Why has the case against the Duke Lacrosse players not been dropped yet?

I think the Duke lacrosse situation is about to get really ugly. No, not for the university or any of the lacrosse players. Rather, I think the Durham D.A. and the accuser are about to really regret that this situation ever happened. Here are some of the things we learned in the last days and weeks:

• The D.A. is Mike Nifong, who is up for re-election this year in a blue collar community that has always has a rocky at best relationship with Duke and what they perceive as an elitist student body that does not give back to or care about the community. The D.A. was extremely quick to point out that he was “very confident” that a rape occurred.
• DNA samples that were taken from every member of the lacrosse team except the one African-American player showed no match between any of the players and anything found on the alleged victim or any of her clothing.
• The D.A. in my opinion further buried himself by saying that this did not affect his case and that he was proceeding and that for years DNA analysis did not even exist. Well, then, why even bother with the test. If it doesn’t give you the results you are looking for, you just ignore it? How has this guy not been forced to resign yet?
• The alleged victim has a criminal past. Not that this by itself automatically means that she is not telling the truth, but it is one more thing that adds to the questionable credibility of her assertions.
• The alleged victim, according to police reports, was “passed out drunk” when the police responded to the 911 call.
• Speaking of the 911 call, there are clear inconsistencies in what the police were told at that time.
• A security guard who was the first person to see the alleged victim after the alleged attack says there were no signs of sexual assault that he could see, nor was it mentioned by the alleged victim.

I am not a lawyer, but it is amazing that the D.A. is continuing to pursue this case. Let’s take a look at some of the results that we have seen to date:

• Duke University, which is a place that myself and almost all fellow alumni I know, has suffered a blow to its pristine reputation.
• The lacrosse team had its season cancelled and its players have I imagine been through a month of extreme hell.
• The coach of the lacrosse team, who took his team to the NCAA finals a year ago, and as far as I know has no blemishes on his resume, was forced to resign.
  Very fragile relations between the Duke and Durham communities have been irreparably damaged.
• I am spending time and effort writing about this on the most read blog on the planet.

From my vantage point, which admittedly is blurred from 500 miles away and from my lack of spending all my time analyzing case facts, Duke University and its administration has handled itself extremely well in a brutal crisis situation. Second, if this woman made this story up, which is my guess from where I sit, she should go to jail for a very long time for all the damage she has done. Finally, no matter what happens, th D.A. should resign immediately for putting Duke and Durham through this unfortunate situation and fueling the fire with his ill advised, possibly (very possibly) incorrect, and irresponsible comments. If he does not resign, the citizens of Durham, I would hope, will elect his opponent in this year’s election.

The sad thing that this series of events shows us is that we still have very real problems revolving around race and class in this country. Until the hatred subsides amongst most or all of us, we will continued to see sad and avoidable incidents like this continue to occur.

As most people, when this story broke, based on media portrayals, I was horrified that this type of thing could happen at a place I love so much. I wanted my university to take whatever actions were necessary to get rid of the problem and restore our image. Now that many facts have surfaced, I am backing our university, our lacrosse team and its players, and I am looking forward to their vindication. I also am hopeful that, if the story plays out the way I expect it to, the victim and the D.A. are punished severely.