Lawyer: Player passed polygraph

DURHAM -- The attorney for a Duke University lacrosse player charged with rape said Friday that his client passed a polygraph test weeks ago.

But Wade Smith, one of a team of lawyers representing Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., would not disclose the questions the lie-detector operator asked his client.

Smith's rare public comments on the lacrosse case came Friday, hours after Finnerty's parents appeared on NBC's "Today Show" to defend their son.

Kevin Finnerty, the player's father, told his television interviewer that his son could prove his innocence of the charges filed against him April 17.

An escort service dancer alleges that she was sexually assaulted by three men at an off-campus lacrosse party. Finnerty is one of three players charged with rape, sexual offense and kidnapping in the case.

The elder Finnerty did not disclose details of his son's alibi but mentioned cell phone and dormitory access records. "He has numerous eyewitnesses every step of the way, every minute of the night," Kevin Finnerty told NBC.

Smith would not elaborate on the alibi evidence, either. Nor would Kevin Finnerty expand on his statements in an interview with The News & Observer.

The results of polygraph tests are not admissible as evidence in North Carolina courts. Their reliability is a matter of scientific debate. However, police and prosecutors routinely use the tests as an investigative tool.

In May, defense lawyers released polygraph test results for Dave Evans, 23, the team captain charged in the case. A former FBI polygraph expert said Evans was being truthful when he said that neither he nor anyone else at the lacrosse party in March sexually assaulted an escort service dancer.

Although Smith would not release the questions or results for his client, he said, "The test is designed to determine whether he is innocent of the charges, and the questions are designed for those purposes."

Collin Finnerty, who also faces an unrelated misdemeanor assault charge in Washington, answered the telephone Friday at his family's home in Garden City. He declined to discuss his case but said he was doing "OK."

In other news, a judge lowered the bail for Evans from $400,000 to $100,000. The accused have been free on bail since April.