The DA and the documents

Statements from District Attorney Mike Nifong haven't always matched the documents from his own files. Here's a look at several seeming discrepancies, drawn from interview transcripts and investigative documents given to defense lawyers.

CONDOMS

Nifong's statements: On March 23, prosecutors asked a judge to order DNA samples from 46 lacrosse players: "The DNA evidence requested will immediately rule out any innocent persons, and show conclusive evidence as to who the suspect(s) are in the alleged violent attack."

Before the results were made public, Nifong told The News & Observer, MSNBC and The Charlotte Observer that condoms might have been used during the alleged sexual assault.

"If a condom were used, then we might expect that there would not be any DNA evidence recovered from say a vaginal swab," Nifong told MSNBC on March 31.

"I would not be surprised if condoms were used," Nifong told The Charlotte Observer in a March interview published April 11. "Probably an exotic dancer would not be your first choice for unprotected sex."

Court papers: The accuser told a nurse March 14 "that no condoms ... were used during the alleged sexual assault," according to an affidavit by defense lawyers Kirk Osborn and Ernest Conner.

STRUGGLE

Nifong's statements: Nifong said there was a violent struggle between the accuser and three men.

In the March 23 court filing, prosecutors said the accuser reported being "hit, kicked and strangled."

"She was grabbed from behind," Nifong told MSNBC on March 31. "Somebody had an arm around her like this, which she then had to struggle with in order to be able to breathe. ... She was struggling just to be able to breathe."

Court papers: According to Osborn and Conner's affidavit, the accuser told the nurse March 14 "that she was not choked." One doctor noted that the accuser denied being hit and that she claimed no tenderness in her neck. The nurse noted that her head and neck were normal.

WALL OF SILENCE

Nifong's statements: Nifong repeatedly complained that the lacrosse players refused to cooperate with his investigation.

"It just seems like a shame that they are not willing to violate this seeming sacred sense of loyalty to team for loyalty to community," Nifong said on CNN on March 29. "My guess is that some of this stone wall of silence that we have seen may tend to crumble once charges begin to come out."

Nifong made similar comments to Bill O'Reilly of Fox News, ESPN and others.

Court papers: On March 16, three team captains -- David Evans, Matt Zash and Dan Flannery -- assisted police in searching their house at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. The three players then went to the police station without lawyers, gave statements and DNA samples, and offered to take polygraph exams. The three players gave police their cell phones and laptop computers. The three men later hired lawyers, and discussions with Nifong ended. The other 43 lacrosse players also hired lawyers and did not talk with investigators.

911 CALL

Nifong's statements: As Kim Roberts, the second dancer, and the accuser were leaving the party, Roberts called 911 to report that students at the lacrosse house were shouting racial slurs. Roberts did not give her name. On March 31, Nifong told MSNBC that he did not know who made the call. "Do you know who it is?" asked Dan Abrams.

"I do not," Nifong said.

"So that person has not come forward to say, 'I was the one who made the call,' " Abrams said.

"To my knowledge, no one has done that yet," Nifong said.

Court papers: On March 22, Roberts gave police a handwritten statement saying she made the call. "I finally began leaving and the boys began yelling 'nigger' to us. I called the police to report racial slurs."

RAPE EXAM

Nifong's statements: Nifong has been unwavering in saying the woman was raped in a bathroom at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd.

His prosecutors filed court papers March 23 saying she reported being raped vaginally, anally and orally.

"There's no doubt in my mind that she was raped and assaulted at this location," Nifong said March 29 on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News.

"My reading of the report of the emergency room nurse would indicate that some type of sexual assault did in fact take place," Nifong told WRAL on March 29.

Court papers: The accuser in the early morning hours of March 14 gave contradictory statements to doctors and nurses, according to defense lawyers Osborn and Conner, who filed the accuser's medical records under seal with a sworn statement describing the records.

The accuser told doctors that she was assaulted vaginally and made no mention of any other sexual assault. The nurse's examination of the accuser's pelvic area noted swelling of the vaginal walls but no vaginal injuries, according to Osborn and Conner's affidavit.