MW
10-16-2006, 06:14 PM
Duke players say they expected DNA tests to clear them of rape (http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191174591)
They tell 60 Minutes they cooperated to 'clear everything up'
The three members of Duke University's lacrosse team charged with rape say they expected that DNA testing would clear them of a crime that they insist they did not commit.
They said yesterday that they were frustrated when authorities continued to pursue the case after those tests failed to find a match with the accuser.
"We were told it would help to clear everything up," said Collin Finnerty, 20, who was interviewed on CBS's 60 Minutes along with Reade Seligmann, 20, and David Evans, 23. "So we were happy to go."
The accuser, a student at nearby N.C. Central University, told police that she was raped in a bathroom by three men at an off-campus team party March 13 where she had been hired to perform as a stripper. Evans told 60 Minutes that he cooperated with police as soon as they arrived to start investigating the allegations.
"It was scary," Evans said. "I woke up from a nap to 10 police officers in my living room with a search warrant. I went through every part of it - told them where they could find things and that we would fully cooperate and answer any questions they had."
The network previously released selected excerpts of the interviews, the first for Seligmann and Finnerty since they were indicted in April on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. In May, the grand jury indicted Evans on the same charges, and he proclaimed his innocence outside the Durham County Jail after posting bond.
Defense attorneys, who have insisted that their clients are innocent, declined repeated requests in recent weeks from The Associated Press for interviews with the indicted players.
District Attorney Mike Nifong was not interviewed by 60 Minutes, and he has generally refused to comment about the case. Nifong's office said last week that he was out of town and would not return until today. A trial isn't expected to begin until next spring.
Nifong first complained publicly about a lack of cooperation from the team and said that the DNA tests would show who committed rape and who was innocent. When the tests didn't find a definitive match, he said that there is no DNA evidence in most sexual-assault cases and vowed to press forward.
Indictments against the three players soon followed.
"It's so frustrating because that was an opportunity for us to exonerate ourselves," Seligmann told 60 Minutes. "And we were told that. If we cooperated, those that were innocent would be shown to be innocent.... It didn't play out that way."
Evans said he regretted his decision to hold the party.
"I was naive. I was young. I was sheltered," Evans said. "And I made a terrible judgment. In five months, I've learned more than I did in 22 years about life."
The 60 Minutes report included an interview with Kim Roberts, who was also hired to perform at the party. She said she was separated from the accuser twice during the night, both times for five to 10 minutes. But Roberts said that the accuser never gave her any reason to believe that she had been attacked.
In April, Roberts told the AP that she was not in the bathroom, "so I can't say a rape occurred - and I never will." She also told police that the rape allegations were a "crock" and that she was with the accuser the entire time they were at the party, according to documents filed by the defense in June.
They tell 60 Minutes they cooperated to 'clear everything up'
The three members of Duke University's lacrosse team charged with rape say they expected that DNA testing would clear them of a crime that they insist they did not commit.
They said yesterday that they were frustrated when authorities continued to pursue the case after those tests failed to find a match with the accuser.
"We were told it would help to clear everything up," said Collin Finnerty, 20, who was interviewed on CBS's 60 Minutes along with Reade Seligmann, 20, and David Evans, 23. "So we were happy to go."
The accuser, a student at nearby N.C. Central University, told police that she was raped in a bathroom by three men at an off-campus team party March 13 where she had been hired to perform as a stripper. Evans told 60 Minutes that he cooperated with police as soon as they arrived to start investigating the allegations.
"It was scary," Evans said. "I woke up from a nap to 10 police officers in my living room with a search warrant. I went through every part of it - told them where they could find things and that we would fully cooperate and answer any questions they had."
The network previously released selected excerpts of the interviews, the first for Seligmann and Finnerty since they were indicted in April on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. In May, the grand jury indicted Evans on the same charges, and he proclaimed his innocence outside the Durham County Jail after posting bond.
Defense attorneys, who have insisted that their clients are innocent, declined repeated requests in recent weeks from The Associated Press for interviews with the indicted players.
District Attorney Mike Nifong was not interviewed by 60 Minutes, and he has generally refused to comment about the case. Nifong's office said last week that he was out of town and would not return until today. A trial isn't expected to begin until next spring.
Nifong first complained publicly about a lack of cooperation from the team and said that the DNA tests would show who committed rape and who was innocent. When the tests didn't find a definitive match, he said that there is no DNA evidence in most sexual-assault cases and vowed to press forward.
Indictments against the three players soon followed.
"It's so frustrating because that was an opportunity for us to exonerate ourselves," Seligmann told 60 Minutes. "And we were told that. If we cooperated, those that were innocent would be shown to be innocent.... It didn't play out that way."
Evans said he regretted his decision to hold the party.
"I was naive. I was young. I was sheltered," Evans said. "And I made a terrible judgment. In five months, I've learned more than I did in 22 years about life."
The 60 Minutes report included an interview with Kim Roberts, who was also hired to perform at the party. She said she was separated from the accuser twice during the night, both times for five to 10 minutes. But Roberts said that the accuser never gave her any reason to believe that she had been attacked.
In April, Roberts told the AP that she was not in the bathroom, "so I can't say a rape occurred - and I never will." She also told police that the rape allegations were a "crock" and that she was with the accuser the entire time they were at the party, according to documents filed by the defense in June.