Prosecutor: Investigation of rape allegations at Duke ?not going away?
Durham County?s chief prosecutor said Tuesday he will not abandon his investigation into the alleged rape and beating of an exotic dancer at a party thrown by members of Duke University?s lacrosse team.
?A lot has been said in the press, particularly by some attorneys yesterday, that this case should go away,? District Attorney Mike Nifong told a community forum. ?My presence here means that this case is not going away.?
On Monday, attorneys representing members of the lacrosse team said DNA from the 46 players tested did not match evidence collected from the woman.
?No DNA from any young man tested was found anywhere on or about this woman,? defense attorney Wade Smith said. He said he hoped Nifong would drop the investigation.
No charges have been filed in the case, but Nifong has said he believes a crime occurred at the March 13 party, which according to court records was attended only by lacrosse players. The woman said her attackers were white, and DNA samples were taken from every white member of the team.
Nifong hinted Tuesday that prosecutors had other evidence and were waiting on the results of additional DNA tests. It wasn?t immediately clear what those tests involved.
Nifong has also said he doesn?t necessarily need DNA evidence to prosecute. He was calmly defiant at Tuesday?s forum, attended by about 700 people on the campus of North Carolina Central University, the historically black university a few miles from Duke where the alleged victim is a student.
?The fact is that this case is proceeding the way a case should proceed,? Nifong said to applause from the crowd.
Shawn Cunningham, a student at N.C. Central, told Nifong and Durham Mayor Bill Bell that he was angry with people who he said were blaming the alleged victim.
?The press has disrespected this young lady,? he said. ?You have minimalized (her) to a stripper and an exotic dancer. You don?t identify her as a mother. You don?t identify her as a student. You don?t identify her as a woman.?