Lawyer urges accuser's kin to stop statements

After almost daily appearances on national television, the family of the woman accusing three Duke lacrosse players of rape is being urged to take a lower profile.

The family has turned to local lawyer Mark Simeon, who said he plans on cutting off the family's frequent statements to the media and appearances on national television.

"It's created problems," Simeon said. "They have been inadvertently hurting their daughter."

Simeon has said that he would like to represent the accuser in any future civil litigation. However, he said, he has not spoken to the accuser.

He also represents Kim Roberts, the other dancer hired through an escort service to perform at the March 13 Duke University lacrosse party.

The accuser has said she was pulled into a bathroom at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. and assaulted by three men. Three players have been charged with rape, sexual assault and kidnapping: David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md.; Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J.; and Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y.

At the family home Wednesday, the accuser's mother said she wasn't talking to the media anymore and referred all questions to Simeon. The family has not hired him officially but is consulting with him, the mother said.

Lots of attention

Since the investigation began, reporters have staked out the home to talk with the accuser's parents. Cameras from national television shows have shined a spotlight on the lives of a retired truck driver and his gray-haired wife.

On many occasions, the accuser's mother has tried to pull her husband inside their tiny house, telling him not to talk to the media.

The accuser's father has said that the publicity is weighing on his daughter. At one point, the woman threatened to drop the case if her family continued to talk to the media, he said.

But for several weeks, the accuser's father has made appearances on national talk shows. He has described injuries he says his daughter suffered on the night in question, spoken up for her credibility and given details of the alleged assault.

In some cases, the father has contradicted his own statements. The accuser's former husband, Kenneth McNeil, said earlier this month that he thinks the slip-ups are unintentional, a function of a man trying to help his daughter but with a memory not as sharp as it once was.

Before the Duke lacrosse case, Simeon was best known in Durham for making an unsuccessful run for district attorney in 2002.

Simeon agreed to represent Roberts, the second dancer, as an adviser and in any civil litigation that might stem from the lacrosse case.

Simeon wouldn't say what sort of lawsuit could be filed on Roberts' behalf. But he has said he also wants to represent the accuser in any lawsuit.

High-profile lawyer

In April, Simeon talked about putting together a trial team that would include Willie Gary, a lawyer from Florida who has won a number of multimillion dollar verdicts.

Last month, Gary traveled to the Triangle and spoke with the accuser's mother, but he has had no further contact with the family since then, said Kori Love, director of public relations for Gary's Stuart, Fla., firm.

"He's willing to help but will not be involved until he is asked directly by the young lady, the alleged victim," Love said in a telephone interview.

Simeon told Newsweek that his mother is "proud of me on TV, but she'd like to see that translated into something tangible. It's not so I can dress like a powerful lawyer. I've struggled since that last election."

Defense lawyers criticized the comments.

"I regret saying it," Simeon said.