kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612
DURHAM -- Crystal Mangum, who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape in 2006, is due in Durham County District Court this morning to face multiple charges, including attempting to kill her boyfriend.
At today's preliminary hearing, Mangum also may get a court-appointed attorney to represent her.
She has been in the Durham County Jail under a $1 million bond since Thursday. A jail spokeswoman said that Mangum, 31, is in a cell by herself and has created no problem since her arrest late Wednesday.
She made her first court appearance Thursday at the jail, where her bail was set.
Police said she and her boyfriend had a fight Wednesday night and that she assaulted him. They said she filled a bathtub with clothes and set them on fire.
Three children also were in the apartment on Lincoln Street, near N.C. Central University, and one of the children apparently called 911.
The children are now in the custody of a family member.
Mangum is charged with attempted first-degree murder, five counts of first-degree arson, assault and battery, identification theft, injury to personal property, resisting a public officer and three counts of misdemeanor child abuse.
Fire officials said the fire was confined to a bathroom in the middle of the apartment.
Mangum came to national attention in 2006 after alleging that she was raped by members of the Duke lacrosse team at a party off campus for which she was hired as a stripper.
But the case fell apart, ending in the disbarment of former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper later declared that the accused players were innocent.
