Attorney Generals Office Drops All Remaining Charges Against Duke Lacrosse Players

Three Duke Lacrosse players who were charged with sexually assaulting a stripper during a party can breathe a little easier this afternoon. Several websites and news agencies have reported that prosecutors have dropped all remaining charges against the players.

In January the North Carolina Attorney Generals office took over the case after accusations of ethics violations by the district attorney who was handling the case. The case was a virtual spider web from the very beginning. DNA didn't match, the accuser changed her story. Although specific reasons were not given for the dropping the charges it is evident that these discrepancies attributed to the decision to drop the case.

Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans were indicted in early 2006 on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault when the woman told police that she had been assaulted at a team party where she had been performing.

The woman told police that she had been gang raped and beaten during the 2006 party. There was on evidence to back up her story and the entire case seemed to be based on the word of the stripper, who by several witness accounts was drunk the night of the alleged incident. Lack of evidence and different versions of the story from the alleged victim caused district attorney Nifong to drop the rape charges.

The allegations of such a terrible crime split a community due to the press coverage and stressing the fact that the alleged victim was back and the Duke University Students were white.

Duke University suspended Seligman and Finnerty after they were arrested, both were allowed to return, but neither of them did. Evans graduated the day before the indictment was handed down.

There has been no word yet on the plans of the three lacrosse players; however John Danowski, who took over the Duke Lacrosse program last summer, has been quoted as saying that they are welcome to continue playing lacrosse with the Blue Devils.