Early defender of Duke lacrosse players dies

Kirk Osborn, a prominent Chapel Hill lawyer who was an early outspoken defender of the Duke University lacrosse players, died this morning of a heart attack, his wife said today.

Osborn suffered a heart attack on Friday, said Tania Osborn, his wife. He died at 12:47 a.m. today.

Osborn was a respected lawyer who had been in high-profile cases for years. He had participated in a number of death penalty cases and his wife said he was most proud that he had never lost a death penalty case.

He handled an appeal for Kathryn Dawn Wilson, who was charged in the infamous Little Rascals case, in which authorities in Edenton accused owners and operators of a day care of child abuse. Osborn eventually won a new trial for Wilson, who eventually saw the charges against her dismissed, according to Osborn's web site.

Most recently, Osborn was an attorney for Reade Seligmann, 21, who with two other lacrosse players are charged with sexually assaulting an escort service dancer hired to perform for a Duke lacrosse team party in March. Osborn was aggressive early with his defense. He filed a motion seeking to have Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong removed from the case, accusing the prosecutor of going after the lacrosse players to win votes.

Osborn's court filings announced to the world that despite Nifong's assurances that a rape occurred, Seligmann had phone records, receipts, security camera images and a cab driver that would show he was almost a mile away when the woman said he was participating in her rape.

Seligmann's alibi, which Nifong protested proved nothing, helped convince many that the allegations against Seligmann, Dave Evans, 23, and Collin Finnerty, 20, were untrue.

After the State Bar charged Nifong with ethics violations, he asked the state Attorney General to take over the case. Two veteran prosecutors are reviewing the case and will decide whether to press forward.