This is outrageous. This is a clear violation of the accused's Constitutional right to a speedy trial. Why the delay? Perhaps the DA is hoping that the furor will die down between now and then and he can quietly drop the charges? It's not right to have this smear on these men just hang out there for a year. Try them now...if they're guilty send to jail but if they're not they should be cleared and free to continue their lives.
In the meantime, Duke has suspended them from school.
Nifong knows that these guys won't be able to go back to school as long as this thing is in limbo, so their lives are essentially being ruined. My guess is that he's hoping that they'll get fed up and cop a lesser plea to something. They're already out a substantial amount of money from the $400,000 bail, and the legal fees have barely even started yet.