Crystal Mangum, woman at center of 2006 Duke lacrosse case, to be released from prison

Editor's note: This story contains mentions of rape and violence.

A woman at the center of the Duke University lacrosse scandal is expected to be released Friday morning from the North Carolina Correctional Institute for Women in Raleigh.

Crystal Mangum, a former exotic dancer, is getting out of prison on a different charge. Mangum accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her in 2006 during an off-campus party. She later admitted she lied.

At the time of Mangum’s admission, she was serving time on second-degree murder charges for the death of her boyfriend. She was convicted in 2013 of killing Reginald Daye.

However, it was Mangum’s role as the Duke lacrosse accuser that grabbed national headlines.

After the defense team exposed holes in her story, Roy Cooper, who was the state’s attorney general at the time, dropped the charges against the players.

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong was also removed from office for his handling of the case.

Duke lacrosse players of that era, both the men indicted and others on the team, have since pursued civil litigation to restore their reputations. Former Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler, who had been with Duke 16 seasons, lost his job because of the case and sued the university.