DNA Tests Reportedly Clean Duke Players

DNA testing conducted by a private lab in the Duke lacrosse rape case found genetic material from several males in the accuser's body and her underwear _ but none from any team member, including the three charged with rape, according to a defense motion filed Wednesday.
The motion, signed by attorneys for defendants Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, complained that the information was not disclosed in a report on the testing prosecutors provided earlier this year to the defense.

"This is strong evidence of innocence in a case in which the accuser denied engaging in any sexual activity in the days before the alleged assault, told police she last had consensual sexual intercourse a week before the assault, and claimed that her attackers did not use condoms and ejaculated," the motion read.

In an interview, defense attorney Joseph Cheshire said the report's findings suggest the accuser had sex shortly before the March team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. The woman has said three lacrosse team members gang-raped her in a bathroom at the party.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/13/D8M06HMG0.html

I hope this lying sack of shit does years for false accusations.

:grr:

you're obviously a Nifong apologist.

http://www.newsobserver.com/630/story/435392.html

SNIP

Nifong spent little money and appeared at few campaign functions throughout the campaign. But he was a daily presence on front pages and television through much of April as the investigation of the lacrosse team party dominated regional and national headlines. He eventually cut off media contacts but not before granting more than 50 interviews, many on live national television.

Lawyers representing several team members and Nifong's two Democratic primary opponents sharply criticized his public statements, accusing him of using the case to win votes.


SNIP

Nifong, a Durham prosecutor for more than 27 years, received 45 percent of the vote. Black had nearly 42 percent and Bishop had 13 percent, according to unofficial results with all but provisional ballots counted. The remaining ballots are expected to be tallied by Friday.

SNIP

Nifong was appointed to the position a year ago by Gov. Mike Easley. He remained a little-known figure outside courthouse circles until news of the rape investigation broke.
Black spent more than $44,600, according to expense reports filed April 24. Nifong's campaign spent $16,300. Nifong probably did not need to spend any money to get name recognition. Since news of the rape investigation broke, he has been in the news. In a matter of weeks, he went from an obscure career prosecutor to a household name that seemingly everyone had an opinion about.

I don't know whether that's true or not, but the simple accusation by defense lawyers doesn't really count as evidence that the accusation is true. And neither do statistics on his campaign spending nor a discussion of Durham's plurality primary rule.

Much of the $44K spent by Freda Blacks' campaign, incidently, was used to accuse Nifong of politicizing the case to win the election: in fact, it looks to me like Freda Black is the one who was guilty of that.

with over 40 percent to avoid a runoff. He won 45 to 42, in a race, which as the article I am linking to states, that was all about the Duke case. http://www.newsobserver.com/630/story/435392.html

For better or for worse, this case let him win this race. I have to say following this case from Eastern NC I think it stinks to high heaven.

I have seen some news stories quoting people who said the case affected their vote -- usually adding that they voted AGAINST Nifong.

But I myself do not seem to know anyone whose vote was affected by this case.

On the other hand, I DO know people who were disgusted by the amount of attention the national media devoted to the Durham primary and who told the media to f@ck off when asked (upon leaving the polls) how they had voted in the DA race.

He had been in office for only a few months. He had no record as DA to speak of. He was an assistant but do you know the conviction rate of any ADA's? I don't. He ran against two African American opponents and took a case which appealed to African Americans in a city that is majority African American. I can't imagine it didn't help him.

which gives him even more reason to do what he did. He split the black vote with Bishop and the white vote with Black.

they essentially eviscerated the prosecution's case. It seemed to me to be a big ploy to get the DA re-elected by polarizing the community

I'm unable to recall the other instance of this very thing.

So many prosecutors are total scum of the planet. Total disregard for human life, in their quest to do whatever it is they do.

I'm losing faith in the human race. I know good will win, but it's hardly worth the effort. Especially when I see how beautiful the world could be, with such little effort.

.. refused to comment about the case ...

Duke Players Talk on '60 Minutes'
By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, October 15, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/10/15/sports/s175811D36.DTL


It is your theory the DA sent a stripper to a party with instructions to cry "rape!" so he could get re-elected?

Its dirty politics at its worst, and at least one demonstrated innocent is being smeared. I have no patience for that...no one should. Nifong need to get thrown out of office and possibly disbarred.

My theory is that this case dropped into his lap in the middle of a difficult primary race -- where his much stronger, more well-known opponent had far more money to spend -- and he decided to milk it for the free publicity. And it worked. He went from being a decided underdog to winning by a 45-42 percent plurality.

a practice which he seems to have stopped some months ago.

And he didn't have to run around calling them names like "hooligans" and asserting that he KNEW a rape had taken place and that some lacrosse players had to be guilty.

to get re-elected found a boon in this "non" case.

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She made accusations that perhaps in a delusional state, she truly believed.

I also feel bad for the accused, because it's a hard accusation to live down, even once one is cleared.

She filed false charges with malice and forethought. Throw the book at her. And then pick up that book and whack the craptacular DA upside his stupid, pointy, recently-reelected head with it.

I'm sorry, but any women having unprotected sex with multiple partners in one day - on her way to a private stripping party - isn't exactly stable.

Are all stippers hookers? Of course not. But if the is multiple male DNA in her underpants Occam's Razor applies.

unprotected.

Even hookers use condoms. I have a hard time believing that anybody in their right mind would let multiple men have unprotected sex with her. You have to be phsychologically damaged to allow that to happen.

And no, not all strippers are hookers. But, a lot of strippers have sex for money.

I wonder how many DNA samples came from the panties and how many came from the anal swab. Maybe the panties weren't even hers. Don't the dancers strip during their performances? Maybe she put on the one of her dance partners' panties after a show. Or maybe they are expensive costume panties that everybody shares, and at the end of the night they change back into their street clothes.

started to come apart right from the beginning. but if he had tried to dismiss the case before all of this additional info came out he wouldn't have got re-elected because the locals would said it was just a white man covering for rich white men.

doing it now makes it look like he just prosecuted to get re-elected. I feel a little bit for the boy's but man when you mess around with sex like this and something comes up like an argument. well you better watch your ass, that's why I don't even mess around with things of a sexual content. It's getting almost to the point that you need a lawyer and a witness to have sex any more.

It's wishful thinking. There are victims on one side and a perpetrator on the other.

load of you know what. And yet they will still probably try it. Those boys lives are ruined evenif they are acquitted.

from you...

There is an unbelievable amount of exculpatory evidence, and the prosecutor admits that after all this time he still hasn't interviewed the accuser. I wonder where she is right now.

In the meantime, think what the young men and their families are going through. It makes me sick, especially that so many DU'ers seem to have a knee-jerk response to believing this obviously corrupt prosecutor.

is beyond belief. This case totally stinks.

accuser.
"genetic material from several males in the accuser's body and her underwear _ but none from any team member"

this makes me chuckle a little bit, I confess.

Or does she just not wash her underwear very often?

What is the prosecution's explanation?

from the richest people she could have contact with.

She's a student slut who got embarassed.

This is exactly the reason why I am against offender registries. This case, exactly.

to withhold this evidence, on the grounds of cost and privacy issues.

Apparently he doesn't think it is significant that the accuser lied when she said that she hadn't had sex with ANYONE for a week, and then it was only with her boyfriend.

on the lawns of the women & civil rights groups that gave them
so much crap?

The report seems to be more smear from the defense than official results.

I am surprised at some of the comments here.

the real issue is that several of the accused have been hounded off campus, suspended for a year, and other administrative sanctions that were clearly not called for. Going to be interesting to see how they try and square things with the students who were falsely accused. Note also that at least on of the accused had video and ATM records that proved he could not have been there.

And what's your evidence that Nifong "exploited class envy"?

It was ALL about this case. Race all the way. Shame that things operate this way in the us, but you can always count on someone to whore for votes.

Nifong has known all along that these guys were innocent, as do any rational people. Splash her name all over the headlines like they've done to the lacrosse players.

Duke is a private university, and can choose who is allowed to attend or continue attending, based on whatever criteria they want, without any recourse by the students, unless it was a case of blatant racial or gender discrimination by the university (i.e. if there were both black and white players accused, but only the whites were disciplined). They could apply any sanctions, suspensions, et cetera they desired, even if the only justification was that the presence of the accused students would be a "disruption" for other students. In fact, although I don't expect this to happen, they could use that excuse to expel the accused students, even after an acquittal, and the university would be completely within its rights.

and should be punished for it. As a private university they are much less protected and subject to pressure from the bill payers. When this entire case folds like the house of cards, I would hope there would be some changes at Duke in addition to Nifong being run out of office.

I'd never give them a cent, if that's how they treat their students.

I know its way to early, but if I was a juror. I'd have to say NG

evidence.

Nifong has been prosecuting cases for over twenty-five years and has a good reputation.

While, of course, it is not impossible that he has suddenly become corrupt or has gone insane, there should be other indications of such a moral or mental collapse if it has actually occurred. And if there really is no case, the defense should be able to get the whole thing dismissed immediately -- in which case, Nifong will be in trouble, as he no doubt knows.

Also Nifong is pol, and as such is suspect. Since one of the accussed has produced evidence of him not having been there, this is tipping towards prosecurtorial misconduct.

jury - they'd get some severe surprises.

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Because if you had, you would be supporting Nifong based on some facts that you can assert, not based on his "good reputation."

I also wonder why the defense has not moved to get the case dismissed yet. The sad fact is that the defense lawyers would make less money if they were to win an immediate dismissal. They'll make a lot more if it drags out to trial.

things to say about him. Even some of the defense attorneys have said this is a good lawyer who has never, ever courted publicity," she told Smith ...
'Sex, Lies & Duke'
Reporter Returns To Alma Mater To Investigate Duke Rape Case
NEW YORK, April 24, 2006
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/24/earlyshow/main1536384.shtml

... Mike Nifong .. has a stellar reputation in Durham ...
Aired April 19, 2006 - 20:00:00 ET
Accused Duke Lacrosse Players Out on Bail.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/19/ng.01.html

... The criminal defense lawyer <John Bourlon> has faced off against Nifong hundreds of times over the past three decades. He's seen the prosecutor drop a weak case the day before trial. Despite the supposed flimsiness of the evidence in the Duke case, Bourlon keeps coming to the same conclusion: "I'm CONVINCED he has something" ...
Deep Questions Remain in Duke Rape Case
Oct 07 12:32 PM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/07/D8KJTDEG0.html

Nifong has a quarter-century record of good work in the DA's office.He started off as a volunteer in the office, and the office found the money to hire him. I suppose he could suddenly have decided that winning an election mattered more to him than his own integrity, but the simple fact people like make the accusation doesn't make the accusation true.

crossed to the dark side, as far as I'm concerned. I don't care what his reputation was in the past, he should be disbarred for his actions in this case.

You can find the latest defense motion here, related to the photo line-ups. It provides a good summary of Nifong's misconduct with regard to the line-ups -- just one part of his egregious conduct in the whole case.

http://www.wral.com/dukelacrosse/index.html

by reading articles about what a good reputation the prosecutor has?

The good prosecutor who gave, by his own account, more than 50 self-serving interviews about the case during his election campaign?

about only one side of the case -- that of the prosecutor and his "good reputation." Doesn't sound like an unbiased juror to me.

... Freda Black or Keith Bishop in the primary or why you think I should have gone the write-in route with Lewis Cheek or Steve Monks in the general election.

The DNA doesn't match. One of the accused wasn't even there according to bank records, cab driver testimony, not to mention all the rest.

when the prosecution has a good chance of winning based on the evidence. Which he doesn't have. Short of a sudden confession by a defendant, there is no way Nifong could fairly win this case -- there is already a hole in it the size of the Grand Canyon.

Since he can't win by playing fair, he's decided to win by cheating -- by failing to follow standard procedure in the line-up, by ignoring strong alibi evidence, and by withholding exculpatory evidence (and arguing that cost and privacy issues should be more important than giving the defense this information.)

Or you wouldn't be surprised by the comments.

You have framed the issue well, though -- why hasn't the DA dropped the case? That's the billion dollar question.

Nifong used a lineup that failed to meet state standards, because it included ONLY members of the lacrosse team, all of whom were suspects at the time.
He refused to consider multiple pieces of alibi evidence (bank camera photos, etc.)
The accuser changed her story several times, and her story conflicts with the other dancer's. (She claimed that three other students dragged the other dancer away from her -- a fact totally contradicted by the other dancer, who said she wasn't involved in anything and saw nothing happen.)
The accuser supposedly suffered a brutal beating and yet the medical report shows no evidence of injury. The accuser was back at her job as an exotic dancer performing as usual -- at the same time that she, according to a police investigator, could barely sit down during an interview.
She said that no condom was used in the rape and the lab report found no evidence of condom use. Yet none of the DNA found in her body or underwear belonged to anyone on the lacrosse team, including the three accused students.
The accuser said that she had had sex with no one for a week, and then it was only her boyfriend. But now, after numerous discovery requests, the information is suddenly produced by the lab showing that she had the DNA of multiple males in her body and on her underwear.

This is just a small fraction of the problems with the case. But if this is how the justice system works -- that men like these have to pay lawyers millions of dollars to defend themselves against put-up jobs like this -- then we're all screwed. The little guy doesn't have a chance.

and I expect the defendants to be acquitted of all charges by virtue of lack of evidence and prosecutorial misconduct, particularly in the case of Reade Seligmann.

I have some serious questions about his obligations under Brady if he had ANY clue that the DNA tests could have ruled out the defendants being involved. I am not saying the DA knew ~~ but how could he have NOT known? I cannot imagine the state NOT doing tests on the DNA ~~ and if those tests came back with no match to the defendants, under Brady the DA had an absolute obligation to inform the defense.

Nifong was reported to have twice met in person with the lab people, while they were preparing the report.

(said by "sources" to be the victim's boyfriend). Of course, the job of the defense is to cast doubt on the case, and the lawyers are clearly good at that. But if the defense attorneys claim at one time there is DNA evidence of only a single male, and claim at another time there is DNA evidence of several, then it's unclear to me whether the attorneys are accurately summarizing test results, what the various tests actually show, and how reliable the testing is. For some time, Nifong has refused to comment on the case while the defense attorneys provide their own summaries of small tidbits piecemeal: this does not seem to me a basis for forming any judgment whatsoever.

Duke Lacrosse DNA: Mystery Man Revealed
May 13, 2006 | WMAL-AM Washington
... defense attorneys said .. a vaginal swab of the alleged rape victim produced DNA from a "single male source'' ...
http://www.wmal.com/goout.asp?u=http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/story?id=1958031&page=1

Why would they release DNA test info anyway other than to win in the media.

conducted? Have you actually followed the case? I can understand this attitude in the beginning, when Nifong was all over the press and Duke had turned its back on the students -- I admit that I was fooled then, too. But mountains of exculpatory evidence has come out since then. It doesn't matter WHAT the prosecutor's case may turn out to be -- already there is a big enough hole of reasonable doubt to fly a 747 through.

"this smells of Defense PR to me."

I'm shocked at how many DU'ers are on the side of this obviously corrupted prosecutor. This man went to Court and argued against the release of this exculpatory DNA information -- on the grounds of privacy! The only thing he's trying to protect now is his own ass.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-duke14dec14,1,1933012.story?coll=la-news-a_section

A private lab used by prosecutors in the Duke University lacrosse rape case failed to disclose that it had found DNA from unidentified males in samples taken from the accuser's body and underwear, according to a defense motion filed Wednesday.

The DNA did not match samples taken from three Duke lacrosse players charged with raping an exotic dancer during an off-campus party March 14. Nor did it match DNA taken from 43 other members of the university lacrosse team, or the accuser's boyfriend, the defense motion said.

SNIP

The DNA — which the motion said came from "multiple males" — was not mentioned in the lab's final report, submitted to the Durham district attorney's office in May and subsequently provided to the defense.

Defense lawyers found references to the DNA while scouring 1,844 documents handed over by the lab Oct. 27 under a judge's order. DNA Security Inc. in Burlington, N.C., initially refused to provide them, citing cost and privacy."

SNIP

That is precisely the issue now. For six months, the prosecutor deliberately withheld from the defense the information that the testing had actually revealed DNA not only from the boyfriend but from multiple other males -- none of which matched the defendants OR any other team members.

Not only did the prosecutor withhold these test results until October, but he made an argument to the Court that the results should be withheld, on the grounds of "privacy." It is a serious prosecutorial offense to withhold information that is exculpatory, and that is exactly what Nifong did. The accuser's testimony was that she hadn't had intercourse with anyone for a week, and then it was just with her boyfriend. That obviously conflicts with the test company's finding of the DNA of multiple men in her body and underwear.

The woman was a stripper employed by an escort service and her driver admitted driving her to several private appointments with men in hotels that weekend. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where the DNA came from. But if it's still unclear, here's the answer. The prosecutor's lab says it wasn't any of the 46 team members. That leaves the men in the hotels. Which makes her a liar once again, since her statement under oath was that she had had no sex in a week.

.. the story is correct, but there are certainly conflicting press reports or conflicting stories told to the press, which is a good reason not to take the press versions as definitive. And you, of course, seem to have a definite axe to grind with respect to this case, which is another good reason for me not to take you too seriously either.

for misconduct and the women for filing a false police report. With holding this type of evidence from the defense is unexcusable.

And it was no accident either. He went to court and argued against providing the information to the defense -- on the grounds of cost and privacy!

but every time a woman falsely accuses someone of rape, it becomes even harder for the women out there that are raped.

The students could even go after her for slander or libel. (I'm not sure exactly which one, or possibly both.)

The false accusation of rape is almost more disgusting to me than the prosecutor's behavior, but both are equally deplorable in this case.

She was drunk and on flexeril when she made the accusation -- which got her a free ticket out of the drunk center and into a hospital instead -- which was important to her, because she was on probation for a felony. In fact, the records seem to indicate that someone at the drunk center ASKED her if she had been raped -- so that might have been how the stupid idea got planted in her mind. Then everything snowballed, and now she's probably just hiding somewhere.

But Nifong knew exactly what he was doing, and has been doing it in a calculating, cold-blooded way. No matter what he may have thought in the beginning, he's known for months now that the students are innocent. But not only does he not drop he case, he's been framing them (order a lineup that violated state and local standards), refusing to consider solid alibi evidence, and deliberately withholding exculpatory information. His behavior is more of a threat to the general public than hers, if it is allowed to go unpunished.

It's been a while since I've read much concerning this case

But now I do remember about the drunk tank asking if she was raped. I agree with you, the prosecutor should be held more accountable (thanks for refreshing my memory).

One of the other things I was worried about, was didn't this bring up a lot of racial tension in the Durham area since the accuser was black and the accused white? Or, if I'm remembering correctly, inflame tension that was already there?

I remember you being active in the past Duke threads, so I'll bow to your knowledge. :P

so once I got familiar with this case it was pretty horrifying to me. Imagine your freshman or sophomore son going to a team party, finding there's strippers there, everything's boring and stupid -- the strippers leave after a few minutes -- and two days later he's accused of rape. And he produces cell phone records showing he was talking to his girl friend at the time, then ordering a taxi -- the taxi driver vouches for him (and then the driver gets arrested on an old warrant) -- the bank cameras shows your son at an ATM during the time of the supposed rape -- but the prosecutor won't talk to the defense attorney about the alibi. And your son voluntarily gives his DNA, knowing he didn't even have sex with her -- but when that clears him, no one cares about that either. And the accuser picked your son out of a lineup that only had lacrosse players in it, and the description she gave of her attackers didn't sound like your kid at all.

And your son was facing 25 years in jail. Wouldn't you be terrified? And outraged? I don't know how those families can stand this.

But yes, concerning your other question, the articles I read indicated that there is a lot of racial tension, at least under the surface. Nifong had been behind in the polls, but he got lots of free publicity when he made himself the public champion of the accuser, calling the students hooligans and taking up this woman's cause. He spent about a third as much as his much better known opponent, but all the free publicity helped him win a 45-42 plurality (in a three way race).

:)

I didn't post (as far as I remember) in any of the beginning Duke thread because it was so vitriolic and downright scary to me.

Frankly, I don't think this case created "racial tension" in Durham. What a few idiots here or there may have said, of course, is a different matter.

But early on, for example, I heard students from NCCU say that they hoped the Duke kids would go to jail if guilty and would get off if innocent -- a pretty mainstream view.

There's some rumours she may be 9 months pregnant

be able to keep her other sex contacts private.

one place to start would be the 43 page motion that the defense filed today, asking that the photo line-up I.D. be thrown out.

You can find it at this link.

http://www.wral.com/dukelacrosse/index.html

And to those who would dismiss it, based on it being the work product of the defense: it's all heavily referenced to documents in the discovery file. If the defense attorneys purposely misstated the facts, they could be disbarred or subject to criminal proceedings. And they're paid whether they win or not, so there's not much reason for them to put their lives and careers on the line by lying on behalf of the defendants.

this case gets stranger

http://www.wral.com/news/10541437/detail.html

its buried in your link for some reason

she was tested for pregnancy at the hosp and given mornin after

Thanks for the sharp eyes.

for a while. I guess some rumors are true.

Some of the threads on this topic were quite heated back in the spring.

Trial by media and all that. Those who questioned the story were vilified, put on ignore, "I cant believe the replies I'm seeing on a progressive website" etc. You know the routine.

To be fair, some counselled caution and wait for the jury to decide.

It seems as if there are fewer and fewer defenders of the accuser, as you can see.

The sad truth is, if indeed this turns out to be a false accusation of rape, by all the attention garnered could put a chink of doubt in other high profile rape cases. And maybe other victims will be afraid to speak out.

by a self-serving press and gullible public, just makes it harder for real victims.

was reason enough to convict these young men of rape! That's the crap that permeated DU last spring.

I was always concerned about Reade Seligmann's case. He is the one that was not there when the "rape" took place. He had ATM records, a cabbie, and the time stamp on his dorm's door to show he was not at the house. On top of that, the accuser said that Reade had a mustache during the controversial photo lineup in which the only photos shown to her were of Duke players. Reade never had a mustache, and facial hair was forbidden in Duke sports.

The mountains of DNA evidence, none of which implicated the Duke players, and the statements by the other exotic dancer that contradicted the accuser's version of events, plus the fact that no toxicology tests were ever conducted on the accuser when she was at hospital, leaves me baffle as to Nifong's conduct of this case.