New Suit in Duke Lacrosse Rape Case
The fallout continues over a botched investigation and prosecution of an escort service dancer’s allegations—eventually determined to be false—that she was gang-raped in March 2006 by former members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team.
Three former team members who were never charged in the case have filed a 400-page federal lawsuit against multiple defendants, seeking damages for the problems they suffered as a result of what they describe as a unified effort to discredit them and other players by government officials and the university, reports the News & Observer, a Raleigh, N.C., newspaper.
Filed in federal court in Greensboro, N.C., by Durham, N.C., lawyer Robert Ekstrand, the suit lists 35 causes of action including fraud and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
David Jarmul, a Duke spokesman, says in a press release that the university offered months ago to reimburse players not charged in the case for their legal fees and other expenses, but is not to blame for their problems and plans an aggressive defense of the case.
“Duke University reasonably relied on the statements of a prosecutor whose path of destruction could be stopped only by the North Carolina attorney general,” the press release states. “Duke made some mistakes when the allegations first surfaced in the spring of 2006. The cause of any harm felt by the players, however, clearly lies with parties other than Duke.”
As discussed in previous ABAJournal.com posts, rape charges filed in 2006 against three players not involved in the latest lawsuit were announced last spring by the North Carolina attorney general to be factually baseless and the result of a botched prosecution. The announcement was soon followed by civil litigation and disciplinary action against the former prosecutor responsible for the case, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, who has since been disbarred and held in criminal contempt of court over his handling of the case.
