RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - 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.
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.
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