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Her blood alcohol level was 0.19, according to court records, more than twice the legal limit to drive in North Carolina.

The woman was charged with driving while impaired, driving with a revoked license, felony speeding to elude arrest, felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, and felony larceny of a motor vehicle. Court documents and her criminal and driving records show that her driver's license had been revoked before the incident, but they do not indicate why.

Under a deal with prosecutors, she pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors in the car chase: larceny, speeding to elude arrest, assault on a government official and DWI, according to court records. She was required to serve three consecutive weekends in jail and was placed on two years' probation. She paid restitution and court costs, and completed her probation.

Woody Vann, a Durham lawyer who defended the woman, said recently that when the case went to court in 2003, he was ready to present 10 character witnesses for his client. She struck him as responsible because she admitted wrongdoing in the case, he said.

Facing obstacles

Rebounding from the incident, the woman tried a job at a nursing home, following in the footsteps of her older sister, who had taken on similar work.

In the summer of 2004, she landed a position at a rest home. But the job was short-lived, because part of her employee file was missing. When she didn't receive a paycheck after a few weeks of work, she filed a complaint with the Durham County Sheriff's Office. Her employer told her to submit a criminal record in order to get paid, the report said. No further action was taken by either party to resolve the issue, the report said.

Her criminal record -- the misdemeanors and traffic charges from the 2002 event -- never stood in the way of her getting other jobs, the woman's father said in an interview.

The father said he did not know that she had taken a job with an escort service until after she made the rape allegations. In an earlier interview, the woman said she thought he knew about the job.

The former husband said that when they were married, they fell behind on bills. His former wife, he said, suggested she take a job dancing; she would be nearly nude but would make some quick money. She visited a club but decided she wasn't ready for that kind of work, he said.

He said he worked during the marriage, but not steadily. "I couldn't fault a woman for taking care of her family and trying to pay the bills," he said.

The night of March 13

The March 13 lacrosse party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. was supposed to net her $400, according to lawyers for the lacrosse players. But the dancing lasted only a few minutes, according to the woman, police and lawyers for the players.

The woman said she and another dancer sent by a second escort service stopped dancing because several men at the party yelled a racial slur. In a court document used to obtain DNA samples from lacrosse team members, the woman said one man in the room threatened to sexually assault her with a broom handle.

Lawyers for the players say the dancing stopped because the woman now making the rape allegations was too impaired to perform. They say they have photos and video showing she was impaired, and they say no sexual assault occurred at the party.

On March 24, when The News & Observer reported that 46 lacrosse players had been ordered to submit DNA, the woman spent the morning inside her parents' home as her two young children explored the yard.

As she stepped off the screened-in porch, a gym bag slung over one shoulder, she was met by a reporter. Upon learning that reports of her allegations had surfaced in the newspaper, she put a hand over her mouth and gasped. Tears welled in her eyes.

She reported the incident, she said, because many men don't believe forcing a woman to have sex is a "big deal." She pulled her 7-year-old son toward her on the sidewalk.

"I'm just trying to get on with my life," she said softly.

Since then, she has not spoken publicly.

(Staff writers Jay Price, Benjamin Niolet, Eric Ferreri and Janell Ross and news researchers Brooke Cain and Lamara Williams-Hackett contributed to this report.)

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