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.
Are you serious? There's plenty of racial tension all over the place. What do you have against the south?
I lived in the north, lady.
Lacross is most defintely NOT like football or baseball - or hockey.
DST doesn't come into the equation. The alleged rape was on Mar 13.
Boys will be boys. I was on yesterday's live thread, and there is a very interesting timeline of date/time stamped pics of the event. These women couldn't get it together from the time they arrived an hour late. They were unable to dance or perform. From what I am gathering, the guys took the money back and threw them out of the house.
Now if a couple of unkempt white girls with crappy nails and ugly costumes showed up, wouldn't you want your 800 bucks back? Trust me it is just as easy for a white tweeker to lie, as it is a black tweeker.
"Oh, and there's no racial tension up north. /sarcasm
Or in LA. Chicago. New York City. Where all the major riots of the last 20 years have occurred."
I never said that either.
But those places are not still trying to shake off the stigma of being the states that engaged in slavery.
I was making a concession to another poster that as a yankee I may not fully appreciate how racial tension can affect political (or legal) decision by someone like a District Attorney.
But by all means...don't let that stop you from assuming the worst about me...you seem to be having fun doing that.
I'm sure the DA was making the case that since they lived out of state that they were a flight risk.
I said they were not accused, someone else brought up the fireman who has twin sons on the team.
Your statement about race relations in the South was EXTREMELY smug.
That's a pretty broad statement.
And I don't think schools like Duke are populated by lower class individuals there on a needs scholarship.
Since you're clearly a disruptor, why yes. I do assume the worst about you.
Race matters in the South, but I dare say there are large parts of the Northeast and Midwest that are racially polarized as severely as is the South. After all, some of the ugliest anti-school busing demonstrations occurred in Boston, which is to liberals what Rome is to Catholics.
Guess you never heard of parochial schools. Only for the upper class?
You are an idiot with an ax to grind. Take it elsewhere.
"Are you serious? There's plenty of racial tension all over the place. What do you have against the south?"
Already answered those questions to other posters.
I have nothing against the south.
No, all the reports have said that both strippers were black. If you listen to the 911 call you can tell by her voice.
100K a year in the NJ/Long Island/NYC area is not upper middle class.
"Since you're clearly a disruptor, why yes. I do assume the worst about you. "
All I've done is point out that the public never knows as much as those directly involved in the investigation.
Why is this disruptive?
What does that mean? How does it differ? Hockey is a much, much more expensive sport to play than lacrosse. It isn't even close.
Thanks for that clarification. I saw the article about a fireman who was clearing the rubble at the WTC on 9/11 who has a son attending Duke.
I heard this morning that both suspects live in Edens residence hall, where McFayden also lived. According to the defense lawyers, last Thursday Durham detectives sneaked into Edens and attempted to interview players there specifically about which of them weren't at the party.
http://www.wral.com/news/8690476/detail.html
That tells me the DA team isn't completely sure of the IDs or perhaps they're unsure of the supposed #3.
"But those places are not still trying to shake off the stigma of being the states that engaged in slavery."
Hard to shake it off when people keep piling it on.
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