DNA testing failed to connect any members of the Duke University lacrosse team to the alleged rape of a stripper, attorneys for the athletes said Monday.
Citing DNA test results delivered by the state crime lab to police and prosecutors a few hours earlier, the attorneys said the test results prove their clients did not sexually assault and beat a stripper hired to perform at a March 13 team party.
No charges have been filed in the case.
“No DNA material from any young man was present on the body of this complaining woman,” said defense attorney Wade Smith.
The alleged victim, a 27-year-old student at a nearby college, told police she and another woman were hired to dance at the party. The woman told police that three men at the party dragged her into a bathroom, choked her, raped her and sodomized her.
Authorities ordered 46 of the 47 players on Duke’s lacrosse team to submit DNA samples to investigators. Because the woman said her attackers were white, the team’s sole black player was not tested.
District Attorney Mike Nifong stopped speaking with reporters last week after initially talking openly about the case, including stating publicly that he was confident a crime occurred. He went on to say he would have other evidence to make his case should the DNA analysis prove inconclusive or fail to match a member of the team.
An amazing number of people have already posted in the comments, although I haven’t been letting the comments through because of their nasty tone. Some of the comments are openly racist, such as this one:
Why do you colored people always got to play the race card? Why can’t it just be an issue for all races and nationalitys? Now that the sisters been made out to be nothing but a lying bitch its time for the IRS to investigate her ass because we all no she aint paying any taxes on her nasty ass. plus all that those poor students on the team have been through: ( a linching is in order.”
Others are merely gloating in tone. Most fall somewhere between.
However, the DNA evidence doesn’t prove that the woman made a false accusation, as many are suggesting. The DNA evidence can’t rule out the possibility that there were men at the party who were not members of the LAX team (a possibility I brought up last week). Nor, to my knowledge, can any evidence released so far rule out the possibility that the rapists used condoms. Finally, the reasons I stated last week for believing that a rape probably did take place, have not changed.
The defense announcement about the DNA is certainly something anyone following the case should be aware of, and that’s why I’m posting the story on “Alas.” But to conclude from the lack of DNA results that the accusation has been proved fiction is unwarranted.
UPDATE: See also Amanda’s post on this subject. And this post by zong4assata at Justice 4 Two Sisters. And this comment at Ginmar’s, written by a lab tech who works with DNA. And this post at Emboldened.
This thread is open to feminist, pro-feminist and feminist-friendly posters only. If you don’t think you fall into Amp’s definition of “feminist, pro-feminist and feminist-friendly,” and you wish to make a comment, you may do so at the cross-post on Creative Destruction.
Amp is often a little oblique in his banning statements (here, the only sign of it besides john not posting anymore is Amp saying that, in hindsight, maybe he should have banned teamrican and john earlier in the thread), but John is indeed banned.
Well, after watching the various news channels last night (uggh! shower, soap, scrub, scrub, scrub), it seems that the first DNA tests coming back negative don’t mean much. All the medical/DNA experts that they had on the various horrid shows seem to agree that there is no DNA evidence at all in 70% to 80% of all sexual assaults. The only ones saying that the lack of DNA evidence is proof of false allegations are the various defense lawyers on those same horrid shows. This is important. As one of the DNA experts said, “DNA evidence is damning in conjunction with other physical evidence, but lack of DNA evidence is meaningless.”
In other newsy bits from those same shows… The DA referred to “the DNA tests that we have gotten so far,” and also to forthcoming DNA tests.
So, it looks like we’ll all just have to wait for further developments before calling Mary Doe a whore and a liar.
These boys **bought** a woman. I find that to be the poorest of poor character. In addition, they felt some right to use her body for their sexual release becaue they paid for it. There is no character there. Just baseness and a rampant willingness to confuse the act of dancing with the humanity of this woman.
And you “know” this how?
I work for Duke and I live seven blocks from the crime scene. Everyone that I have met — students, professors, community members, … hell the baggers at Whole Foods — are completely critical of the “wall of silence” that these boys present. So is, FTR, the president of the university.
Sending your son overseas or away from Durham is indeed a wall of silence.
Rachel said : “If you want to see ignorant comments feel free to come over to my blog. The MRAs and rape apologists are really trying to take over. ”
Ditto that.
Ginmar said: “If the woman had merely stated she was beaten and robbed, these guys would be in jail already. ”
SO TRUE.
Jesus, this thread is depressing. *sigh*
Every feminist blog that’s covering this case is being assaulted by the misogyny troll brigade, even mine. I’d hoped Amp’s feminist-only thread would be free of them, but since when do trolls play by the rules? I sympathize with you on the moderation, Amp; I just do wish these people would dry up.
Men’s News Daily is blaming the “rape hoax” (that’s what they’re calling it now) on “predatory feminism.” No wonder the trolls are itchy.
We have NO IDEA what the evidence actually says
Not much more can be said at this point, other than so many are so certain.
Reminds me of Iraq …
I think we need to let the system work for a couple more weeks to get a better idea of what the facts are (vs. the spin) before we discount anything.
I doubt my response will get published as I am not ready to convict these young men yet. Having said that…some of your posts are misleading.
The article cited about DNA in the bathroom, once actually read, stated that it was found on towels and the DNA belonged to the two men who lived there. That’s not news, their towels, in their bathroom had their DNA on it. It’s also not evidence in this case….but the poster leads others to believe differently.