Stormy DA at center of lacrosse case

Nifong -- seen as passionate, dogged, able -- has stepped onto a national stage

******

CORRECTION

A biographical box accompanying a front-page profile of Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong on Sunday incorrectly reported how much his salary increased when he was appointed Durham's district attorney. Just before he was appointed district attorney, Nifong earned $106,397. When he became district attorney, he began making $123,670. He now earns $133,082.

******

DURHAM -- Anyone who asks why Mike Nifong won't drop the Duke University lacrosse rape case doesn't know Mike Nifong.

In his long career, Nifong has earned a reputation as a prosecutor who charges hard at his opposition and relishes going to trial. Although his unpredictable behavior might puzzle some observers of the lacrosse case, it is vintage Nifong.

For six months, Nifong has been the public face of -- and the driving force behind -- the case against three Duke lacrosse players who are accused of raping a woman hired to dance at a team party. Even after DNA tests came back negative or inconclusive, and evidence emerged that contradicts the state's case, Nifong pressed ahead.

He was so confident in the accuser's story and his case that he refused to meet with lawyers who said they could prove players' innocence. He bickered with the lawyers in the media and needled them in court. The faith in his case was a familiar posture for a man who, with talent and the resources of the state on his side for nearly 30 years, is accustomed to having the upper hand.

In more than 300 felony trials and countless pleas, Nifong's confidence and bluster have served him and Durham County well. For most of his career, he has been sending to prison people who belonged there.

But Duke lacrosse is not just any Durham case. The defense team is well-funded and includes some of the most highly regarded lawyers in the state. In filings and the media, they have counterattacked in an effort to dismantle Nifong's case against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.

The case has drawn national media attention, and Nifong's saber-rattling has been on display for the world.

Nifong, 56, is a prosecutor, not a politician. The lacrosse case was the first time he had to be both -- the investigation began a year after the governor appointed him district attorney. And when Nifong's early assurances that lacrosse players raped a dancer didn't jibe with the evidence that became public, his critics accused him of using the case for political gain. The weaknesses in the case have led to an election challenge from a write-in candidate and an organized effort to have voters pick anyone but Nifong on Nov. 7.

If Nifong wins the election, he will face the fight of his professional life when the case goes to trial next year. "He's staked his reputation and probably to a larger extent his career on this case," said Jim Cooney, a Charlotte criminal defense lawyer who is not involved in the lacrosse case but has been involved in many high-profile criminal cases.

Nifong declined to answer questions for this story. The News & Observer interviewed nearly two dozen people, reviewed court files and listened to recordings of him in court. The interviews and documents help shed light on why, when saddled with a case that another prosecutor might have dropped, Nifong has chosen to continue.

Faith in key witness

At the trial, Nifong's key witness will be the accuser, who will presumably testify that she was raped by Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann. Under North Carolina law, her accusation is enough evidence to take the case to a jury.

From the start, lawyers for team members have said her story is a lie. They have highlighted every inconsistency in her account as evidence that she is a "false accuser," as one of Evans' attorneys, Joseph B. Cheshire V, calls her. When the time comes for her to testify, she will be under fire. She can expect questions about a history of bipolar disorder and her career as an exotic dancer, performing for private parties or couples in hotel rooms.