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Prosecutor Yet to Interview Rape Accuser
Oct 27 2:56 PM US/Eastern
 
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer

DURHAM, N.C.

         




The district attorney prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a woman at a team party said during a court hearing Friday that he still hasn't interviewed the accuser about the facts of the case.
"I've had conversations with (the accuser) about how she's doing. I've had conversations with (the accuser) about her seeing her kids," Mike Nifong said. "I haven't talked with her about the facts of that night. ... We're not at that stage yet."

Nifong made the statement in response to a defense request for any statements the woman has made about the case.

"I understand the answer may not be the answer they want but it's the true answer. That's all I can give them," the prosecutor said after the hourlong hearing.

Defense lawyers said outside court that they found Nifong's statement surprising.

"One of the most interesting things to me of course is Mr. Nifong did admit that he in fact has basically never talked to this woman and has absolutely no idea what her story is, and yet he has chosen to continue to go forward with this case," defense lawyer Joseph Cheshire said.

Nifong said none of his assistants have discussed the case with the woman either and only have spoken with her to monitor her well-being. They have left the investigation of the case to police, he said.

Attorneys for indicted player Dave Evans wrote in a letter to Nifong earlier this month that they believed he had talked with the accuser based on a court motion in which Nifong stated the woman told him she had not taken the drug Ecstasy on the night of the March 13 team party for which she was hired to perform as a stripper.

In response to a claim by a lawyer for an unindicted player, Nifong said he called the accuser to ask her whether she had used the drug.

"She said, 'I've never taken Ecstasy,'" Nifong said. "That was the extent of the conversation because that's all I had to know."

Nifong said he met with the accuser and an investigator on April 11, but didn't discuss details of the case because the woman was "too traumatized." Nifong said the woman didn't make eye contact with him and often seemed on the verge of crying. Their discussion centered around how the case would develop, he said.

"She probably did not speak 15 words during the meeting," Nifong said.

Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md., was charged in May with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. A month earlier, a grand jury indicted players Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y., on the same charges. The accuser, a student at nearby North Carolina Central University, told police she was raped in a bathroom by three men at the off-campus party.

The players' lawyers have strongly proclaimed their innocence.

These things take time.  

Maybe this is totally normal. But it sounds like something out of "Bonfire of the Vanities."

How egregious does his behavior have to be before the judge steps in? On the other hand, you'd think the accused's attorneys would have put the quietus on things if they could.

What sucks is they are going to drop the charges, or if it goes to trial it'll get thrown out, and those college kids parents are going to get stuck with a huge legal bill.

I thought after he played it for his re-election he would "find" a reason to not go forward.

Defense should file a Motion to Dismiss due to Lack of Prosecution.

Its all about lily-white DA trying to get re-elected in an African-American district. Wait until the election is over and he will drop the charges.

Nifong is one of the biggest asshats to be in public view in some time. I think he is just a political jackal feeding at the trough of racism to get his ass re-elected.

He really does deserve a public flogging by his constituents for wasting the taxpayers' money and ruining the lives of the 3 lacrosse players. We need a rule like the UCMJ where the prosecutor can be brought up on charges if they incorrectly accuse an officer of misconduct.

Quoted: What sucks is they are going to drop the charges, or if it goes to trial it'll get thrown out, and those college kids parents are going to get stuck with a huge legal bill.

nifong is an assklown..

the boys are dumbasses. a lesson for the less-dumb here. dont hire black exotic dancers who show up drunk to a mostly white drunk jock party and then call em all kinds of racial slurs and expect the intoxicated prolly drugged black exotic dancers to not be royaly pissed and file all kinds of absurd acusations against their white jock clients... especially if the local DA dumbazz assklown is runnin for public office and needs all the black votes he can get.


stupidity on all sides more than enough to go around. dumbass white boys gonna pay the bill to get it cleaned up... didna nifong get re-elected? he prolly waiting on the acuser to OD..... then he just let things drop...

Quoted: Nifong said the woman didn't make eye contact with him... "She probably did not speak 15 words during the meeting," Nifong said.

Because she is lying, maybe?

Quoted: the boys are dumbasses. a lesson for the less-dumb here. dont hire black exotic dancers who show up drunk to a mostly white drunk jock party and then call em all kinds of racial slurs and expect the intoxicated prolly drugged black exotic dancers to not be royaly pissed and file all kinds of absurd acusations against their white jock clients... especially if the local DA dumbazz assklown is runnin for public office and needs all the black votes he can get.

Stonewall makes a great point here. Does anyone understand why some rich white college kids would hire black strippers? Maybe they were all Yankees and didn't know any better, but they are in North Carolina (when in Rome, do as the Romans do?)

Hiring strippers for a private party simply did not go on when I was in college in the late 70's and early 80's for a few reasons: (1) neither I nor my buddies had any money to hire strippers (and certainly not the $800 they paid these two ho's for 5 minutes work) and (2) there was PLENTY of free white pussy walking around that did not carry disease with it.

I remain in total confusion as to why these boys set themselves up for such a public ass-fucking.

Because moneys does not equal common sense???

Whaddya mean?
They coughed up $800 thinking they'd get fucked.
They got exactly what they paid for, fucked!

and with that...they didnt dispaly any common sense

Is it common for the DA to interview victims in NC?

Here the DA might talk to the victim for 5 minutes right before the start of the trail. but he works from the police reports not his own interviews. If the DA interviews the victim then the defense plays it up at trial as the witness being "coached" by the prosecution anbd it dasmages the credibility of the witness in the eyes of the jury.

This is not the first time i have heard of something like this.

My family's good friend was accused of child molestation by his 15 YO nephew. the nephew basically accused his uncle because the kid got caught having sex with a 12 YO girl. So as the prosecutor offered the kid immunity beacuse he said his uncle molested him, and told him to have sex with the girl. The thing went to trial, but get this the prosecutor never talked to the accuser until they had the kid on the stand. His story was so bad that when they adjourned for deliberation, it took them only 25 minutes to acquit him of all charges. freakin ridiculous

BTW, I did search for a dupe.

I figured Duke would be in the title. Go figure.

BULLSHIT, it wasnt their DNA. As a lax player Ill admit we can party it up. But never rape. Those guys are some of the best players in the game. they dont need to rapea girl to get some, girls practically line up. I believe the term is "Lacrossitutes"