AP News, October 18th, 2007
The North Carolina Attorney General's office has refused former prosecutor Mike Nifong's request that the state represent him or pay his legal bills from a civil lawsuit against him filed by three Duke lacrosse players exonerated of rape.
Nifong, who left his Durham County job in disgrace after the disastrous prosecution, had cited his role as a constitutional officer of the state in asking for the assistance.
He also was disbarred for numerous ethics violation in the case, and the letter sent to him by chief deputy Attorney General Grayson Kelley on Tuesday cited his conduct as disqualifying him from the assistance, under state law.
Nifong's lawyer, James B. Craven III of Durham, sent a letter Thursday saying the decision does not "provide much comfort for state employees threatened with civil liability for actions taken in the course of their employment with the state."
The former players were falsely accused of raping a stripper at a March 2006 party and the state attorney general ultimately declared the players were innocent victims of a "tragic rush to accuse."
The players' federal civil rights lawsuit names Nifong, the city of Durham, several police officials, a private DNA laboratory and others as defendants. They are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
The city plans to fight the lawsuit, which also demands numerous reforms to the way the Durham Police Department handles investigations and trains its officers.
Nifong resigned from office in July. He served one day in jail in September after a judge held him in criminal contempt of court for lying about having turned over critical DNA test results to defense attorneys.
The attorney general's office took over the lacrosse case after Nifong recused himself amid ethics charges that would later lead to his disbarment. State prosecutors went on to declare former players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans innocent of all charges in April.
