The Duke lacrosse case was a 2006 criminal case
resulting from what proved to be a false accusation of rape made
against three members of the men's lacrosse team at Duke University
in Durham, North Carolina, United States. The fallout from the case's
resolution led to, among other things, the disbarment of lead
prosecutor Mike Nifong. In March 2006, Crystal Gail Mangum, an
African-American student at North Carolina Central University who
worked as a stripper, dancer and escort, falsely accused threewhite
students, members of the Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse team, of
raping her at a party held at the house of two of the team's captains
in Durham, North Carolina on March 13, 2006.
Many people involved in, or commenting on the case,
including prosecutor Mike Nifong, called the alleged assault a hate
crime or suggested it might be one. In response to the allegations
Duke University suspended the lacrosse team for two games on March
28, 2006. On April 5, 2006, Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler was
forced to resign under threat by athletics director Joe Alleva and
Duke President Richard Brodhead canceled the remainder of the 2006
season.On April 11, 2007, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper
dropped all charges and declared the three players innocent. Cooper
stated that the charged players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and
David Evans – were victims of a "tragic rush to accuse."
The initial prosecutor, Durham County's District
Attorney Mike Nifong, labeled a "rogue prosecutor" by
Cooper, withdrew from the case in January 2007 after the North
Carolina State Bar filed ethics charges against him. That June,
Nifong was disbarred for "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and
misrepresentation", making him the first prosecutor in North
Carolina debarred for trial conduct. Nifong served one day in jail
for lying about sharing DNA tests, although the lab director says
it's a misunderstanding and Nifong says it's weak memory. Mangum
faced no charges for her false accusations as Cooper declined to
prosecute her. Cooper pointed to several inconsistencies in Mangum's
accounts of the evening and Seligmann and Finnerty's alibi evidence,
in the findings report's summary.
The Durham Police Department came under fire for
violating their own policies by allowing Nifong to act as the de
facto head of the investigation; giving a suspect-only photo
identification procedure to Mangum; pursuing the case despite vast
discrepancies in notes taken by Investigator Benjamin Himan and Sgt.
Mark Gottlieb; and distributing a poster presuming the guilt of the
suspects shortly after the allegations. The ex-players are seeking
unspecified damages and new criminal justice reform laws in a federal
civil-rights lawsuit against the City of Durham. The case has sparked
varied responses from the media, faculty groups, students, the
community, and others.
