Posted on 07/26/2007 8:54:27 AM PDT by beaureguard
DURHAM, N.C. — Disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong acknowledged Thursday there is "no credible evidence" that three Duke lacrosse players committed any of the crimes he accused them of more than a year ago, offering for the first time a complete and unqualified apology.
"We all need to heal," Nifong said. "It is my hope we can start this process today."
Nifong's apology came as a judge began considering whether to hold the former Durham County district attorney in criminal contempt of court for his handling of the case.
Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III has already concluded there is probable cause to believe Nifong "willfully and intentionally made false statements of material fact" to the court during a hearing in the case last fall. If he finds Nifong in contempt, the now-disbarred former prosecutor could face up to 30 days in jail.
The case started with a woman's allegations that she was raped at a March 2006 lacrosse team party where she was hired as a stripper. Nifong won indictments against three team members, but the charges were later dropped, and state Attorney General Roy Cooper went a step farther by declaring the three men innocent victims of Nifong's "tragic rush to accuse."
On Thursday, Nifong apologized.
"I agree with state Attorney General there is no credible evidence that (the players) ... committed any of the crimes of which they were indicted," he said.
Attorneys for the three falsely accused players, who had previously rejected Nifong's attempts to make amends, accepted his apology.
"For many months, we have sought a real and meaningful apology from Mr. Nifong, for the pain he has caused these families and these young men, the entire Duke lacrosse team, the state of North Carolina and others," said attorney Joseph Cheshire.
"We are very appreciative that Mr. Nifong decided to do that today," he said. "We don't deny it was a difficult thing."
The men's attorneys had asked Smith to hold Nifong in contempt for telling the court he had provided the defense complete results from DNA testing when he had not.
Nifong learned in April 2006 the laboratory found genetic material from multiple males on and about the accuser, but none from the lacrosse players. He didn't provide that information to the defense until October, and only then in the form of nearly 2,000 pages of raw DNA test data.
A disciplinary hearing committee of the state bar stripped Nifong of his law license last month after finding he had committed more than two dozen violations of the state's rules of professional conduct during the case.
He’s wrong. He committed one IMO.
Scum.
If it wasn’t so impossibly hard to feel sorry for psychopaths, I could almost feel sorry for the guy....
“We all need to heal,” meaning, “we all need NOT TO SUE ME PLEASE.”
The age-old cry of the (Leftist) liar, when caught.
Why is he not in jail being someone’s b**ch?
You don’t want to miss this mocking of Nifong - http://youtube.com/watch?v=bCW9POHFWQU
Apology Too little. Too late.
Abuse of power has very serious consequences Mike.
You have made a mockery of Prosecutors Mike.
You should lose everything. Not even a 7-11 will want to hire you Mike.
Whats changed?
Thats right, he is facing total financial ruin when the guys come after him and he is trying to clean up some statements in his defense.
That he is not in jail NOW, indicates the absence of justice.
It is JUST THEM.
This guy has disgraced prosecutors from coast to coast. The prosecutors are supposed to be the good guys. It’s the defense lawyers that are the slimy ones that pull the kind of stunts he did.
“we all need to heal.”
he figuratively assaulted three innocent young men, attempted to destroy them, put them through unimaginable misery, was on a power-induced high from his malfeasance, and “we” all need to heal, he says. (he hasn’t even been wounded.)
Cut his head off.
The healing process will start when Nifong does the right thing and shoots himself. I'll donate the bullet, Mike.
Why does she still get the “not-named victim treatment” from the press when it turns out that she wasn’t the victim?
Its the media who should be targeted next, for their looking for the next white defendent to smear. Two cases of black athletes charged with rape have appeared in the last few months and yet we have no sat truck feeding frenzy in those locals.
other than his own, as you point out.
I dunno - I think an immediate firing of the disgraced and utterly disgraceful Duke 88 ought to be the first step in the healing process. It’d sure make me feel better and the university would be much the better for it. All of higher education would be better for that bunch learning to wash cars and ask “yew wan’ frahs wid dat?”
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