Nifong Probe Possible, U.S. Attorney General Says

Raleigh, N.C. — The United States Attorney General suggested Sunday that his office might investigate the way District Attorney Mike Nifong has handled the Duke lacrosse rape case.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed he received a letter asking for a federal probe into the investigation, in which an exotic dancer claims three lacrosse players raped her at a March 13 party.

"Well, that is a letter that we recently received," Gonzales told Fox News' Brian Wilson. "It's being evaluated at the (Department of Justice). I can't say anything -- anything beyond that."

Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-North Carolina, sent Gonzales the letter last week asking for a federal investigation into possible prosecutorial misconduct, and specifically, to determine whether the defendants' civil rights were violated.

"I was offended by the way (Nifong) has handled this case," Jones told WRAL last week. "I think he has been out of control."

Gonzales said that even though the case is a state and local matter, the federal government could still become involved "if an investigation is conducted in such a way that civil rights laws are violated, that would be something that we might look into," Gonzales said.

Last week, defense attorneys also filed several motions in the case. One, criticizing the way DNA evidence was revealed, indicated that no DNA from any of the defendants was found on the accuser's body but that there were numerous male matches.

"There was no attempt to hide anything from the way the report was done," Nifong told reporters on Friday. "If anything, we were trying to be fair to all the people who were not going to be involved in this case."

Other motions asked that a photographic lineup be dismissed as evidence, because it was slanted. A third motion asked for a change of venue, saying that Nifong has polarized the local community with comments he made during the initial stages of the investigation.

All three men charged in the case – David Evans, 23, Collin Finnerty, 20, and Reade Seligmann, 20 -- have maintained their innocence from the beginning.

The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 when defense attorneys are expected to ask Judge Osmond Smith to throw out the photo identification lineup.

The accuser in this case is also expected to be in court.

22 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 22 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

This is funny ; the "voters" recall this Idiot ?

Just look at who makes up the majority of the Durham voters !

DUH !

geowilrlst
December 20, 2006 1:04 a.m.

I believe that this trial must go forward and should not be dismissed so there are no remaining questions as to the defendants innocence. I believe that for their sakes and reputations that this case must go to trial. I think that if allowed to be dismissed that the people that truely believe that they are guilty will still believe that and won't have been proven wrong in their beliefs.

Crystal
December 18, 2006 5:53 p.m.

Maybe it is time that Nifong is removed from office by a recall petition- The voters need to fire him!

kahamom
December 18, 2006 3:08 p.m.

Every prosecutor who has been around for more than 10 minutes knows of their obligation to turn over exculpatory material to the defense. Exculpatory material includes material which has any tendency to show either that a crime was not committed, or that someone other than the defendant(s) committed the crime. DNA material from multiple other men found inside the alleged victim's body is exculpatory under any reasonable definition of the word. For Nifong and the lab director to agree (conspire) to omit such information from the lab's final report, which without question will be an evidence exhibit in any trial, borders on obstruction of justice. But, alas, considering the N.C. State Bar's handling of the Hoke/Graves cheating episode in Bertie County, and the Honeycutt/Parker cheating episode in Union County, and with Attorney General Roy Cooper all tied up with the Tennessee pollution case, Nifong shouldn't worry too much about adverse consequences.

ghwhitaker1_old
December 18, 2006 3:01 p.m.

With all the other crime going on in this country why is so much attention being paid to this one case, is it because it a black woman accusing rich white men or do you think their is some injustice going on because there are plenty of innocent men and women in America jails and I don't see this much talk about them. No DA wins every case so let this on play out.