Allegation that he withheld evidence in Duke lacrosse case won’t be dismissed
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer
RALEIGH – A State Bar panel on Friday denied Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong’s request for dismissal of the most serious allegation against him — that he withheld DNA evidence favorable to three defendants in the Duke lacrosse case.
F. Lane Williamson, chairman of the three-member Disciplinary Hearing Commission, announced the decision late Friday afternoon after nearly 20 minutes of deliberation.
The decision was another blow to Nifong in a week that brought a harsh rebuke from the state attorney general over his handling of the lacrosse case, dismissal of all charges against the three players accused of sexual assault and calls for the Durham district attorney to resign.
David Freedman, one of two Winston-Salem lawyers representing Nifong, said resignation had not been discussed. “Here’s a man who’s devoted his whole life to public service. He still wants to serve people,” Freedman said after the hearing.A crush of TV crews, photographers and reporters followed Nifong from the State Bar offices on Fayetteville Street to a parking deck several blocks away. “You’ll look good in an orange jumpsuit,” a heckler yelled.
Nifong had little to say Friday. “I’ll do my talking inside the courtroom,” he said.
One of the bar complaints against Nifong is that he made prejudicial statements in March and April when he called the lacrosse players hooligans.
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