The Durham Police Department released tapes Tuesday of 911 calls recorded in the early hours of March 14 during and after a party at which members of the men's lacrosse team allegedly gang-raped, sodomized and strangled an exotic dancer.
The captains of the team "unequivocally" denied the sexual assault and rape allegations in a statement-the group's first public statement about the situation.
President Richard Brodhead said at a press conference Tuesday evening that the captains had denied to administrators that sex "of any kind" occurred with the dancer, reportedly a 27-year-old black student at North Carolina Central University.
District Attorney Mike Nifong said Tuesday on MSNBC's The Abrams Report that the circumstances of the case exclude the possibility that there was no sexual activity.
"I am convinced that there was a rape," Nifong said, adding that nurses observed vaginal trauma upon examining the alleged victim.
Teammates who did not commit or observe the alleged assault are potentially liable for charges of aiding and abetting the crime because of teammate relationships, he added.
In the newly released 911 tapes, a female caller who was driving past 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.-a residence leased by three members of the lacrosse team and the scene of the party where the alleged rape occurred-reported that a white man yelled racial slurs at her from in front of the residence.
"He just hollered out n- to me, and I'm just so angry I didn't know who to call," she said to the 911 operator.
Athletic Director Joe Alleva said at the press conference he has seen "no evidence of any racial problems with the lacrosse team."
In the second call released by DPD, recorded at 1:22 a.m. March 14, a security guard at the Kroger grocery store on Hillsborough Road said a woman in a car-the alleged victim-refused to exit the vehicle, which did not belong to her. The caller also said the woman seemed "intoxicated" or "drunk."
A woman in the background, who identified herself as the owner of the car, confirmed that the alleged victim was "fairly drunk."
Media outlets also reported that Monday police searched a second residence-home to two Duke lacrosse players-and seized several unidentified items. Nifong told television station WRAL that more searches are likely to occur.
Kammie Michael, DPD public information officer, said a second search warrant was not issued. "The lead investigator does not know where it came from," she said. "No search warrant has been served."
As of press time Wednesday night, no charges had been filed. Officials are investigating the incident as first-degree forcible rape, common law robbery, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual offense and felonious strangulation.
Forty-six of 47 members of the team provided DNA samples to DPD March 23. Nifong confirmed that three of the 46 teammates were not at the party.
Nifong said Monday that the large sample was necessary because members of the lacrosse team provided little information to investigators. He sent the samples to the Raleigh State Bureau of Investigation Monday and expects the results next week.
"The DNA results will demonstrate that these allegations are absolutely false," the lacrosse captains said in their statement.
Members of the Durham and Duke community have criticized the players for stonewalling investigators by not coming forward with full information about the party.
The captains' statement said the team has cooperated with the police investigation.
Brodhead-who said he met with the captains Tuesday morning-noted that the University began looking into the incident less than 24 hours after it took place.
"No employee has advised the players not to speak," he said, adding that he believes team members gave "lengthy" statements to the police. "I have to assume that they have legal counsel and that legal counsel has foreseen complexities associated with speaking out."
Nifong met Tuesday with Robert Ekstrand, a partner at Ekstrand & Ekstrand LLP, who is representing a majority of the lacrosse players. Samantha Ekstrand, Law '01 and a partner at the same firm, declined to comment about the substance of the meeting. "In the past week, we have been representing the group. At this point we are still in the process of confirming that number [of clients]," she said.
Roland Gaines, the vice chancellor for student affairs at NCCU, said Tuesday that administrators are talking with the university's students and waiting for more information before determining their plan of action.
"Duke did not do this," Gaines said. "This was a small group of students involved, and I think the criminal justice system has to go through its process."
Brodhead said Tuesday night he has made several attempts to contact the NCCU chancellor but has not spoken with him.
Donna Lisker, the director of the Women's Center, said Duke is reaching out to its neighbor school, inviting NCCU students to Wednesday night's Take Back the Night march-an annual rally intended to bring awareness of sexual assault and empowerment to women.
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