Police Try To Question Duke Athletes

Two police officers went to Duke University's dorm rooms last night, spending about an hour and a half apparently trying to interview members of the lacrosse team. But the players refused to speak with them reports CBS News correspondent Trish Regan.

Their defense attorneys want to know why the authorities would attempt to question their clients without notifying them first, reports Regan. It's a practice considered unethical by most, since the police were aware that these students have lawyers.

The officers were attempting to confirm who attended a team party at which an exotic dancer has told police she was raped, an attorney for several of the players said Friday.

The school confirmed that a pair of Durham police detectives were on campus Thursday night for an hour and 15 minutes, but said they did not execute any search warrants. The school's statement corrected comments made Friday morning by Duke President Richard Brodhead, who told reporters police attempted to enter the rooms, but then added he had few details.

"The efforts were directed at trying to confirm who was or wasn't at the party," said Samantha Ekstrand, the wife and law partner of Robert Ekstrand, who is representing dozens of the players. According to court records, the players have told police that only team members were at the March 13 party.

Attorney Kerry Sutton said when police approached the players, they immediately contacted their attorneys, who advised them not to speak.

"I have no doubt that the Durham Police Department is fully aware that every one of those young men is represented, and I'm fairly shocked that they would run an end play around defense counsel in an attempt to talk to them," said Sutton, who represents one of the men who lived in the off-campus house where the accuser says she was raped.

Police said they would not release any information Friday about the case, and District Attorney Mike Nifong hasn't granted an interview in nearly two weeks. His offices were closed for the Good Friday holiday.

The 27-year-old black woman, a student at North Carolina Central University, told police she was raped and beaten by three white lacrosse team members.

Police previously searched the house where the party was held and the Duke dorm room of lacrosse player Ryan McFadyen. The search of McFadyen's room came after police obtained a vulgar and graphic e-mail sent from his school account shortly after the alleged assault. The e-mail talked about killing strippers at cutting off their skin.

Friday morning, Brodhead met with N.C. Central Chancellor James Ammons, Durham Mayor Bill Bell and nearly two dozen other community leaders to discuss the tension in the community.

Ammons said the two schools would continue to work together to "strengthen the bonds that tie us."

"In times like these, let us remember that justice is served in the courtroom, not in the media or at the hands of individuals," he said.

The case has focused intense national scrutiny on Duke and the lacrosse players and has sparked protests on the elite private university's campus and elsewhere in Durham. The school last week canceled the highly ranked team's season and coach Mike Pressler resigned after the release of McFadyen's e-mail.

No charges have been filed, but Nifong has said he believes a crime was committed. He has cited a medical exam that found the woman's injuries and behavior to be consistent with being raped, sexually assaulted and having suffered a traumatic experience.

Attorneys for the players have said DNA tests failed to connect any players to the alleged attack, and they have urged Nifong to drop his investigation. But several defense attorneys say they expect the district attorney to ask a grand jury Monday to issue charges.

In a police recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, one of the first officers to see the woman after she left the party describes her as "just passed-out drunk." Police had been called to a grocery store parking lot where a security guard said the woman had gotten into someone else's car and would not get out.