DURHAM - Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong dismissed the rape charges in the case against three former Duke University lacrosse players today after the accuser told detectives she wasn’t certain about a critical detail of the alleged attack. Other charges remain.
Nifong dropped the charge of first-degree forcible rape against David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md.; Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y.; and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J. All maintain their innocence.
The three are still charged with first-degree sexual offense and first-degree kidnapping.
Nifong is trying to downplay the news by releasing it on a holiday weekend. He has the hope that perhaps some bigger news may happen before this hits the national stage. You know, kind of wash this out in the noise of some larger newsworthy event. But this moron forgot about the Intnernet, and just how pissed off people are about his, at times criminal, approach to this case.
I'm sure he saw this The Case. You know, the one that gets him re-elected. And guess what, it did. And when the "evidence" stopped telling the story he wanted it to, well, he began to rely on dirty tricks and getting public opinion firmly behind him and against these perfidious man-childs. Except it's all falling apart on him.
This is the beginning of the end.
I expect eventually all charges will be dropped (how many times has the "victim" changed her story?) and these young men can finally get on with their seriously interrupted lives. I'm kind of split on whether he will lose his job, lawyerin' hat, and prosecuted criminally. However, I do expect him to be named in quite a few civil suits. Along with the University, the accuser, and the city of Durham itself.
Nifong can't complain. He is, after all, in this only for justice.
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