Lacrosse Case Again

There is something wrong with our judicial system when all of the evidence points away from those accused and yet the prosecution still pushes forward. I have commented before on the Duke Lacrosse rape trial, and every time new information has been disclosed, that evidence has made the case for rape more remote.

First, you have a woman of highly questionable ethics and a very scant story accusing an entire group of people of a heinous crime with little evidence except her word. The scant amount of physical evidence the police could find on the woman all pointed away from those who the woman accused of the crime. And then witness after witness, including the woman’s friend and fellow performer for the evening, all stepped up to say that the accuser was not alone, that she was never seen with the particular people accused, and that after the alleged rape she was acting “normally.”

Then the initial DNA evidence came back—none was a match to any of the Lacrosse players. And the forensics indicated nothing more than the woman had sex; there were none of the physical signs of rape (tearing of tissues, trauma, bruising), especially none of an alleged “gang” rape.

Now, well after the fact, the prosecution releases their full DNA findings and it turns out that the woman did have multiple DNA donors in her underwear but none of it matched to any of those accused. And this evidence is in direct conflict with the information the accuser provided police; she said she had not had consensual sex for over a week prior to the alleged attack and that none of her attackers used condoms and they all ejaculated. So how do you explain the accuser having DNA evidence to multiple partners in her panties and none of it a match to any Lacrosse players?

Either this woman was raped but not by these players or she has been lying this entire time. It seems likely, from comments her co-performer is on record as saying, that this woman saw an opportunity to make what she hoped was a quick buck by accusing some Duke studs of rape and having them pay her off to be quiet and go away.

And here is the thing that continues to surprise me—the prosecutors STILL MOVE FORWARD with this absurd case.

If there was even one other person who could even partially corroborate this woman’s story, if even some of the physical or DNA evidence matched in the least bit, I would say continue with it. But none of it does, anywhere down the line. These prosecutors have forever besmirched these young men’s lives with this woman’s accusations of rape without a shred of evidence. This woman has now wasted how much time and energy on what appears to be an entirely fabricated story when these cops and prosecutors could have been tracking real rapists and other criminals. This is a shameful misuse of time and money better spent elsewhere.

In addition, this accuser has set back the strides that woman have made in making people understand how sensitive and important and delicate rape cases and rape victims are.