Duke Lacrosse Investigation Ongoing, Despite Reports

RALEIGH, N.C. — Reports that charges would be dropped this week in the sexual assault case against three former Duke lacrosse players are inaccurate, a representative for the North Carolina Attorney General's Office said Thursday.

Spokeswoman Noelle Talley said special prosecutors are still gathering facts and that they do not anticipate any announcement regarding the investigation this week.

Talley also said the office has been in contact with various parties involved in the case but would not say whether prosecutors have talked with the accuser in the past few days.

The three former lacrosse players -- Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans -- were indicted last year on first-degree rape, kidnapping and sexual assault charges after an exotic dancer reported she was attacked at an off-campus party near Duke University last March.

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong dismissed the rape charges against all three suspects in December after the accuser wavered in key details of her account.

Nifong recused himself from the case in January amid mounting scrutiny of his handling of the case and an ethics complaint from the North Carolina State Bar.

Attorney General Roy Cooper then appointed James Coman and Mary Winstead with his office to the case; they have been re-examining evidence in the case since then.

Last week, they, along with Cooper, visited the house where the lacrosse party took place.