kaorder1999
04-17-2006, 02:36 PM
Jesse Jackson: Scholarship for Duke 'Victim'
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday his Chicago-based Rainbow/Push Coalition will pay the college tuition of a black stripper who told police she was raped by white members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team - no matter the outcome of the case.
"I can't wait ... to talk with her and have prayer with her, because our organization is committed, when she's physically and emotionally able ... to provide for her the scholarship money to finish school so she will never ... again have to stoop that low to survive," he said from Chicago in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
When asked, the civil rights leader also said his group will pay for the woman's tuition even if her story proves false. Attorneys for the lacrosse players have strongly denied any sexual assault took place at the March 13 party, citing DNA tests performed on all 46 of the team's white members that failed to match any samples taken from the woman.
Defense attorneys have said they expect the case to go to a grand jury on Monday.
But Jackson said there is plenty of circumstantial evidence indicating something happened to the woman, a 27-year-old divorced mother of two who is a student across town from Duke at historically black North Carolina Central University.
A doctor and forensic nurse who examined the woman shortly after the alleged attack found evidence consistent with rape, according to court documents. Defense attorneys claim time-stamped photographs prove the woman was injured and intoxicated when she arrived at the party.
Attorney Bill Thomas said Saturday a member of the defense team had interviewed the other dancer who performed that night, and that she "has stated point blank she does not believe this allegation."
Jackson said the defense has vilified the accuser by talking about the photos and her criminal past. The woman pleaded guilty four years ago to stealing the taxi of a man for whom she was performing a lap dance, then trying to run a sheriff's deputy over with it.
"There's more evidence that violence occurred to her than she's the lead of a hoax," Jackson said.
Jackson has not spoken with the woman, but said he has been in touch with people who have. He has been told that she had plans to go to law school, and "we want to help her with that, too." The woman should be able to support her children and pay her tuition without having "to sacrifice her body to make money."
Thomas called Jackson offer to pay for the alleged victim's tuition "very kind."
"I certainly would have no problem whatsoever with that," he said. "I think it's a great thing for her."
Jackson said he will discuss the case Sunday morning on his radio show, "Keep Hope Alive." With him will be Charles Ogletree Jr. from Harvard Law School; the Rev. William Barber, head of the North Carolina NAACP; and Prof. Peter Woods, a history professor at Duke.
© 2006 Associated Press.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday his Chicago-based Rainbow/Push Coalition will pay the college tuition of a black stripper who told police she was raped by white members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team - no matter the outcome of the case.
"I can't wait ... to talk with her and have prayer with her, because our organization is committed, when she's physically and emotionally able ... to provide for her the scholarship money to finish school so she will never ... again have to stoop that low to survive," he said from Chicago in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
When asked, the civil rights leader also said his group will pay for the woman's tuition even if her story proves false. Attorneys for the lacrosse players have strongly denied any sexual assault took place at the March 13 party, citing DNA tests performed on all 46 of the team's white members that failed to match any samples taken from the woman.
Defense attorneys have said they expect the case to go to a grand jury on Monday.
But Jackson said there is plenty of circumstantial evidence indicating something happened to the woman, a 27-year-old divorced mother of two who is a student across town from Duke at historically black North Carolina Central University.
A doctor and forensic nurse who examined the woman shortly after the alleged attack found evidence consistent with rape, according to court documents. Defense attorneys claim time-stamped photographs prove the woman was injured and intoxicated when she arrived at the party.
Attorney Bill Thomas said Saturday a member of the defense team had interviewed the other dancer who performed that night, and that she "has stated point blank she does not believe this allegation."
Jackson said the defense has vilified the accuser by talking about the photos and her criminal past. The woman pleaded guilty four years ago to stealing the taxi of a man for whom she was performing a lap dance, then trying to run a sheriff's deputy over with it.
"There's more evidence that violence occurred to her than she's the lead of a hoax," Jackson said.
Jackson has not spoken with the woman, but said he has been in touch with people who have. He has been told that she had plans to go to law school, and "we want to help her with that, too." The woman should be able to support her children and pay her tuition without having "to sacrifice her body to make money."
Thomas called Jackson offer to pay for the alleged victim's tuition "very kind."
"I certainly would have no problem whatsoever with that," he said. "I think it's a great thing for her."
Jackson said he will discuss the case Sunday morning on his radio show, "Keep Hope Alive." With him will be Charles Ogletree Jr. from Harvard Law School; the Rev. William Barber, head of the North Carolina NAACP; and Prof. Peter Woods, a history professor at Duke.
© 2006 Associated Press.