A Duke University lacrosse team captain became the third player indicted in
the rape scandal Monday and the first to speak out, blasting the charges against
him as "fantastic lies."
David Evans,
right, senior captain of the Duke lacrosse team listens with his father
David, as his attorney makes a statement in front of the Durham County
Detention Center before turning himself in Monday, May 15, 2006 in Durham,
North Carolina, Evans was the third player indicted for the sexual assault of
an exotic dancer. [AP Photo] |
"I look forward to watching them unravel in the weeks to come," said David
Evans, a just-graduated 23-year-old economics major from Bethesda, Maryland, who was
one of four team captains.
At a news conference, Evans was backed by other players and his mother, Rae
Evans, a Washington lobbyist who is the chairwoman of the Ladies Professional
Golf Association board of directors.
The charges followed a March 13 party at an off-campus house, where a
27-year-old black student at nearby North Carolina Central University told
police she was raped and beaten by three white men after she and another woman
were hired as strippers.
Evans also proclaimed the innocence of sophomores Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells,
New Jersey, and Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, New York, who were
indicted last month on the same charges.
US District Attorney Mike Nifong said he did not expect any more indictments in
the case, saying the three players facing charges were the only ones implicated
by the evidence.
Defense attorneys have insisted all the players are innocent, citing DNA
tests they say found no conclusive match between any of the team's white players
and the accuser.
Evans' attorney, Joseph Cheshire, said the accuser 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 - something he said
his client has never had.
Cheshire said some genetic material on a fake fingernail recovered from a
bathroom trash can at the house did have some of the same characteristics as
Evans' DNA, but he called it a link short of a conclusive match.
Evans turned himself in after the news conference and was released after
posting a $400,000 bond. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance Tuesday,
but Cheshire said his client would probably waive it.
Evans, who lived at the house where the party was held,
was indicted on charges of first-degree forcible rape, sexual offense and
kidnapping. In the past, he had been cited for a noise ordinance violation and
alcohol possession.
