"My presence here means that this case is going away"

WRAL and ABC News are reporting that North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper is expected to hold a press conference tomorrow announcing the direction the Hoax will take. Notice of the imminent announcement appears to have gone out today to national media outlets and the families of the indicted young men. Several news organizations have descended on the Triangle and the Seligmann family was filmed arriving at RDU airport today in anticipation of tomorrow's press conference which is widely speculated to conclude the Hoax with dismissal of all remaining charges. Notice of tomorrow's announcement comes exactly one year after defense attorneys announced that DNA testing had exonerated the young men.

ABC News:

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper is expected to hold a press conference [Wednesday] to announce the outcome of the Duke lacrosse case, [law enforcement sources tell ABC News]. It is widely expected that at he will announce he is dropping all remaining charges still pending against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans.

WRAL:

In what could signal a new development in the Duke lacrosse case, one of the three accused players arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport Tuesday afternoon.

Reade Seligmann and his family arrived just after 3 p.m. on an American Airlines flight from Newark, N.J. They had no comment.

Evans and Finnerty were expected to arrive soon in Raleigh, too. Finnerty's father, Kevin Finnerty, told WRAL that he was flying to Raleigh Tuesday evening.

The North Carolina Attorney General's Office, which took over the case in January after Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong recused himself, has yet to announce whether it will proceed with the case.

Several sources told WRAL that the indicted players and their families would be present when an announcement comes.

National network news crews, including CBS News, converged on Raleigh Tuesday in anticipation of a development.

One year ago today, many of us thought the Hoax was over when results from DNA testing conducted at the State Bureau of Investigation were revealed to have exonerated the entire lacrosse team.

DNA evidence taken from 46 members of the Duke's men's lacrosse team does not match any DNA material from the woman who claimed she was raped by members of the team at a March 13 party, lawyers representing the players said at a press conference Monday.

The Chronicle 4/10/2006

"No DNA material from any young man tested was present on the body of this complaining woman," lawyer Wade Smith said. "Not present in the body, not present on the surface of her body, belonginigs or materials she had on her, including her clothing."

There was no DNA of the alleged victim found in the bathroom of 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. residence, added Joe Cheshire, a lawyer representing senior captain Dave Evans and resident of the Buchanan house.

"I think it is a false accusation. It has been used to tear this community apart," Cheshire said. "It's time for all of the healing to start."

WRAL Video 4/10/2006

• Lacrosse Defense Attorney: No DNA Matches Returned

• April 10 Duke Lacrosse News Conference

• Lacrosse Team Defense Attorney News Conference

April 10, 2006 also marked the infamous meeting between Defendant Nifong, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, Inv. Benjamin Himan, and Dr. Brian Meehan. This meeting, and the start of the conspiracy to withhold additional exonerating DNA that appears to have begun that day, would eventually become a significant element in the charges brought against Defendant Nifong by the State Bar.

201. By April 10, 2006, DSI had analyzed the DNA characteristics from at least some of the evidence specimens from the rape kit containing multiple male DNA characteristics and excluded all of the lacrosse players as potential contributors of the DNA it had analyzed.

202. On April 10, 2006, Nifong met with Dr. Meehan and two DPD officers at the DSI office.

203. At that meeting, Dr. Meehan discussed with Nifong the results of the analyses performed by DSI to that point, including those referred to in paragraphs 199-­201 above. [State Bar Complaint]

Despite knowing that both the SBI and DNASI tests had exonerated the players, Defendant Nifong would announce on April 10, 2006 that he intended to pursue the Hoax.

WRAL 4/10/2006

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong said he plans to move forward with his case against three members of Duke University's men's lacrosse team despite DNA results that do not match evidence collected from a woman who says the athletes raped her.

"I intend on doing exactly what I've been doing the whole time," Nifong told a CBS News reporter Monday night who asked if he intended to move forward with the case. "If that's what you define as moving forward, then yes."

The State Bureau of Investigation delivered the long-awaited DNA results to Nifong Monday afternoon. Less than two hours later, Raleigh defense attorney Wade Smith, after reviewing the results, said he hoped Nifong would consider dropping the case.

"No DNA material from any young man tested was present on the body of this complaining woman, not present within her body, not present on the surface of her body and not present on any of her belongings," Smith said in a prepared statement.

The alleged victim told Durham police that on the night of March 13, she was gang-raped, beaten and sodomized for 30 minutes.

No one has been charged yet in connection with the rape allegations, but Nifong has said previously that charges could come this week, despite what DNA test results reveal.

With tomorrow's announcement coming on the anniversary of Defendant Nifong's declaration at the NCCU pep rally for indictments that his "presence here means that this case is not going away," we hope for one more ironic anniversary with Attorney General Roy Cooper starting his press conference:

"My presence here means that this case is going away"