Nifong or any DA can dismiss any charges they want AT ANY TIME. Whether Mangum wants a prosecution is irrelevant. Members of the public do not get to decide who the state prosecutes. That is long established.
He can drop the charges but would he? I don't think so. Not if the accuser wants to go forward. There would be huge political ramifications for him. Also I think he has some serious resentments against these guys and he is too stubborn to back down.
Quite right.