Nifong Drops Rape Charges Against Duke Lacrosse Team

Rape Charges Dropped In Duke Lacrosse Case

Nifong's investigator interviewed the woman Thursday, and she told the investigator that she couldn't "testify with certainty" that she was raped.

Prosecutors said they couldn't proceed without her testimony, so they decided to dismiss the rape charges in the case.

Nifong said he plans to proceed with kidnapping and sexual assault charges against the three player

About frickin time. 1/3 of the way there. Keeping any charges is a joke at this point.

I wonder which Duke blogger will be the first to comment? I think I beat them all.

Update 1: 12:49 pm

MSNBC picks it up:

“It’s highly coincidental,” Cheshire said, that the charges are being dropped a week after the director of a private DNA testing lab acknowledged that he initially, with Nifong’s knowledge, withheld from the defense test results showing none of the players’ DNA was found on or in the accuser’s body.

You think?

Update 2: 12:50

LaShawn Barber is the first to post.

Final comments: 12:57

I don't know what is worse... that a prosecutor would use the case for political gain or that Duke University turned their back on the players.

Duke is probably regretting their stance now. According to the N&O, they have launched a major (read expensive) PR campaign to repair their reputation after early admission applications dropped by 20%.

Can you blame students and parents for not wanting to go to a school that faculty like the Duke 88? I have several Duke alumni that go to my church, and to a person they are disgusted by how the University treated the Lacrosse players, especially the three students charged.

For further info check out the following:

John In Carolina

Talk Left for great legal analysis

Durham in Wonderland

This Scares Me!

I ran across the 2005 science Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) from the NAEP.

Summary: Austin and Charlotte kick ass if your middle class white, everyone sucks if your black or low income, and Cleveland is terrible all around.

The good news is that the worse a school district does the smaller the achievement gap. The secret to eliminating the achievement gap isn't improving education, its obviously way more efficient to make everyones education equally shitty. Perhaps the education establishment has already figured it out and all the hodge podge of kooky curriculums out there is their attempt at finally achieving equality. (irony intended)