N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper (left) announced he is dropping all remaining charges against three Duke University lacrosse players, originally accused of rape after a March 2006 party.
(ABC News)With North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's announcement today that he is dismissing all criminal charges against three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexual assault and rape, the battles for legal redress by the former defendants are set to begin.
Attorneys for the players have told ABC News that they would "explore all options." Defense sources suggested that those options would include lawsuits against Mike Nifong, the widely criticized Durham County district attorney now facing state bar ethics charges for his handling of this case, and police department, at a minimum. The players could bring lawsuits against the accuser, the police, Duke University and Duke president Richard Brodhead.
Here, ABC News, with help from outside legal experts, explores the most likely options:
The players have accused Nifong of illegally withholding crucial DNA evidence, lying to a judge, conducting a flawed and possibly illegal lineup, maliciously prosecuting them without probable cause, and making defamatory statements to the press.
While prosecutors generally have complete and absolute immunity from liability for actions taken in their official capacities, the players could argue that Nifong should lose that level of protection because he went outside his official duties and acted as an investigator, not a prosecutor, in the way he directed the lineup and intervened in the work of a private DNA lab.
If these arguments succeed, his immunity will become "qualified," making him liable for all actions that he knew or should have known were illegal.
The players could then sue Nifong for deprivation of constitutional rights (due process and the right to a fair trial) under a federal civil rights law, abuse of process and malicious prosecution, defamation of character, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, and "outrageous conduct," a catchall for any misconduct that "shocks the conscience."
