by TChris

Two Duke lacrosse players, both sophmores, have been arrested on the indictments that were reported here. Their names will now appear in newspapers around the world although, as this post lamented, the accuser's equally newsworthy identity will not be similarly publicized. A third student was also accused, but the DA said today that he hasn't been charged because he can't be "identified with certainty."

The players were charged with first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense and kidnapping. William J. Cotter, the lawyer representing one of the young men, said:

"The grand jury, as you know, has indicted him. They hear one side of the story. They almost always indict. The next jury will hear the entire story, which includes our evidence. We're confident that these young men will be found to be innocent."

Tomorrow we will learn the names of the Duke lacrosse players accused of criminal activity in the alleged rape case.

Question: When their names are released, shouldn't the accuser's be as well? Charges are merely allegations, they are not proof. Why should the accused's name be public but not the accuser's?

If we want people to recognize that rape is a crime of violence, it is not about sex, and are serious about trying to remove the shame and stigma associated with rape, shouldn't we treat potential rape victims the same as stabbing and shooting victims -- whose names are routinely publicized?

The Duke accuser's name is on the internet. I've seen it. I'm not going to publish it or link to it tonight. I'd like to hear your thoughts. But this is like Kobe redux -- his name was dragged through the mud while the media refused to publish the accuser's name.

I think it's time for this double standard to end.

Update: Defense lawyers confirm two players were indicted. The New York Times reports:

....defense lawyers had asked Nifong on Thursday and again today to issue public indictments so that anyone who was charged with a crime could voluntarily surrender. Ekstrand said Nifong refused the request, "so we'd be left in the dark." He said the situation meant students could be arrested in classrooms or paraded in front of the media. "I can't imagine any other reason but humiliation." he said in an interview while the grand jury was in session.

Update: Court sources tell WRAL there are two sealed indictments of players in the case.

Update: CNN reports there are two sealed indictments. Ordinarily, when Indictments are sealed, no one other than the prosecutors and grand jurors and the arresting authority responsible for executing the arrest warrant would know until the first person is arrested. It's doubtful the prosecutors would tell the defense lawyers. What's so silly about this is that sealed indictments are usually handed down to avoid tipping off a suspect who might flee if he got advance word. The prosecutor seems to be milking this for all it's worth.

ABC has a tape recording of the Kroger security guard who made the second 911 call in the Duke case. It is a private investigator's interview made three weeks after the incident. Likely, this is a defense investigator. In it the guard says there is no way the woman had been raped.

The guard was on duty at the store on the night of March 13, when the two women pulled into the store's parking lot in a dark sedan. The alleged victim, who says three men held her down in a bathroom and kicked, strangled and raped her, was in the passenger seat.

On the tape, which was recorded April 3, three weeks after the lacrosse party, the guard can be heard saying, "There ain't no way she was raped -- ain't no way, no way that happened."

More inconsistencies by the second dancer:

With all the speculation that the accuser was drugged, not just drunk, I just took another look at the return and inventory for the search warrant for the party house. Look at item number 28. Does it say "pills" or "bills"? They would take bills, like phone bills, to show indicia of residency or ownership of the house. Why would they take pills, when the warrant doesn't authorize them to search for pills? If pills were seized, I would think they would be suppressed from any future trial as being illegally seized.

There were no pills seized during the search of the dorm room of the since-suspended student who sent the offensive e-mail.

The second dancer in the Duke Lacrosse alleged rape case is speaking out. You can watch the video here.

It's a completely underwhelming, cut and paste video. It's not start to finish, but an edited compilation of her statements. The reporter states the dancer's lawyer put very strict conditions on the interview and wouldn't let her discuss details of that night. She does say she wasn't paying great attention at the time.

"If I could see the future and would have known what that night would've brought, I would have paid more attention. I wish I had paid more attention to everything that happened around me," she said.

She expresses faith in the District Attorney, but won't say why, other than to say she doesn't think he would investigate if there wasn't a crime. Blind faith in law enforcement?

Update: Newsweek has a new article with the defense timeline, which matches the photos taken:

The accuser is dropped off at about 11:45, about a half hour after the other (second) stripper arrived. By midnight, according to a photo, the two are almost naked on the beige carpet in front of their visibly happy audience. But by 12:03, the mood has turned: in a photo, the women are standing and the second stripper appears to be reaching toward the guys, all of whom have lost their smiles. She slaps one of them for suggesting the alleged victim use a broom as a sex toy, according to Ekstrand. Then both women lock themselves in the bathroom, Ekstrand details. The partygoers get nervous about what the women are up to and start slipping money under the door asking them to leave, says Bill Thomas, a lawyer who represents one of the captains.

Update: The media has corrected the earlier reporting that police attempted to serve search warrants at players' dorm rooms Thursday night. Apparently, they were attempting to interview players and in some instances, walked uninvited inside dorm rooms.

Condolences to defense lawyer Joe Cheshire, whose father passed away today.

Via Signifying Nothing, the Associated Press reports a radio call by one of the officers responding to the grocery store 9-11 call five minutes after it was made at 1:30 a.m. reported the accuser was passed out drunk and not in need of medical attention.

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."

Contrary to earlier reports by the media, no more DNA testing is being done. All the results are in.

This is a continuation of yesterday's post on the DNA results in the Duke lacrosse players' case which failed to find any of the players' DNA on or within or on the surface of the accuser's body or any of her belongings or clothing. There was none under her fingernails. You can listen to the defense attorneys' news conference here.

The DA today said the case is not going away. There's more DNA testing to do. He can do DNA testing till the cows come home. If there was none in or on the accuser, none under her fingernails and none on her belongings, how will he ever prove a rape?

As to the DNA of two players found on the towel. I think it is meaningless. I debate the towel issue tonight on CNBC's Big Idea with Donnie Deutsch at 10 pm ET with my longtime sparring partner Wendy Murphy. A Duke student is on as well. I think it's the third segment second half of the show (the preceding two segments had "reformed" strippers whose new mission is to free women from working in the sex industry --they were great looking and very interesting to listen to.) It repeats at 1:00 am ET.

Bump and Update: No DNA that matched the players was found on or within or on the surface of the accuser's body or any of her belongings or clothing. Not even under her fingernails. You can listen to the defense attorneys' news conference here. They say the findings show there is no evidence that any sexual activity occurred in that house on that night. If you re-read what she said happened, it is an impossibility. Not to mention, the defense say they have photos showing she had injuries when she arrived. Even more, the defense says they have interviewed the other dancer who said the accuser never mentioned being raped to her. The defense also has said voice analysis shows the other dancer is the person who made the first 9-11 call.

The D.A. should drop the case. But, word is he may go forward anyway. More news here and here.

"I'm not saying it's over. If that's what they expect, they will be sadly disappointed," Nifong said at a candidate forum Monday night. "They can say anything they want, but I'm still in the middle of my investigation. "I believe a sexual assault took place."

Update 4/11: DA says the case is not going away. There's more DNA testing to do. He can do DNA testing till the cows come home. If there was none in or on the accuser, none under her fingernails and none on her belongings, how will he ever prove a rape?

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Original Post: 12:16 am
Duke Lacrosse Case Sinking Faster Than the Titanic

Here's the latest in the Duke lacrosse players rape allegations.

A defense attorney says time-stamped photographs will show an exotic dancer was already injured and "very impaired" when she arrived at a party where she claims she was raped by members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team.

Durham attorney Bill Thomas said some of the photographs, taken when she arrived at the house, indicate the woman was injured before getting to the party March 13. They show extensive bruises and scrapes on her legs, especially around the knees, he said. "This young lady was substantially impaired. She had fallen several times during the course of the evening," Thomas said.

There's been a lot of complaining about why the police waited two days to get a search warrant in the Duke lacrosse player incident in which an stripper-dancer claims she was brutally raped by three players. The police were trying to evaluate her claim, but there was this to take into consideration:

According to a 2002 police report, the woman, currently a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University, gave a taxi driver a lap dance at a Durham strip club. Subsequently, according to the report, she stole the man's car and led deputies on a high-speed chase that ended in Wake County.

Apparently, the deputy thought the chase was over when the woman turned down a dead-end road near Brier Creek, but instead she tried to run over him, according to the police report. Additional information notes that her blood-alcohol level registered at more than twice the legal limit.

Defense lawyer Joe Cheshire confirms the 911 caller was the other dancer at the party. It couldn't be anyone else as as I'm concerned.