The second dancer present at the March 13 party at which members of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team are alleged to have committed a rape said Monday that the alleged victim told her she wanted to have "marks" on her.
During an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," Kim Roberts said the alleged victim was "talking crazy" after leaving the March 13 party. Roberts said when she tried to forcibly remove the alleged victim from her car, the woman told her, "Put marks on me. Go ahead. That's what I want."
Roberts added that she did not speak up earlier because she is afraid of the evidence's affect on her standing as a witness.
"It is something that has been weighing on my heart, and I worry that maybe I won't be called to trial," she said.
Three members of the of the 2005-2006 men's lacrosse team have been charged with rape.
Also Monday, Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong told The Associated Press he felt a responsibility to pursue the case.
"You can make the case go away pretty easily. Anybody could," he told the AP. "But that does nothing to address the underlying divisions that have been revealed."
After an initial flurry of media appearances, Nifong has spoken very little publicly. But in Monday's interview, he acknowledged missteps in his initial response. "I think it was pretty clear that I [misunderstood] the likely consequence of appearing on camera," he said. "Certainly what I was trying to do was reassure the community, to encourage people with information to come forward. And that clearly was not the effect."
The interview comes just three days after Nifong said at a pre-trial hearing that he had not spoken with the alleged victim about the events of the party.
Nifong defended that decision Monday.
"Why do I have to be the one that's interviewed somebody?" he asked. "The police, other people can deal with interviews and they can report to me what they do and I can direct them from that. It's not necessary for me to ask you about a specific event from your life for me to get a good sense of whether or not you're a reliable individual."
On ABC, Roberts said she has not spoken with the police since March and has never been interviewed by Nifong. She added that she might not be called to the stand at the trial.
"Because... so much of [the alleged victim's] statement differs from mine... I might not help the prosecution at all as a witness," she said.
Roberts' most recent interview adds another detail to an account that has differed with itself on several occasions. She previously said allegations were a "crock," but said on other occasions that she did not know whether a rape had occurred. Legal experts said her credibility could be called into question. "When people change their stories, most of us think that makes them seem less reliable but not always, so it's really a common sense credibility judgement the jury makes," said Sara Beale, Charles L. B. Lowndes professor at the Duke law school.
Iza Wojciechowska contributed to this story.
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