Apr 27, 2006  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

A criminal psychologist said Collin Finnerty, the Duke University lacrosse player charged with rape and assault, could be attempting to prove his masculinity.

Karen Franklin, a California psychologist who specializes in evaluating criminal defendants, said there are similarities between Finnerty’s rape case in North Carolina and his alleged D.C. assault in which the victim was called gay.

She pointed out that the alleged crimes were committed within groups, against weaker targets, and might have represented attempts by Finnerty to prove himself to his "hyper-masculine" lacrosse team peers.

"Masculinity is something that has to be proven," she said. "It is not innate or natural. It’s something young men have to establish, and they have to establish it publicly."

Finnerty, 19, was arrested April 18 in North Carolina for allegedly raping a woman hired as a stripper for a lacrosse team party. He and another Duke lacrosse player face charges of first-degree rape, first-degree forcible rape and kidnapping.

That arrest voided a deal D.C. prosecutors struck after Finnerty was arrested Nov. 5 for allegedly assaulting Jeff Bloxsom outside a Georgetown restaurant.

Court records say that just before the assault, Bloxsom heard Finnerty call him "gay and other derogatory names."

To resolve the assault case, Finnerty pledged to perform 25 hours of community service in Washington, and not commit any further criminal offenses. Prosecutors said Finnerty’s arrest in North Carolina was enough reason to terminate that deal.

Finnerty will return to court June 15 for a status hearing. A tentative July 10 trial date has been set.

During the April 25 hearing, D.C. Superior Court Judge John Bayly Jr. imposed new conditions for Finnerty as he awaits trial in the Washington case. Finnerty must obey a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, not be present anywhere alcohol is sold or consumed, have no contact with Bloxsom, and check in with court by telephone every Friday.

Two men who were charged with assaulting Bloxsom in the same attack appeared in court alongside Finnerty, but their community service deals remain in place.

Attorneys for Daniel D’Agnes, a Georgetown University student, and Patrick Bonanno, who attends Providence College in Rhode Island, said the men are still planning to perform their 25 hours of community service.

Assault not a ‘gay bashing’

D.C. prosecutors have declined to prosecute the Bloxsom case as an anti-gay hate crime, noting the circumstances didn’t warrant hate crime status.

Bloxsom’s attorney, Chip Royer, said Bloxsom is neither gay nor bisexual, and has a girlfriend.

"I think it’s pretty clear that while he was not the victim of a gay bashing, the intent of those words was clearly along those lines," Royer said.

"This has been picked up [in the media] as an issue of gay bashing," Royer said. "Frankly, to us, it’s relevant, but the real crux of our situation is a violent act was committed, and now we’re left to deal with it."

Royer said Bloxsom, a University of Virginia grad, lives in Georgetown and specializes in Virginia real estate. His name was misspelled "Bloxgom" in D.C. court records.

Finnerty’s defense attorney, Steven McCool, said after the April 25 hearing that his client faces one charge of misdemeanor simple assault.

"This incident has been grossly mischaracterized," he said. "This is not and has not been charged as a bias-related allegation."

Finnerty left court April 25 via an inconspicuous back entrance and got into a waiting vehicle. He did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

If convicted in the D.C. case, Finnerty faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Performance art?

Franklin, who is not connected to Finnerty’s court cases, said criminals who commit violence against women or gay men within group settings engage in "performance arts or theater."

"If you think of the victim as the dramatic prop, the victim in each case symbolizes the feminine other," she said. "The audience for the performance is the other men in the group."

Franklin said such behavior is seen within "hyper-masculine environments" such as sports teams.

"The theory is that those particular players feel elevated above other people," she said. "They feel that they’re special, and they’re entitled and they can get away with things that other people can’t."

Letters entered into D.C. court records in Finnerty’s defense describe the 19-year-old as a "man of the highest moral standards" and "full of love and respect for his family and friends."

A high school transcript notes Finnerty was inducted into the National Honor Society his junior year, and received an Honor Character Certificate.