Doubts raised in Duke case

Parents of some Duke University lacrosse players said Friday that court documents made public this week in North Carolina cast new doubts on the truthfulness of the exotic dancer who accused three players of raping her during an off-campus party in March.

In documents accompanying a defense motion to throw out photo identification of the suspects, a second dancer who performed during the team's party told police that she was only out of the sight of the accuser for five minutes. That would contradict the accuser's claims that she was alone with three players for half an hour in a bathroom as they assaulted her.

And the second dancer told police initially that the rape claim was a "crock," the records show. She later said she came to believe the accuser.

Chuck Sherwood of Freeport, a former Duke lacrosse player whose son is now on the team, said, "I was confident that the truth would ultimately come out, but I figured it would take time." His son hasn't been implicated in the case.

"I think it's clear to anyone with brains that they did not do what they are accused of doing to this woman," Sherwood said.

Another parent of a Long Island player, who asked not to be named, said he expects Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong to proceed with the case nonetheless.

"This guy's going to take it to trial, unfortunately. As far as the evidence, that's really for the system to decide," said the parent, adding, "I know the kids and they're innocent."

Nifong couldn't be reached for comment.

The motion, if it succeeds, will cripple the case, said Karl Knudsen, a Raleigh, N.C., defense lawyer and a former Wake County assistant district attorney not associated with the case.

"If the photo IDs are thrown out, that would taint the accuser's identification of the defendants in court," Knudsen said, because the identification of a defendant must hold up in court for the case to go forward.

"She wouldn't be able, in court, to point to the defendants and say, 'They did it,'" he said. "If there's no in-court ID, there's no case."

Three white players - Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City; Reade Seligmann, 20, of New Jersey; and David Evans, 23, of Maryland - are accused of raping and kidnapping the woman, who is black.

Seligmann's lawyers made the motion to suppress the photo IDs, saying the police presented a Durham County judge with incomplete evidence on which to make his decision.

Sherwood said the families of the other players also believe no rape took place, but have still suffered after the accusations.

"I've always felt that these guys would be found innocent," he said, "and I hope there's as much attention paid to their innocence as there was when they were accused."