Duke DA Apologizes To Lacrosse Players

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong Faces Ethics Violations, Disbarment

(CBS/AP) 
"There were many points in the case where caution would have served justice better than bravado," Cooper said. "In the rush to condemn, a community and a state lost the ability to see clearly."

At an often-bitter, I-told-you-so news conference following Cooper's statement, the three young men and their lawyers accused the news media and the public of disregarding the presumption of innocence and portraying them as thugs.

"It's been 395 days since this nightmare began. And finally today it's coming to a closure," said Evans, his voice breaking at one point. "We're just as innocent today as we were back then. Nothing has changed. The facts don't change."

Defense attorney Joe Cheshire said: "We're angry, very angry. But we're very relieved." Afterward, Cheshire said work would soon begin to expunge the trio's arrest record in the case.

The attorney general said the eyewitness identification procedures were unreliable, no DNA supported the stripper's story, no other witness corroborated it, and the woman contradicted herself.

"Based on the significant inconsistencies between the evidence and the various accounts given by the accusing witness, we believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges," Cooper said. He said the charges resulted from a "tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations."

Cooper offered no explanation for why the stripper told such a story and would not discuss her mental health. However, he said no charges will be brought against her, saying she "may actually believe" the many different stories she told.

"We believe it is in the best interest of justice not to bring charges," he said.

The accuser's whereabouts were not immediately known. The Associated Press generally does not identify accusers in sex-crime cases.

Nifong had accused the lacrosse team of refusing to cooperate, calling them "a bunch of hooligans."

The players largely cooperated with police, and the defense later said a series of tests Nifong ordered from a private lab found genetic material from several men on the accuser's underwear and body, but none from any member of the Duke lacrosse team.

However, if the defendants try to sue Nifong for the way he handled the case, "they are going to have their hands full winning that civil case," said Cohen. "All public officials, and prosecutors in particular, are afforded tremendous immunity from lawsuits when they are acting in their official capacities, as Nifong was here."

Evans, 24, of Bethesda, Md., graduated the day before he was indicted in May. Duke temporarily suspended sophomores Finnerty and Seligmann in the wake of their arrest. Both have been invited to return to campus, but neither has accepted. John Danowski, the former coach at Hofstra who took over the Duke program last summer, has said that both are welcome to continue their lacrosse careers with the Blue Devils.

[dblbar]

North Carolina and the DNA testing lab should pick up the tab for the lawyers plus give each kid 1 million to restart their lives. If Sharpton and Jackson do not make PUBLIC apologies to all 3 Duke players it shows they are total hypocrits and reverse racists. Big mouths, no proof -- moral crusaders of questionable morality.
Posted by afmca at 08:07 AM : Apr 13, 2007

LOL! One million won't even TOUCH the legal fees they've already put out just to stay frickin ALIVE for the past year since this was all started (by Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton by the way, standing in front of the house calling for the boy's heads)...and as far as an apology from Jackson and Sharpton.....yeah right....they only start it, they don't stick around to see the ending...conveniently.

[processor2]

Don Imus was a big enough man to apologize.

Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be man enough to apologize to those innocent Duke boys for the false accusations and presumptions they stirred up in Durham, NC.

I won't be holding my breath.

...

[processor2]

Don Imus was a big enough man to apologize.

Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be man enough to apologize to those innocent Duke boys for the false accusations and presumptions they stirred up in Durham, NC.

I won't be holding my breath.

...

[processor2]

Don Imus was a big enough man to apologize.

Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be man enough to apologize to those innocent Duke boys for the false accusations and presumptions they stirred up in Durham, NC.

I won't be holding my breath.

...

[advanceus]

Sharpton and Jackson are glory grabbing idiots!! IF there is racial tension in the U.S. it is because of people like them. Their only interest is in themselves not what they are harping on at the moment. If there is any racial problems resulting from this the the Imus situation they should be charged with conspiracy, because it will be because of their loud mouths. I think we would all be able to get along alot better if people like Sharpton and Jackson were not allowed to get in the middle of things. They have never benefited the black Americans, but the blacks think they have because they always seem to get in the lime light and that appears to be their only goal. If I have missed something that they have done to benefit anyone please enlighten me.

[panhandlpete]

Now Al Sharpton needs to apologize to them and resign from his radio show. It's only fair and the decent thing to do.
Posted by kevsan1 at 09:28 PM : Apr 12, 2007

Great Idea!!! But, never happen. Why? Cause white folks don't flock together, and have been pushed down through reverse discrimination until they are afraid to be politically incorrect about anything. Can you think of any one who dares to say discrimination against whites by blacks is practiced, openly in public, via their songs, their TV stations, their radio shows, their Universities, and their mouthpieces?

Al Sharpton gets my vote to be fired from his radio show because he is a RACIST who promotes racial prejudice, not harmony. When you go out and say all the things he said against those three young men, and others in the past, how can anyone NOT call him a RACIST?

[afmca]

North Carolina and the DNA testing lab should pick up the tab for the lawyers plus give each kid 1 million to restart their lives. If Sharpton and Jackson do not make PUBLIC apologies to all 3 Duke players it shows they are total hypocrits and reverse racists. Big mouths, no proof -- moral crusaders of questionable morality.

[stlcrdfn]

What happens now to the team coach. He is also a victim of this scam because he lost his job. Why is there no mention of compensation for him? He lost his job due to this fiasco!

[honest_news]

At the very least, the State of North Carolina has a moral and legal obligation to pay restitution to the families of the three falsely accused students and to the other players adversely impacted by the DA's abuse of his office. This would include not only their $5 million in attorneys fees, but also compensation for the lost year of their lives.

If North Carolina in turn wishes to recoup some or all of this loss from Nifong, so be it, but the state needs to be held accountable for the false accusations and incompetence of its official(s), and by doing so learn that there is a real cost to a rush to judgment and political expediency at the expense of innocent lives.

[kailumego1]

You people are really full of yourselves, this man was doing his job, under pressure, of course, but he did his job.

How many prosecuting attorneys you know of, have been disbarred, because they went ahead a tried a case based on circumstantial evidence????? Two women were just convicted of killing their spouses based on circumstantial evidence, so where was the outrage.
You people scream vociferously over Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson misrepresenting themselves and acting too overzealous, jumping to conclusions before researching all the evidence.

However, if the legal system wasn't so jaded and arbitrary filled with capriciousnesses then there would be no need for an Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson.

This legal system has been and continues to be tainted by "institutional racism", of which this case is a pivotal example how the law works for some and not others.

As the attorney mentioned these three young men are lucky, because they are a privilege class in society, and as such, are afforded special circumstances, which most defendants aren't.

It's because of this injustice that lingers over the legal system that Sharpton and Jackson feel compelled to overreact or oversimplify an otherwise uncomplicated situation.

One thing that is crystal clear, a majority of whites are going to stick together no matter right/wrong. It's too bad blacks haven't learned this valued lesson.

[falstaff164]

Sharpton apologize? He still can't own up that the Tawana Brawley case was a sham from the get-go. He can't admit that his anti-Jewish/Antiwhite rhetoric caused the deaths of 7 people in NYC. and some Australian kid stabbed to death in Brooklyn. Sharpton is a huckster of the worst stripe and a hypocrite to boot.

[tksn1966]

I completely agree, that at this point, Jackson and Sharpton need to be apologizing to these young white men. They stepped in the middle of this mess and persecuted these boys long before anyone had any idea what really happened. Why the double standard? They are no better than what they claim Imus is.

[richwig-2009]

Your headline refers to the "Duke DA." Duke is a private university. It has no DA, no police force, no standing as a city or a county. Your headline is therefore nonsensical on its face.

Your headline should say "DA in Duke Case Apologizes."

[luigi999-2009]

Well, where are the apologies from Jesse & Sharpton? What a bunch of hypocrites! Ha!

[jwhitmann]

Don Imus was a big enough man to apologize.

Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be man enough to apologize to these innocent Duke boys for the false accusations and presumptions they stirred up in Durham, NC.

I won't be holding my breath.

...

Posted by processor2 at 12:03 PM : Apr 12, 2007

FANTASTIC POST

[kevsan1]

Now Al Sharpton needs to apologize to them and resign from his radio show. It's only fair and the decent thing to do.

[barbaraf4]

[A proper headline would read: "DA in Duke Case Apologizes to Lacrosse Players."]
Posted by richwig at 09:19 PM : Apr 12, 2007

The apology is a start. Now, he needs to apologize to everybody else and their dogs. Then he needs to have his career destroyed and anything he has ever done well discounted.

Silly man. Did he really think a heartfelt apology was enough?

[eccentric506]

Although Mr. Nifong erred considerably in his position as District Attorney, the knee-jerk news nerds kept adding fuel to the fire--they went to great lengths to harm, intimidate, and otherwise ruin the lives of these young men, fires stoked in part by the Reverends? Jackson and Sharpton (Reverend being an adjective denoting good) and hence questionable.

If lawsuits are in the works the inclusionary parties to the defendancy of the suits should be the fifth estate whose efforts to destroy these athletes went exceptionally beyond reason.

[richwig-2009]

Your headline says "Duke DA Apologizes To Lacrosse Players".

This makes no sense at all. Duke University is a private school. It is not a city or a county. As such, Duke doesn't have a District Attorney. It's Durham County in which Duke resides, and therefore it is the Durham DA.

A proper headline would read: "DA in Duke Case Apologizes to Lacrosse Players."

[kaili3]

I seen on Fox news, a woman interviewing a member of the black panthers, this guy is still blaming whites who brought the slaves over 200 yrs ago!
come on,are we still hearing this? none of us were even alive then.
and he also called the lady commentator a 'bill o'reilly ' ***. nice huh.