Based on today's motions, Reade Seligmann could be off the hook -- The Duke Lacrosse accuser's December 21 statements to District Attorney Mike Nifong have just been made public in a 76-page defense motion.
It was because of her statement in that interview that Nifong subsequently dropped rape charges against the indicted players.
According to the filing, in that interview the accuser now claims the attack took place between 11:35 and midnight, which contradicts the accuser's own cell phone records and the cell phone records for Reade Seligmann and his girlfriend.
She recants her April statement that Reade Seligmann was the man who stood in front of her and made her commit a sex act. Now she says Evans was that person and further admits that Reade Seligmann did not commit any sex act on her.
The motion goes on to point out how she recants her April statement that the attacker who looked like Dave Evans had mustache.
The motion also states that the accuser recants her March and April statements that "Matt" Kadam" and "Brett" were three separate people, and now says that they were only two people
In her December statement, the accuser recanted her statement that she was certain that two of her attackers used their penises to penetrate both her vagina and her rectum, and now claims that she cannot be sure about penile penetration at all.
The next scheduled hearing for this case is on February 5th.
Defense: Duke accuser says 1 player charged didn't assault her
By ELIZABETH DUNBAR
Associated Press Writer
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DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- The accuser in the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case told prosecutors in December that one of the three players charged did not commit any sex act on her during the alleged attack, according to court papers filed Thursday by the defense.
The attacker identified as Reade Seligmann only watched, she told an investigator. While he was repeatedly urged to take part in the alleged attack, she recalled, he said he could not participate because he was getting married.
"The accuser's most recent recollection of events demonstrates clearly that she cannot accurately recall and describe her attackers and that any identification made by her is necessarily unreliable," the defense filing said.
The new description of Seligmann's role in the alleged assault was one of several changes the accuser made in her story during a Dec. 21 interview with an investigator from District Attorney Mike Nifong's office, the defense said.
In that same interview, the accuser also said she was no longer certain she had been penetrated vaginally by a penis, a necessary element of rape charges in North Carolina.
That led Nifong to dismiss rape charges against Seligmann and fellow defendants Dave Evans and Collin Finnerty. The players, who have steadfastly declared their innocence, remain charged with sexual offense and kidnapping.
Both Nifong and James P. Cooney III, an attorney for Seligmann, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday morning.