University Athletes in trouble...

[Meathead]

Saw this on inside lacrosse. Not good at all

DNA tests ordered for Duke athletes
Lacrosse team reports to lab in rape inquiry




Samiha Khanna and Anne Blythe, Staff Writers
Durham police had 46 members of the Duke University lacrosse team DNA-tested Thursday in the suspected gang-rape of a woman at an off-campus party last week.
Police think at least three of the men could be responsible for the sexual assault, beating, robbery and near-strangulation of one of two women who had an appointment to dance at the party March 13, according to a search warrant.

Such a broad DNA sampling early in an investigation is unusual, several local lawyers said.

The assault allegedly happened in a house shared by three members of the men's lacrosse team, Duke officials said.

All but one member of the team reported to the Durham police crime lab downtown at 4 p.m. Thursday to be photographed and "to provide identifying information," said John Burness, Duke University senior vice president for public affairs. The team member who did not report was not ordered to the screening, Burness said without explaining why.

"Duke University is monitoring the situation and cooperating with officials, as are the students," Burness said.

No one had been charged late Thursday in the incident, which police say happened close to midnight March 13 and into the early hours of the next morning. Alcohol was involved, Durham police Sgt. Mark Gottlieb said.

Joe Alleva, Duke athletics director, was in Atlanta, where the Blue Devils men's basketball team played its third game in the NCAA Tournament.

"It's just an unfortunate situation," Alleva said about the investigation of the lacrosse team. "We're just going to have to let the legal process work out."

While investigators look into the matter, Alleva said, the lacrosse team, a finalist in the NCAA Division I championship last season, will continue with its schedule. "You've got to let the facts play out," he said.

It was unclear how long it would take to process the DNA tests.

A search warrant returned Thursday details the attack the victim described to police.

It is The News & Observer's policy not to identify victims of reported sex crimes.

Heated atmosphere

According to the warrant, the victim told police she went to the home late March 13 with another woman to dance for a group of men. She and the other female dancer started to perform in the master bedroom of the house, and soon, the men who were watching became "excited and aggressive," the statement says.

The women stopped dancing and wanted to leave, concerned for their safety. They went outside and got into a car and were approached by one of the suspects, who apologized and asked that the women come back inside, the warrant says.

The women went back inside the house and were separated. The victim was pulled into a bathroom, and three men held her down, sexually assaulting and sodomizing her, the warrant says. She was kicked, hit, strangled and beaten, she told police.

The victim went to the Kroger grocery store on Hillsborough Road and called police at 1:22 a.m. March 14, the warrant says.

Police drove to the house that morning, but no one answered the door. They returned March 16 with the search warrant, looking for DNA evidence and the victim's belongings, including one shoe, a cellular phone and at least $400, all in $20 bills.

They also looked for artificial fingernails painted with red polish, apparently lost in the victim's struggle.

Police seized residents' computers, cell phones and digital cameras, looking for photos and video footage of the party, the warrant said. They took rugs, discarded paper towels, fingernails and photographs, it said.

Residents at the Buchanan Boulevard house, one of 15 properties Duke bought in February, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Search called unusual

Such a large DNA search seemed unusual to several Durham criminal defense lawyers.

John Fitzpatrick said searches by the police should be based on a suspicion that is directed toward an individual, not just a class of people.

"On its face, without learning more, it could be real problematic when you have some sweeping, unscrutinized searches," Fitzpatrick said.

Lawyer Alex Charns said it was difficult to decide whether a search was valid without knowing specifics or seeing written orders, but generally speaking, it would be unusual for so many people to have their DNA taken.

"I can't imagine a scenario where this would be reasonable to do this so early in the investigation," Charns said. "It seems unusual, it seems over-broad, and it seems frightening that they're invading the privacy of so many people."

Gottlieb, the supervisor in the investigation, said Thursday that he was not in a position to speak about the case. He stood inside the Durham police crime lab about 4 p.m. as carloads of young men rolled to 213 Broadway St. in downtown Durham.

Bob Ekstrand, a Durham defense lawyer who has represented Duke students, stood outside the lab holding a briefcase.

"Don't answer any questions," he told the young men as they prepared to go in the building. When asked whether he was representing any of the students, he replied, "No comment."

A woman who works in Ekstrand's office intercepted more lacrosse players as they arrived, instructing them to cover their faces, wear hats and pull their jackets up to conceal their identities. In the back of one of the players' cars was a recent issue of "Inside Lacrosse" magazine.

"Everyone's talking about Duke," the front cover read

[Meathead]

FOLLOW UP:

Dancer gives details of ordeal (http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/421799.html)
A woman hired to dance for the Duke lacrosse team describes a night of racial slurs, growing fear and, finally, sexual violence

Samiha Khanna and Anne Blythe, Staff Writers
The woman who says she was raped last week by three members of the Duke University lacrosse team thought she would be dancing for five men at a bachelor party, she said Friday. But when she arrived that night, she found herself surrounded by more than 40.
Just moments after she and another exotic dancer started to perform, she said, men in the house started barking racial slurs. The two women, both black, stopped dancing.

"We started to cry," she said. "We were so scared."

Forty-six members of the men's lacrosse team submitted DNA samples Thursday in the unusual case. As of late Friday, there had been no arrests. Duke officials briefed university staff Friday on the allegations, and authorities vowed to crack the team's wall of solidarity.

"We're asking someone from the lacrosse team to step forward," Durham police Cpl. David Addison said. "We will be relentless in finding out who committed this crime."

He emphasized the seriousness of the accusations -- first-degree rape, kidnapping, assault by strangulation and robbery.

Details of the accusations were made public this week in a warrant authorizing a search of the three-bedroom rental house where the attack is alleged to have taken place.

The accuser spoke Friday, struggling not to cry as she recounted the events of the early hours of March 14 at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., next to Duke's East Campus.

It is The News & Observer's policy not to identify the victims of sex crimes.

The accuser had worked for an escort company for two months, doing one-on-one dates about three times a week.

"It wasn't the greatest job," she said, her voice trailing off. But with two children, and a full class load at N.C. Central University, it paid well and fit her schedule.

This was the first time she had been hired to dance provocatively for a group, she said. There was no security to protect her, and as the men became aggressive, the two women started to leave. After some of the men apologized for the behavior, the women went back inside, according to police. That's when the woman was pulled into a bathroom and raped and sodomized, police said.

She hesitated to tell police what happened, she said Friday. She realized she had to, for her young daughter and her father.

A hurt that would last

"My father came to see me in the hospital," she said. "I knew if I didn't report it that he would have that hurt forever, knowing that someone hurt his baby and got away with it."

Jason Bissey, who was on his porch next door during the party, saw the victim that night. He said Friday that he wishes he had called police at the first sign something was wrong.

He saw at least 30 men go into the white three-bedroom house, which Duke officials say is rented by three lacrosse team captains.

Bissey saw two women arrive and, after they were in the house 20 minutes, come out. As they got into a car, men shouted, Bissey said.

"Some of them were saying things like, 'I want my money back,' " Bissey said.

He recalled the racially charged statements at least one man was yelling at the victim.

"When I was outside, one guy yelled at her, '... Thank your grandpa for my cotton shirt,' " Bissey said.

After a few minutes, everything seemed to calm down, he said. One of the women headed back into the house, saying she forgot her shoes.

Days later, Bissey learned one of the young women reported being raped.

"If I had called in the beginning, maybe the cops would have gotten there before this happened," he said.

Bissey and other neighbors are accustomed to hearing loud parties at the house. It's one of many rental houses near the Duke campus where police stay busy, breaking up rowdy parties and rounding up minors suspected of underage drinking.

Last fall, residents were worried about more than drunken antics and loud music. Many complained that students disregarded their neighbors and police, and were disrespectful when confronted.

Police have been called to the house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. four times since September, according to police records. The house is one of 15 properties the university bought in February to address neighborhood complaints. The university plans to sell the dwellings to quieter homeowners who agree not to rent them out.

After hearing about the alleged rape, residents in neighborhoods around Duke sent e-mail to one another and police, criticizing landlords for tolerating an "Animal House" atmosphere.

Residents also questioned why police waited two days to search the house after the rape was reported.

Addison, the police spokesman, said that between receiving the call and searching the house, police were interviewing the victim, residents of the house and other witnesses. He also explained that one team member was excluded from the DNA testing because he is black and therefore doesn't match the description of the suspects.

The tests are scheduled to be sent to the State Bureau of Investigation in Raleigh for testing, and Durham authorities said they are trying to have the process expedited.

All that Duke officials can do, they say, is wait for the investigation to be completed.

Art Chase, Duke sports information director, said lacrosse coach Mike Pressler and athletics department administrators had spoken with team captains about the incident. The department was not conducting an investigation of its own, Chase said.

"I think they'll let the judicial system run its course," he said.

Chase said he was not sure of the occasion for the party. Players did not return phone calls, and their parents remained mum, as did Pressler. He and the team were preparing Friday for today's home game against Georgetown University.

Paul Haagen, chairman of Duke's Academic Council, was in a faculty meeting about the incident.

'This is sad'

"There was a sense of, 'This is sad, and it's terrible,' " Haagen said. "Beyond that, people don't know what's going on."

Haagen, a law professor who specializes in sports law, said studies show that violence against women is more prevalent among male athletes than among male students in general -- and higher still among such "helmet sports" as football, hockey and lacrosse.

"These are sports of violence," he said. "This is clearly a concern."

[Meathead]

FOLLOW-UP:

from TSN.ca (http://www.tsn.ca)

3/28/2006 8:17:48 PM

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Duke University's highly ranked lacrosse team will not play again this season until school administrators learn more about allegations that several team members raped an exotic dancer at an off-campus party, the school said Tuesday.

President Richard Brodhead decided to suspend the team from play ''until there is a clearer resolution of the legal situation involving team members,'' the university said.

The case has roiled the campus, raised racial tensions and heightened antagonism between the affluent students at Duke, which costs about $43,000 US a year, and the city of Durham, which has a large population of poor people and is about evenly divided between white and black.

A woman told police she and another dancer were hired to perform March 13 at a private party in an off-campus home. The dancer, a student at North Carolina Central University, told police she was pulled into a bathroom, beaten, choked and raped by three men.

No one has been charged.


Armed with a judge's order, police took DNA samples with a cheek swab from 46 of the lacrosse team's 47 players last week. The 47th player, the only black member of the team, did not have to provide DNA because the dancer said her attackers were white.

''I needed to have the information about who will be charged,'' said District Attorney Mike Nifong said. ''I feel pretty confident that a rape occurred.''

Brodhead said team captains notified Athletic Director Joe Alleva on Tuesday that players wanted to stay off the field until the DNA results came back from a crime lab. Brodhead said it was his decision to expand the suspension.

''In this painful period of uncertainty, it is clear to me, as it was to the players, that it would be inappropriate to resume the normal schedule of play,'' Brodhead said.

Nifong said the team members are standing together and refusing to talk with investigators, and he warned he may bring aiding-and-abetting charges against some of the players.

The alleged victim is black, which has proved a source of tension on campus.

''The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done,'' Nifong said. ''It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so.''

Angry over the team members' silence and the university's handling of the case, Durham residents have demonstrated on and off campus in the past few days. They rallied outside the house where the alleged attack occurred, and gathered outside of Duke Provost Peter Lange's home, where they banged on pots and pans until he emerged to answer questions.

Lange said Monday that he believes ''the students would be well-advised to come forward. They have chosen not to.''

A lawyer representing several lacrosse team members did not immediately return calls Tuesday.

The university's athletic director forced the team to forfeit two games because of underage drinking and the hiring of dancers at the party. The losses gave Duke, considered a national title contender before the season began, a 6-4 record with five regular-season games to go.

[Meathead]

Duke Lacrosse Rape Claim Spurs Outrage (http://abcnews.go.com/US/ESPNSports/story?id=1770656&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312)

March 26, 2006 — Following accusations that several Duke University lacrosse team members raped a dancer, a group of concerned Durham, N.C., residents staged a "wake-up call" today against sexual assault.

Standing in front of the house where the alleged assault occurred, the group beat and banged on pots and pans early this morning to protest the attack.

Last week, DNA samples were taken from 46 members of thelacrosse team. Investigators are trying to identify at least three men suspected of raping and beating the woman, who was hired to dance at a party.

"We're not saying that all 46 were involved," Durham Police Cpl. David Addison said recently. "But we do know that some of the players inside that house on that evening knew what transpired and we need them to come forward."

So far, no charges have been filed against any of the players. The team, which is currently ranked No. 2 and has been considered a favorite to win this year's national championship, forfeited two games — one yesterday and one that would have been played on this coming Tuesday — because of the allegations.


'Totally Deplorable'
"If what is alleged is in fact true, it's totally deplorable," Duke spokesman John Burness told ABC station WTVD-TV in Duhram this past week. "That is not what this institution stands for nor do we believe it's what our students stand for."

According to a search warrant, the victim and another woman went to a university-owned house on March 13, where three members of the team live. When the men became aggressive, the women left but another player apologized and convinced them to return.

The women returned to the house, but were separated. The victim alleges she was forced into a bathroom and assaulted. The men also allegedly yelled racial slurs at the women.

The victim, who is black, later contacted police from a grocery store and reported the attack.

"That brutal assault, that brutal rape that occurred within that house, cannot be explained by anyone," Addison said.

Duke Provost Peter Lang seemed unwilling to speculate on the allegations.

"Do I know that those crimes happened in a way that would allow me to take a position on that? No," he said. "That's why we have the police. That's why the police have the means to undertake steps to investigate the crime that Duke could never have."

ABC News affiliate WTVD-TV in Durham, N.C., contributed to this report.

[Meathead]

Further information and the searh warrant from The Smoking Gun (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0329061duke1.html)...including the names of the 3 players who assaulted the female dancer.

In another interesting move, www.goduke.com has taken down the mens roster for the 2005-2006 Men's Field Lacrosse team (http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=25941&SPID=2027&DB_OEM_ID=4200&KEY=&Q_SEASON=2005) and removed from prior years the names of players still playing for the team. I suppose this is pending the resolution of the legal case. Additionally, 15 of the 47 Duke players have records. None more serious than "Drunk Ass Student" but it is interesting.

The only player not under suspicion right now? The black one. The strippers identified their assailants as white.

[omicron]

How about the fact that DNA evidence proves that not one team member was involved?

Sure, there was alot of people blasting the team for 'lawyering up' and not talking to the police. Nowadays, that's the first thing you should do. It just speaks of the American legal system.

Nice knee-jerk reaction by Duke too. That coach should be reinstated ASAFP, and their season should continue. If there's not a unlawful termination suit coming, I'd be surprised.


Just goes to prove, NEVER trust strippers. :rolleyes:

Omi

[Immortal1982]

How about the fact that DNA evidence proves that not one team member was involved?

ok i'll give you that

Sure, there was alot of people blasting the team for 'lawyering up' and not talking to the police. Nowadays, that's the first thing you should do. It just speaks of the American legal system.

Unfortunately, we may never know the whole truth of what happened that night, but they should likely face conspiricy charges after the note that did turn up on the computer. This is no different that the colorado football scandal. A bunch of thugs who thought they were above the law. Unfortunately, even if innocent, they should know better.

Nice knee-jerk reaction by Duke too. That coach should be reinstated ASAFP, and their season should continue. If there's not a unlawful termination suit coming, I'd be surprised.

The coach wasn't terminated. He resigned. He even said he was quitting at the end of the season, regardless. He just had enough of the school.



Just goes to prove, NEVER trust strippers. :rolleyes:

Omi

Thats only cus jakester stole your last one.....:lol:

[omicron]

Conspiracy? I don't think so. I bet it was just one drunk meathead who sent out an email.

I didn't know the coach was leaving at the end of the year. I think the team should get back a year of eligibilty.

Also, the stripper was found passed out in a car in the parking lot of a grocery store, and digital photos taken at her arrival at the party apparently show her intoxicated and bruised already.

I am not saying she wasn't assaulted at the party, but right now it looks pretty clear that she wasn't assaulted by ANY member of the Duke team. And they are the ones that are/were being punished for it.

Omi

[omicron]

Welp they've arrested two players for this crime. (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2412318)

I still think this is going to be a case of someone making a false claim. There's no DNA, photographic evidence shows the stripper arriving in an impaired and injured condition, the residents of the house claim that one of the accused wasn't even AT the party, and atm and cabbie receipts show one of the players left the party at around the same time the alleged assault took place.

Omi

[omicron]

Demand for Duke lacrosse gear soars (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2413794)


"Historically, lacrosse has been one of our three or four best-selling sports," said Tom Craig, general manager of retail stores at the Durham, N.C., school. "But over the last month, sales have increased to three or four times our normal rate."

New gangster street cred wear? Will it replace Oakland Raider gear? :lol:

Omi