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.
There are two emails.
The first one was sent that night. Quote from "American Psycho". Almost certainly legitimate and sent by one of the players.
Second one is suspected to be police malfeasance, sent a few days later, asking "what should we do" etc.
You really need to get out more.
Let me re-phrase that:
Did MSNBC reporter say that neither arrested suspects was at the house that night?
You're wasting your font on that poster; he's got a stick in his eye and nothing you can write will change his mind.
Thanks for your post though. Very informative.
Well, you know, that is something intelligent and it bears on the dispition of the case. I didn't see that interview.
We'll have to see how it all plays out.
But some of these other comments about the situation really make me wonder about some of my fellow freepers.
Big question is: Where did the rohypnol come from? This is why the police tried to search the dorm rooms.
Any woman that has one-on-ones 3 times a week for an extended time is likely to be swollen "down there".
I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.
I'm stunned that parents who worked hard educating themselves and performing well in their professions and attain a level of financial success are condemned by freepers. Isn't this what democrats do?
Maybe we have more trolls on this site than I thought.
It sure looks fun!
Duke is one of the schools that is well known for recruiting good athletes who may have less lacrosse skill and turning them into good lacrosse players. One of kids arrested had a number of D-I football scholarships. Did you know that last year's college player of the year was black? As for attendance, 45,000 people attended last year's national championship game in Philadelphia. Did you know that Morgan State, a traditionally black college, used to have a great lacrosse program?
Somehow, I think the lawyers will get over it pretty soon. while they may wish their cliets were not indicted, but they have been; it no becomes a battle of skill and wits. Some attorneys live for opportunities like this.
I don't dislike people who make more money than I do.
Making money is what America is all about.
Abusing people because of their class, position, race, or "occupation" isn't.
All we know from the search warrant is that the SANE nurse found emotional and physical injuries consistant with rape- we don't know if they are also consistant with other injuries or from rough consensual sex. Can a rape kit tell how old any injuries are? All of that need to be brought out in court. The SANE nurse report may well be less than advertised.
Oh, good point, Carolinamom.
And it can be consistent with vigorous sex.
which is the medical opinion expressed here.
Which, in case you haven't noticed, hasn't been proven in a court of law.
It's the same thing they said about the girl in Kobe's case and not a word of it turned out to be true.
Well, I know people who taught at Duke and your statements don't reflect their presentation of the student body there.
Are you kidding?
OH MY GOD..............that would just be too funny!
Hey--I've been away a few days. My daughter ran the Boston Marathon yesterday, so I'm trying to catch up. I couldn't be more angry--the Seligmann Family is a wonderful family with four great boys. My heart is breaking for them. I surely hope this ends quickly.
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