DURHAM, N.C. - The woman who has accused three Duke University men's lacrosse players of raping her failed to identify at least one of them in a photo array eight days after the reported attack, then selected him as an attacker more than two weeks later, according to a motion filed Friday by defense lawyers.
The motion filed on behalf of Dave Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md., asks a judge handling the case to force prosecutors to provide narrative reports on a photo lineup conducted with the accuser on March 21, as well as an earlier lineup done March 16. The woman said the players hired her as a stripper for a March 13 party at Evans' off-campus house and then raped her.
According to the motion, the accuser met with investigators on April 4 to again view photos, which is when she identified Evans. Durham police videotaped that session. Prosecutors provided a copy of the tape to defense lawyers last week, along with nearly 1,300 pages of evidence.
"He looks like one of the guys who assaulted me, sort of," the accuser tells police officers in pointing out Evans, according to the motion. She then says she would be 90 percent sure of the identification if the man had a mustache, the motion said.
Evans' lawyer, Joseph Cheshire, has said repeatedly that his client has never worn a mustache.
Accounts of the earlier photo lineups are among several pieces of information that Cheshire and co-counsel Brad Bannon, say are missing from files given to the defense. Their motion also states that they were not given a report by the Durham police officers who heard the woman's initial claim that she was raped, or complete documents relating to a sexual assault exam report by a nurse examiner.
According to the motion, the woman may have wavered during her initial meeting with police about whether or not she was assaulted.
A handwritten narrative report by Sgt. J.C. Shelton that is attached to the motion says the accuser first reported being raped after officers had decided to involuntary commit her. She then reportedly told officers that she was groped by some of the men who pulled her from a car, but was not forced to have sex.
According to Shelton, the accuser then told a doctor examining her for evidence of rape that she had been raped.
Since District Attorney Mike Nifong provided defense attorneys with what he said was the state's entire file to date, lawyers for the three players charged in the case have filed three motions claiming that information is being withheld.
Also indicted in the case are Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J.
Nifong's office has declined to comment on this week's filings and his legal assistant was not available Friday afternoon.
Also Friday, a lawyer who said he represents a lacrosse player not charged in the case said he wants the Durham Police Department to conduct an internal investigation into a poster and flyers that he says unfairly implied all 46 members of the lacrosse team were guilty of rape.
Alex Charns said material distributed around Durham by the CrimeStoppers organization suggested that the entire lacrosse team was guilty of raping the accuser.
CrimeStoppers is an organization that acts independent of the police department, offering rewards for information about crimes.
A police spokeswoman, Kammie Michael, said Friday that the department's only connection to CrimeStoppers is through a corporal who serves as a liaison officer and that the department had no control over the group's press releases and flyers.
Michael said no investigation is planned.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.