Officer: Accuser 'Just Passed-out Drunk'

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. " A police spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the radio traffic.

A Troubled Spring at Duke

April 10, 2006 issue - A few—but only a few—facts are clear and uncontested. On the night of March 13, members of the Duke University lacrosse team, at the time ranked second in the nation, crowded into a small house rented by three of their captains to watch two exotic dancers perform. What happened next is very much a matter of dispute. There are at least two different scenarios, with vastly different implications for everyone involved.

According to the affidavit of a Durham, N.C., police officer, one of the strippers, an African-American woman, told the police she had been raped, sodomized, strangled and beaten by three of the partygoers. The story, with its heavy overtones of race and class, immediately popped onto front pages and TV screens around the country. Duke—an elite school known for its championship basketball teams and privileged, mostly white students—is located in a racially mixed neighborhood in a city that is part Tobacco Road, part Research Triangle. Duke lacrosse players (like lacrosse players at many other top schools) have a reputation for swagger and rowdiness. (In the past three years, 15 of the 47 current members of the team have been arrested for minor charges like holding an open beer in public.).

SourceTwo Duke University lacrosse players were arrested early Tuesday on charges of raping and kidnapping a stripper hired to dance at an off-campus party, and the district attorney said he hopes to charge a third person soon.

The indictments, unsealed Tuesday, did not indicate what possible evidence or arguments led the grand jury Monday to indict Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, both 20. District Attorney Mike Nifong would not discuss the evidence.