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Posted on 05/11/2006 9:17:59 PM PDT by TexKat
DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke lacrosse player whose DNA may match tissue found under the fake fingernails of an exotic dancer who claims she was raped was identified in a photo lineup with 90 percent certainty, sources tell NBC-17.
The Durham Herald-Sun reported Thursday tissue found under the accuser's acrylic fingernail came from the same genetic pool and was "consistent" with the bodily makeup of one of 46 lacrosse players who gave DNA samples for testing.
The paper cites several sources and said scientists also ruled out a possible match with any of the other 45 students, according to the sources.
If accurate, the fingernail tissue match would offer the first DNA evidence potentially linking the dancer and an alleged attacker.
But because a complete DNA pattern was not obtained from the tissue, it was not possible to match it with the nearly 100 percent certainty that DNA results usually offer, the sources added.
90 Percent Certainty
Now, NBC-17 has learned that the player is not one of the two already accused in the case -- Reade Seligmann, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty, of Garden City, N.Y. He is, however, a player that the alleged rape victim picked out in a police lineup with 90 percent certainty.
The 27-year-old North Carolina Central University student told police she was beaten and raped by three lacrosse players while she performed at a March 13 team party. She said she clawed at the players in an effort to fight them off.
Never Applied?
Defense attorneys claim, however, that nothing about the reported possible DNA match means anything to the case if you look at the type of fingernails, where they were found, and if you look at a picture of the accuser's hand shortly after she arrived at the party.
According to defense attorneys, police found four stick-on acrylic fingernails in a trashcan at 610 Buchanan Street, the house where the party took place. The tissue connected to the possible DNA match was found under one of those fingernails.
But defense attorneys said the third player accused lived at the house and it is no surprise that trace amounts of his DNA could be found inside his own trashcan. They also said they don't believe the type of fingernails that were found -- the kind that are applied with an adhesive strip -- actually ripped off during an attack. They don't believe the fingernails were ever applied and they say they have pictures to prove it.
NBC-17 has seen a picture of the dancer's hand at the house when she performed her dance routine. It appears that long, fake fingernails were on some of her fingers in that photo, but not all of them.
Other photos show what defense lawyers believe is red fingernail polish on the walls of the house and on the railing outside the house. They believe the accuser was painting and applying her nails while at the party.
Defense attorneys admit that none of them have seen the DNA report the Herald Sun article is based upon, but they said if District Attorney Mike Nifong has the DNA report, their clients are entitled to see it.
Accuser's Father Responds
The accuser's father called reports of a DNA break in the case long overdue.
"I wasn't surprised to hear that. I feel like we should have learned it before," he said.
Kim Roberts, another dancer who performed at the party where the alleged attack took place, paid an emotional visit to the accuser's parents on Thursday.
"It was real emotional -- she was crying, my wife was crying. She said that she was sorry she left (outside) the house before my daughter did," the accuser's father said.
Authorities said they would know what the DNA shows by early next week.
I got my TV on too late, Howlin, what was it?
Oh, you're right! She can't possibly handle the fact that she had it all wrong about the Duke lacrosse team!
I can't believe Nancy said tonight the tissue was "a very weak,weak match" when last night she was talking about "1 in a billion". When Nancy starts to sound rational Nifong has real trouble.
I imagine they are feeling a bit better.....but I hope they and their attorneys get mad dog mean.
I read that the Duke Trustee Board is meeting this coming Monday.
Nancy didn't want to hear one thing past the fingernail, did she?
She may have sounded rational, but she cut off the coverage right before the best part---When the announcement was made that there was DNA from a vaginal swab--which contained DNA, but the DNA DID NOT come from one of the team members. The contributor is known to the Durham police....
Robinson "Rob" Bordley, head coach of boys' lacrosse at the Landon School in Bethesda, Md., a private school that has five graduates on this year's Duke team, said his former charges told him that Duke may decide by May 1 whether to resume lacrosse next year. With Pressler gone, such added uncertainty hurts Duke's chances to land top prospects, including several Washington-area players.
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:I8O8Vm_mgokJ:www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/427038.html+Landon+DURHAM&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8
From what I've seen of Nifong this presser will only make him more determined to press on. He is vindictive, and by pressing on he will case the players and their rich, privileged families pain. That is enough for him and a sizable number of Durhamites.
I just watched Nancy's rerun; she didn't say ONE WORD.
That was Nasty Grace eating a little of the brown stuff or dying. She had no alternative but to politely chew a little lightly instead of digging a deeper hole for herself.
Nancy reran part of the press conference; of course, she stopped showing it when they got to the part about the OTHER GUY.
I'm sure Nifong had the semen donor arrested recently.
LOL!
------
This explains the arresting of the cabbie and the selective leaks to the press. LIEfong was trying to get somebody, ANYBODY to crack prior to his case exploding in his face this afternoon.
The guy is perhaps the biggest joke I have ever seen in the legal world.
I recall her inquiry being about a person's name.
Well said!
Did the attorney say that the media had the full DNA report for 3 days, or just the selectively leaked portions of the report? IOW, did the media sit on information that was favorable to the defense?
Astonishingly poor reporting even for the MSM. Is he identified or unidentified? -- this phrase should never have gotten past a competent editor.
Never mind that it is at best misleading and at worst it is willful misdirection -- the press conference told us that they know the name of the "sperm donor" but they just aren't revealing it. There's no mystery here whatsoever but you don't get it from their paragraph.
NG said she'd get back on it Monday after she'd seen the report. Didn't she also get a copy 3 days ago like the other media did?
Or as the Durham police....
It's not too late for Durham voters to demand a recall election on Nifong.
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