By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Crystal Mangum, the woman, who previously accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape, still believes that she was attacked. This is according to a memoir.
She made her first public comments since the chargers were dropped against the players. She initially made the claims two years ago.
In a book that is expected to be released soon, she claims, “looking forward to opening old wounds.” But she claims she’s defending herself, too.
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“Even as I try to move on with my life, I still find it necessary to take one more stand and fight,” she writes in the book, “The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Mangum Story.” “I want to assert, without equivocation, that I was assaulted. Make of that what you will. You will decide what that means to you because the state of North Carolina saw fit not to look at all that happened the night I became infamous.”
In March 2006, she claimed that she was attacked at a lacrosse team party. She was hired to perform at the party as a stripper, the book said.
Through the trial, the state’s attorney general found that there was not enough evidence to pursue charges against the players. She said that she accepted the fate of the case.
While, she said, the case is closed, she would not answer questions about the details of the case.
“At this point, it doesn’t matter,” she said Thursday. “What matters is for people to know my account of what happened and for all of us to learn from it.”
The police found that there was no DNA evidence or even a witness that would testify in her corner. This provided that it would be difficult to make a case.
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She made inconsistencies in her states, the police said. Plus, she could not say how many assailants there were, as her numbers changed, the authorities said.
Magnum claimed that photos of her at the party were altered. In December 2006, she allegedly told then-Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong that she was not sure that she was raped.
After that revelation, the rape charges were dropped against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans. Then, in April 2007, the kidnapping and sexual offense charges were dropped, as well.
Nifong, according to Fox News, was disbarred following his involvement in the case. He had more than two dozen violations of the bar’s rules of professional conduct for how he handled the case.
He later spent one night in jail after lying to the judge.
The players previously filed civil lawsuits against Nifong, the City of Durham, police investigators, and others. However, Mangum was not sued by the players.
“It is now beyond dispute that Reade Seligmann is innocent and was the victim of demonstrably false accusations by Crystal Mangum,” Reade Seligmann’s father Phil Seligmann said in a statement. “The attorney general of North Carolina dismissed Ms. Mangum’s case, finding that Reade was innocent. The former lead detective for the Durham Police Department testified under oath that Crystal Mangum ‘was not telling the truth about anything.’ Electronic records, including cellular telephone calls and ATM photographs, proved Reade Seligmann was not even present when Ms. Mangum claimed the assault occurred.
“The forensic DNA findings revealed between five and nine different male profiles in and on Ms. Mangum — none of which matched any person on the Duke men’s lacrosse team. Ms. Mangum showed no injuries consistent with the beating and sexual assault that she claimed had occurred.”
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