February 11, 2009 4:42 PM
- Text
Duke Lacrosse DA Nifong Says He'll Resign
(CBS/AP)
A tearful Mike Nifong said Friday he will resign as district attorney after admitting that he made improper statements about three Duke University lacrosse players who were once charged with raping a stripper.
"My community has suffered enough," Nifong said from the witness stand at his ethics trial on allegations that he violated rules of professional conduct in his handling of the case.
The players were later declared innocent by state prosecutors.
The North Carolina State Bar said Nifong withheld DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys, lied to the court and bar investigators, and made misleading and inflammatory comments about the three athletes, who were cleared of charges they raped a stripper at a team party in March 2006.
Nifong said he did not make all the mistakes alleged by the bar, "but they are my mistakes."
"It has become increasingly apparent, during the course of this week, in some ways that it might not have been before, that my presence as the district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice," Nifong said.
Nifong was on the witness stand for most of the day, but he took nine sometimes awkward, sometimes tearful minutes to try to save his name and his law license, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.
"As my parents raised me to try to do the right thing, and i have always been willing to take responsibility for the things that I have done, right or wrong. I take responsibility for the things that I have done in this case," he said.
Then, for the first and only time on the witness stand, Nifong turned to Reade Seligmann and his parents seated in court, and Colin Finnerty and his parents one row behind them.
"When I saw Mr. Seligman on the stand today, I thought that his parents must be very proud of him. I am very proud of my son and I want him to be proud of me. And I felt that it was important for him to see this because I've always told him that in this case, although I've made mistakes, I was trying to do the right thing," Nifong said.
Nifong's soft-spoken statements were barely audible in the courtroom, where observers leaned forward in their chairs as they struggled to hear Nifong through his tears. He stunned even his own attorneys and staff with the news, who said they had no idea what he had planned.
While Nifong's wife and son wept openly, most showed little sympathy for Nifong's words. Earlier, Seligmann spoke of a man who had ruined his life, reports Pitts.
"It felt like a sick joke. Like we were being toyed with. Like he was doing it maliciously on purpose to us."
"My community has suffered enough," Nifong said from the witness stand at his ethics trial on allegations that he violated rules of professional conduct in his handling of the case.
The players were later declared innocent by state prosecutors.
The North Carolina State Bar said Nifong withheld DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys, lied to the court and bar investigators, and made misleading and inflammatory comments about the three athletes, who were cleared of charges they raped a stripper at a team party in March 2006.
Nifong said he did not make all the mistakes alleged by the bar, "but they are my mistakes."
"It has become increasingly apparent, during the course of this week, in some ways that it might not have been before, that my presence as the district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice," Nifong said.
Nifong was on the witness stand for most of the day, but he took nine sometimes awkward, sometimes tearful minutes to try to save his name and his law license, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.
"As my parents raised me to try to do the right thing, and i have always been willing to take responsibility for the things that I have done, right or wrong. I take responsibility for the things that I have done in this case," he said.
Then, for the first and only time on the witness stand, Nifong turned to Reade Seligmann and his parents seated in court, and Colin Finnerty and his parents one row behind them.
"When I saw Mr. Seligman on the stand today, I thought that his parents must be very proud of him. I am very proud of my son and I want him to be proud of me. And I felt that it was important for him to see this because I've always told him that in this case, although I've made mistakes, I was trying to do the right thing," Nifong said.
Nifong's soft-spoken statements were barely audible in the courtroom, where observers leaned forward in their chairs as they struggled to hear Nifong through his tears. He stunned even his own attorneys and staff with the news, who said they had no idea what he had planned.
While Nifong's wife and son wept openly, most showed little sympathy for Nifong's words. Earlier, Seligmann spoke of a man who had ruined his life, reports Pitts.
"It felt like a sick joke. Like we were being toyed with. Like he was doing it maliciously on purpose to us."
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Scott Conroy Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.
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