The Duke Lacrosse Rape Scandal

[Walter Cronkite]

Duke University's lacrosse coach resigned Wednesday and the school canceled the rest of the season amid a burgeoning scandal involving allegations that three players on the highly ranked team raped an exotic dancer at an off-campus party.

Mike Pressler spent 16 seasons at Duke and won three Atlantic Coast Conference championships. Last year, his team appeared in the national championship game.

"Coach Pressler offered me his resignation earlier this afternoon, and I accepted it," said Duke athletic director Joe Alleva. "I believe this is in the best interests of the program, the department of athletics and the university."

The rape allegations have roiled the campus and the city, raised racial tensions and heightened the long-standing antagonism between the privileged students at the elite university and the poorer people of Durham.

The dancer is black and said her attackers were white. Investigators and witnesses have said the lacrosse players taunted her with racial slurs and insults.

Students and townspeople have marched on campus and off in recent days, angry over the school's handling of the allegations. Investigators have said the athletes are sticking together and keeping silent. No one has been charged.

The lacrosse team's co-captains have denied that anyone was sexually assaulted at the party, as have attorneys for the players.

Earlier Wednesday, authorities unsealed documents stating that hours after the alleged rape, a player apparently sent an e-mail saying he wanted to invite more dancers to his dorm room, kill them and skin them. It was not clear whether the message was serious or a joke.

"The court released today a previously sealed warrant, whose contents are sickening and repulsive," Duke president Richard Brodhead said in announcing the cancellation of the rest of the season. Last week, Brodhead suspended the team from play.

The dancer, a student at a nearby university, has told police that she was hired to perform at a party at a house just off campus last month and was raped and choked by three men in a bathroom. Investigators are awaiting the results of DNA tests on 46 of the 47 team members. The team's lone black member did not have to provide a sample.

District Attorney Mike Nifong has said that he is "pretty confident that a rape occurred" but that he does not expect to file charges until next week.

Duke, considered a national title contender before the lacrosse season began, had a 6-2 record with seven regular-season games remaining before the scandal broke.

The e-mail, according to an application for a search warrant of the player's dorm room, was sent from the player's Duke e-mail account just before 2 a.m. on March 14. Police said investigators received a copy from a confidential source, though they later won a court order seeking access to the account.

In the e-mail, addressed "To whom it may concern," the player says he has "decided to have some dancers over" to his dorm room, "however there will be no nudity."

"I plan on killing the bitches as soon as they walk in and proceding to cut their skin off," the author of the e-mail says, adding in vulgar terms that he would find the act sexually satisfying. The e-mail was signed with what police said is the player's jersey number.

Investigators did not immediately return calls or e-mails seeking comment on whether the e-mail was serious. But a lawyer for the player who purportedly wrote it said the content suggests his client is innocent.

"While the language of the e-mail is vile, the e-mail itself is perfectly consistent with the boys' unequivocal assertion that no sexual assault took place that evening," said attorney Robert Ekstrand. The e-mail "demonstrates that its writer is completely unaware that any act or event remotely similar to what has been alleged ever occurred."

The warrant for the player's room was made public on Wednesday. In it, police provide a detailed timeline of the alleged attack and some additional details of their investigation. The warrant also adds conspiracy to commit murder as one of the crimes police are investigating.

According to the warrant, the alleged victim told police she believes the players used false names and falsely claimed to be members of Duke's baseball and track teams.

A team captain and resident of the house where the party took place told police he used an alias when hiring the dancers at the party, the warrant said.

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

The Duke Lacrosse Rape Scandal

DNA testing failed to connect any members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team to the alleged sexual assault of an exotic dancer, attorneys for some of the players said Monday.

Citing DNA test results delivered by the state crime lab to police and prosecutors a few hours earlier, the attorneys said the test results prove their clients did not sexually assault and beat a dancer hired to perform at a March 13 team party.

No charges have been filed in the case.

"No DNA material from any young man was present on the body of this complaining woman," defense attorney Wade Smith said.

The alleged victim, a 27-year-old student at nearby North Carolina Central University, told police she and another woman were hired to dance at the party. The woman told police that three men at the party dragged her into a bathroom, choked her and sexually assaulted her.

Authorities ordered 46 of the 47 players on Duke's lacrosse team to submit DNA samples to investigators. Because the woman said her attackers were white, the team's sole black player was not tested.

District Attorney Mike Nifong stopped speaking with reporters last week after initially talking openly about the case, including stating publicly that he was confident a crime occurred. He went on to say he would have other evidence to make his case should the DNA analysis prove inconclusive or fail to match a member of the team.

Smith said Nifong now has the evidence needed to change his mind.

"He doesn't have to do it," Smith said of filing charges. "He is a man with discretion. He doesn't have to do it, and we hope that he won't."

Nifong's assistant said earlier Monday the prosecutor would not comment on the findings. North Carolina Central University, where the alleged victim is a student, said after the results were released that the prosecutor would appear at a campus forum Tuesday to discuss the case.

Attorney Joe Cheshire, who represents one of the team's captains, said the report indicated authorities took DNA samples from all over the alleged victim's body, including under her fingernails, and from her possessions, such as her cell phone and her clothes.

"They swabbed about every place they could possibly swab from her, in which there could be any DNA," he said.

Cheshire said even if the alleged attackers used a condom, it's likely there would have been some DNA evidence found suggesting an assault took place. He said in this case, the report states there was no DNA on her to indicate that she had sex of any type recently.

"The experts will tell you that if there was a condom used they would still be able to pick up DNA, latex, lubricant and all other types of things to show that -- and that's not here," Cheshire said.

Stan Goldman, who teaches criminal law, evidence and criminal procedure at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the DNA results don't mean that Nifong can't go forward with the case -- but the test results make a successful prosecution much harder.

"Isn't the absence of DNA evidence, given the way the victim has described the crime, in and of itself almost enough to raise a reasonable doubt?" he said. "That's all the defense has to do."

Robert Archer, whose son, Breck, is a member of the lacrosse team, said the test results only confirmed for parents what they already knew.

"I know the kids on the team and I know they're innocent," said Archer, of East Quogue, N.Y.

Source: AP

[Sodomy]

My friend is a registered nurse (ER 13 years) and a certified forensic nurse specialist in sexual assault/evidence collection. She told me that she can say with absolute certainty that there is NO WAY this woman's description of her assault could result in NO DNA evidence being found on her body, condom or no condom. She is a blatant liar and a disgrace to real rape victims everywhere. Whatever her motivations for these false accusations--fanning racial flames, attention, etc--she should be identified and made to be accountable for her shameful accusations that have already ruined countless lives for no good reason.

The media had these young men convicted before the evidence even surfaced because of their Race, income, and University choice. I'm ready to hear some apologies from the media, Duke Uuniversity, the NAACP and Durham residents who were so ready to "kill those white boys". I'm sure I'll be waiting for those apologies for a long time.....

[Kellie-Girl]

This reminds me of the case against Kobe. In that case, a little white girl in a little white town accused a black celebrity of raping her. And things looked mighty bad for Kobe. Until the evidence came out. The girl was crazy, was a prior attempted suicide. She had been seen leaving Kobe's room and would have lost her job if she was found to have had sex with him. So she cried rape. Unfortunately for that girl she managed to show up at the ER with a pantyload full of another man's semen

Here we have a black girl, who just happens to be a stripper...and we all know how stable sex workers are. Something happens in her life she doesnt like and she decides to take it out on people who did nothing more stupid than hire a stripper....But, just like Kobe's little darlin', this babycakes also ins't smart enough to understand the magic of DNA testing.

In both cases race was used to attack the allged perpetrators. Kobe was being lynched by a town of petty little white people. The Duke athletes are being stalked by feminist extremists and anti white racists. Same difference, And in both cases a sick girl had ruined lives because she was unstable

[Dead AIM]

It looks like she lied and tried to ruined these peoples lives. Her actions forced a coach to quit his job. She deserves jail time. Even more so for encouraging baseless racial tension.

Kellie-Girl you are right. This is like the girl who claimed Kobe raped her and later went to the ER with a pantyload of another man's secretions.

[Stallion]

When it all comes out she lied, who is going to put this all back together for these kids, I hope they sue every person at Duke they can and it costs that PC president his job. He needed to support everyone involved until it was investigated, not just the local political agendas.

[Walter Cronkite]

District Attorney: Duke lacrosse case 'not going away'

Durham County's chief prosecutor said Tuesday he will not abandon his investigation of allegations that an exotic dancer was sexually assaulted and beaten at a party thrown by members of Duke University's lacrosse team.

"A lot has been said in the press, particularly by some attorneys yesterday, that this case should go away," District Attorney Mike Nifong said at a community forum. "My presence here means that this case is not going away."

On Monday, attorneys representing members of the lacrosse team said DNA from 46 lacrosse players did not match evidence collected from the woman.

"No DNA from any young man tested was found anywhere on or about this woman," defense attorney Wade Smith said Monday.

He said he hoped Nifong would drop the investigation.

No charges have been filed in the case, but Nifong has said he believes a crime occurred at the March 13 party, which according to court records was attended only by lacrosse players.

Nifong hinted Tuesday that prosecutors had other evidence and were waiting on the results of additional DNA tests. It wasn't immediately clear what those tests involved.

Nifong, who has said he doesn't necessarily need DNA evidence to prosecute, spoke Tuesday at a forum attended by about 700 people on the campus of North Carolina Central University, the historically black university a few miles from Duke where the alleged victim is a student.

"The fact is that this case is proceeding the way a case should proceed," Nifong said to applause.

Shawn Cunningham, a student at N.C. Central, told Nifong and Durham Mayor Bill Bell that he was angry with people who he said were blaming the alleged victim.

"The press has disrespected this young lady," he said. "You have minimalized [her] to a stripper and an exotic dancer. You don't identify her as a mother. You don't identify her as a student. You don't identify her as a woman."

The 27-year-old woman told police she and another woman were hired to dance at the party. The woman told police that three men at the party dragged her into a bathroom, choked her, raped her and sodomized her. The allegations led to days of protests on and off the Duke campus.

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

Police: Duke accuser 'passed-out drunk'

A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by members of Duke University's lacrosse team was described as "just passed-out drunk" by one of the first police officers to see her, according to a recording of radio traffic released by Durham police on Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press.

The conversation between the officer and a police dispatcher took place about 1:30 a.m. March 14, about five minutes after a grocery store security guard called 911 to report a woman in the parking lot who would not get out of someone else's car.

The officer gave the dispatcher the police code for an intoxicated person and said the woman was unconscious. When asked whether she needed medical help, the officer said: "She's breathing and appears to be fine. She's not in distress. She's just passed-out drunk."

The black woman, a 27-year-old dancer and college student, told police she was sexually assaulted and beaten by three white men around midnight at an off-campus party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team. The racially charged allegations have led Duke to cancel the highly ranked team's season and accept the resignation of its coach.

No charges have been filed, but district attorney Mike Nifong has said he believes a crime was committed. Attorneys for the players have said DNA tests failed to connect any players to the alleged attack, and they have urged Nifong to drop his investigation.

The radio recordings, obtained by the AP through a records request, are the first instance in which police or anyone connected with the investigation has said the woman appeared to be intoxicated.

Defense lawyers, however, have said time-stamped photographs taken by the players show that the accuser was drunk and had already suffered some injuries when she arrived at the house for the party.

The recording is consistent with "what I have seen of the photo evidence before," attorney Kerry Sutton said. Those photos, she said, showed that she was "way beyond where you would put somebody behind the wheel of a car."

The description of the woman's medical exam -- which Nifong has said is his basis for believing a rape occurred -- does not mention her being drunk. It states only that the woman's injuries and behavior were consistent with having been raped, sexually assaulted and having suffered a traumatic experience.

The woman has told police she and another dancer hired to dance at the party arrived at 11:30 p.m. March 13. The pair reportedly left the house a short time later, fearing for their safety. The accuser told police the two were coaxed back into the house with an apology, at which point they were separated. That's when she said she was dragged into a bathroom and sexually assaulted, beaten and choked for a half-hour.

At 12:53 a.m., police received a 911 call from a woman complaining that she had been called racial slurs by white men gathered outside the home where the party took place.

The defense has said it believes the second dancer at the party made that call. The 911 call from the grocery store security guard was placed at 1:22 a.m.

In it, the caller says, "Um, the problem is ... it's a lady in somebody else's car and she will not get out of their car. She's like, she's like intoxicated, drunk or something. She's, I mean, she won't get out of the car, period."

A police spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the radio traffic.

The case has focused intense national scrutiny on Duke and the lacrosse players and has sparked protests on the elite private university's campus and elsewhere in Durham. The school last week canceled the highly ranked team's season and coach Mike Pressler resigned after the release of a vulgar and graphic e-mail sent by a team member shortly after the alleged assault.

Several of the defense attorneys say they expect the district attorney to ask a grand jury on Monday to issue charges in connection with allegations.

"Rest up on Sunday," Sutton said.

There has been no official word, however, on whether Nifong intends to present the allegations Monday. His next opportunity would come two weeks later.

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

Police visit dorm to interview Duke players

Police went to the dorm rooms of Duke University lacrosse players to attempt to interview them amid an investigation into the alleged sexual assault of an exotic dancer at a team party.

Attorney Kerry Sutton, who is representing one of the players, said police did not have any warrants when they approached the players Thursday evening. She said the players immediately contacted their attorneys, who advised them not to speak.

"I have no doubt that the Durham Police Department is fully aware that every one of those young men is represented, and I'm fairly shocked that they would run an end play around defense counsel in an attempt to talk to them," said Sutton, who represents one of the men who lived in the off-campus house where the accuser says she was assaulted.

Duke released a statement Friday afternoon saying two Durham police detectives visited an on-campus residence hall to conduct interviews. No search warrants were executed and the Duke Police Department was notified ahead of time.

The interviews are part of an ongoing police investigation into allegations that members of the lacrosse team sexually assaulted a 27-year-old black woman hired to dance at a March 13 team party. The woman, a student at North Carolina Central University, told police she was sexually assaulted and beaten by three white men at an off-campus house.

Police previously searched the house where the party was held and the Duke dorm room of lacrosse player Ryan McFadyen. The search of McFadyen's room came after police obtained a vulgar and graphic e-mail sent from his school account shortly after the alleged assault.

Friday morning, Brodhead met with N.C. Central Chancellor James Ammons, Durham Mayor Bill Bell and nearly two dozen other community leaders to discuss the tension in the community.

Ammons said the two schools would continue to work together to "strengthen the bonds that tie us."

"In times like these, let us remember that justice is served in the courtroom, not in the media or at the hands of individuals," he said.

The case has focused intense national scrutiny on Duke and the lacrosse players and has sparked protests on the elite private university's campus and elsewhere in Durham. The school last week canceled the highly ranked team's season and coach Mike Pressler resigned after the release of McFadyen's e-mail.

No charges have been filed, but District Attorney Mike Nifong has said he believes a crime was committed.

Attorneys for the players have said DNA tests failed to connect any players to the alleged attack, and they have urged Nifong to drop his investigation. But several defense attorneys say they expect the district attorney to ask a grand jury Monday to issue charges.

The woman has told police she and another woman hired to dance at the party arrived at 11:30 p.m. March 13. The pair reportedly left the house a short time later, fearing for their safety. The accuser told police the two returned to the house after an apology, at which point they were separated. That's when she said she was dragged into a bathroom and raped, beaten and choked for a half hour.

Source: ESPN.com

[Walter Cronkite]

Two Duke Lacrosse Players Indicted

A grand jury issued sealed indictments Monday against two members of the Duke University lacrosse team in connection with allegations that an exotic dancer was sexually assaulted last month at a team party, a defense attorney said.

"Today, two young men have been charged with crimes they did not commit," attorney Robert Ekstrand said in a statement. "This is a tragedy. For the two young men, an ordeal lies ahead. ... They are both innocent."

Ekstrand, who represents dozens of players, did not say which players were indicted or what charges they faced.

The grand jury adjourned around 2 p.m. Monday, handing up indictments a short time later to Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens. A filing at the courthouse said the judge had sealed at least one indictment, citing a state law that allows an indictment to be "kept secret until the defendant is arrested or appears before the court."

A 27-year-old black woman told police she was attacked March 13 by three white men in a bathroom at a party held by the lacrosse team. Prosecutors have informed defense attorneys that the alleged victim has identified two players with 100 percent certainty and is 90 percent certain on a third player, ABC News reports.

At Duke, the university's chief spokesman said the school knew little about what had taken place in court Monday.

"We are aware that the district attorney made a presentation to the grand jury today, but we have no knowledge about the contents of his presentation," said John F. Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations. "At this point we remain unclear about the precise status of this case and we must simply wait for news of today's proceedings.

"Until we have greater clarity it would be inappropriate to comment further."

The racially charged allegations have led to near daily protest rallies. The school canceled the highly ranked team's season and accepted the resignation of coach Mike Pressler after the release of a vulgar and graphic e-mail that was sent by a team member shortly after the alleged assault.

Defense attorneys have urged District Attorney Mike Nifong to drop the case, saying DNA tests failed to connect any of the 46 team members tested to the alleged victim.

Nifong has said 75 percent to 80 percent of rape prosecutions lack DNA evidence. According to court records, a medical examination of the woman found injuries consistent with sexual assault.

There were numerous conferences involving defense lawyers and members of the district attorney's office in hallways of the courthouse Monday morning. At several points during the day, Nifong declined to comment when asked about the case.

Source: ESPN.com

[Walter Cronkite]

Two Arrests In Duke Lacrosse Case

Two Duke University lacrosse players were arrested early Tuesday on charges of raping and kidnapping an exotic dancer hired to dance at an off-campus party, and the district attorney said he hopes to charge a third person soon.

The indictments, unsealed Tuesday, did not indicate what possible evidence or arguments led the grand jury Monday to indict Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, both 20. District Attorney Mike Nifong would not discuss the evidence.

Seligmann posted a $400,000 bond shortly after his arrest, and his attorney waived his court appearance.

Finnerty, who posting the same amount later Tuesday, made a brief appearance in Superior Court wearing a jacket and tie. The next court appearance for both players was set for May 15.

Both Seligmann, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Essex Fells, N.J., and Finnerty, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Garden City, N.Y., were in handcuffs when they stepped out of a police cruiser before dawn.

Seligmann is "absolutely innocent," said his attorney, Kirk Osborn. "He's doing great. That's all I have to say."

Asked what led to the indictments, Osborn said: "Apparently it was a photographic identification. And we all know how reliable that is."

Finnerty's attorney, Bill Cotter, said, "We're surprised that anybody got indicted, quite frankly."

"The next jury will hear the entire story, which includes our evidence, and we're confident that these young men will be found to be innocent," he said.

The alleged victim, a 27-year-old black woman and mother of two children, told police she was attacked March 13 by three white men in a bathroom at a party held by the lacrosse team.

Bill Thomas, a defense attorney representing one of the team captains, said Tuesday that neither Seligmann nor Finnerty had any contact with the woman that night. "We are ... actually shocked," he said. "We always thought she would pick out someone who at least had a conversation with her or paid her."

Thomas said "multiple witnesses and a commercial transaction" indicated one of the charged players wasn't at the party. And defense attorney Robert Ekstrand, who represents other players, said neither Seligmann nor Finnerty was at the party "at the relevant time."

Calls to the Finnerty and Seligmann homes Tuesday morning were not immediately returned. No one answered the door at the Finnerty house.

Shortly after the allegations surfaced last month, Seligmann's father, Philip Seligmann, spoke to The New York Times about the allegations involving the team, saying, "It's unfortunate, but it will all be resolved positively very shortly."

The racially charged allegations have led to near daily protest rallies. The school canceled the highly ranked team's season and accepted the resignation of coach Mike Pressler after the release of a vulgar and graphic e-mail that was sent by a team member shortly after the alleged assault.

"Many lives have been touched by this case," said Duke President Richard Brodhead in a statement. "It has brought pain and suffering to all involved, and it deeply challenges our ability to balance judgment with compassion. As the legal process unfolds, we must hope that it brings a speedy resolution and that the truth of the events is fully clarified."

Brodhead's statement did not say if the two charged players would be suspended.

Defense attorneys urged Nifong to drop the case after they said DNA tests failed to connect any of the 46 team members tested to the alleged victim. They also said time-stamped photos taken the night of the party show that the woman was injured and impaired before she arrived.

But Nifong has argued that he has enough evidence to proceed. He has said 75 percent to 80 percent of rape prosecutions lack DNA evidence. According to court records, a medical examination of the woman found injuries consistent with rape.

"I want to believe that they're going to be found innocent if it goes to trial ... but I hope the truth comes out as it goes on down the line," said Chuck Sherwood of Freeport, N.Y., whose son Devon is the team's sole black player. "I think this case has a long way to go."

School officials said Monday that the lacrosse coach was warned last year that his players had too many violations of the campus judicial code and he needed to "get them in line."

Duke athletic director Joe Alleva said the university's executive vice president reviewed the lacrosse team's disciplinary record last year, then discussed his findings with Alleva.

"He said there were too many incidents, but there's not enough incidents to make a drastic change in the program at this point in time," Alleva told The Herald-Sun of Durham. Alleva told the coach "his team was under the microscope, and he had to do everything he could to get them in line and to not have any more behavior problems."

The review by Duke's executive vice president was spurred by reports of "boorish behavior" by the lacrosse team, Alleva said.

Sue Wasiolek, Duke's dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs, said the review showed the lacrosse team had a "disproportionate" number of violations of the campus judicial code. None was particularly serious, but administrators were concerned about the cumulative record and the fact that some players had several violations, she said.

Neither Seligmann and Finnerty were among the Duke team members arrested over the past few years for misdemeanors including underage drinking and public urination.

Finnerty, however, was arrested in November in Washington, D.C., and charged with simple assault after a man named Jeffrey Bloxgom told police the lacrosse player and two of his high school teammates repeatedly punched him in the face and body after he told them to stop calling him "gay and other derogatory names."

Finnerty entered a diversion program, which will lead to the charges being dismissed after the completion of 25 hours of community service; the next scheduled status hearing is set for Sept. 25 in D.C. Superior Court.

The alleged victim also has a criminal history. She pleaded guilty following a June 2002 incident to misdemeanor counts of larceny, speeding to elude arrest, assault on a government official and driving while impaired, and spent some weekends in jail.

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

Report: Duke suspends two men charged with rape

Two lacrosse players arrested on rape and kidnapping charges have been suspended by Duke University, CNN reported Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the investigation.

Reade Seligmann, a sophomore from Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, a sophomore from Garden City, N.Y., will be suspended until the case is resolved, the source told CNN.

The two men were arrested early Tuesday on charges of first-degree sexual offense, first-degree forcible rape and first-degree kidnapping. Each posted $400,000 bond and was released within hours. Their attornies have denied the charges and said the men are innocent.

A 27-year-old student at a nearby college told police she was attacked by three white men at a house where she and another woman were hired to dance at a party of lacrosse team members the night of March 13.

Earlier this week, the university would not comment specifically on any disciplinary action taken against the two men but said it is university practice to suspend students charged with a felony.

Police searched the dorm rooms of Seligmann and Finnerty on Tuesday.

District Attorney Mike Nifong said Tuesday he also hoped to link a third man to the alleged attack soon, but he said that person had not been "identified with certainty.''

Lawyers for the players assailed the district attorney for bringing the charges after DNA tests had failed to connect any of the team members to the alleged rape.

Seligmann is "absolutely innocent,'' said attorney Kirk Osborn. Finnerty's attorney, Bill Cotter, said, "We're confident that these young men will be found to be innocent.''

Seligmann and Finnerty are next scheduled to appear in court May 15.

Nifong has declined to say what led to the charges or discuss evidence in the case. The dorm rooms were searched Tuesday night for about two hours, according to resident assistant Taggart White The warrants had not been returned to the court clerk's or magistrate's office by midday Wednesday.

"I can imagine they never quit investigating, but I think it's unusual to be executing search warrants after they've indicted,'' Cotter said Wednesday.

The case has raised racial tensions and heightened the long-standing town-vs.-gown antagonism between Duke students and middle-class, racially mixed Durham. The accuser is black, and all but one of the 47 lacrosse team members are white.

Since the scandal broke, the university has canceled the team's season, its coach resigned and Duke officials said they were investigating the behavior of the nationally ranked team.

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

Second dancer verifies Duke accuser's details

At first, an exotic dancer who performed at a Duke University lacrosse team party doubted the story of a colleague who told police she was dragged into a bathroom and raped.

Now, Kim Roberts isn't so sure.

"I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred -- and I never will," Roberts told The Associated Press on Thursday in her first on-the-record interview.

After watching defense attorneys release photos of the accuser, and upset by the leaking of both dancers' criminal pasts, she said she has to "wonder about their character."

"In all honesty, I think they're guilty," she said. "And I can't say which ones are guilty ... but somebody did something besides underage drinking. That's my honest-to-God impression."

Attorneys for the 46 players have aggressively proclaimed the players' innocence, citing DNA tests during a public campaign that has included describing and releasing photos from the party.

Those photos, the defense maintains, show the accuser was both injured and impaired when she arrived, and also support the claim that one of the two players who has been indicted would not have had enough time to participate in any assault before he left the party. The district attorney has said he also hopes to charge a third suspect in the case.

The attorneys claim Roberts at first told a member of the defense team that she did not believe the accuser's allegations. They say she has changed her story to gain favorable treatment in a criminal case against her. They note she also e-mailed a New York public relations firm, asking in her letter for advice on "how to spin this to my advantage."

Roberts, 31, was arrested on March 22 -- eight days after the party -- on a probation violation from a 2001 conviction for embezzling $25,000 from a photo finishing company in Durham where she was a payroll specialist, according to documents obtained by the AP.

On Monday, the same day a grand jury indicted lacrosse players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, a judge agreed to a change so that Roberts would no longer have to pay a 15 percent fee to a bonding agent. District Attorney Mike Nifong signed a document saying he would not oppose the change.

Mark Simeon, Roberts' attorney, said the bond conditions were changed because Roberts is not considered a flight risk. Nifong, who hasn't spoken with reporters about the case in weeks, didn't return a call seeking comment.

Roberts' testimony could be vital during any trial of the two sophomores, indicted on charges of first-degree rape, sexual offense and kidnapping.

Other than lacrosse players and the accuser, a 27-year-old student at a nearby university, Roberts is believed to be the only other person at the March 13 party.

Roberts said Thursday she does not remember Seligmann's face, but said she recalls seeing Finnerty, whom she described as the "little skinny one."

"I was looking him right in the eyes," she said.

Although she would not talk extensively about the party, she confirmed some of what the other dancer told police, including that the women initially left the party after one of the players threatened to sodomize the women with a broomstick.

The players' attorneys have said their clients were angry and demanded a refund when the women stopped dancing, but Roberts disputed that.

"They ripped themselves off when they started hollering about a broomstick," she said.

The accuser told police that the women were coaxed back into the house with an apology, at which point they were separated. That's when the accuser said she was dragged into a bathroom and raped, beaten and choked for a half hour.

Later, police received a 911 call from a woman complaining that she had been called racial slurs by white men gathered outside the home where the party took place. Roberts acknowledged that she made the call because she was angry.

Roberts drove herself to the party and said she could have left anytime, but she said, "I didn't want to leave her with them."

She then drove the accuser, whom she had just met that night, to a grocery store and asked a security guard to call 911. The accuser was described later by a police officer as "just passed-out drunk."

Roberts said the woman was sober when they arrived at the house. But by the time the party was over, she said the accuser was too incoherent to tell her where she lived, let alone that she had been raped.

"I didn't do enough," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "I didn't do enough. I didn't do enough."

A cab driver has said Seligmann called for a ride at 12:14 a.m., and was picked up five minutes later. The defense argues that if the dancers were performing around midnight, Seligmann would not have had enough time to participate in the 30-minute assault described by the accuser.

The cabbie, Moez Mostafa, also said he saw a woman leaving the party in anger, and overheard someone say, "She just a stripper. She's going to call the police."

"She looked, like, mad," he said of the woman. "In her face, the way she walked, the way she talked, she looked like mad."

On Thursday, authorities released warrants detailing their search earlier this week of Finnerty's and Seligmann's dorm rooms. Police took a newspaper article and an envelope addressed to Finnerty from his room, and an iPod, various accessories, computer manuals, photos and a CD from Seligmann's room.

Also Thursday, 5W Public Relations, a New York firm that specializes in "crisis communication," distributed an e-mail signed "The 2nd Dancer," and Roberts confirmed she sent it after learning the AP knew her identity.

"I've found myself in the center of one of the biggest stories in the country," she wrote. "I'm worried about letting this opportunity pass me by without making the best of it and was wondering if you had any advice as to how to spin this to my advantage."

Ronn Torossian, 5W's president, said he replied, but got no response.

"If this person is indeed who they say they are, I would be happy to speak with her," said Torossian, whose firm has represented the likes of Sean "Diddy" Combs, Ice Cube and Lil' Kim.

Roberts, like the accuser a divorced single mother who is black, took umbrage at the notion that she should not try to make something out of her experience. She's worried that once her name and criminal record are public, no one will want to hire her.

"Why shouldn't I profit from it?" she asked. "I didn't ask to be in this position ... I would like to feed my daughter."

Roberts said she knows what it's like to sit in jail, and that she would never wrongly accuse an innocent person.

"If the boys are innocent, sorry fellas," she said. "Sorry you had to go through this."

But unlike her and the other dancer, she said, they have money to hire the best attorneys.

"If they're innocent, they will not go to jail," she said. But, she added, "If the truth is on their side, why are they supporting it with so many lies?"

She said she is bracing for an all-out attack, but said she's almost past caring.

"Don't forget that they called me a damn n-----," she said. "She [the accuser] was passed out in the car. She doesn't know what she was called. I was called that. I can never forget that."

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

Finnerty ordered to stand trial in D.C.

A Duke University lacrosse player charged with raping a woman was ordered Tuesday to stand trial in an unrelated assault case.

Collin Finnerty, 19, appeared in D.C. Superior Court, where the judge determined he had violated conditions of the diversion program he entered last year after being charged with assaulting a man in Georgetown.

Finnerty and two friends had been accused of punching the man after he told them to "stop calling him gay and other derogatory names,'' according to court documents.

The charges would have been dismissed under the terms of the diversion program once Finnerty completed 25 hours of community service, but the terms also required he that he not be arrested for any criminal offenses.

Finnerty remains free pending a July 10 trial in the Georgetown case. He could face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 if convicted of simple assault. Judge John Bayly also set a 9 p.m. curfew, ordered him to report by phone to court officials every Friday, and required that he stay away from places that sell alcohol.

Finnerty nodded when Bayly asked if he understood. A family priest stood a few feet behind him in the courtroom.

"This incident has been grossly mischaracterized,'' said attorney Steven J. McCool, who is representing Finnerty, of Garden City, N.Y., in the Georgetown case.

Finnerty and Duke teammate Reade Seligmann, 20, were indicted on rape and kidnapping charges last week. A 27-year-old exotic dancer who had been hired to perform at a lacrosse team party March 13 told police three men raped her in a bathroom of the off-campus house. District Attorney Mike Nifong has said he expects to charge a third person soon.

Defense attorneys dispute the timeline prosecutors have presented.

Seligmann's attorney, Kirk Osborn, on Monday also demanded prosecutors turn over the accuser's medical, legal and education records.

"This request is based on the fact that the complaining witness has a history of criminal activity and behavior, which includes alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and dishonesty, all conduct which indicate mental, emotional and/or physical problems, which affect her credibility as a witness,'' the defense said in court papers. The accuser is a single mother and student at nearby North Carolina Central University.

Osborn also wrote in motions filed Monday that no forensic evidence links Seligmann to the alleged crimes, based on the limited information provided to the defense by prosecutors. Initial DNA test results found no link between the 46 players tested and the accuser; Nifong expects additional DNA test results next month.

Nifong, who has not granted an interview about the case in weeks, refused to comment.

Source: AP

[Walter Cronkite]

Duke lacrosse players cite money dispute

Several Duke lacrosse players who say they were at a team party the night of the alleged rape of a 27-year-old woman have told ESPN's George Smith that an argument over money and the amount of time two exotic dancers were expected to perform was at the center of a dispute that night.

The players, who agreed to speak with ESPN on the condition their names not be used, also admitted that slurs and bad language were used by some players and the dancers during the argument.

Last week, a grand jury indicted players Reade Seligmann, a sophomore from Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, a sophomore from Garden City, N.Y., on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault.

The woman, an exotic dancer who had been hired to perform at a team party March 13, told police three men raped her in a bathroom of an off-campus house.

The scandal has led Duke to cancel the season and forced coach Mike Pressler's resignation.

The players, who would not go on camera, also would not discuss many details about the case or answer more specific questions about exactly what happened.

But they told ESPN's Smith that not all 47 players were at the party at the time the woman said she was raped; some had already left. The players told Smith they admit it was foolish to have the party, but deny that any rape occurred. They also believe the two students charged so far will not be convicted.

Defense attorneys had no comment on the ESPN story. Neither did Durham district attorney Mike Nifong, who continues to proceed with this case and has said he expects to charge a third person soon.

The father of the accuser, meanwhile, told MSNBC on Tuesday night that his daughter had considered dropping the case, but as of now he says she will go through with it. His name wasn't used so as not to reveal the identity of the accuser.

"She has talked about it," the accuser's father said of dropping the case. "She has talked about it. As a matter of fact, she told me it was getting to be too much on her. She couldn't take it. So far, she's still hanging in there though.

"I'm hoping she will hang in there, but I know it's getting rough on her now. . . . I'm praying and hoping that she don't [drop the case]."

Source: AP