The Associated Press is reporting:
DURHAM, N.C. — DNA testing failed to connect any members of the Duke University lacrosse team to the alleged rape of a stripper, attorneys for the athletes said Monday.
Citing DNA test results delivered by the state crime lab to police and prosecutors a few hours earlier, the attorneys said the test results prove their clients did not sexually assault and beat a stripper hired to perform at a March 13 team party.
No charges have been filed in the case.
“There is no DNA evidence that shows she was touched by any of these boys,” said Attorney Joe Cheshire, who represents one of the team’s captains.
The alleged victim, a 27-year-old student at a nearby college, told police she and another woman were hired to dance at the party. The woman told police that three men at the party dragged her into a bathroom, choked her, raped her and sodomized her.
The Associated Press does not name alleged victims in sexual assault cases.
The allegations have led to the resignation of coach Mike Pressler, the cancellation of the lacrosse season and the suspension of one player from school.
The case also led to days of protests on and off the Duke campus, and some of the players have moved for safety reasons.
And to say that this case has caused a significant spike in racial tensions in Durham would be an understatement.
As of this writing, no one on the lacrosse team has been charged with anything. **If** what the defense attorneys are saying here is true, I don’t see how this case can go forward. More and more, the accuser’s story sounds like a fabrication.
We’ll find out more in the coming days. The DA will be speaking tomorrow at North Carolina Central University (the school the alleged victim attends) at a campus forum to discuss the case.
La Shawn Barber is all over this story and has tons of links - and, as always, gets to the heart of the matter.
Tuesday AM Update: The DA insists he will proceed with the case.
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Starting to look more like a Vendetta type accusation. Perhaps the boys didn’t tip very well or pay her at all.
But then again if we start to speculate, then we’ll be as guilty as the rest of those w/o knowledge.
Comment by forest hunter @ 4/11/2006 - 1:46 am
I think, knowing what the penalty is, that crying rape unjustly is a capital crime in and of itself.
However, not knowing for sure what really happened, I will avoid being judgmental…
Comment by camojack @ 4/11/2006 - 3:46 am
I may sound partisan since I have a strong bond with Duke University but I truly believe that they are innocent until proven guilty. IF there is some evidence that proves guilt, hang ‘em high since I really despise woman or children being abused in any manner
Comment by ChefJeff @ 4/11/2006 - 8:26 am
The true tragedy of this case lies in the fact that those boys who have now been vindicated as a result of the DNA test will never get justice. Many in society already tried and convicted them in the media but who in the Media and the blogosphere will stand up and apologize for jumping to conclusions…Zero sounds about right.
The gals over at feministe even went so far as to compare this “rape case” to lynching. Even when confronted with the new evidence by Darleen at Darleen’s Place they stood firm and refused to change their stance on the guilt of the boys. My guess is because the boys are white and it fit with the feministe blogger’s agenda against white people.
The liar gets to go home and these boys will forever be saddled with this ugly episode.
Comment by chez diva @ 4/11/2006 - 8:35 am
1. This DA was a chatty cathy and then he clammed up.
2. He did DNA testing on 47 men.
3. 47+0 match= a very weak case.
4. 0 DNA match vs a high paid attorney = 0 conviction
This DA claims he doesn’t need DNA to convict, but we are talking about a rape case. We, a jurors, have been conditioned to know that DNA doesn’t lie, and in a rape case, the lack of DNA proof is suicide for the prosecuter…
This DA better have some very good evidence becuase he just spent a fortune persuing these guys and came up with nothing that he can use to get a conviction.
Comment by Pam @ 4/11/2006 - 8:57 am
Could this be shaping up to be another “Tawana Brawley”? And where’s Al Sharpton?
Comment by Jim M @ 4/11/2006 - 11:34 am
Didn’t the university president cancel the remaining season for the team? So, hasn’t he convicted all of them preemptively? And, by doing so, didn’t he punish players that weren’t even involved? How is any of this fair?
Dave
Comment by Dave in CO @ 4/11/2006 - 11:37 am
Unfailingly on the wrong side, aren’t you?
Comment by Norah @ 4/11/2006 - 1:33 pm
On the side of truth and justice?
How is that the wrong side Norah?
THere is ZERO DNA evidence yet due to the damaging nature of the allegations people’s reputations and careers were ruined. What is your idea of the right side in this case? To prosecute without evidence?????
ZERO convictions would occur. According to the police report which a local radio show host here (who fills in for Rush sometimes - Tom Sullivan - yes this reached a local show in Sacramento, CA) read, there should be plenty of matching evidence due to what she said happened (all orifices used). But there is ZERO matching evidence. ZERO. How much? ZERO.
Comment by Baklava @ 4/11/2006 - 1:59 pm
This does harm to people who really are raped. Can’t you see that Norah? Harm. Is that what you are for? I wouldn’t think so…
Comment by Baklava @ 4/11/2006 - 2:02 pm
I doubt Norah cares, Bak. Her only purpose in posting that comment was to take a cheap shot at me. Where’s that “yawn” emoticon when I need it?
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 4/11/2006 - 2:10 pm
Y
A
W
N
!
Me thinks you are unfailingly on the right side.
Comment by Baklava @ 4/11/2006 - 2:16 pm
Oh, I dunno, I would have thought the media would give these guys a chance before burning them on the stake. Anyway, I don’t watch the mainstream media for news, for the same reason I don’t wipe my ass with hot peppers or chew on glass.
Comment by mondaymorningquarterbacks @ 4/11/2006 - 2:23 pm
How about these statements, ““No DNA material from any young man tested was present on the body of this complaining woman, not present within her body, not present on the surface of her body and not present on any of her belongings,” Smith said in a prepared statement.”
and, “Answering questions from reporters, defense attorney Joe Cheshire did say that DNA of two of the men was found on a towel and on the floor of the bathroom, but that it was not in any way related to the DNA found on the alleged victim.
“The bathroom where this DNA was found happened to be the bathroom of the two boys,” Cheshire said. “And any expert and any person in the world will tell you that your DNA is in your bathroom.”
BTW, I don’t condone the type of partying these boys did. I’ve only been to one party in my life where a stripper was hired. It was a bachelor party. While all of the men/boys there were well behaved and kept their hands to their side when the stripper rubbed against them, I felt uncomfortable. Just call me a prude.
Comment by Baklava @ 4/11/2006 - 2:46 pm
This case shows who has the race problem. Here are two black and one mexican to only name a few that have been convicted of rape and or murder in Durham. Some victoms were children. No on has marched. Lawrence Hawes, Lazaro Martinez and Santiaga Elliott. I do not for one minute think that the Duke rape is true. It just reflects the truth that lots of blacks really don’ t like white people. I’m very light, and most don’t like me. I have people tell me go back to Mexico and eveything else. I’m american Indian and don’t need to leave. I just want to know why no one else is marching when Durham has crime every night. Where is the NAACP march, the Jesse, and… If this has been a white women and black men the NAACP would have been stood by the DNA results. When it was Kobey and a white girl, she was trash and Kobey could have not done any wrong.
Comment by Lisa @ 4/12/2006 - 12:46 pm
It seems to me that the public really knows next to nothing about the details in the case. All this weeping and knashing of teeth seems premature, on both “sides”. There shouldn’t be sides. Why isn’t it just ok for the prosecutor to do things by the book, which he is saying is the path he is on. If you live around the triangle, you quickly realize that EVERYBODY has weighed in on their opinion. They are still just opinions. Let the police do their job.
You got a problem with that?
Comment by solitaire @ 4/12/2006 - 3:15 pm
Yes. The public which knew next to nothing was beating pots and pans in front of the President’s house and the alleged perpetrators house. The President (part of the public) who knew next to nothing cancelled the Lacrosse season and the coach resigned. The alleged perpetrators had to move from the house. The alleged perpetrators had their mug shots posted on campus walls by the public who knew next to nothing.
The District Attorney who has an election in either 12 or 21 days has exonerating evidence yet is going forward with the case due to the public who knew next to nothing being worked up for a conviction.
Yes. Premature. That’s what we are saying solitaire. The same premature conclusions you make and do as a lefty on almost every issue to issue your false allegations/accusations. Why do you do that?
Is the prosecutor doing things by the book as you said? He may be but I didn’t know that 70 interviews was necessary for the case or by the book. And attending a public forum at NCCU was by the book? It may be…
Yes. Everyone has their opinion. But the media and DA didn’t help anything and raised racial tensions. Nice agenda you lefties have is what we are pointing out. You like raising racial tensions?
Here’s an article that talks about this stuff repeating itself. One of the incidents detailed in this link is:
Do we have a problem with letting the police do it’s job? I can’t believe you asked that… That’s what we are for. Is that what the left is for? Or are the leftist racists out for convictions of people without a trial and evidence. Stirring up racial tensions is common of the left from my perspective. Read Ward Connerly’s “Creating Equal” for more of that perspective….
Comment by Baklava @ 4/12/2006 - 3:52 pm
How do you rape someone and not get sperm in the person? Or a Pubic hair at least??? No scratches, no bruises on the alleged victim’s face where they would have to subdue her by hitting her, no bite marks at least???
If the stripper had sex with them, there would still be a lot of DNA evidence all over her. Skin under her nails where she could have scratched them, hair, blood, semen, saliva, etc.. Rape is not a clean process.
The fact is the media has already convicted them of rape, such as FOX News referring to the stripper as “the victim” rather than the “alleged victim”.
And if they called her racial slurs, that’s proof that they were not attracted to her and had no interest in having sex with her.. leaving her feeling undesirable, so she thinks “Okay, I’ll say they raped me so everyone will know I am still fu**alicious” So she grabbed her dildo, beat it up then called 911. According to the lack of evidence that seems to be the likely scenario. Unless she prostituted herself out earlier and the client was rough… Why wouldn’t he be? He doesn’t love her.
But black people don’t seem to care if the boys are guilty or not, If they cared about the truth O.J. Simpson would be in jail, they just want to see some white boys thrown in jail because they think that black boys get thrown in jail all the time for no reason, so this is like pay back in their minds… the fact that these lacrosse players had nothing to do with any rape is irrelevant to people like Jesse Jackson. They just want to make a racist point that the word of a black woman is more important than the word of any white man.
So when they are convicted by minds of the NAACP then FOX News, then the people, then the jury . . . just remember, in the beginning, they had no evidence.
They will be convicted, and sent to prison, because they are white.
And we will face judgment by God for not saying a word… for remaining silent and not letting the media know what we think of them prejudging these boys!
Comment by Lucius @ 4/18/2006 - 12:56 pm
It’s about time someone spoke up for these boys. The defense needs to speak up to clear these boys in the media, and if it exposes the “victim” as being a liar it’s not because we lack empathy for victims, it’s that liars who destroy people’s lives shouldn’t be held in high regard. These boys have good alibis, one has an iron-clad alibi, this added to the fact that there are no DNA matches or evidence of any kind, and serious inconsistencies with the “victim’s” story from the beginning, leads me to believe that she was lying, but regarding the media coverage of the case, it has always been unfair to the accused.
When we think of a single mother, we picture a woman struggling to support herself and her children. Laura Grissim [Letters; April 14] plays on this stereotype to portray the Durham rape accuser/stripper as a stereotypical working single mom.
Because of Nifong, these boys have already been convicted in the media. Their reputations destroyed as their names and pictures are widely distributed with hate slogans labeling them as rapist.
The boys are being tried in the national media before there is any charge are made. Nifong stated that someone else could have assaulted the 27 year old stripper, yet he publicly damned the men’s lacrosse team and only the men’s lacrosse team as gang rapist, and still not knowing whether or not the “alleged victim” was telling the truth, or if the three men sought are on the team, Nifong claims the team is stonewalling to protect its own.
In response, daily protest are held with hate comments made directly to the lacrosse teammates, pictures of the teammates with rape slogans are plastered all over Duke’s campus, and now gang members are driving by the east campus threatening students.
Nifong proclaimed in the national media that the DNA sweep of 46 boys would find the guilty and clear the innocent. DNA tests prove that the boys of the lacrosse team were telling the truth, but Nifong wants to go ahead with the case only weeks before his election against a woman and a black man. There should be laws in place to prevent unscrupulous politician like District Attorney Mike Nifong from bulldozing over 47 innocent boys just to bask in the international media spot-light.
The news that there’s no DNA evidense to link the boys to the stripper is not as curious as there’s no DNA to suggest a crime was ever cmmitted! Where’s her DNA?
Fact:
Stripper claim bruises were result of an attack from three boys:
Fact: Time-stamped photos prove stripper arrived bruised and cut while drunk.
Nifong stated that a condom was used, if this is true than where is the spermicidal lubricant evidence? Where are the condoms? Where are the condom wrappers? Where is the empty condom box?
If no DNA material were present on the stripper, than why were DNA samples taken? The District Attorney vigorously claimed that these DNA evidence will clear the innocent.
I was surprise of how many false rape accusations have been made by several independent surveys reveal that 42% to approximately half of all accusations made are false. Most cases involve divorce battles involving the custody of children, some for revenge for withdraw of affection, monetary gains, an excuse for infidelity, or misidentification.
Comment by Nice guy @ 4/30/2006 - 5:40 am
Lawyers are waiting in the shadows for lucrative civil suit
A man stands in the shadows of the Duke Lacrosse ‘rape’ case…watching and waiting. While the three wealthy, white male students remains in criminal court, he is not likely to step forward.
Even at this early stage, the stripper’s mother is “very much interested” in “getting Willie E. Gary is a litigator renowned for winning huge settlements.
The stripper’s parents met with Gary in April. The meeting was facilitated by civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Gary acts as a family adviser, and the parents are laying groundwork to make a civil bid. Public opinion can be a large bargaining chip in obtaining a lucrative settlement. Earlier, the parents spoke freely; now they’re being more media savvy.
Essence Magazine featured three articles by Kristal Brent Zook. Each is sympathetic to the accuser. (1st) “Family Defends Daughter’s Painful Past”, (2nd) “Nowhere to Turn,” depicts the accuser as living in terror. (3rd) is basically an announcement of Willie Gary’s appearance in the case; it concludes by stating that the parents “worry that their daughter may…need additional legal guidance.”
Civil law deals in torts or harms inflicted by one person upon another; its purposes are compensation for actual or perceived damages.
A “guilty” verdict in criminal court can be used to establish liability in a civil one but if the verdict is “not guilty” or the charges are dropped, a civil case can proceed independently.
Kobe Bryant settled out-of-court settlement. Such settlements are not necessarily admissions of guilt. After months of media blitz, Bryant may have been embarrassed to settle, so civil suits could be lucrative even if the “accuser’s” claim is completely fabricated. The Duke students will face the same choice?
Civil suits can be lucrative, and they’re easier to win; standards of evidence and other legal protections enjoyed by a defendant are significantly lowered in civil court.
Clearly, her parents wish to explore a civil proceeding. Gary is conspicuously available.
Please stop using multiple nicks for posting. I changed the one you used back to the one most people here would recognize. –ST
Comment by me again @ 5/18/2006 - 12:33 pm