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The AP reports (thanks to Sharon in the comments on the post below) that our cabbie also picked up another fare from the Duke lacrosse party later on:
A cab driver called to take a Duke University lacrosse player home from a team party says his passenger [Reade Seligmann], now charged with raping an exotic dancer, seemed calm and even jovial that night. But a second passenger he picked up later was talking about a stripper, he said.
Moez Mostafa said the second passenger spoke about a stripper in a tone that made it “look to me like somebody get hurt.” ...
In an interview on MSNBC, Mostafa said he returned to the house later to pick up another customer. He said he remembered that person “said in a loud voice, ‘She just a stripper.’”
Asked whether the second fare was complaining about the stripper or whether it appeared something bad had happened to her, Mostafa initially said he didn’t “have any information about what was going on in the house.”
“When I look back, he look like he mad at the stripper. Or the stripper, she going to call the police and she just a stripper. ... It look to me like somebody get hurt. But what kind of harm, ... I have no idea.”
This actually sort-of fits in with a theory of events that suddenly hit me after putting together the post on Finnerty and Seligmann’s alibis… which I’ll leave you hanging on until later this afternoon.
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14 comments:
Inquirying minds want to know!
First I have some teaching and grading to do… gotta earn my paycheck!
Wanted to bring this to your attention:
She even considered pulling the plug after the case turned into a racial pressure cooker, her cousin said.
“At one point, she wanted to just drop the charges,” said the cousin, who gave her name as Jackie. “But as a family, we told her to stand her ground.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/410489p-347230c.html
It looks like this false accusation spun out of control on her and now she can’t back out. My theory is she was drunk and didn’t want to go to the drunk tank and explain it to her father, so somehow she thought this would change the subject.
I agree with Hoo Law’s theory. She may have lost her kids if she had another public intoxication charge against her.
For what its worth there were reports on O’Reilly last night that the Durham police thought the case was rushed and that this lady was drinking heavily at a party beforehand.
The defense is absolutely dominating this case right now. They caught a major break when Seligmann was one of the ones charged. He seemed very popular on the Duke campus and was not pegged as a meathead lax player. Public opinion is now very much in favor of the players on the Duke campus.
Dan and Hoo Law:
While I agree that this has spun out of control, I fail to see how recanting her charges creates more problems for her. She’s not going to lose her kids over public intoxication charges. CPS needs a lot more than that.
Dan later states:
“For what its worth, there were reports on O’Reily last night:”
Please – Stop right there! – don’t drink that koolaid. I’m a fan of sensationalist journalism as much as the next guy, but O’Reily holds as much credibility as Howard Stern or Rush Limbaugh. Chris’ blogroll deserves more respect.
I did find credible the news reporter who first approached the accuser who reported the initial gasp and tears reaction to finding out the story had hit the press. At this point, anyone with her position would be a deer in the headlights.
O’Reilly (and Fox News in general) definitely seems willing to go with the rumors… but someone on the CourtTV message board who allegedly knows people in law enforcement has alluded to some of the things O’Reilly is reported to have said. Not that I put a lot of credence in TV talking heads or some pseudonymous poster on a message board.
“I fail to see how recanting her charges creates more problems for her. She’s not going to lose her kids over public intoxication charges.” Well, no, but if you’re drunk/loaded/drugged at 1:30 a.m. the fine points of the law may be blowing past your brain. That’s how idiots who run a red light end up leading cops on multistate high-speed car chases rather than pulling over and taking the $50 ticket.
Azbballfan…..I think that “For whats its worth” was a pure qualifier to the statement.
Sometimes these whispers turn out to be true. I actually had the Seligmann alibi and posted it on this site(only because the analysis seemed fair and interesting here compared to the other sites) before it became public. My connections are here in Jersey were dead on. That isn’t to say that O’Reilly source(obviously of much greater stature than a peon like myself) is guaranteed to be true, but it is certainly plausible.
Dan:
Apologies – my comment should have started with: With all due respect,
Thank you for providing me the opportunity to post a gratuitous slam on psuedo journalism. I should have include a flame reference to Nancy disGrace on Court TV.
And yes, whispers to sometimes come true – however it’s been my experience that the accurate private whispers gotten through back channels rarely see the light of day until the attorneys make statements to the media.
In the Kobe case, I had my own private back channel source from folks who were close to Kobe’s attorneys. It was amazing to see things play out in the media. I would be told things and later be told exactly when they would be reported on – good pr people work the media hard to clear all reports through them or risk getting blacklisted.
Since we all know that the accuser had a prior history and now that this situation has happened we know her line of work, is there a possibility that she could be considered an unfit mother or possibly, does her line of work constitute some violation of parole for her previous crimes?
Aha, upping the ante there Zebra. Wanna report a rape? Better be ready to lose your kids. Or perhaps it might be better stated….when being racially and sexually taunted by Duke lacrosse….do nothing. After all, you were called by Duke basketball players to perform.
Strippers generally don’t come from the same demographics as Lacrosse players, or Duke students. For that matter single mothers generally don’t attend Duke or play lacrosse either.
I suppose we should apply the same scrutiny to Colin? His being arrested for violence considered less immoral then driving drunk?
LaxZebra,
The lady successfully completed her 2 year probation for the prior conviction. Stripping and escorting per-se is not illegal, and would not lead to any claim of parental unfitness. I believe many strippers are in fact single mothers.
I don’t think it has been substantiated that she was called by Duke basketball players to perform.
Once again the reckless lacrosse team has many issues to deal with, but this case is about whether a gang rape happened or not. I think it is fine to blast the lacrosse team’s judgement(some would say this ordeal is the ultimate punishment), but two lives sit in the balance based on an accusation that seems shaky at best at this point.
Apparently the Duke lacrosse players were loyal enough to their baseball and basketball brethern…to claim that was who they were when they dialed the escort service. True, that does not make the statement substantiated.
And absolutely true is the difference between boorish behaviour and gang rape is immense….
tuocs, you found me out—I’m trying to figure out if there are apples to apples in play for Finnerty, but I guess it’s an orange and apple thing. Who was watching the kids when she went out?