U.S. prosecutors dropped all remaining charges Wednesday against the three Duke University lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party, saying the athletes were innocent victims of "tragic rush to accuse."   

'This case shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor.'—Roy Cooper, N.C. attorney general

Roy Cooper, the attorney general for North Carolina, placed much of the blame on a district attorney's handling of the case in Durham, N.C.

"There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado," Cooper said in a damning assessment of Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong's performance.

Cooper, who took over the case in January after Nifong was accused of ethics violations, said his own investigation concluded not only that the evidence against the young men was insufficient, but that no attack took place.

The players — Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans — were indicted last spring on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offence. A 28-year-old woman told police she was hired to strip at a lacrosse team party in March 2006, but was gang-raped and beaten.

In December, the rape charges were dropped against the three players because of a lack of evidence, but the other charges remained.After the remaining charges were dropped Wednesday, Evans said he and the other players were relieved their names had been cleared.

"It's been 395 days since this nightmare began, and finally today it's coming to a closure," Evans said at a press conference, his voice breaking.

"We're just as innocent today as we were back then. Nothing has changed, the facts don't change."

Lack of DNA, contradictions cited

On Wednesday, the attorney general said no DNA supported the woman's story, no
other witness corroborated it, and the woman contradicted herself when describing the alleged attack.

"Based on the significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges," Cooper said.

He said the charges resulted from a "tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations."

Cooper called for the passage of a state law that would allow the North Carolina Supreme Court to remove a prosecutor who should step away from a case.

"This case shows the enormous consequences of overreaching by a prosecutor," Cooper said.

When the allegations against the players initially surfaced, the community of Durham, where Duke is located, expressed outrage. The case took on racial undertones, as the woman is black and the three Duke players are white.

Duke temporarily suspended Seligmann, 21, and Finnerty, 20, in the wake of their arrest. Both were later invited to return to campus, but neither accepted.

Evans, 24, graduated the day before he was indicted.

On Wednesday, Evans said he was looking forward to resuming his life.

"It's been a long year, longer than you could ever imagine," he said. "But I hope these allegations don't come to define me."