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NC state bar files more ethics charges against Duke lacrosse prosecutor
Eds: ADDS details, background. Will be LED from 10 a.m. scheduling conference. Moving on general news and sports services.
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The state bar has added ethics charges to a complaint filed against the prosecutor who brought sexual assault charges against three Duke lacrosse players, accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and making misleading statements to the court.
The new charges by the North Carolina State Bar against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong were announced Wednesday and could lead to his removal from the state bar, according to a copy of the updated complaint.
Nifong’s office arranged for a private lab to conduct DNA testing as part of the investigation into allegations three men raped a 28-year-old woman hired to perform as a stripper at a party thrown by the lacrosse team last March.
Those tests uncovered genetic material from several men on the woman’s underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player. The bar complaint alleges those results weren’t released to defense lawyers in a timely fashion and that Nifong repeatedly said in court he had turned over all evidence that would potentially benefit the defense.
Nifong’s actions constitute a “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion ... prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the complaint read.
Nifong was to appear with his attorney at a procedural conference Wednesday morning to discuss scheduling and other administrative details of the ethics complaint.
Last month, the bar charged Nifong with violating four rules of professional conduct by making misleading and inflammatory comments about the athletes under suspicion. Citing the conflict of interest created by the ethics charges, Nifong asked the state attorney general’s office to take over the lacrosse case.
Attorney General Roy Cooper has pledged a thorough review of the remaining charges pending against lacrosse players Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. While Nifong dropped rape charges in late December after the accuser changed a key detail in her story, they are still charged with sexual offense and kidnapping.
All have strongly maintained their innocence.