No word yet from lacrosse grand jury

Masses of reporters came to the Durham County Judicial Building today expecting grand jury indictments in the Duke lacrosse rape scandal.

No indictments had been announced by 12:30 p.m., but the anticipation had reporters on a stakeout of District Attorney Mike Nifong that was awkward, if not actually ludicrous.

Just after noon, Nifong emerged from his office and walked straight across the hallway to the bathroom.

Reporters swiftly surrounded the bathroom door, a crowd that included five television cameras, three still photographers, sound men with boom microphones and at least a dozen print reporters.

When the toilet flushed, the group tensed, raised cameras and prepared. Nifong did not emerge with news.

"I no longer get to go anywhere in my community without people knowing who I am," Nifong said. "I wish you could find me a way to give me my anonymity back."

By 8 a.m. there were more reporters on the sixth floor of the Durham County Judicial Building than grand jurors.

At 11:40 a.m. two detectives handling the case arrived with a box of manila envelopes and disappeared into a small office near the grand jury room. They said nothing to reporters.

Nifong has refused to say whether the case would go forward today. Defense lawyers are not allowed into grand jury hearings and aren't necessarily told when a case is taken before a grand jury. Players' defense lawyers based their expectations on Nifong's public comments.

WHAT IS A GRAND JURY? A grand jury is a panel of up to 18 people selected from the community that meets in secret to hear evidence from investigators. Jurors are asked to consider whether probable cause exists to believe that a person has committed a crime.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES JURORS WOULD FIND PROBABLE CAUSE? It's rare for grand juries not to find probable cause, in part because there is no opportunity for the defense to present its side. The standard of probable cause is far below that required for a conviction; probable cause is defined in Black's Law Dictionary as a reasonable ground for belief in certain alleged facts.

WHAT IS AN INDICTMENT? A true bill of indictment is a charging document that sends a case to Superior Court. Investigators and Nifong have said they are investigating first-degree rape. A conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence of at least 16 years.

WHAT IF THERE IS NO INDICTMENT TODAY? In Durham, the grand jury meets every other Monday. After today, the next grand jury meets May 1, the day before the primary vote in which Nifong faces a challenge from former prosecutor Freda Black and lawyer Keith Bishop. Nifong could charge suspects before taking the case to a grand jury or he could drop the case.

WHAT IS AT ISSUE? Both sides agree that on March 13, members of the Duke lacrosse team gathered at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. for a party. One of the three co-captains who lived at the house called an escort service, and two women were sent to the house to dance. The women danced for a few minutes then stopped.

One of the women told police the dance ended because the men became abusive and threatening. She said she left, but someone talked her into returning. That's when, she told police, three men pushed her into a bathroom and raped, sodomized, beat and strangled her.

The team maintains the show lasted only a few minutes because the accuser was intoxicated and could hardly stand. The men were angry about having spent $800 on a four-minute dance, but the women left and no sex, no assault and no rape occurred, their lawyers have said.