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Nifong faces additional ethics charges [Breaking....news...

By Joseph Neff and Ben Niolet, Staff Writers, N&O, Jan 24, 2007 09:58 AM

Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong withheld DNA evidence in the Duke lacrosse case and then lied about it to judges and the North Carolina State Bar, according to a complaint filed today by the bar, which licenses and regulates lawyers.

Today's complaint ratchets up the legal troubles facing Nifong; in December the bar had charged Nifong with making inflammatory public statements to the media and misrepresenting the facts in the case.

In April, Nifong sought and received a judge's permission to go to a private laboratory for additional DNA testing in the case, saying "the DNA evidence requested will immediately rule out any innocent persons."

The test results from DNA Security of Burlington found DNA from at least four unidentified men in and on the accuser and excluded the entire lacrosse team as the source. The bar's complaint said Nifong hid these results from defense lawyers, who repeatedly asked for all DNA test results. Nifong then lied to the court, either on paper or in direct comments to a judge, on five occasions, the complaint said.

When the State Bar notified Nifong on Dec. 20 that the organization was investigating the withheld evidence and false statements, Nifong acknowledged that he knew of the DNA results in April and May, the complaint said. Nifong told the bar that he withheld the results out of concerns for the players' privacy concerns.

That response was false, the bar said, because the DNA Security report listed the names of all the people tested, including the 46 lacrosse players.

The three players charged - Reade Seligmann, David Evans and Collin Finnerty - have denied the charges and declared their innocence. Earlier this month, Nifong handed the case over to the Attorney General's office because of the pending bar charges.

Nifong is scheduled to make his first appearance this morning at the bar. Depending on the outcome, he could lose his license to practice law.

http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/535642.html