Duke Lacrosse Case Charges to Be Dropped
By LARA SETRAKIAN
ABC News Law & Justice Unit
April 10, 2007 — The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will announce that he is dismissing all charges against three Duke Lacrosse players, ABC News has learned from sources close to the case.
The three players, Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty, were facing charges of first degree kidnapping and first degree forcible sexual offense. The charges stem from an off-campus party on the night of March 13, 2006.
In the hours after the party, one of two dancers hired to perform for the players claimed she had been violently raped in a bathroom by members of the lacrosse team. The players had also been indicted for first degree rape, but that charge was dismissed on Dec. 22, 2006.
Special prosecutors from the Attorney General's office took over the case after Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong recused himself in January, citing charges of unethical conduct filed against him by the North Carolina Bar. Since then, Jim Coman and Mary Winstead have examined the case from scratch, interviewing key witnesses and working through reams of evidence.
The reasons that will be cited for the dismissal are not yet known, though the case has been riddled with criticism and colored by controversy since its early months. Defense attorneys released documents showing the accuser changed key details of her story in the weeks and months after the alleged assault.
Legal analysts and forensic experts have criticized what they call a critically flawed photo identification lineup — a lineup that led to the identification and indictment of Evans, Finnerty, Seligmann. No DNA evidence was found matching any lacrosse players with samples from the rape kit, while DNA from unidentified men was found on the accuser's body and clothing.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General confirmed to ABC News that his office had completed its investigation into the Duke lacrosse case. A press conference on the outcome of their inquiry is widely expected sometime this week, though members of that office have not yet revealed a date and time.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=3028515&page=1
By LARA SETRAKIAN
ABC News Law & Justice Unit
April 10, 2007 — The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper will announce that he is dismissing all charges against three Duke Lacrosse players, ABC News has learned from sources close to the case.
The three players, Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty, were facing charges of first degree kidnapping and first degree forcible sexual offense. The charges stem from an off-campus party on the night of March 13, 2006.
In the hours after the party, one of two dancers hired to perform for the players claimed she had been violently raped in a bathroom by members of the lacrosse team. The players had also been indicted for first degree rape, but that charge was dismissed on Dec. 22, 2006.
Special prosecutors from the Attorney General's office took over the case after Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong recused himself in January, citing charges of unethical conduct filed against him by the North Carolina Bar. Since then, Jim Coman and Mary Winstead have examined the case from scratch, interviewing key witnesses and working through reams of evidence.
The reasons that will be cited for the dismissal are not yet known, though the case has been riddled with criticism and colored by controversy since its early months. Defense attorneys released documents showing the accuser changed key details of her story in the weeks and months after the alleged assault.
Legal analysts and forensic experts have criticized what they call a critically flawed photo identification lineup — a lineup that led to the identification and indictment of Evans, Finnerty, Seligmann. No DNA evidence was found matching any lacrosse players with samples from the rape kit, while DNA from unidentified men was found on the accuser's body and clothing.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General confirmed to ABC News that his office had completed its investigation into the Duke lacrosse case. A press conference on the outcome of their inquiry is widely expected sometime this week, though members of that office have not yet revealed a date and time.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=3028515&page=1
this was an unfortunate situation...glad to see they will finally have this out of their way
there is a lot of racial tension in Durham, the DA had to take this case very seriously, he just ended up taking it too far. Like he was trying to prove a point that he was going to take it seriously.
if anyone should go to jail it should be the 2 girls, they may have gone already I don't really remember
there is a lot of racial tension in Durham, the DA had to take this case very seriously, he just ended up taking it too far. Like he was trying to prove a point that he was going to take it seriously.
if anyone should go to jail it should be the 2 girls, they may have gone already I don't really remember
There nothing "unfortunate" about this. Rather, you simply had a scummy ho and a despicable human being of a DA purposely and deliberately try to ruin the lives of 3 young men by pushing false charges. To say the DA took things too far is silly because it implies there was a case to begin with and he just went too far with it in some honest attempt to prosecute. He knew there was no case from the start.
I don't really know much about how to recover legal fees, especially if the suit was filed for behalf of/by a low-income citizen (i.e. this "exotic dancer").
But... I would imagine that since NC's AG office has dropped all charges that was first filed by Durham's DA Nifong.... would the families be able to sue the city of Durham for lost $$ due to legal fees (and NOTHING more even though most judgments end up way over the amount of fees because of the mental & physical & psychological impacts)?
Just wondering because that sure sucks when you can't realistically expect money when you are suing a homeless person for destroying your car by hacking it with an ax or whatever & you happen to have no car insurance because of whatever reason (i.e. moving from another state or switching companies with a window of no insurance).
* CalvinTy
I think she should be gang raped & thrown down a well (The wasn't the first time that she's filed bogus rape charges). Nifong deserves nothing less than to lose his job, lose his license to practice law and to serve prison time.
The whole thing was about him getting re-elected. He more or less tried to frame the players.
:bigfingerum both
