Two Duke players charged with rape
A third player is expected to be charged.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- They arrived in the predawn darkness, one in jeans and button-down shirt, the other in a blue blazer, and were taken into the county jail in handcuffs.
By the time the sun rose, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty -- both Duke sophomores, both lacrosse players, both graduates of Northern prep schools -- had regained their freedom.
But, having been charged with the rape of a 27-year-old stripper at an off-campus party, they had become the faces of a scandal that has roiled one of the country's elite college campuses and strained relations with the city it calls home.
Still unknown was the identity of a third lacrosse player the accuser says took part in the attack.
District Attorney Mike Nifong said Tuesday he has yet to be firmly identified.
"It is important that we not only bring the assailants to justice, but also that we lift the cloud of suspicion from those team members who were not involved in the assault," Nifong said.
Unhappy lawyers
Lawyers for Seligmann and Finnerty bitterly assailed the district attorney for bringing the charges. Other attorneys for Duke's lacrosse players said the two were not even present at the time the rape is alleged to have occurred.
Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., are accused of attacking the stripper at a March 13 team party.
They were charged with first-degree rape, sexual offense and kidnapping and were released on $400,000 bail each.
The district attorney would not say what evidence led to the charges. But Seligmann's attorney, Kirk Osborn, said: "Apparently it was a photographic identification. And we all know how reliable that is."
Seligmann is "absolutely innocent," Osborn said. "He's doing great."
Finnerty's attorney, Bill Cotter, said: "The next jury will hear the entire story, which includes our evidence, and we're confident that these young men will be found to be innocent."
Heightened tension
The case has raised racial tensions and heightened the long-standing town-vs.-gown antagonism between Duke students and middle class, racially mixed Durham. The accuser is black, and all but one of the 47 lacrosse team members are white.
Well before the scandal, the nationally ranked team had a reputation for a swaggering sense of entitlement and boorish frat-boy behavior that included public intoxication and public urination. After the scandal broke, the university announced an investigation into whether it put up with such behavior for too long.
The case has led to the resignation of the coach and the cancellation of the rest of the season.
"Many lives have been touched by this case," said Duke President Richard Brodhead in a statement. "It has brought pain and suffering to all involved, and it deeply challenges our ability to balance judgment with compassion. As the legal process unfolds, we must hope that it brings a speedy resolution and that the truth of the events is fully clarified."
The university would not comment specifically on any disciplinary action taken against the two men but said it is Duke practice to suspend students charged with a felony.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.