The lawyers thought District Attorney Mike Nifong was unpredictable. Stunned by his public statements, which grew more strident, defense lawyer Joseph B. Cheshire V tried to talk with the prosecutor.Cheshire didn't know that Nifong harbored a visceral dislike for him; all four of Cheshire's namesakes were lawyers, and Nifong often referred to Cheshire sneeringly as "Joseph Blount Cheshire the Fifth."

Cheshire wasn't prepared for the prosecutor's response to his request to talk, which Nifong's paralegal dictated to Cheshire's paralegal: Nifong "is not going to talk with any attorneys while there have been no charges filed, and ... if Joe Cheshire feels that his client should be charged, then he should tell the police department."

Behind the bluster was a crumbling case. Between March 28 and 30, forensic biologists at the State Bureau of Investigation had tested swabs taken from Crystal Mangum's body. They found no presence of semen, blood or saliva. SBI phone logs show the laboratory workers spoke with Nifong on March 30.

As the chances of a genetic identification dwindled, Nifong pursued an old-style tactic. During the previous two weeks, Mangum had viewed photos of 36 players and did not identify any as her assailants.

On March 31, Nifong met with the two investigators in the case, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb and Investigator Benjamin Himan, to discuss how to use the new mug shots police had taken of the 46 white members of the lacrosse team. Mangum had said her attackers were white.

According to Gottlieb's report on the case: "Mr. Nifong suggested we put together the mug shot style photographs into a group since we are under the impression the players at the party were members of the Duke Lacrosse Team and instead of doing a lineup or photographic array, we would merely ask the victim to look at each picture and see if she recalled seeing the individuals at the party."

Against policy

This procedure violated Durham Police Department policy requiring five photographs of "fillers" -- people not associated with the case -- for each picture of a suspect. The 46 lacrosse players were all suspects, so the photo array should have had five fillers for every player, 276 photos in all. Gottlieb promptly discussed Nifong's procedure with his supervisors, Capt. Jeff Lamb and Lt. Michael Ripberger. No one vetoed Nifong's plan.

Lamb, Chief Steve Chalmers and the rest of the Durham Police Department have refused to answer questions about the lineup or the handling of the case.

The policy also said officers unfamiliar with the case should run the lineup, to avoid the risk of suggesting whom to pick.

Despite the policy, Gottlieb, the senior investigator on the case, conducted the lineup late on the morning of April 4. Mangum picked out four men as her assailants: Matt Wilson, Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and Dave Evans. Previously, Mangum had told Gottlieb that three men assaulted her. Nifong's files show no evidence that he, Gottlieb or police sought to sort out the discrepancy.

Gottlieb and Investigator Michele Soucie went directly to Nifong's office to brief him on the results of the identification process at 1:21 p.m.

Minutes after that session, defense lawyer Bill Thomas stopped at Nifong's office and requested a meeting. Thomas had known him since Nifong started working as a Durham prosecutor. The two had faced off in many serious cases, and while tempers had flared on both sides, the two always maintained a professional relationship. When Nifong declared he was running for district attorney, Thomas was one of the first to back him, contributing $1,000 to his campaign in January 2006.

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