Lawyer: No DNA Match in Duke Gang Rape Case
Monday, April 10, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. — There is no DNA match between members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team and an exotic dancer who told police she was raped at a team party, attorneys for the team said Monday.
"No DNA material from any young man was present on the body of this complaining woman," said Raleigh attorney Wade Smith.
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 charged have been filed in the case. The alleged victim, a 27-year-old student at nearby North Carolina Central University, 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 will have other evidence to make his case should the DNA analysis prove inconclusive or fail to match a member of the team.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191232,00.html
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