DURHAM, N.C. - A grand jury indicted a third member of Duke University's lacrosse team this Monday on charges stemming from a woman's allegations that she was raped and beaten at a team party earlier this year.
David Evans, a senior and team captain from Bethesda, Md., was indicted on charges of first-degree forcible rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. Two other players were indicted on similar charges last month.
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.
Defense attorneys say DNA tests have found no conclusive match between any of the team's white players and the accuser.
The case has led to protests in Durham and drawn in national civil rights activists.
At Duke's graduation ceremony last weekend, Provost Peter Lange blamed the "sad events and relentless media coverage" of the case for tarnishing the school's image.
Some graduates wore the lacrosse jersey numbers of indicted sophomores Reade Seligmann of Essex Fells, N.J., and Collin Finnerty of Garden City, N.Y. on their mortarboard caps. Seligmann is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
The rape allegations led Duke to cancel the lacrosse team's season and accept the resignation of coach Mike Pressler. Duke President Richard Brodhead also initiated a series of internal investigations, one of which concluded administrators were slow to react to the scandal in part because of initial doubts about the accuser's credibility.
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