05-15-2006, 11:47 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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- LAX 4 LIFE --
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 283
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Attorneys: DNA bolsters lacrosse players' defense
I thought i would shed some new light on this. Im not sure what to think about this.
Quote:
(CNN) -- An attorney for a Duke University lacrosse player said the results of new DNA tests released Friday implicated none of the team members in an alleged rape.
"There is no conclusive match of DNA," attorney Joe Cheshire said.
However, the attorney said, semen obtained from vaginal swabs of the accuser indicated that she had sex with a man who is not a Duke student. Cheshire would not identify that man, saying it would not be fair to him.
A 27-year-old exotic dancer told police she was raped by three lacrosse players at a team party March 14.
The first round of DNA tests did not implicate any of the lacrosse players, but a grand jury indicted two members of the team on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual assault.
Defense attorneys said Friday that the grand jury was scheduled to meet Monday to indict another player.
Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree sexual offense, first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping, and their attorneys say they have evidence showing their clients weren't at the party when the attack is alleged to have occurred.
Finnerty's attorney, Wade Smith, said Friday that the latest DNA tests only bolster his client's assertion that he did not rape the dancer.
"Once again, a DNA report indicated not a smattering, not a spider web of indication that there was any DNA from those boys," Smith said.
Cheshire said DNA was found on a plastic press-on fingernail, but the genetic material did not belong to either of the players who have been indicted. He emphasized that the fingernail was taken from the trash can by two Duke players who rented the house where the rape is alleged to have occurred.
The players volunteered the fingernail to the Durham, North Carolina, police department after the players learned of the rape allegations, which Cheshire said was not behavior consistent with that of rapists.
Also, he said, the trash can from which the fingernail was taken contained toilet paper and cotton swabs that were full of DNA, so it would be more surprising not to find DNA on the fingernail.
"It would be a real story if there was no DNA that could show some genetic strain of some of the Duke lacrosse players who used that bathroom," Cheshire said. "What a stunner that would be."
District Attorney Mike Nifong said he was not going to comment on the results.
Also Friday, Cheshire accused Nifong of trying to manipulate news of the DNA, saying the prosecutor leaked the report to the media before he gave it to defense attorneys.
He also said Nifong waited until after 5 p.m. to deliver it to defense attorneys to make it more difficult for them to hold a news conference addressing the report.
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Attorneys: DNA bolsters lacrosse players' defense
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