DA in Duke Case Asks to Be Removed
Jan. 13, 2007 — -- Durham, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong has requested that he have himself removed from prosecuting the Duke lacrosse sexual assault investigation. ABC News broke the story, first reporting Nifong's recusal Friday afternoon.
Three Duke lacrosse players, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, were indicted in 2006 on charges of rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping after a lacrosse team party on the night of March 13. Rape charges were dropped in December after the accuser could not recall key details of the alleged attack.
A source close to the investigation said Nifong sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper asking his office to assume responsibility of the case. A press spokeswoman for Cooper confirmed to ABC News that his office has received a request for a special prosecutor on the case.
Cooper has scheduled a 2:30 p.m. ET news conference on the case. Watch it live on ABC News Now.
Last week, that spokeswoman said the attorney general would take on the Duke lacrosse case only if requested by Nifong, consistent with North Carolina law.
Nifong initially refused to comment on the news, telling reporters he was "not commenting on this case" as he walked out of the courthouse Friday.
Roughly four months from now, Nifong will face charges of his own, after being served an ethics complaint from the North Carolina bar. He will be subject to disciplinary action for his comments to the press about the lacrosse players and the case against them, with penalties ranging from a private reprimand to disbarment.
Nifong is handing off the case less than two weeks after the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys called for his the prosecutor to step down from the prosecution. Others following the case, including Duke University President Richard Brodhead, also called for Nifong to step down, citing an irreconcilable conflict of interest: Nifong could not handle the case in a fair and independent way while he himself was facing legal action for his conduct.
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