Posted on 04/09/2006 7:26:09 AM PDT by Perdogg
DURHAM -- A defense attorney says pictures taken at the now-infamous Duke University lacrosse party last month contradict an exotic dancer's allegations of being raped, beaten and strangled by three players.
The photos show the woman attempting to get back inside the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. where the attack allegedly occurred on the night of March 13-14, said attorney Bill Thomas, who represents one of the lacrosse players.
"She had a big smile on her face," Thomas said.
Then the woman fell down at the back door of the house and lay on the ground "for quite some time" as if she were intoxicated or asleep, Thomas added.
In addition, the time-stamped photos indicate the woman was severely bruised on her legs and face, and had cuts on her legs, knees and feet when she arrived at the home -- and before the rape allegedly occurred -- Thomas said.
He said the photos clearly show "there is no way she was assaulted at all, much less in the manner she described."
Thomas declined to allow The Herald-Sun to view the pictures.
Two other lawyers associated with the case, who declined to be named, corroborated Thomas' description of the photos. The defense attorneys said they might soon make the pictures public.
According to police, the alleged victim, who is black, said she initially left the lacrosse party when the players became aggressive and shouted racial epithets. But she said one of the players persuaded her to go back into the house, and that's when she was attacked and raped in a bathroom.
The first call to 911 about the alleged rape came from a security guard at the Kroger on Hillsborough Road, where another woman had driven the alleged victim. In her call to 911, the guard described the alleged victim as being drunk and refusing to get out of the car. But the guard later told The Herald-Sun that she didn't smell any alcohol on the alleged victim.
Police officers also initially handled the case as being an intoxicated or impaired person. Although it's not known when the woman told officers she was raped, it was more than an hour before the call was changed to a rape case in the department's computerized records system.
One of the Duke players, Ryan McFadyen, was suspended last week after disclosure of an e-mail in which he purportedly made reference to the "show" at the just concluded lacrosse party and that he planned to "have some strippers over" and kill them the following night. The e-mail was sent at 1:58 a.m. on March 14, about 30 minutes after police received the 911 call from the Kroger security guard.
The camera used to take the pictures at the party has been tested and calibrated to guarantee the accuracy of its time stamps, according to Thomas.
Thomas said the photographs were taken by a student, but "not necessarily one of the lacrosse players." He declined to be more specific.
Previously, authorities have suggested that only lacrosse team members were at the party. DNA tests were ordered for all 46 white members of the lacrosse team. The victim said her attackers were white.
District Attorney Mike Nifong had said he expected to obtain the DNA test results from State Bureau of Investigation technicians last week, but they were not available by the close of business on Friday.
Nifong told reporters he believed such testing would confirm the exotic dancer's version of events. But he also said he might be able to pursue criminal charges even if there were no DNA matches, especially if the dancer was able to identify her assailants.
However, Nifong declined to reveal whether an identification actually was made.
Defense attorneys, on the other hand, have predicted that DNA testing would clear their clients and have vowed to release the test results publicly if that's the case.
"We anticipate and hope the DNA results will be released early next week," Thomas said Saturday. "It's unfortunate that these young men have been vilified by the press, the community and the university they attend. It's a real miscarriage of justice for them to be convicted in the public's mind before everything is known. It is unfair. The allegations against them do not contain a kernel of truth."
ping
ping
I don't trust lawyers enough to know what to make of this.
Oh, oh ... ANOTHER Tawana Brawley situation?
A fabricated, racial, rape hoax?
Doesn't sound good ... for her ... .
Maybe Al Sharpton will get involved again?
I have thought, since Day 1, that this was attempted extortion. It's ridiculous that some legal analysts are saying her past doesn't matter, that anyone makes mistakes when young... blah, blah, blah. I made mistakes when I was young, but I got through college without any felonies.
sssshhhhh! Please don't talk too loudly.
Flashback:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1611383/posts
Guess I'm not the only one thinking this ... .
Here is Mike's email address, I am sure he would love to hear from y'al.
michael.b.nifong@nccourts.org
If she had severe bruises on her legs and face prior to her arrival at the party, why would they want her to strip? Why would they give her any money? Why would the players be upset when she left after three minutes- who wants to see a bruised body? Compared to the defense account yesterday, where she danced for three minutes, stopped and ran out with the money, it seems odd.
I agree. I just pray that justice is served in this case. If they raped her, I hope they get the most severe penalty afford by law and listed as a "sex offender".
If she lied, I hope she gets charged and the most severe penalty afford by law, is listed as a "sex offender".
Absolutely, not only would she have damaged the lives of the accused, but she would have made other women who were truly victims of sexual assault afraid to report it for fear that they won't be believed.
Check this out, Read this article!!:
http://www.newsobserver.com/978/story/424079.html
The Raleigh N&O is Looney-Left. Read this and you won't beleive the crap they are still printing.
Their Big Headline at the top of their paper today:
"Team has swaggered for years"
They haven't printed any of this stuff that's damaging to the accuser.
.
Perdogg,
Great article!!
Thank you !
Send the DA an e-mail if you think he's made bad decisions.
Over 3 weeks of being trashed in the Media and having all their pictures, names, and dismissed charges (records) printed in all the papers.
Four University sponsored Candlelight vigils to protest their behavior.
The woman was never credible. How can take this case to the Media BEFORE BRINGING CHARGES on the word of a Car-jacker, stripper, Cop-killer wannabe with Drug Charges?
DA Nifong had to be thinking of Re-election.. that's the ONLY way to explain this.
.
LaCrosse examination.
Fully believing in their innocence, I've already fully prepared the team's legal Defense:
"If you don't believe the Ho, you must let them Go"
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