Prosecutor in Duke case says he'll resign

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Testifying in defense of his conduct in the sexual assault case against three Duke University lacrosse players, Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong cried and conceded that he had made mistakes, apologized to the accused and their families for the hurt the prosecution had caused, and announced his intention to resign.

"To the extent that my actions have caused pain to Finnertys, the Seligmanns, the Evanses, I apologize," he said yesterday during the emotional conclusion to his direct testimony at a North Carolina State Bar hearing.

"To the extent that my actions have brought disrespect or disrepute to the bar, to my community, I apologize."

But through the tears, and in a halting, quavering voice, he stuck by the contention that he had only been trying to "do the right thing," and did not intentionally withhold evidence or try to mislead.

"I cannot admit that I told a lie that I did not tell, and I still intend to defend myself against these allegations," he said.

Joseph Cheshire V, who represents David Evans, one of the accused lacrosse players , called the apology "a cynical ploy to save his law license." The apology, Cheshire said, came too late.

A three-person panel of the bar is considering charges that Nifong violated ethics rules while pursuing rape allegations, brought by a stripper hired to perform at a team party, against the three players. The state attorney general in April dropped the charges against the players.

The bar complaint accuses Nifong of making prejudicial statements in the case's early stages, of lying to a judge, and of withholding exculpatory DNA evidence.

If he is found guilty, the panel could suspend his law license or disbar him.

Regarding the charges, Nifong acknowledged that some of his public statements did violate rules, but he characterized the withholding of the exculpatory DNA evidence as unintentional -- a bureaucratic mishap, he said.

As the case drew ever-larger news media coverage, Nifong had, among other things, referred to the players as a bunch of hooligans and said that they were protecting one another behind a wall of silence.

He testified here that some of his own statements in retrospect "made me cringe" and when asked by his own lawyers if the statements violate the rules, Nifong answered, "Yes, I would have to say so."

Asked if his statements could have made the media scrutiny more intense, Nifong said: "It's possible. The media attention would have been tremendous anyway. But I did not intend for my statements to have that effect."

Nifong denied that the months of withholding the DNA evidence -- which showed other men's DNA present but not that of the accused players -- was malicious.

Instead, he said, it was a result of an oversight caused in part by his lack of careful notes.

He testified that he did not ask the DNA lab director to omit the complete findings from the report and discovered their absence only after defense attorneys discovered it on their own.

The ramifications of his pursuit of the allegations also became clearer yesterday, as Reade Seligmann, one of the three players accused, testified about the effect the allegations had on his family.

Seligmann choked back tears and brought tears to the eyes of family members when he described how he learned that he had been picked out of a lineup by the accuser.

He was in his lawyer's office, he said, when the secretary came in and said, "Mike Nifong is on the phone."

"He picks up the phone. You could see the color in his face just changing. . . . The room was spinning," Seligmann said. "My dad just fell to the floor, and I just sat on the ground, and I said, 'My life is over.' "

He then called his mother.

"I said, 'Mom are you alone right now?' She said, 'Yeah what's going on?' " he testified. "I said, 'She picked me.' I could hear her on the other end of the phone. The life was just sucked right out of her."

But it was the climax of Nifong's testimony that was the day's riveting focal point.

After hours of testimony in which he calmly explained details of the case and showed only a few signs of tension -- nervous eye-blinking and swallowing -- Nifong was asked if he wanted to add anything else.

He did. The address that followed reflected a remarkable turnabout not only in the legal sense but in the personal one.

Last year, Nifong had taken on the case with classic prosecutorial bluster. He became a nationally known figure.

Then as the case collapsed, he maintained an aloof silence that mystified even the shrinking ranks of his defenders.

After the attorney general cleared the players, Nifong issued an apology, but only in a written statement.

The tearful address at the hearing ended the emotional distance.

"Throughout my time," he began, his voice rising over the last word, then added, "This is going to be difficult."

"I will go to my grave being associated with this case," he said. "And that's OK."

"I don't have a problem with that. I took the responsibility on myself," Nifong said.