Duke Mom Does Not Blame Son's Accuser
As Duke University lacrosse player Reade Seligmann is set to appear in court Thursday, his family is speaking out about the emotional toll the case has taken on their family.
It's been three months since District Attorney Mike Nifong launched his case against three Duke lacrosse players, which began when a woman hired to perform as an exotic dancer at a March 13 team party told police she was raped by three men there.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News correspondent Trish Regan, Seligmann's mother, Kathy, said that despite her family's nightmare, she does not blame the accuser.
"I don't hate her...I think she panicked and made up this story. I pray that she didn't mean for this to happen," Kathy told Regan.
In April, a grand jury indicted team members Reade Seligmann of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty of Garden City, N.Y., on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. David Evans, a team co-captain from Bethesda, Md., was indicted on the same charges in May.
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Seligmann's parents, Kathy and Philip, live in residential New Jersey, where Phil works as an investor while Kathy raises their four boys. Reade is the oldest. On the day Reade was indicted, Kathy told Regan she found her youngest son crying as he watched a news report.
"He looked at me and cried, 'Mom, why are they doing this?' To see this happen to your eldest son, and to see your youngest son's reaction is just heartbreaking," Kathy said.
His mother told Regan Reade has not once cried, or shown any fear. "Even when he stepped out of the police car, he kept his head up high," Kathy said. "He holds this family together. I would just like him to have his life back."
A trial isn't expected to begin before spring 2007 in the case. Reade's mother told Regan her son has faith in the system.
"He's a 20 year old man who believes in the truth and I say, God, please don't let the truth let him down," Kathy said.
Reade's father, however, says that the case "has taken an unbelievable and horrendous emotional toll" on his family, which borrowed $400,000 from a close friend to post their son's bond.
In an affidavit filed Wednesday, Philip Seligmann said Reade "has never been involved in the criminal justice system in any state before the filing of these charges."
"We are committed as a family, along with Reade, to do everything necessary to restore our good name," Philip Seligmann said in the affidavit, which was filed along with a motion by defense attorneys seeking discovery evidence from the district attorney.
The filings come a day before attorneys for Seligmann, as well as co-defendants Finnerty and Evans, are scheduled to appear in court for a procedural hearing in the case. The players have received permission to miss the court appearance.
All three men are free on $400,000 bond. At Thursday's hearing, Seligmann's attorneys will seek a bond reduction. In his affidavit, Philip Seligmann said the $400,000 was too much for him to post himself. He instead turned to an unnamed friend, who volunteered the money.
"I was prepared to do everything possible to prevent my son from spending time in jail for a crime he did not commit," he said.
In their discovery motion, Seligmann's attorneys specifically asked for access to the accuser's computer, which they said is believed to be in the possession of the Durham Police Department, and records from the Durham Access Center, where the accuser was taken for involuntary commitment in the hours after the party and before she told police she was raped.
Defense attorneys have suggested that the district attorney has not given them all the evidence he might have, as required. Last month, Nifong provided nearly 1,300 pages of discovery, saying that was all he had to turn over.
Kirk Osborn, a lawyer representing Seligmann, said the defense is seeking Nifong's "complete file, basically, and the law enforcement officers' complete file."
The Thursday hearing will be the "first setting" for Finnerty and Evans, a hearing at which a judge makes sure a defendant has an attorney and handles other procedural issues. Seligmann's hearing is the "second setting," which is the deadline for filing pretrial motions not dealing with the suppression of evidence.