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Dec. 16--DURHAM -- The accuser in the Duke lacrosse case is pregnant, and a judge decided Friday that when her baby is born, authorities will conduct a paternity test.
The order for the paternity test was issued by Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III after an attorney for an indicted lacrosse defendant said he wanted the test to ensure that the pregnancy is not used against the lacrosse players, who deny any sexual contact with the woman.
Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong told Smith that none of the lacrosse players is the father of the baby, which is due in February.
"This pregnancy could not have resulted from any incident on the night of March 13 and March 14," Nifong said.
Lawyer Joseph B. Cheshire V, an attorney for one of the lacrosse players, said in court that the defense would drop its motion if the prosecutor would enter into a binding admission that no lacrosse player was the father. Nifong said that although he thought the child was conceived two weeks after the party, he did not know who the baby's father is. That's when Smith said he would order the test if and when the woman's child is born.
On Friday, The News & Observer cited a WRAL report that the accuser had a baby at UNC Hospitals late Thursday.
The hospital confirmed Friday that the accuser was at the hospital for care related to her pregnancy but had not given birth.
"The patient says it is her hope and expectation that her privacy will be respected," the hospital news release said.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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