New Twists in The Case

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The two women left the party at a time and in a condition that are not yet clear. They drove to a nearby grocery store, where the woman who was not attacked, Kim Roberts, asked for help. A security guard called the police. Around 2:30 a.m., the victim reported to the Duke University Medical Center emergency room. An examination found injuries "consistent with" anal and vaginal sexual assault.

Police found the victim's makeup kit, cell phone and ID at the party house three days after the bash. Nifong won a court order compelling all team players (except the team's lone black member) to provide DNA samples. And on April 18, he had two sophomores, Reade Seligmann, 20, and Collin Finnerty, 19, arrested on charges of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. Within a few days of his arrest, Seligmann was able to put forward evidence that suggested he might not be one of the assailants. He admitted attending the party, but reportedly produced telephone and bank records to show that he had called a taxi at 12:14 a.m., was picked up by 12:20 a.m., withdrew money from an ATM at 12:24 a.m. and was in his dorm by 12:46. His taxi driver, Moez Mostafa, confirmed his account. If Seligmann participated in what is alleged to have been a 30-minute assault, it would have had to begin within minutes of the time the women arrived, "around 11:30 p.m."

If Finnerty has an alibi, he has yet to produce it. In the meantime, his arrest has put a spotlight on an earlier brush with the law. It could jeopardize a deal that allowed Finnerty to avoid trial on a charge of assaulting a man in Washington last November after making a slur about his sexual orientation. In the Durham case, defense lawyers for Finnerty and the others are wondering about the DNA tests--the second round, as it turns out. The first round came back negative, defense lawyers say, an outcome that sent Nifong scrambling for a more detailed set from a different lab. Results are due this week.

The players' lawyers--there may be as many as 50 or more working directly or indirectly on the team's behalf--have begun to test the other weaknesses in the case. The victim faced an array of criminal charges in 2002, when she allegedly stole a car, ran some traffic signals and assaulted an officer trying to make an arrest. The second stripper, Roberts, 31, told the Raleigh News and Observer last week she thinks the suspects are guilty, but added, "I was not in the bathroom when it happened, so I can't say a rape occurred." She wrote an e-mail to a New York City public-relations firm last week that read, "I found myself in the center of one of the biggest stories in the country. I'm worried about letting this opportunity pass me by without making the best of it and was wondering if you had any advice as to how to spin this to my advantage."