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.
See post #2620
There is proof that he had left by 12:30 at the very latest.
Question #1: Do we know why there were two strippers....and what exactly they did for their 'show'? Often when there's two strippers...they are doing things to each other involving 'toys'...hence penetration.
Question #2: So no DNA material was found on the stripper that matched the Lacrosse Team....this includes hairs (of any kind)right? If she was penetrated in 3 areas wouldn't there be at least 1 hair found somewhere on something?
Wondering....I'm not the expert you are....LOL!!!!!!!!
Thank-you. I was just referring to the statement that the players said Reade wasn't present at the party. The video Abrams had on MSNBC of the photos show that Reade was indeed at the party watching the dancers. I do believe he left early.
I'm no expert on these things, that's for sure. My understanding about DNA was that if there was as much as a hair found on her clothing or body they could match it to the DNA samples taken from the players. But none of it matched.
But now we're hearing that hair sample and other DNA tests are expected today so I must be wrong how this all works.
Thunderstorms here so I'm logging off...bbl
I thought the strippers got $400 each for the "dance"?
Where did the other $1,600 come from?
Previous "clients"?
Be careful!!!!! ;)
Her orginal statement talks about $2000.
Has it occurred to anyone that maybe they should take a DNA sample from the OTHER stripper? Seems her DNA would have been on any such device/toy.
I'd love to ask the other stripper a few questions. I wonder what she did for the half hour she was waiting for the accuser.
Thanks maggief,
I had no idea how close all this is to where I work, near Hillborough and 15/501.
Yes, Thanks to Howlin she sent me the link at posting #2004
Nah, it is a white conspiracy. They're all lying. The ATM cam was rigged. The cab driver was paid a bribe. The restaurant thing was staged on an earlier date to cover the accused.
Wow! Someone with some sense actually posting on the Duke thread? :-) Fascinating stuff, Wally!
Well....that's the next question isn't it....if indeed there was that kind of thing going on at the party.....
The Abram's Today Show clip is no longer available. Did they pull it because of the pictures? I watched a replay on MSNBC and the pictures were edited out.
I bet they pulled it because of those pictures.
So maybe she's not a local? Maybe she doesn't know that rape has to be with a male sex organ?
All said, I can't imagine someone being so bare-it-all chance taking unless she thought she could parlay that into some $. That's a nasty thing, if that's the case. You'd think she'd be more attentive to her reputation.
"So we up North live in harmony? Puleeze."
I've responded to this type of comment several times.
If you aren't going to read all the posts then don't comment.
It just happens that I actually do live in an area where racial tensions are not as big a problem as they are in the large cities or in the south.
Maybe they want to save it for Abrams show as an "exclusive"--I think Katie Couric said he was the only reporter to have the pictures.
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