The case of Lizzy Seeberg, the St. Mary’s student who killed herself after an alleged sexual assault from a Notre Dame football player, will not be going to court. County prosecutors have decided not to press charges with Seeberg’s September claim, despite the 19-year-old pointing out to police the perpetrator on Facebook.
The official explanation for sweeping such a scandal under the rug? All the evidence, along with Lizzy’s formal statement, would be “inadmissible” in court, claims St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak. The evidence in question includes text messages that were sent to Lizzy after her assault, from a friend of the football player. One read:
“Don’t do anything you would regret. Messing with notre dame football is a bad idea.”
Now, this message being sent to Lizzy’s phone is a fact, a piece of evidence. Prosecutors know who sent it, and they also know who Lizzy accused of assault (in grim irony, Lizzy said she escaped that night when the student became distracted by his cell phone). Yet since September there have been no arrests, no public questioning of the boys, and no one pulled off the winning Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team.
But Mr. Dvorak won’t let the courts decide for themselves what constitutes “evidence.”
