Some background info on the woman making the allegations does not exactly boost her claims:

According to a 2002 police report, the woman, currently a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University, gave a taxi driver a lap dance at a Durham strip club. Subsequently, according to the report, she stole the man’s car and led deputies on a high-speed chase that ended in Wake County.

Apparently, the deputy thought the chase was over when the woman turned down a dead-end road near Brier Creek, but instead she tried to run over him, according to the police report.

Additional information notes that her blood-alcohol level registered at more than twice the legal limit. … The case was resolved when she admitted she made a mistake, paid restitution and served probation and some jail time.

Of course, none of this matters if the DNA evidence comes back and shows that she was assaulted by three Duke lacrosse players as she claims. But should this case devolve — if that is possible given the low starting point for this mess — into a purely she-said, they-said thing, such previous behavior will weigh heavily.