Defense: No DNA from Duke Lacrosse Players Found on Accuser

A defense motion was filed Wednesday in the Duke lacrosse team rape case that raised even more questions about the validity of the charges against the three players. The motion, which was signed by attorneys for Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y., and David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, MD, says that a pretty important piece of information was not disclosed in a report that prosecutors provided earlier this year to the defense.

In March of last year, a stripper hired to perform at a lacrosse team party accused several team members of gang-raping her and beating her in a bathroom. Within hours of her accusations, DNA samples were taken from multiple places on her body, as well as her clothing. DNA samples were also collected from every member of the lacrosse team, and the samples were submitted first to the State Bureau of Investigation.

When the SBI tests found no DNA matches, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong sent the DNA samples to a private lab in Burlington, DNA Security, to have the samples retested. The state then provided the defense lawyers with a "final" report by DNA Security, but the report contained an analysis of only three of the items—despite the fact that they tested over a dozen items in evidence.

The defendants asked DNA Security to turn over all of the documents pertaining to its analysis of the samples taken as evidence, but Nifong read a letter to the court from DNA Security saying that cost and privacy concerns were the reason they objected to turning over all of their reports. The court overruled their objections and ordered that the materials be disclosed to the defense.

In October, Nifong provided defense lawyers with thousands of pages of materials detailing the analyses performed by DNA Security. After examining those thousands of pages, defense lawyers were stunned to discover that DNA Security had identified DNA from multiple males in samples taken from various parts of the accuser’s body—but not a single sample matched the DNA of any team member, including the three who were charged with rape.

"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.

Defense attorney Joseph Cheshire, who represents Evans, told reporters that the findings of the report by DNA Security suggest that the stripper had sex shortly before she went to the party to perform as a stripper. Although the woman said that three lacrosse team members gang-raped her in a bathroom at the party, "None of (the DNA material) happens to be from lacrosse players who are supposed to have had sex with her, which is pretty significant," said Cheshire.

As the motion points out, had the defense not performed "an exhaustive examination of the underlying materials, which DNA Security objected to providing, this evidence would have remained unidentified in the mass of documentation underlying DNA Security’s word in this case." The motion also details multiple errors in regard to the numbering of tests, and says that the testing and the report are legally and scientifically deficient. In fact, the defense contends, at least one sample sent to DNA Security may have been contaminated because it included DNA from Dr. Brian Meehan, the lab’s director.

Attorneys for the three accused lacrosse players are expected to be in court again on Friday, and Nifong is scheduled to hand over more evidence in the case to add to the thousands of pages of documents he has already given to the defense. Nifong was all too eager to talk to the media about the case several months ago when he was up for reelection, but now that his job is secure he’s keeping a low profile. When reporters tried to contact him for a response to the defense motion filed Wednesday, Nifong had no comment.