Duke Lacrosse Player to Stand Trial in D.C.

Duke University lacrosse player Collin Finnerty, already charged with raping an exotic dancer in North Carolina, was ordered to stand trial today in Washington on an unrelated assault charge stemming from an altercation last fall in Georgetown.

Finnerty, a 19-year-old sophomore, had hoped to have the charge dismissed in return for community service. But prosecutors in Washington declined that arrangement in light of Finnerty's indictment in the Duke rape case.

Finnerty was arrested in Washington and charged with misdemeanor assault Nov. 5, along with two friends, for an altercation in front of Washington's Georgetown Inn with a man who told police he had been punched and called "gay and derogatory names" by his assailants.

In the Durham, N.C., case, Finnerty, from Garden City, N.Y., and fellow Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., have been charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sex offense and first-degree kidnapping.

The charges arose from accusations by a 27-year-old woman that she was raped, sodomized and choked during a March 13 party at the off-campus rental home of three of the team's captains. The woman, a student at the historically black North Carolina Central University, said she had been hired through an escort service to dance for what she thought was a small bachelor party but was attacked instead after she and another dancer cut their performance short, fearing for their safety.

The alleged assault has increased racial tensions in Durham, where Duke is located. The dancer is black while the lacrosse team was predominantly white.

Today in the District, Superior Court Judge John H. Bayly Jr. ruled that Finnerty had violated the conditions of a diversion program he entered after the Georgetown assault. The Washington charges would have been dismissed under the terms of the program once Finnerty completed 25 hours of community service, but the terms required that he not commit any criminal offenses.

The judge said that he would consider delaying Finnerty's trial in Washington until the proceedings in North Carolina are completed. The Washington trial was set for July 10 in D.C. Superior Court.

The judge permitted Finnerty to remain free on personal recognizance but set the following conditions: He cannot be around alcohol and must abide by a curfew that keeps him at home from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m.

Finnerty left the courthouse without commenting.

Washington Post staff writer Liz Clarke contributed to this report.