Monday, May 15, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Police attempted to search the dorm rooms of Duke University lacrosse players amid an investigation into the alleged rape of an exotic dancer at a team party, the school's president said Friday. President Richard Brodhead said he was just learning about the Thursday night search attempts and didn't have many details, including whether investigators had search warrants and if they actually entered any rooms. "I am aware that police attempted to enter those rooms, and I am now about to leave this news conference to learn the whole story," Brodhead said. There were no warrants for any dorm rooms at Duke among those returned to the Durham County magistrate's office Friday morning, although police have 48 hours after executing a warrant to return it. The court clerk's office was closed for the Good Friday holiday, and police officials did not immediately return calls for comment. The searches would be the third made by police as they investigate allegations that members of the nearly all-white lacrosse team raped 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 raped 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 McFayden. The search of McFayden'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 McFayden's e-mail. In a police recording in the hours following the party, an officer describes the woman from the party as "just passed-out drunk." The taped conversation, obtained by The Associated Press, 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." 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. Defense lawyers have said time-stamped photographs taken by the players show that the accuser was drunk and already had injuries when she arrived at 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 stripper 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 raped, 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." Police sp

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home