Duke Lacrosse False Allegation of Rape, 2006

• Intro
  
  
• How It Went Down
  
  
• Pre and Post Duke Lacrosse Rape Allegation
  
  
• Update December, 2024 Crystal Mangum Retracts Rape Allegation
  
  

 

Intro

• Why write a page on this subject 15 years after it occurred? Every time I hear another hate crime or racially charged hoax, I'm always reminded of this one. There was already so much written on this case, I previously decided to not bother. Simply, I finally got around to it.
  
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How It Went Down

• On March 13, 2006, the Duke Lacrosse team hosted a party which included hiring two, black, female strippers. Now, there's a good idea for a bunch of white boys. Some people like to say: "Boys will be boys.", but come on. Hiring strippers? That's just asking for trouble. I mention the race of the dancers and party organizers because this case, from the very beginning, became racially charged, with the boys depicted as white, Christian and privileged. The narrative had all the markings of White Supremacy run amok versus a defenseless, black, single mother from the other side of the tracks. A frenzied media was all too happy to jump all over it.
  
  
• The events of this evening are well-documented but in short:
  
  
  • Crystal Mangum (the accuser) and Kim Roberts were hired as strippers for a party.
  • At some point after the party, Kim, trying to get Crystal out of her car, had Crystal arrested.
  • Crystal had a long psychological history and had been prescribed antipsychotic medications. How much of this police knew at the time I don't know, but something during their encounter caused police to take her to a mental health and substance abuse facility.
  • It was during the admissions process Crystal claimed she was dragged into a bathroom, gang raped, beaten, and choked for 30 minutes. Hospital records describe no injuries consistent with such an attack. However, because of the accusation of rape, the police were notified and started an investigation.
    
    
• During interviews, details of the alleged attack changed over a dozen times. At first she was only groped. Then, she was raped by 20 males. Then, she narrowed it down to three. The three who were finally accused and charged, voluntarily gave statements and DNA samples* to police. They also offered to take lie detector tests but the police turned down their offers. Ultimately, the three were charged with forcible rape, sexual offense and kidnapping.
  *Eventually, everyone on the team, except the lone black player, provided their DNA whether they were at the party or not. You can't get more cooperative than that.
  
  
• Crystal claimed that David Evans had a mustache on the night of the attack but David never had a mustache. Very recent photos pre/post party show him with no mustache and several witnesses testified never seeing him with one. She changed her account to say Evans only had a five o'clock shadow. There were many such inconsistencies and retelling of her story.
  
  
• As strange as it sounds, one of the accused, Reade Seligmann, was initially glad he was named. At the time the alleged rape occurred, he had already left the party, was at a restaurant -- and could prove his whereabouts.
  
  
  • He had taken a cab (the driver later submitted a sworn affidavit stating when and where he took Seligmann).
  • He had witnesses, cell phone records and a timed restaurant receipt.
  • He stopped at an ATM which included a timed receipt and video evidence.
  • He also had a time stamp from when he swiped his entry card at his dorm.
    
    He had what's known as an ironclad alibi. All three boys were certain they would be quickly exonerated. Not so fast. District Attorney Mike Nifong to the rescue -- of the accuser.
  
  
• When one of the lawyers for a defendant attempted to present evidence of innocence to Nifong, his response reportedly was: "We are not in the mood to hear fiction." For reasons still unknown, Nifong was determined to prosecute the accused and moved forward with charges of rape even though he had:
  
  
  • no eyewitness testimony (Kim Roberts stated she never witnessed an attack -- and I point out the two women came and left together in Robert's car.)
  • no medical evidence.
  • no forensic proof a rape had occurred
  
  
• Nifong is a democrat who, using the language of today, wanting to appear woke, went on a media blitz that inflamed racial tensions by proclaiming the boys' guilt -- before trial -- while the investigation was ongoing. Say, what? Nifong emphatically declared: "I am not going to allow Durham's view in the minds of the world to be a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl in Durham." This statement, and many others, were later determined by the North Carolina State Bar to be "prejudicial to the administration of justice." This is considered a legal no no for a DA.
  
  
• Subsequent DNA testing revealed evidence on and in Crystal's body from a number of men, none of which matched anyone associated with Duke. Can anyone say: "Prostitute?" Nifong originally suppressed some of the exculpatory DNA evidence -- another legal no no for a DA. Why? My guess is that he assumed the DNA evidence would support his declaration they were guilty. When it didn't, he knew he was in trouble and it was CYA time.
  
  
• Other than Crystal's accusation, Nifong had zero evidence nor any testimony connecting any of the Duke lacrosse players to any crime. He disregarded the science and lack of evidence and proceeded. This just scratches the surface of Nifong's mishandling of Crystal's accusation. In one account, when Nifong discussed with his staff they would be pressing forward prosecuting the boys, someone responded: "With what?"
  
  
• Once the DNA evidence became known, the charges of rape were dropped but the charges of sexual offense and kidnapping remained. Those involved in the case were scratching their heads because their entire case, which had nothing substantial to start with, had completely unraveled.
  
  
• Eventually, Attorney General Roy Cooper stepped in. In an almost unprecedented statement, he publicly and harshly rebuked his fellow law enforcement official calling Nifong a "rogue prosecutor" who ignored the facts. "Contradictions [of evidence and Crystal's testimonies] were clearly pointing to the fact this attack did not occur and it's disappointing and really outrageous [the prosecution] was not stopped sooner." Roy Cooper
  
  
• Here's just some of the fallout from one woman pointing her crooked finger and crying wolf.
  
  
  • Three young men (and their families) had their lives turned into a nightmare, including having their names and faces plastered all over the media associated with "Rape!". If convicted, they faced up to 30 years in prison. Imagine having just those two realities hanging over your head for over a year.
    
    
  • They had multiple death threats. In a 60 Minutes interview linked below, one of the men said how emotionally draining it was to be constantly on high alert.
    
    
  • Lacrosse Coach Mike Pressler, who had been coaching Duke’s lacrosse team for more than 15 years, stood by his team. School adminstrators were planning to shut down the rest of the lacrosse season but Pressler argued the season should not be cancelled unless some real evidence emerged. The season was cancelled and Pressler, for not going along with the woke narrative that his team members were guilty because accused, was fired. Down the road, through private and legal means, Pressler was successful at suing Duke for terms that were not disclosed. He was also offered an apology.
    
    
  • One day after the AG exonerated the lacrosse players, Nifong issued an apology. The apology was seen as too little, too late, insincere, and an attempt to save himself from being disbarred.
    
    
  • Nifong was charged with having violated at least a dozen laws, rules and court orders designed to protect defendants' rights by playing a game of hide-and-seek with evidence that could have cleared the players. As a result, he was held in contempt of court for making false statements for which he served only one day in jail. How's that for justice?
    
    
  • Nifong was subsequently disbarred by the North Carolina State Bar and resigned in disgrace as the Durham County District Attorney. You can bet he is sorry he ever heard the name Crystal Mangum and even sorrier he chose to carry her water down a rabbit hole dug by lies.
  
  
• Maybe the most aggravating part of this story is that Crystal Mangum, having wreaked all this havoc, just walked away with no consequences:
  • no reimbursement for the yearlong investigation (just processing the DNA evidence must have cost a small fortune)
  • not even a charge for filing a false police report.
  • ¡Ay, caramba! Must be nice. We hear a lot about "white privilege." I contend this is an example of black privilege.
    
    
• So, what's the moral of the story? It's Open Season if you're a white male and your accuser is black, especially female. You can make any vile accusation you want. If it turns out there's no truth to it, no problem -- not even an apology required. Better luck next time. I think this case set the precedent for many of the hate crime hoaxes since.
  
  
• Those who file false police reports should face the same charges and penalties as the crimes they allege (Deut. 19:16-19). This would stop most of these hoaxes.
  
  
• 60 Minutes ran an interesting report discussing the aftermath of their ordeal.
  
  
• Here's a Where Are They Now? article written in May of 2023.
  
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Reade Seligmann, David Evans, Collin Finnerty

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Crystal Mangum and Kim Roberts
a good time just waiting to happen

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Signs Protesting the Duke Lacrosse Players
For inexplicable reasons, people take sides not knowing any facts.
It didn't seem to matter there was no evidence supporting the woman's claim.
She was black and the boys were white -- and that's all some people
needed to know to assume their guilt. What a sad commentary.

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Disgraced former District Attorney Mike Nifong

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Attorney General Roy Cooper who finally
put a stop to Nifong's travesty of justice.

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Cabbie Moezeldin Elmostafa
provided an alibi for Reade Seligmann

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Duke Lacrosse Coach Mike Pressler

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60 Minutes Report

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Previous Rape Allegation

• Ten years prior to this fiasco, in 1996 when Crystal turned 18, she made a similar claim. She told a police officer in Creedmoor, NC she had been raped by three men in June of 1993 when she was almost 15 but never followed up with a detailed report she was asked to write. I'll leave it to you to decide if this event has any significance.
  
  

  Reginald Daye

• In 2011, some four years after the Duke Lacrosse accusation fell apart, Crystal Mangum stabbed her boyfriend Reginald Daye, who died 10 days later. At trial, Mangum argued that she stabbed Daye in self-defense. Prosecutors argued that the forensic evidence supported Daye's dying statement that he was attempting to get away from Mangum. Believe whichever version you like, but in 2013 a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder, and the judge sentenced her to 14 to 18 years in prison. This time, she didn't just walk away.
  
  
• I don't recall the black activist crowd and media back in 2011 automatically siding with Mangum in this case. That would be problematic since the dead man is also black. Apparently, since there was no race card to play, they looked the other way.
  
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Reginald Daye, murdered by

Crystal Mangum

 

Crystal Mangum Retracts Rape Allegation
December 2024

• It's one thing for an Attorney General to declare no crime was committed and the boys innocent, leaving room for doubt. It's quite another matter when the alleged victim fesses up. To her credit, she came clean.

  Crystal, now 46 years old, was interviewed in December of 2024 at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women. Her retraction can be found at 10:00 in this Let's Talk With Kat podcast. I'm curious about how this interview came to be. It seems so out of the blue.

• It's great Crystal retracted the rape accusation, albeit 18 years afterward (better late than never), but I was hoping she would confirm or deny her claim she acted in self-defense when she stabbed Reginald Daye, who later died from his wounds. There was no mention of him in the interview. Another time, perhaps.
  
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Crystal Mangum is expected to be releassed
in 2026 -- hopefully, a changed woman.