Bond maintained for lacrosse accuser on murder charge

Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith maintained Crystal Mangum's bond at $200,000 on Friday, declining a defense request to cut it in half.

Mangum, 32, is charged in the death of Reginald Daye, who was stabbed with a kitchen knife during an April 3 argument at his Durham apartment, police said.

Defense attorney Chris Shella told Smith that Mangum has been in jail for 11 months, and her family and friends could put together $100,000 for a bond to get her out.

”This is a case where there are two people alone in an apartment. No one sees what happens. My client is alleging self-defense,” Shella said.

Assistant Durham County District Attorney Charlene Coggins-Franks said authorities prefer Mangum not be allowed any bond, given her prior criminal history.

"She does have a history of domestic violence, your honor. She does have an assault history,” Coggins-Franks said.

Mangum was convicted in December 2010 on several charges stemming from a domestic dispute with a former boyfriend.

Daye, 46, and Mangum had been dating for about a month at the time of his death, but his family members said they weren't a couple. They said Daye was only trying to help Mangum get back on her feet and had provided her a place to stay.

In March 2006, Mangum claimed three white players on the Duke lacrosse team trapped her inside a bathroom at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd., where she was performing as a stripper at a team party, and raped and sexually assaulted her.

Her story about the incident was so inconsistent that state officials later declared the players innocent, saying there was no credible evidence against them.