Posted on 04/11/2007 7:46:54 AM PDT by Howlin
RALEIGH, N.C. — Three members of Duke University's lacrosse team could learn Wednesday whether state prosecutors will drop the remaining charges accusing them of sexually assaulting a stripper at a team party more than a year ago.
"I think it's likely that they will do that," said Wade Smith, an attorney for charged player Collin Finnerty. "We certainly hope that would be true. But until we hear it, we're not going to acknowledge that's the truth. We'll wait and see."
The state Attorney General's Office has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. news conference to discuss the case. It is unclear whether Attorney General Roy Cooper will be at the news conference at the RBC Center, which can accommodate the crush of national media interested in the case.
The Associated Press, citing sources close to the investigation, reported Wednesday morning that all charges would be dropped in the case.
The Attorney General's Office took over the case in January after Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was charged with several ethics violations tied to his handling of the sensational case.
No notice of dismissal had been filed at the Durham County Courthouse by early Wednesday. But a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office told WRAL that the investigation into the case has been completed.
"We are relieved that this day has come,” Smith told WRAL. “There will not be a celebration because this has been a train wreck.”
The families of Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans arrived in Raleigh Tuesday. Officials told WRAL that the three lacrosse players would be present once a decision had been made as to how the prosecution would proceed with the case.
A grand jury indicted the three players on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense last spring after a woman told police she was assaulted at a March 2006 team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. All three have steadfastly maintained their innocence, with Evans calling the allegations "fantastic lies."
Nifong dropped the rape charges in December after the accuser changed a key detail in her story. He recused himself a few weeks later after the state bar charged him with violating several rules of professional conduct.
Among the ethics charges, Nifong is accused of withholding potentially exculpatory DNA evidence from the defense and lying to both the court and bar investigators. Nifong faces a June trial before the bar and could be disbarred if convicted.
Nifong faces a Friday afternoon hearing in the ethics case, and he spent Wednesday morning with his attorney in Winston-Salem.
Nifong's recusal put the players' fate in the hands of Cooper, who promised "a fresh and thorough review of the facts" when he took over the case in January.
Smith said the players, their families and the defense attorneys were pleased that the special prosecutors took over the case, saying they brought "sanity to this situation."
“The special prosecutors have looked under every rock, and they have searched for evidence in places even the defense did not,” he told WRAL.
While Evans graduated the day before he was indicted in May, Duke temporarily suspended sophomores Finnerty and Seligmann in the wake of their arrest. Finnerty was also convicted in July in an unrelated assault case in Washington, D.C., and sentenced to six months of probation.
Finnerty and Seligmann were both invited to return to campus, but neither has accepted. John Danowski, the former coach at Hofstra who took over the Duke program last summer, has also said that both are welcome to continue their lacrosse careers with the Blue Devils
I may be inclined to name her as a symbolic gesture but I’d definitely target the deepest pockets.
LOL!!!!!!!!!
“Thanks Howlin!! It’s almost over. Can’t believe Megyn Kelly reporting the accuser’s family is saying “What do you expect: poor and black vs white and rich?”
Beyond mind boggling”
I hope her “advertisers” quit supporting her.
http://fayobserver.com/article?id=259520
Of course you can believe it..........LOL.
I hope they don’t say something like “There’s not enough to charge them” and leave it hanging.
Did you see the latest?
Oh, let's multi-task, surely. ;)
I freely admit that there's no prayer in Hell of the three falsely accused Duke LAXers ever seeing so much as Dime One as a result of bringing suit against Durham's own resident Walking DNA Depository. However: forcing her to (finally) stammer out the long-secreted truth, under penalty of perjury, would provide a wealth of non-fiscal benefits in and of itself, IMHO.
I would love to hear them say, “The charges were based upon lies told by the accuser and the DA went after these boys to get the black vote and that’s why we’re dropping the charges”. Personally, I don’t think it will happen but it would be a nice finishing touch.
Can you get down there by 2:30? :-)
Checking in boss.
It’ll never happen. Nobody here in Durham is going to stand up to the black power base. The Fong certainly won’t, he’s toast.
I honestly don’t think she’ll ever have to face the music for what she’s done. She’ll continue to be a martyr to the local “civic leaders.”
}:-)4
Howlin,
Thank you for all your work regarding this case. You have been more informative than the main stream media. Good job and thank you!
I wish we were all closer together today, so we could have a big old drink at the end of this - if what we’ve been waiting for happens.
Well, I don’t know what to say to that; I’m just interested in exposing this horrible injustice from our state’s historical lore.
I wonder if Al and Jesse are going to APOLOGIZE to the players today?
As a matter of fact, I could be there within an hour, lol.
They probably will just leave it at that...when has the state AG actually come down hard on a local prosecutor before?
“I wonder if Al and Jesse are going to APOLOGIZE to the players today?”
Actually, I think Crystal will be a regular on Imus.
The attorney general sees a window of opportunity. Imus will provide cover while justice prevails in Durham.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.