All Charges Against Duke Lacrosse Players Dropped

By Linda Orlando

A high-profile criminal case that captured national headlines and polarized the state of North Carolina has finally ended. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced in a news conference Wednesday that all criminal charges have been dropped against David Evans, 24, Reade Seligmann, 21, and Collin Finnerty, 20, three Duke University lacrosse players who were charged with raping an exotic dancer at a team party over a year ago.

The announcement brought to a close the 13-month criminal investigation that has been closely scrutinized and intensely debated in the media. The charges were brought by Crystal Gail Mangum, a 28-year old North Carolina Central University student who was hired as an exotic dancer to perform at the party. She told police that she had been gang-raped, beaten, and sodomized for 30 minutes in the early-morning hours of March 14, 2006.

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong’s mishandling of the case became almost immediately apparent and accusations of impropriety accumulated to the point that in January of this year he recused himself from the case, asking state prosecutors to step in to continue the investigation. Because of the many questions surrounding Nifong’s handling of the case, the North Carolina State Bar launched an investigation, and Nifong now faces allegations of ethics violations. If he is found guilty, he could be disbarred and removed from his position as district attorney.

On January 13 of this year, Cooper’s office appointed two special prosecutors to begin investigating the case from the very beginning. Cooper said that they "had their eyes wide open to the evidence, but would have blinders on to all other distractions." The prosecutors reviewed all of the allegations, reviewed the evidence collected by the DA’s office, and gathered their own evidence. They conducted their own interviews of numerous people who were at the party, Durham police, defense attorneys, and the accusing witness, reviewing statements, photographs, and other evidence.

"The result of our investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges," Cooper announced at Wednesday’s press conference. "Today we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges against Colin Finnerty, Reide Seligman, and David Evans. We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations. Based on the significant inconsistencies, given the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges."

Cooper said that based on the investigation by his office, the overwhelming conclusion was that no attack occurred. But, he said, "In this case, with the weight of the state behind him, the Durham district attorney pushed forward unchecked. There were many points in this case where caution would have served justice better than bravado. And in the rush to condemn a community and a state, he lost the ability to see clearly." Cooper added, "Regardless of the reasons that this case was pushed forward, the result was wrong," and that the case "shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor."

Former federal prosecutor Kieran Shanahan said that for Mike Nifong, "the road ahead is not good," and his mishandling of the case is tragic both for him and for North Carolina. "He is effectively crippled in his current position and I’d be surprised if he continues in it," Shanahan said. "For the three young men, they got a resounding vote of innocence. It’s a tragedy all the way around, but at the same time, after a tortured process to be sure, three young men have been given their life back today."

When questioned by reporters, Cooper stopped short of commenting on the case against Mike Nifong, saying only that he thinks it is appropriate for the North Carolina Bar Association to be looking into the ethics charges against Nifong. "I’m concerned that statements were made publicly about things that turned out not to be true," Cooper said. "Any state in the country can have a rogue prosecutor who goes out on his own and does things. Here in North Carolina we have solved the problem."

News and Observer columnist Barry Saunders was a bit more frank in his appraisal of the Durham district attorney. "If there’s a villain in this case, it’s Nifong," he told reporters. "I wish the prosecutor had proceeded a bit more cautiously." Saunders added that a lot of groups had used this case "as something to put themselves out there," referring to the numerous advocacy groups and ethics associations that have rushed to grab the media spotlight to champion the rights of the accuser and paint a racist picture of the accused players. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition even came out and offered to pay the accuser’s college tuition, automatically assuming that she was telling the truth simply because she was black and the accused players are wealthy white young men.

As for the accuser, Cooper said that his office considered criminal charges against her, but decided that is in the best interest not to bring charges. He said that the woman "has told many stories…some things are consistent within those stories, but there were many stories that were told." The special prosecutors reviewed the entire history of the case, and there are records under seal that will not be shared with the public, but Cooper said that the investigators who talked with the accuser several times "think that she may actually believe the many different stories that she has been telling."

When asked by a reporter whether the state would be making an official apology to the three Duke students, Cooper said, "A lot of people owe a lot of apologies to other people; I think that those people ought to consider doing that."

Wade Smith, Colin Finnerty’s attorney, said that the players are very happy and thankful to know that the charges have been dropped. "But we will not celebrate," he said. "Because this is a train wreck and an awful tragic year."