Dismiss the Case

In yet another setback for DA Mike Nifong's 'case' against the three Duke lacrosse players, the accuser now says that one of the players did not commit any sexual assault at all. The player was identified as Reade Seligmann.

The attacker identified as Reade Seligmann only watched, she told an investigator, the papers said. While he was repeatedly urged to take part in the alleged attack, she recalled, he said he could not participate because he was getting married.
"The accuser's most recent recollection of events demonstrates clearly that she cannot accurately recall and describe her attackers and that any identification made by her is necessarily unreliable," the defense filing said.

The new description of Seligmann's role in the alleged assault was one of several changes the accuser made in her story during a Dec. 21 interview with an investigator from District Attorney Mike Nifong's office, the defense said.

This case has been beset by prosecutorial misconduct, lack of DNA evidence tying the three accused defendants to the crimes alleged, and an accuser whose story has changed so many times that there's no way that she should ever be allowed to testify, and other witnesses dispute the allegations made by the accuser. The timeline has also been changed too many times to count and contradicts her earlier accounts.

Meanwhile, the judge has called for the accuser's baby to undergo a paternity test to determine the father:

The filing comes a day after the judge overseeing the case ordered a paternity test to determine the father of a child born to the woman. Defense attorneys requested the test in December to eliminate any paternity question, although Nifong has said the pregnancy is almost certainly unrelated to the night of the team party.

Both sides agreed the test should be conducted to silence any doubts about a connection to the case.

The accuser gave birth to a girl last week at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, a person familiar with the case has told The Associated Press. The source spoke anonymously because the information had not yet been made public.

KC Johnson has much more analysis on the defense motion and where this leaves Nifong's case. I say it pretty well shreds what little remained of the case after Nifong dismissed the rape counts.

UPDATE:
Paul at Wizbang thinks that today is the day that the Duke case officially died. Well, until Nifong drops the case, it's still kicking - a Black Knight kind of life such as it is. Every last bit of evidence has been hacked to shreds, and if Nifong believes that there is still a case, the accuser would never survive the cross examination. LaShawn Barber also weighs in.

Technorati: duke rape case, duke, nifong, lacrosse.