Dancer at Duke party speaks out about accuser

DURHAM, N.C. - The woman who said she was raped after performing as a stripper at a Duke University lacrosse team party was impaired and "talking crazy" afterward, the second dancer at the party said in an interview broadcast yesterday.

"The trip in that car from the house ... went from happy to crazy," Kim Roberts told ABC News, which aired the interview and posted details on its Web site. "I tried all different ways to get through to her."

Roberts, who previously has called the rape allegations a "crock," left the March 13 off-campus party with the accuser and drove her to a nearby grocery store. Unable to get the accuser to leave her car, Roberts said she pushed on the woman's arm and leg to force her out. At that point, Roberts said, the accuser said: "'Go ahead, go ahead. Put marks on me. Go ahead. That's what I want. Go ahead.' And it chilled me to the bone."

The accuser, a student at North Carolina Central University, told police she was raped in a bathroom by three men at the party. A grand jury indicted three players on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. The lacrosse players, including Collin Finnerty of Garden City, have declared their innocence.

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong declined to comment on Roberts' comments. Nifong, running for election against two challengers who have attacked his handling of the case, said he has heard criticism from experts and armchair lawyers, but remains comfortable with his decisions.

"I think that I have a responsibility to prosecute this case," Nifong said in an interview yesterday. "I think that really nothing about my view of the case and my view of how the case ultimately needs to be handled has been affected by any of the things that have occurred."

In the first days after the accuser made the allegations, Nifong granted numerous interviews, at one point declaring that DNA would identify the guilty.

However, DNA tests did not connect the players to the accuser.