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.
"No DNA material from any young man was present on the body of this
complaining woman," said defense attorney Wade Smith.
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.
Authorities ordered 46 of the 47 players on Duke's lacrosse team to submit
DNA samples to investigators. Because the woman said her attackers were white,
the team's sole black player was not tested.
District Attorney Mike Nifong stopped speaking with reporters last week after
initially talking openly about the case, including stating publicly that he was
confident a crime occurred. He went on to say he would have other evidence to
make his case should the DNA analysis prove inconclusive or fail to match a
member of the team.
Smith said Nifong now has the evidence needed to change his mind.
"He doesn't have to do it," Smith said of filing charges. "He is a man with
discretion. He doesn't have to do it, and we hope that he won't."
Nifong's assistant said earlier Monday the prosecutor would not comment on
the findings. North Carolina Central University, where the alleged victim is a
student, said after the results were released that the prosecutor would appear
at a campus forum on Tuesday to discuss the case.