Seligmann's story, timing how long it took to get from place to place. In repeated trials, the drive between the Wachovia branch and the corner where the cab picked him up took approximately five minutes.
12:24 a.m., a receipt reviewed by ABC indicates that Seligmann's ATM card was used at a nearby Wachovia bank. The taxi driver remembers taking him to a drive-thru fast-food restaurant and then dropping him off at his dorm.
12:25 a.m., he was making a phone call to a girlfriend out of state.
12:46 a.m. Duke University records show that Seligmann's card was used to gain entry
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=1858806&page=2
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