Three Met Players Will Not Be Charged

No charges will be filed against three New York Mets who were accused of raping a woman last year, prosecutors in Ft. Pierce, Fla., said Thursday.

State Attorney Bruce Colton cited a lack of corroborating evidence and a long delay in the woman’s complaint in the decision not to bring charges. A 31-year-old New York woman accused the three players of attacking her in March, 1991, at a home pitcher Dwight Gooden was renting near the Mets’ spring training complex in Port St. Lucie.

“It was an accumulation of problems,” Colton said. “We have to make our decision--not based on whether we believe the victim--but whether there was a likelihood of a conviction.”

The announcement ended an investigation that had begun March 3 when the woman signed a statement accusing the players of raping her on March 30, 1991.

The players all passed lie-detector tests in which they acknowledged various sex acts had taken place, but said the woman had consented.

According to the woman’s statement, which was included in a 450-page investigative file that was released by Colton, she met the players at a nightclub and agreed to give one of them a ride home. She said she was surprised to find two other Mets already there when she arrived and that she was shoved into a bedroom and assaulted by all three.

She said she went back to the Mets’ training complex several times afterward but didn’t fully realize she had been raped until four days later, when she discussed the incident with a friend.