Ex-lacrosse players can pursue lawsuit against Nifong

DURHAM — Former District Attorney Mike Nifong will not be able to hide from a lawsuit in bankruptcy court, a federal judge ruled today.

The three exonerated lacrosse players who filed suit against the fallen prosecutor in October will be able to pursue their claims in federal civil court, Judge William L. Stocks ruled.

The ruling came more than a month after lawyers representing the players and Nifong presented their arguments in court.

Nifong was stripped of his law license and ousted from office last summer for his misconduct in the Duke lacrosse case.

Nifong was supposed to file a response to the players’ claims of malicious prosecution by Jan. 15. Instead, he filed for bankruptcy protection, listing potential debts of more than $180 million.

In late January, U.S. District Judge James A. Beatty ordered that Nifong be dropped from the suit brought by Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, the three former Duke lacrosse players. The players fought phony gang-rape allegations for 13 months before the state attorney general declared them innocent of the charges against them.

Filing for bankruptcy puts any civil claims on hold while a bankruptcy judge sorts out the claims against the debtor.

Stocks said in his filing today that the bankruptcy court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the bulk of the players’ claims against Nifong.

In their lawsuit, the players allege that Nifong, the city of Durham, the DNA laboratory hired by Nifong and others associated with the case conspired to falsely charge them with gang-rape even though they knew that the allegations were “a total fabrication.”