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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.
The live part is not on there, but it would have been that same day, I think.
I wish we could search FR by date, like we use to be able to!
That's a possibility. And arresting the cabbie didn't help, either. But I have no doubt he'll get the indictment, and I think that's why Nifong is holding the test results. He doesn't want there to be a news cycle during which a valid analysis of the results can be broadcast because that might queer his little kangaroo court with the GJ.
Good plan.
Tissue can be a skin cell.
From this side of the fence, I'd say the victim is the kid that lives there. Pick another place where his DNA would be MORE frequent. The other two left....and this is all NiFong has left.
Why do I think NiFong will enter a hospital soon....with a mild heart attack?? He's made a big freak'n mess of this and the gov isn't going to let it slide.
I realize it's all in the definition of "tissue". But media reports imply it is consistent with her story that she scratched him, and the nail broke off (supposedly with enough stuff lodged on the underside of the nail to "nail" someone). How would this play out in court? The nature of this material could be key, could it not? To whether the Defense can say it just fell on the nail or the nail fell on it in the trashcan, or whether the Prosecution can say it was consistent with her story that she scratched it off during the "rape"?
"the gov isn't going to let it slide."
Do we know something on that front? The state is going to have to step in at some point. This guy is nuts and this gov appointed him (but he did win the primary). I guess this gives us a lesson on the dangerousness of a pure democracy at least in Durham, N.C.
Howlin, I didn't know there were states, or at least one state, that has no speedy trial statute and no pre-trial probable cause proceeding in which the prosecution's prima facie case can be cross-examined, among other rather shocking shortcomings. It took me a full week to grasp that there will be no probable cause examination, for starters. I'm still having trouble acknowledging that.
I believe the governor would appoint the replacement. I believe that's how NiFong his job in the first place.
I can tell you that the BP only spiked after 15 minutes of stunned silence when he realized his minor child was forced to make a statement and was not given the benefit of his Miranda Rights or given the right to make a phone call. Trust me on this, though I don't know the parents, but was part of the dress rehersal for this farce in another U.S. city.
That is so very true, and a profound observation.
I pray to God it never gets there. The lineup was beyond suggestive. Everytime I see the line up testimony I want to scream! A multiple choice test with no wrong answers is how someone put it. A passed out drunk remembers who did what. And I'm the queen of England.
I think someone posted that even a small amount of flesh would provide a DNA marker strong enough for a match.
But tissue is made of cells. The talking heads can be saying "tissue" when in fact it's merely a single skin cell or two resulting from casual transfer. If the similarity between the evidence at the exemplar isn't within the guideline to be deemed a "match", it would be prejudicial of the judge to allow it in. Of course, selling it to the GJ as a "match" is a much simpler matter, and isn't regulated by the court. It's only regulated by the ethical standards of the prosecutor, Since the prosecutor has no ethical standards, rest assured that the test results, no matter how weak, will be spun as a "match" by Nifong to the GJ.
What? NC 98 and Holloway Street not doing it for you?
Not lately!
Are you looking for this video: no DNA matches returned
found here
I may have missed this in the thousands of posts about this case, but doesn't the 6th amendment of the US Constitution guarantee the right to a speedy trial?
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