Arrests made in Duke lacrosse case

News & Observer ^ | Apr 18, 2006 | Anne Blythe and Benjamin Niolet

[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.

[Guenevere]

Actually, it says the defense attorneys have proof!!!!!!!!!!!! these two men who were arrested were not in the house at the time of the alleged!! incident!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

And I hope when it's all over and they're found innocent they can sue the City.

That'll cost them another $100,000 and they might get an apology.

[george wythe]

I'm amazed that being the son of a fireman is the equivalent to being upper-class rich kid

Loftus was one of the New York firefighters who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. He said he was also bothered by media reports calling the lacrosse team a bunch of rich, white kids whose only possession greater than wealth was cockiness.

"I'm not an emotional person, but every day I cry. I have tears in my eyes. I feel like the world's been pulled underneath my feet," Loftus said. "My kids, when you hear them sobbing on the phone that their lives are destroyed and you hear other people saying the same thing you wonder what went wrong. And we know nothing went wrong. I cannot stress that any more. Nothing happened that night."

[roses of sharon]

Tuning into Rummy on CNN and heard the tail end report that the guys are saying they have ATM and "cab rides" proof that they were not there during the alleged rape.

[Peach]

Wow! Just wow.

[Howlin]

There are a LOT of dumb people over at CTV; that's why some of them are posting here now.......LOL.

[GAgal]

I wonder what their proof of that will be? The video this morning of Finnerty in the courtroom showed a young man very relaxed imo, as he would be if he knew he could prove he was somewhere other than where the accuser puts him.

[Peach]

Don't most attorneys take cases like that on a contingency basis?

[Neverforget01]

GREAT idea to keep this under wraps---now she'll have to pick out a few other team members...geesh---I hope she goes to jail for a very long time.

[Howlin]

that the guys are saying they have ATM and "cab rides" proof that they were not there during the alleged rape.

ROFLMAO.........this is too funny!

[Howlin]

Not in criminal cases.

[Carolinamom]

The class envy folks won't shed a tear over these RICH families' spending some of their VAST wealth, will they?

[Howlin]

Here's a fact from roses of sharon:

...and heard the tail end report that the guys are saying they have ATM and "cab rides" proof that they were not there during the alleged rape.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Don't most attorneys take cases like that on a contingency basis?

Nope. Attorneys take injury cases with a reasonable prospect for success on a contingency basis.

A malicious prosecution case or abuse of process case with little chance of netting big time damages would not be taken on contingency.

[mtbrandon49]

I never picked an argument with you. You came to me. You want to play Master of FR, fine. I've haven't been registered as long as you so I'm dead weight. I bet alot of middle of the road voters that could have been swayed to the conservative side can be told they are dead weight to.

[Peach]

No, I mean if the boys are found innocent in the criminal case, can't they turn around and sue the City in a civil case and aren't those cases handled as contingencies?

[Peach]

Not one tear for the money the wealthy spend or the people they employ.

[Guenevere]

I am not! sue happy!

But in this case I would make a definite exception!!!!!!!!

I would sue the prosecutor, the complaining woman, her so called 'boyfriend', her family...(hey, these boys families are having to pay through the teeth!)...

..I would sue the president of Duke for jumping to conclusion and allowing this atomosphere of hate to erupt and spread across campus and not try to contain it!! .... and anyone else responsible for this....fiasco!

[Howlin]

Look, you came on this thread with no knowledge and, despiste being told a hundred times this woman is black, you refused to believe it and DEMANDED that other people find the proof for you.

And when they didn't, you threw a fit and said this was why you don't donate to FR anymore.

Well, too damn bad; we don't need people around here who need to be FED facts; that can do that for you on DU.

[LWalk18]

Tuning into Rummy on CNN and heard the tail end report that the guys are saying they have ATM and "cab rides" proof that they were not there during the alleged rape.

They need to get those out as soon as possible. If they can prove they weren't anywhere near the house within the time of the alleged rape, the entire case blows up.

Also, I hope someone looks into the relationship between the two suspects. Are they close friends, roommates? Or do they barely speak to each other outside of lacrosse activities? It is hard to imagine two guys who aren't friends and don't really know each other other than for lacrosse conspiring to rape someone together.