Duke Lacrosse team co-captain Dave Evans was indicted today for forcible rape, sexual assault and kidnapping by the Durham grand jury in the Duke alleged rape case.

Evans is represented by Joe Cheshire. I know Joe, and he is a great attorney.

Press Conference: An absolutely compelling denial. [Update: Video here.]

Live blogging:

Dave is here to surrender, he will bond out today.

David wants to make a statement. He won't take questions. Joe will then make a statement and take questions. All seniors on Duke lacrosse team are present. They are there to support the three charged players as they know no crime was committed on the evening in question at that house. They won't answer questions either. Evans' parents are there. Evans has been wrongly accused.

The defense lawyers wouldn't say it, but ABC News has no such reservation: The DNA found on the vaginal swab of the accuser in the Duke Lacrosse case belongs to her boyfriend.

I've been told (and this may be common knowledge, I have no idea) that the boyfriend drove her to the party and went to see her in the hospital the next day. What wasn't known when I got the information was whether the boyfriend went back to pick her up that night and whether he saw anything at the house.

So....score another point for the defense. Nonetheless, DA Nifong is expected to indict a third player Monday.

Lawyers for the Duke Lacrosse players held a press conference yesterday to respond to reports of new DNA testing implicating one or two of the players. You can view it here. Here's more from WRAL today:

The nail was found in a bathroom trash can at the off-campus house where the party took place, and was among items -- such as Q-Tips and Kleenex -- that defense attorneys suggested might have contaminated the nail."Does it absolutely exclude all of the Duke lacrosse players with absolute certainty from this one fingernail? No," Cheshire said. "Does it say that any of the Duke lacrosse players' DNA is conclusively on this fingernail? No."

What an ugly story. Allegation: Robert Ray, former Ken Starr associate independent counsel in Monica-gate, is charged with stalking his former lover after they broke up while he was still married. He's also a former N.J. candidate for the U.S. Senate.

The ex-lover says he lied while they were dating and said he was divorced.

His ex-girlfriend, Tracy Loughlin, had told police that Ray - a former GOP Senate candidate from New Jersey - had obsessively followed her and blanketed her with unwanted calls and e-mails after their breakup four months ago.

Interesting side-note:

As several commenters have noted, the transcript of the eyewitness identification procedure used by police in having the accuser ID players is here. It's a big topic, and deserves its own thread.

I just finished reading it and I believe it is even more flawed than previously reported.

The first thing that leaps out at me is police failed to tell her the suspects may or may not be in the photos. This instruction is essential. (See here (pdf), pages 41 to 43.) Research is clear that if you don't give that admonition to the eyewitness, there will be more "false hits" and the chances of a reliable ID are dramatically reduced. From Wisconsin's guidelines(pdf):

Leaks are coming out on a second round of DNA tests. Reports are that DNA from a third player "is consistent with" DNA found on tissue under a fingernail in the trash.

Even if true, it doesn't establish a rape. It could have happened from contact during a scuffle over the money, or during a lap dance while she was dancing. It could have been a secondary transfer. The players have said the accuser was painting her nails in the bathroom. Nails were found in the living room where the dancing occurred.

Daniel Biechele, former manager for the Great White band, was sentenced today to four years in prison with eleven years suspended for his role in an on-stage pyrotechnics fire at a Rhode Island nightclub that killed 100 people.

Beichele pleaded guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and under the terms of his plea agreement, could have received up to ten years in jail.

Biechele was the tour manager for heavy metal band Great White when on Feb. 20, 2003, he lit a pyrotechnics display that ignited highly flammable foam that lined the walls and ceiling of The Station nightclub in West Warwick. The foam was used as soundproofing and was placed there by the owners after neighbors complained about noise from the club.

Colin Finnerty's May 18 hearing in the Duke Lacrosse case has been continued to mid-June because the DA hasn't finished providing discovery. I suspect Reade Seligman's will be as well.

Durham's mayor wants some answers on the recently released Duke police report saying the accuser had credibility issues.

I don't know if there's more news in the case, but with 183 comments on yesterday's thread, it's time for a new one.

The Durham City Manager today defended the early actions of the Durham police.

A Duke University committee's report blames Durham police for sending mixed messages in the early hours of the lacrosse rape investigation, but Durham's city manager is firing back. The report says Duke officials did not take the case seriously because Durham police officers said it would blow over.

"I'd like to see where that source of information came from," said Durham City Manager Patrick Baker. He admits the first two or three hours after the rape was reported were confusing as to whether the alleged victim was intoxicated or mentally ill. But Baker tells Eyewitness News that once a rape kit was in hand, there was no confusion. "We had launched a full-scale sexual assault investigation, by 4 or 5 that morning," he said.

Check out this one page Duke University Police report (pdf) dated March 14 released today. It states the accuser was picked up at Krogers "and she was claiming" she had been raped by 20 men. The report says the accuser had changed her story several times and the Durham police did not expect more than misdemeanor assault charges to be filed in the case.

Duke University released its report today on the rape allegation lodged against Duke lacrosse players. The accuser's varying accounts led them to discount her allegations. Here are some excerpts:

After the victim of the alleged assaults was taken to the Emergency Room of the Duke Hospital in the early morning hours of March 14, having earlier told Durham police that she was raped and sexually assaulted by approximately 20 white members of a Duke team (a charge later modified to allege an attack by three individuals in a bathroom), the official report of the Duke Police Department was submitted and reviewed by the Duke Police Director, Robert Dean, at 7:30 a.m. on March 14."

"There are reports from several sources that members of the Durham police force initially (March 14) made comments to Duke police officers and others to the effect that the complainant 'kept changing her story and was not credible;' that 'if any charges were brought, they would be no more than misdemeanors;' and that 'this will blow over.'"

There have not been any new developments this weekend in the Duke lacrosse players' alleged rape case, but there are over 200 comments on the last post, so I'm starting a new thread here.

I'll keep them coming as long as readers have an interest in discussing the case.

A female, lesbian Duke student alleges she was raped by a male student following a dorm pot-smoking, drinking party on the last day of classes. The male denies they had sex.

DA Mike Nifong says it's not his job to be involved unless police ask for his help.

"The Duke lacrosse case was very different from the way we normally get rape cases," Nifong said. "The District Attorney's Office is normally not contacted during the course of an investigation unless the law enforcement agency needs some special kind of assistance," such as obtaining a court order, he said. "That has not been the case in [the latest] investigation."

Duke police did get a search warrant and order for DNA testing. Nifong's explanation: