Does The New York Times Ever Get It Right?

In response to the 60 Minutes teasers being floated by CBS, The New York Times ran an article by John Holusha this morning detailing Kim Roberts denial of the accusers allegations. In part the article read:

"The second exotic dancer who was at the March 13 Duke University lacrosse-team party has denied that either she or her partner were assaulted and raped by three players, as prosecutors have charged.The dancer, Kim Roberts, who accompanied the woman who made the rape charge to the party, made her comments in an interview for the CBS television program “60 Minutes,” portions of which were broadcast Thursday evening."

"Three members of the lacrosse team have been indicted on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense based on the account of the accuser — an account that was apparently backed by Ms. Roberts in the official police report. "

An observant LieStoppers’ reader sent the Times an email to notify them of this error:

Your website recently posted a story by John Holusha describing comments that Kim Roberts, the second exotic dancer at the Duke lacrosse party, made to 60 minutes. That article contains a glaring factual error. It states:

"Three members of the lacrosse team have been indicted on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense based on the account of the accuser — an account that was apparently backed by Ms. Roberts in the official police report. But in the CBS interview, which will be broadcast in full on Sunday, Ms. Roberts disputes that report. Asked if three of the players grabbed her and pulled her away from the accuser, as the report said, Ms. Roberts replies, "Nope."

I have corresponded with numerous people about the Duke lacrosse case. At no time has Ms. Roberts supported the accuser's account in an official police report. Her handwritten statement describing the night's events was filed as part of a defense motion in June. During the 60 minutes interview, an excerpt of which is available online for all to see, Ms. Roberts claims that she was unaware that the accuser stated she and Ms. Roberts were forceably separated by lacrosse players immediately before she was raped. Ms. Roberts' statement to police contained no such event and Ms. Roberts' statements to Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes confirm her original statement.

In August, the NY Times ran a front page story by Duff Wilson claiming that the NY Times had access to the entire discovery file. If you do not believe me, please consult with Mr. Wilson about whether or not Ms. Roberts backed the accuser's account in "the official police report."

This error should corrected as soon as possible.

Thank you.

This afternoon, NYT republished a revised version of this same article which now reads:

"The second exotic dancer who was at a March 13 Duke University lacrosse-team party has once again challenged her partner’s account of what happened that night, contradicting statements used by prosecutors who charged that the two women were assaulted and raped."

NYT Article Revised

A quick google seems to show John Holusha is normally on the automototive beat:

John Holusha Recent Articles

The NYT hasn't just gone to the bench for a third-stringer, they've gone to the concession stand and gotten the hotdog guy to write about the World Series. Next thing we know the frazzled car guy will slip into his normal mode and start writing things like: "this case is a lemon" ... "Nifong must feel like a crash test dummy" ... "some Durhamites resent the three white foreign imports" .... "And come Nov. 7 the Durham voters may introduce Mr. Nifong to the repo man."

Though we appreciate your attempts to throw something, anything up there. Sometimes, if you can't write something accurate, it's best to write nothing at all.