Lab chief: Nifong said don't report all DNA data

Testimony reveals that lab testing that could have been favorable to defendants in the Duke lacrosse case was omitted from a report and was not disclosed to the defense

The head of a private DNA laboratory testified Friday that he and District Attorney Mike Nifong agreed last spring not to report DNA results favorable to Duke lacrosse players charged with rape.

The testimony of DNA Security director Brian Meehan could create difficulties inside and outside the courtroom for Nifong. The district attorney did not challenge Meehan's testimony, but he said after court that he did not withhold evidence. He said the defense could have asked for that material all along.

North Carolina law requires Nifong to hand over all evidence regardless of whether it has been requested. The sanctions for violating this law could include a dismissal of all charges against the three players.

Friday's testimony also will provide grist for those calling for Nifong to be disciplined or prosecuted. A North Carolina congressman recently asked the FBI to investigate the case. And the N.C. State Bar has received a number of complaints calling for Nifong to be disciplined for his public comments condemning the lacrosse players and for directing a police photo identification lineup that violated Durham Police Department policies.

"I tell you, the more you hear about his missteps, the more you have to question whether it's purely a matter of incompetence or worse," said James E. Coleman, a law professor at Duke University who has been critical of Nifong.

In court Friday, Meehan said his lab found DNA from unidentified men in the underwear and body of the woman who said she was gang-raped at a lacrosse party in March. Nurses at Duke Hospital collected her underwear and samples from her body a few hours after the alleged assault. Meehan said the DNA did not come from Reade Seligmann, David Evans, or Collin Finnerty, who have been charged with rape and sexual assault in the case.

Privacy concerns

Meehan struggled to say why he didn't include the evidence in a report dated May 12, almost a month after Seligmann and Finnerty had been indicted. Under pointed questioning by defense lawyer Bradley Bannon, Meehan cited concerns about the privacy of the lacrosse players, the fact that he didn't know whose DNA it was, and his discussions with Nifong at meetings in his Burlington lab.

"Had Mr. Nifong said, 'We want a report on everything,' that is what we would produce," Meehan said.

"You violated the protocols of your own lab," Bannon said.

"Correct ... I don't have a legal explanation for it," Meehan said. "I was just trying to do the right thing."

A standing-room only crowd packed a small courtroom. Reporters and bloggers stood along the walls, friends and family of the accused filled the seats, and a half-dozen lacrosse players and other Duke students sat in the jury box.

The three defendants sat at the table with their legal teams, the first time the former teammates -- Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md.; Finnerty, 20, of Garden City, N.Y.; and Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J. -- have been in court together. Charged with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense, they have said that they are innocent and that the accusations are lies.

In April, Meehan told a Durham police investigator that his firm was eager to be involved in the case, according to the investigator's notes. Friday's hearing was not a good advertisement.

Besides acknowledging breaking his own rules, Meehan said he didn't keep logs of phone calls, e-mail messages or notes of meetings. And he failed to report in May that a tiny bit of his own DNA, perhaps a single cell, had probably contaminated one piece of evidence.

"This goes to the credibility of your lab, correct?" Bannon asked.