Show Charges are dropped against Duke players It ItI I 1 IF Michael and David Los Angeles Times Three former fonner Duke University lacrosse players Wednesday were cleared of all charges that they assaulted a stripper during a team party ending a ease case that widened the fissures of n race ce gender and class in North Carolina The North Carolina at attorney orney generals general's office announced that after a 12 week reek investigation it was dropping all charges against the trio including sexual assault and kidnapping and sharply blamed the local district attorney for a rogue prosecution The result of our r review view and investigation shows clearly clearly- that there is insufficient evidence to to proceed on any of the charges North Carolina A Attorney torney General Roy Cooper said in a televised ed news conference Today ye we we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges The result is that these cases cases are over and no more criminal proceedings will occur The state office took over the case when Durham County District Attorney Mike was accused of ethics violations in connection with the case Cooper was especially harsh in comments directed toward We Ve believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and anda a a failure failure to verify serious allegations Cooper oper s said id There e were many points in this in-this this case where caution would w u d have served justice b better tt r than than bravado Asked whether an apology was owed to the three lacrosse players Cooper said I think a lot of people owe a lot of ap apologies logies to other people I 1 think that those people ought to consider doing that Reade Seligmann 21 of Essex Fells NJ Collin Finnerty 20 of Garden City NY and David Evans 24 of Bethesda Md were indicted last spring on charges of rape kidnapping and sexual offense But as the case fell apart dropped rape charges in December The athletes their lawyers and many relatives spoke at an afternoon news conference The joy however was tempered by bythe bythe bythe the pain of being the targets of more than a year of investigations and hostile publicity Its been days since this nightmare began We Ve Weare Weare are as innocent today as we were then Evans said All Ail of the men of the Duke University lacrosse team have gone to hell and back Today the legal system has prevailed Said Finnerty Today is that day we have all been looking for forward vard for Seligman said he did not know how other suspects who lacked financial and family resources could prove their innocence I truly hope you never have to experience what we did he said The case began the night of March 13 2006 when Dukes Duke's highly rated lacrosse team threw a party A year old black woman who attended nearby N North Carolina Central U University was hired to perform as a stripper She he claimed she was raped gang-raped by three white players The claim captured in one sweep issues that uncomfortably challenged ideas such as the role of race in the South and the chasm between a prestigious school catering to outsiders and a college that enrolls mainly locals But the case had problems from the outset when DNA testing found no physical evidence The Thc players insisted that the accusations were lies and another dancer who had attended the party said she could not corroborate any rape As questions about the case continued to grow became more stubborn about pursuing charges He was very visible on national television shows and active in supporting the accuser At one point branded the team as asa asa asa a bunch of hooligans Critics said he was playing to prospective black voters during a tight re-election re campaign in May who was narrowly returned to office eventually was charged by bythe bythe bythe the North Carolina State Bar with ethics violations tied to his handling of the case was accused of making misleading and inflammatory comments about the athletes Later more serious charges of withholding evidence from defense attorneys and lying to the court and investigators were added faces a hearing on those charges in June and could be disbarred Duke temporarily suspended Seligmann and Finnerty and they refused a later invitation to return to to ca campus pus Evans had graduated the day before he was indicted The remainder of the lacrosse teams team's 2006 season was canceled |