Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office rejects rape charges against Tulane graduate, three local Marines
The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office refused to try the rape charges pressed against three local Marines and a Tulane graduate last April after the four were arrested in connection to the alleged assault.
The event occurred on April 15, and it was reported that Tulane graduate Matthew Farrell and Marines Jared Anderson, Alexander Davenport and Antonio Landrum allegedly raped two women, one Tulane student and one non-affiliate, at an off-campus residence on the 6100 residence of South Claiborne Avenue.
At preliminary trial hearings that took place in June, lawyers on the defense argued that the young women gave opposing statements during their interviews with NOPD.
Ken Daley, a spokesman for Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, stated at a public press conference that the office considered all pieces of evidence provided, including multiple interviews with the subjects involved and decided to not pursue charges.
Follow The Tulane Hullabaloo for more administrative and student reactions on the matter.
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Michael W. Magner • Sep 28, 2018 at 3:36 pm
Matt Farrell was wrongly accused in this matter and has always vigorously denied these allegations. The District Attorney refused to prosecute this matter due to a complete lack of evidence to support the charges and substantial evidence that the men involved did absolutely nothing wrong. Indeed, as developed at the preliminary examination hearing, one of the women allegedly involved was captured on videotape walking hand in hand with one of the defendants in the company of several of the other defendants to get coffee on campus the following morning. She also texted a friend the previous evening that everything was okay. Finally, the complaining witnesses refused to cooperate with law enforcement authorities after making their slanderous accusations.
Matt Farrell has rights too which have been trampled by these baseless accusations. It’s very easy to accuse someone falsely but very difficult to recover one’s reputation after such a smear.
Mike Magner
Robert Toale
Attorneys for Matt Farrell