Prosecutors Drop Rape Charges Against Duke Lacrosse Players

District Attorney Mike Nifong has dropped rape charges against the three Duke University Lacrosse players who had been charged with raping a 28 year old woman at a team party on March 13 of this year. The woman stated that she couldn't be sure that penetration had taken place. Nifong has decided to pursue kidnapping and sexual assault charges against the three.




This is long overdue. Nifong has pursued this case for pure political purposes, and he should be investigated for any wrongdoing in this case. These young men have had their lives negatively impacted by these false charges, and someone should be held responsible for that.

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[edit on 22-12-2006 by jsobecky]

As soon as the details started to emerge I knew this would eventually happen. The DA perused this case based on ulterior motives and the "victim" should now be held responsible for false allegations. She should face a criminal investigation and should be sued by these players in civil court. Their their careers (sports and academic), lives and reputations were ruined because of this.

It's crazy he's still pressing any charges...I think these guys are totally innocent of any criminal behavior and all charges against them should be dropped.

This fanny smooching jackass conspired to hide evidence. He knew right from the start he did'nt have enough to charge,but did it anyway for the votes. He should be disbarred and charged.

From the moment that the details of the stacked police lineup surfaced, I knew it was a setup by Nifong. Did you know that he never interviewed the actual "victim"?!!

And let's not forget the coach of the Lacrosse team who "resigned" (more likely, he was fired) over this.

The families of these young men have already spent a million dollars on defense fees!

I hope they sue the state to recover their losses and get big punitive damages as well.

Nifong should be in jail too.

Sue the state? Bit harsh don't you think? Perhaps suing the false accuser and the jackass who pursued this, but the state? The State does have to follow due process and if that due process fooks up, then the individuals responsible for that fooking up should be the ones held accountable.

The state is ultimately responsible for what its employees (the DA) does in its name. The state machinery should have already replace Nifong on this case but they haven't.

I'm sure all parties will be named in the lawsuit, but the state has the deepest pockets so would probably be the primary target in a civil case.

I guess so... just seems a little opportunistic to me. Suing the State is akin to suing the Tax Payers to me, but maybe in this case it is justified. I do not really know all the specifics of the case.

Suing the state is similar to suing a city over a case of police brutality.

Nifong's bosses, whoever they are, were responsible for overseeing his actions. They did nothing to stop this travesty of justice - they were negligent, imo.

From the beginning I also knew that this case was motivated.

Sad that cases like this will make other cases when a truth victim is involved hard for the victim.

The woman should be brought on charges for lying.

From the beginning this was also political motivated because of re-election and to gain sympathies in from a majority black population.

Now they are trying to pursue the kidnapping and sexual assault charges but still the DNA is from other sources and not from the young man been accused so I wonder how they can still hold them accountable for that.

They are doing this to avoid the Families from bringing charges against the state from wrong doing.

But I see the entire case going down the hill.

Originally posted by marg6043
Sad that cases like this will make other cases when a truth victim is involved hard for the victim.

These boys were fortunate to be able to have good lawyers. But it cost their families a million bucks.

This type of case makes it more difficult for true victims of rape, for sure, but also for poor defendants who cannot afford high-priced lawyers. It makes me wonder how many innocent men are in jail because of overzealous prosecutors.

Originally posted by jsobecky

It makes me wonder how many innocent men are in jail because of overzealous prosecutors.

And you are right on that one also, like everything in our nation we live in divisions of classes and because of that we are not equal when it comes to justice.

sad.

Well it looks like the North Carolina Bar Association is opening an investigation on Nifong. He could be disbarred. I'm not sure what that will mean for his position, but it's surely a step in the right direction.

I heard the news also, the families of the boys that where charge in this case will no rest until they get something done about the mishandling of the evidence or lack of it.

But we know that is goes higher than just the prosecutors.