The Duke Lacrosse rape case has been at best a fiasco, and at worst a travesty of justice from the word go.  The victim who changed her story, the exculpatory DNA evidence that Prosecutor Nifong suppressed as it actually vindicated the players and so much more.  Some of the charges were dropped earlier, but today the final charges were dropped.

Dropped?  They were harshly repudiated.  Normally when a DA drops charges, the attitude seems to be one of “insufficient evidence to prosecute” or at best they declare the case as still open and the evidence as inconclusive.  The State AG went much further then that.

All lacrosse charges dropped

State Attorney General Roy Cooper said today he would dismiss sexual assault and kidnapping charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players, declaring them “innocent of these charges” and accusing Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong of overreaching.

Cooper said at a news conference at the RBC Center that he would drop the charges against David Evans, 24, of Bethesda, Md.; Collin Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y.; and Reade Seligmann, 21, of Essex Fells, N.J.

One aspect of considerable debate is the victim.  Her stories have been a constantly shifting tale of assault and rape and kidnapping, with little or no evidence to back them up and she herself being the best witness against her.

So will she face charges of filing a false report?

Cooper said the accuser — Crystal Gail Mangum — will face no charges. Mangum, 28, still maintains that she was assaulted.

“Our investigators who talked with her and the attorneys who talked with her over a period of time think that she may actually believe the many different stories that she has been telling,” Cooper said. “They worked real hard with her. It doesn’t make sense. You can’t piece it together.”

He said sexual assault victims often have inconsistencies in their accounts. But the inconsistencies in the dancer’s accounts were significant, he said. “In this case, the inconsistencies were so significant and so contrary to the evidence that we have no credible evidence that an attack occurred in that house on that night.”

Cooper, who took over the case after Nifong recused himself in the wake of ethics charges, proposed a law at his news conference that would allow the state Supreme Court to remove a prosecutor from a case in certain circumstances.

It is hard to say what really happened, and whether a crime was committed or not. 

And what makes it doubly impossible was Nifong’s criminal manipulation of the people and evidence to advance his reelection efforts. 

“This case shows the enormous consequences of over-reaching by a prosecutor,” Cooper said. “The Durham District Attorney pushed forward unchecked. There were many moments in this case where caution would have served better than bravado.”

Cooper said the special prosecutors have talked to Nifong and were to tell him of the decision today.

“We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations,” Cooper said.

“In the rush to condemn, a community and the state lost the ability to see clearly. Regardless of the reasons this case was pushed forward, the result was wrong. Today we need to learn from this and keep it from happening again to anybody.”

DNA evidence would point to the guilty party and absolve the innocent, Nifong said at the time. When lawyers brandished test results showing no semen, blood or saliva from the players on the woman, Nifong down played the significance.

Nifong turned to DNA Security, a private laboratory in Burlington. The lab examined swabs from the woman’s body and underwear and found no trace of DNA from any member of the lacrosse team. The lab did find DNA from unidentified men on the woman and her underwear; Nifong and the lab director agreed not to report those results. The State Bar says that decision violated state law.

Those test results remained secret until defense lawyers got a court order for copies of all the lab’s documents in the case.

So is it over?  Not really.  To the alleged victim, her family and their race baiting supporters, this will be a case of white privilege, of those rich Duke boys buying their way out of the consequences of their actions.  The truth will never be known however, and the evidence seems to support her having had sex and some manner of injury from someone that night.  So who was it and why did she blame the Duke boys.  Did she deliberately make false accusations or was she confused?  Or did something happen at the party after all?

Nifong had the chance to find out, had he done his job and made a thorough investigation.  Did he confront the victim with the contradictions and determine whose semen it was?  Apparently not.

Instead he cherry picked and stonewalled the evidence, grandstanded the accusations, vilified the accusers and used it to buy himself an election.  He now faces ethics charges, which hopeful this will mean the end of his career.

The girl had the chance to tell her tale and for whatever reason could not make an accurate account of the events.  Has she ever addressed the contradictions?  Identified the real source of the DNA?   I don’t know.  Rape supporters are on record as saying this kind of confusion is normal, and I acknowledge that, but in a criminal case, the truth has to be clear or you also risk false accusations.

Nifong should know this.  He should know that a DA is supposed to prosecute using the truth. without prejudice or preconception.  The whole case was a failure, and I expect lawsuits.

In the end, there are no real winners. 

To some the girl will be a lying whore, to others an abused victim.  To some the boys will be rich white thugs, and to others convenient targets.  To some Nifong will be a criminal and to others a scapegoat for white privilege.

From my perspective, it underscores the need for impartial investigation and ethical behavior in the legal system.

One grim note however.  These boys had a million dollar legal team willing to attack all the evidence and fight for the truth.  They won.

But now new questoins linger.  How many other people did Nifong steamroll in his incompetency?  How many accused did he bury in false accusations, who did not have the means to fight it effectively?  Hopefully none.  But the ethics accusations against him will now be fodder for a plethora of appeals from other people convicted.

In the end, I cannot make any other judgments.  I cannot judge the accuser, or the accused.  I reserve that for the only person that I can see was clearly committing crimes:  Nifong.

I can hope the victim gets counseling and maybe makes some career changes.

And I really hope that the Duke boys will have learned how to make better choices about their parties and their pick of entertainment.

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