The North Carolina attorney general announced on Wednesday that he would drop all charges against the three former Duke University lacrosse players who were accused of rape last year in a racially charged case that caused national furor.
“We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations,” said the attorney general, Roy A. Cooper III. The decision was based on a three-month investigation that began when the state office took over the case from Michael B. Nifong, the Durham County district attorney.
“The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges,” said Mr. Cooper. “These cases are over, and no more criminal proceedings will occur.”
The three players -- David F. Evans, Collin H. Finnerty, and Reade W. Seligmann -- were indicted on charges of rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping last spring after a stripper hired to perform at a lacrosse-team party said three players there had dragged her into a bathroom and beaten and raped her. Mr. Nifong, whose conduct of the case is being examined by the state bar for possible ethical violations, dropped the rape charges in December, saying he no longer thought the evidence supported those charges.
Mr. Cooper said on Wednesday that he was dropping the remaining charges based on “significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness.” He added that his office’s investigation had concluded that the woman’s accusations were false, but said he would not press charges against her.
The three former players expressed relief later on Wednesday that their case had finally come to a close.
“We have always been 100-percent innocent of all of these charges,” Mr. Seligmann said at a news conference held by his lawyers. “Today marks the end of a yearlong nightmare that has been emotionally devastating for all of our families.”
“I am excited to return to being a college student,” Mr. Finnerty said.
“It’s painful to remember what we went through,” Mr. Evans said. "... All of the members of the Duke University lacrosse team have gone to hell and back.”
Duke had suspended Mr. Finnerty and Mr. Seligmann after their indictments last year, when they were sophomores. The university lifted the suspensions in January, but neither Mr. Finnerty nor Mr. Seligmann has said for sure whether he will continue his education there. Mr. Evans graduated from Duke the day before he was indicted.
Over the past year, many defenders of the lacrosse players denounced Duke administrators for what they saw as a lack of support for the young men. But one of the defense lawyers praised at least some Duke officials for their response to the crisis.
“There are people at Duke who performed magnificently,” said James P. Cooney III, who represented Mr. Seligmann. “They found themselves in the middle of a firestorm,” he said. But “there are some people,” Mr. Cooney added, without identifying any individuals, “who acted really, really terribly, who should be ashamed of themselves, and who owe these young men an apology.”
Duke’s president, Richard H. Brodhead, welcomed the attorney general’s announcement on Wednesday and reiterated the university’s commitment to justice in the case. “From the outset, I have been careful to note that these students were entitled to the presumption of innocence, and I looked to the legal system to determine the merit of the charges,” Mr. Brodhead said in a written statement.
“As for Duke, while not reliving the past year, we won’t be afraid to go back and learn what we can from this difficult experience,” he said. “I trust that today’s decision will begin a new day for all involved.”
Some recent news reports have suggested the students’ families may sue Duke or ask that the university pay their legal fees, which come to about $3-million. But possible legal action against Mr. Nifong or the city of Durham, N.C., is more likely, according to legal experts.
“It was not Duke that brought the charges,” said Sheldon E. Steinbach, a lawyer in Washington who specializes in higher education. “There is indeed no culpability on the university’s part. And these are not employees of the institution, they are students. I don’t think they have a legal claim” against Duke, he said.
At this point in the case, criticizing the university’s decision to investigate the lacrosse team, cancel its season, and suspend the two indicted sophomores is “patently unfair,” said Mr. Steinbach.
Duke officials “did everything they could possibly do to calm an absolute raging firestorm,” he said. “Whether one could say in retrospect if the president could have done something differently only reflects the wisdom of hindsight.”
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