A Turn for the Worse

Drinking, partying, and debauchery, are nothing out of the ordinary for college students, in fact divulging in a little harmless fun is what most need in order to take a break from the pressures of tough academic course loads. However, what may have started out as just another night of partying for the Duke Lacrosse team ended in an unforeseeable nightmare.

On the night of March 13th and alleged attack took place involving three Duke Lacrosse team members and an exotic dancer. The accuser, a 27 year old single mother of two, is black. She was hired as an exotic dancer to perform for the lacrosse team and claims she was attacked by three white players. Since the allegations have been brought forth to the public two lacrosse team members have been indicted on first degree rape and kidnapping chargers. This whirlwind of unfortunate events has sparked up an issue of “he said she said”, with extreme class and racial overtones dividing public opinion.

Background information being released in the media on both the accused and the accuser has called into question the legitimacy of both sides. The Duke Lacrosse team has been notorious for holding wild parties and carrying self righteous frat-boy attitudes around campus, and according to Duke’s Athletic Director Joe Alleva, their careless behavior has lead to many violations of the campus judicial code. Alleva discussed the findings with lacrosse team’s head coach and emphasized there was a serious need to get the team back in line and eliminate all behavioral problems. In addition to the team’s not so squeaky clean track record, one of the suspects has previously had a run in with the law and was accused of attacking a man and yelling derogatory comments to the victim about his sexuality, as a result the suspect was ordered by a judge to perform 25 hours of community service by the fall. As damaging as all the facts sound could this really mean these men were capable of rape, or is it just a string of bad luck?

For the accuser, her history is not as harmonious as one would like either. She claimed that she was raped 10 years ago by three men, but later dropped the charges because she was unable to handle the stress. This detail could caste doubt about the victim’s character and possibly damage her creditability. One also has to consider there was another dancer present the night the alleged rape took place, and was unable to give a matching statement, stating she did not see the rape occur. The lack of matching statements made by anyone present that night could be detrimental for the defense, but could this really mean the victim’s allegations are false?

As more twist and turns unravel it becomes harder to understand what happened on that ill-fated night and unfortunately questionable character traits on both sides are not the only damaging issues surrounding this complicated case. The physical evidence found after the accuser checked into Duke’s medical facility suggested there were enough signs indicative of a possible rape. Shortly thereafter charges were filed and the court immediately ordered DNA samples of 47 lacrosse team members, however none of the samples were found to be matches.

Regardless of what happened on the night of March 13th, guilty or not, the lives of those involved will be forever changed. It seems unfortunate that issues of race and class can trump the actual facts and sway public opinion. This case should not be about race or where those involved stand on the social hierarchy. What should be relevant is whether or not a crime took place and what steps are being taken to reveal the truth, and as of now nobody knows what took place on that dreadful evening except those involved. Hopefully when the case goes before a jury the judge will be able to eliminate all the erroneous details and get down to what really matters, the facts.