[OakOak]

That lines up with what the Durham Herald says..

It would make sense that she'd remember faces that she had the most contact with. If this guy met her at the door, caught her as she went to fall (she grabbed him as she fell) OR
if this guy tried to get the money back from crystal and she grabbed his arm or hand?

Since the first lab didn't pick it up, I'm guessing it was trace amounts that can passed with casual contact like hand shaking.

[Howlin]

They just said that the Defense had acknowledged something was found at the first press conference, but that is wasn't DNA...........what does that mean?

[maggief]

Or the stick-on acrylic fingernails picked up something from the trashcan.

[Waterfall]

I've always figured the third was "Adam" who she later said the other players called Dan, or Dan Flannery, the team captain who lived at the house, and who booked the dancers. He could have been the one to put the press-on nails in the garbage or been the one to escort her to the car. And she would have remembered him because he was the one most likely to first greet her when she arrived. I think he's 23, wonder if he's graduating this weekend.

[Law is not justice but process]

"It would make sense that she'd remember faces that she had the most contact with. If this guy met her at the door, caught her as she went to fall (she grabbed him as she fell) OR
if this guy tried to get the money back from crystal and she grabbed his arm or hand?

Since the first lab didn't pick it up, I'm guessing it was trace amounts that can passed with casual contact like hand shaking."

That is the defense response. I suspect the defense would also argue that this DNA result is not a match at all, but only consistent. If it was 11 of 13 markers, the SBI would have called it a match. I suspect it is 4 or fewer loci, which would make the statistics rather weak. However, even if it were a full fledged match, trace amounts of DNA under one discarded fingernail means little. Self-defense during an attack should have left the attackers with multiple scratches on arms and face and lots of flesh under the victim's fingernails. A trace amount could get there many ways, including a scratch at someone trying to grab his money back from a stripper who would not perform as contracted.

I have stated several times that I believe the identification was tainted and will not be held admissible if the pool of photos came only from the Lacrosse team. Without that, the DNA evidence is the only link to an individual identity. This gets the prosecution past directed verdict, but it is still a long way to proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Something else bothers me. They say the nail came from a trash can. Even a bunch of drunk frat boys would know something like a broken nail is evidence and would eventually be found by police. If they were covering up a crime, they would have thrown it in a dumpster behind a 7-11 in Raleigh, not in their own trash can. If the accuser put it there, she would not have done so after the rape (if she was that traumatized). If she put it in there before the rape, it is evidence of nothing. It would have been much better for the prosecution if it had been found behind the toilet or on the accuser.