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3rd player charged in Duke rape case

The lacrosse captain lived at the house where the team party was held. His attorney says the alleged rape never happened.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 16, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. - In the span of a day, Duke University lacrosse captain David Evans received a bachelor's degree and an indictment naming him as the third player accused of raping a stripper at a team party.

Monday, before turning himself in to authorities, he stood up and proclaimed that he and the rest of his teammates were innocent of allegations he labeled "fantastic lies."

"I look forward to watching them unravel in the weeks to come," said the 23-year-old economics major from Bethesda, Md.

"I am innocent. Reade Seligmann is innocent. Collin Finnerty is innocent," Evans said, defending the two other players charged. "Every member of the Duke lacrosse team is innocent. ... You have all been told some fantastic lies.

"I'll gladly stand up to anything that comes against me."

Evans, who lived at the house where the party was held, was indicted on charges of first-degree forcible rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., and Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., were indicted last month on the same charges.

Along with several lacrosse players, Evans was backed at his news conference by his family, including mother Rae Evans, a Washington lobbyist who is also the chairwoman of the Ladies Professional Golf Association board of directors.

Evans said that he and his roommates helped police find evidence at the house and that he gave investigators access to his e-mail and Internet chat accounts. He said that authorities rejected his offer to take a lie detector test and that he took one on his own and passed.

Evans' indictment appeared to cap the investigation into allegations that three white men raped a 27-year-old black student from nearby North Carolina Central University. She and another woman were hired to strip at a March 13 team party. Hours after Evans spoke outside the Durham County jail, District Attorney Mike Nifong said he did not expect any more indictments.

Defense attorneys say no sexual assault occurred at the party. They pointed to DNA tests, which they have said found no conclusive match between any of the team's white players and the accuser.

"We will prove that not only did this rape not happen, but it could not have happened," said Evans' attorney, Joseph Cheshire.

Cheshire said the accuser had identified Evans with "90 percent certainty" during a photo lineup. Cheshire said the accuser told police she would be 100 percent sure if Evans had a mustache. Evans has never had a mustache, Cheshire said.

Evans came to Duke from the Landon School, a prep school in suburban Washington, where he played football, hockey and lacrosse.

[Last modified May 16, 2006, 07:15:18]