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MINNEAPOLIS -- The prosecutor in the Minnesota Vikings' boat party case denied Thursday that race played any role in his decision to charge four black players, but not two white men for their alleged conduct on a cruise last October.

Lawyers for Minnesota Vikings Daunte Culpepper and Moe Williams accused prosecutor Steven Tallen of racial discrimination on Wednesday. They served a motion on him asking for the dismissal of charges against the two players, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Culpepper, Williams and two other players face trial on misdemeanor charges of indecent conduct and lewdness for their alleged behavior on two cruise boats last October on Lake Minnetonka. They have pleaded not guilty.

In their motion, defense attorneys Earl Gray, for Culpepper, and Joe Friedberg, for Williams, alleged that Hennepin County sheriff's investigators have evidence that the captain of one boat kissed a woman's exposed nipple while he was at the wheel. The papers allege this happened immediately after the manager of a strip club paid the woman and also touched her with his mouth.

Both the captain and club manager are white. They were listed only by their initials in the court documents filed Wednesday.

"These two white males were never charged, yet Mr. Williams and Mr. Culpepper, who are African-American males were charged. The facts presented suggested that Mr. Williams and Mr. Culpepper were singled out," the players' attorneys wrote.

Tallen, who prosecutes misdemeanor cases for the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District, which has jurisdiction over the big suburban lake, accused the defense lawyers of playing "the race card" to cloud the real issues.

"Prosecuting people simply to avoid being called a racist would not be an ethical thing to do," Tallen said. "It's too bad when experienced, qualified lawyers resort to calling names because, I assume, they don't have a good legal defense. They want to try it in the papers, which I don't want to do."

Tallen said the alleged acts by the captain and club manager are different from those of the players, because only the manager, the captain and the woman were present, and the two men willingly participated in the contact with her. By contrast, he said, all the players' alleged activity happened in front of unwilling crew members.

The prosecutor said the captain's statement to the detective wasn't enough evidence to support a criminal charge because, under the law, "you can't convict someone solely on their own confession." The woman was never identified, he added.

Plus, he added, there's no evidence that what the captain allegedly did was illegal.

Tallen also said there would need to be more evidence than the captain's statement to charge the club manager over his alleged payment to the woman. And on top of that, Tallen said, the offense suggested by the defense motion -- promoting prostitution -- would be a felony.

Tallen said that under the law, he doesn't have the authority to file felony charges. "Only the county attorney can charge felonies," he said.

The Hennepin County attorney's office has said that the sheriff's office did not present the case to it for possible felony charges. That would have been standard procedure if investigators thought there was enough evidence to support a felony charge.

Culpepper and Williams are accused of getting lap dances during the party. Two other players, Fred Smoot and Bryant McKinnie, also have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges over other alleged lewd acts. They did not join in the motion for dismissal. Trials for the four are set for April and May.

A hearing in the case against Culpepper and Williams is set for March 22. Tallen said he's been told Culpepper will testify.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press