Duke DNA Tests Come Up Negative

DURHAM, N.C. – According to attorneys for Duke University’s lacrosse team members, DNA testing has failed to tie any of the athletes to the alleged rape of an exotic dancer.

The test results were delivered by the state crime lab to police and prosecutors earlier. Attorneys for the players say the results prove their clients didn’t sexually assault a stripper hired to perform at a team party on March 13.

The alleged victim who is a 27-year-old student at a nearby college says she was pulled into the bathroom, beaten, kicked, strangled and raped by three men. After she escaped the dwelling, which was rented by the team’s three captains, she was driven to a local store where an employee called the police.

Authorities ordered DNA testing of 46 of the 47 members of Duke’s lacrosse team. Defense attorneys for the lacrosse team members said, however, that no DNA evidence was found on the body of the woman.

The case has raised racial tensions and increased animosity between the city of Durham and Duke’s affluent students. There were allegations that the suspected attackers, who the dancer says were white, shouted racial epithets at the victim, who is black.

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