Duke lacrosse players still falsely accused

NY Times reports:

DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 22 -- The Durham district attorney dropped rape charges against three former Duke lacrosse players on Friday, but he said he would continue to pursue kidnapping and sexual offense charges that carry equally stiff sentences.

The district attorney, Michael B. Nifong, who has faced relentless and rising criticism for his handling of the case, said he dismissed the rape charges because the accuser [Crystal Gail Mangum] had begun to waver on crucial details.

Begun? Mangum has been wavering all along. The story continues:

The police showed her three sets of photographs during the first three weeks of the case, one with 24 lacrosse players, one with 12, and, after she failed to identify any suspects, one with all 46 white players.

She identified only one person with 100 percent certainty in two photo arrays as having been present at the team party. But that person, Dan Ross, was not there. He was 24 miles away in a dorm room in Raleigh.

The woman also identified the wrong player as having held up a broomstick while making a sexually crude remark to the two dancers.

As previously reported, she did not identify two of the defendants -- Mr. Seligmann and David F. Evans -- as attackers when she saw their pictures in the first photo arrays.

I think that Nifong and Mangum are the real criminals here.
It is outrageous that criminal charges persist against the Duke lacrosse players when the players have airtight alibis, the DNA tests were negative, and the only prosecution witnesses have recanted.

I also think that it is wrong that the major media have protected Mangum's identity. You have to find it on blogs like this. She is not a rape victim; she is just someone who has made some wild and implausible accusations.