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http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/15926637.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong up for election - again

AARON BEARD
Associated Press

DURHAM, N.C. - Not long after voters picked Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong in May's Democratic primary, the embattled prosecutor insisted the election wasn't a referendum on the Duke lacrosse rape case.

Six months later, that's exactly what he and voters face on Election Day.

"There have been people who have sought to paint me as some kind of evil figure in Durham or are encouraging people specifically to vote against me," Nifong said. "And that makes the dynamic in this race a little bit different."

Of that, there is no question.

After Nifong won the primary, he appeared headed toward an easy November win - there wasn't anyone else on the November ballot. But as criticism of how Nifong handled the lacrosse case increased over the summer, two candidates emerged to run on the same platform of booting Nifong from office.

Both face an uphill battle to reach that goal. County Commissioner Lewis Cheek collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot, but doesn't actually want the job. Steve Monks is a Republican running a write-in campaign in an overwhelmingly Democratic county.

Neither has vowed to end the controversial prosecution of the three lacrosse players charged with rape should they beat Nifong, who had a wide lead in the only poll taken on the race. He has generally refused to talk about the case in recent months, but told The Associated Press this week he doesn't pay much attention to his critics.

"There are people who are going to support any defendant you prosecute," Nifong said. "They're going to have friends and family members who hope you wouldn't prosecute them. It's just not the kind of job where you can achieve anything close to unanimity of approval."

Regardless of Tuesday's outcome, Nifong's name will be forever linked to the case that began when a woman told police she was raped at a March team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. The accusations came as Nifong, who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of his predecessor, was preparing for his first run for public office.

Nifong had thrust himself into the story in the days after the accusations became public, granting numerous newspaper and TV interviews. In April, a grand jury indicted players Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense.

Two weeks later, Nifong earned 45 percent of the vote to beat his two primary opponents. A grand jury later indicted a third player, David Evans, on the same charges as Seligmann and Finnerty. Defense attorneys have proclaimed their clients' innocence, and have repeatedly said Nifong used the case for political gain.

"He just says whatever he wants to say because he's got his indictment, which was based on nothing that he did to interview or check out credibility of the (accuser)," said defense attorney Joseph Cheshire, who represents Evans. "He just went and indicted these boys."

The ballot box challengers popped up this summer. While Monks only collected enough signatures to become a write-in candidate, Cheek's campaign got more than 10,000 - significantly more than the 6,303 needed to add his name to the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. But Cheek has said he would not serve if elected, which would force Gov. Mike Easley to choose a new district attorney should be win.

"For me, what ends up happening with that case still isn't the point for me," Cheek said. "The point is much bigger than that in my mind. ... The point is how is the district attorney in Durham is going to handle cases?"

Both campaigns have quibbled over which candidate has the best chance to beat Nifong and whether one should drop out so they don't split the anybody-but-Nifong vote.

"I think everybody ought to do what they think is the right thing to do," Cheek said. "I intend to vote for the name 'Lewis Cheek' on the ballot and we'll see what happens."

While it's important to have a choice other than Nifong on the ballot, Monks said, "it is even more important to replace him."