Sheriff strips Nifong of access card, key

DURHAM -- The Durham County sheriff today stripped District Attorney Mike Nifong of his official access card and his office key after the county's top judge suspended him from office.

Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson filed his order this morning, suspending Nifong with pay. Nifong did not go to his office today.

Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill then went to Nifong's house with a deputy to serve the Hudson's order.

"We took his keys and his badge that gave him access to the building," the Associated Press quoted Hill as saying. "We'll make arrangements to help him get his personal belongings later.

"I've been in law enforcement since 1959, and this is the first time I can recall something like this taking place. We would prefer not to be involved with something like this, but it's our duty and responsibility."

The sheriff called Nifong before going to his house, said Rick Buchanan, a spokesman for Hill. Nifong cooperated in handing over the access and his keys, Buchanan said.

In the order suspending Nifong, Hudson said the prosecutor's conduct in the Duke lacrosse case had brought the office of district attorney into disrepute.

Nifong pursued charges against three former players after a stripper said she had been raped at a team party in March 2006.

The state attorney general this year cleared them of the charges and slammed Nifong's actions in the case.

A State Bar disciplinary panel on Saturday disbarred Nifong, saying he had violated professional ethics by withholding evidence from the players' lawyers and making inflammatory, prejudicial comments about the case, among other things.

By suspending Nifong with pay, Hudson took a first step in a process that allows Superior Court judges to oust district attorneys, elected officers of the court.

Hudson appointed Wake County lawyer Robert Zaytoun to help prosecute the case against Nifong, if necessary.

Gov. Mike Easley, who appointed Nifong to fill a vacancy in 2005, said Monday that he would begin looking for a replacement for Nifong.

Nifong announced during the State Bar hearing that he would resign as district attorney. "It has become increasingly apparent during the course of this week ... that my presence as the district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice," he said at the time.

But Hudson decided to suspend him after Nifong said he intended his resignation to take effect July 13.

James Coleman, a Duke law professor and critic of Nifong's, said he was troubled by a statement that Nifong made Friday after his emotional resignation speech.

When asked what he thought happened at the lacrosse party from which the gang-rape allegations emerged, Nifong said he thought "something happened" -- though not a sexual assault -- in the bathroom of the party house.

"Even if he believed that, it just showed such a lack of grace in the circumstances," Coleman said. "It's just as inexplicable as his other conduct in the case. It was like he was not only trying to slime the three students but all the other members of the team."

Meanwhile on Monday, Duke University announced a settlement with the former lacrosse players. Neither Duke nor the players disclosed how much money changed hands, but the university, which had suspended the players still enrolled at the time of the accusation, expressed regret.

Some experts said Duke's settlement with the players is an attempt to get the story out of the headlines.

"The university just wants this to go away," said law professor Carl Tobias, who teaches torts and constitutional law at the University of Richmond. A lawsuit and trial would expose e-mail and other internal communication, potentially producing embarrassing facts about Duke's handling of the case, he said.

"Duke's reputation is the central piece of this," said Tobias, who graduated from Duke in 1968.

Duke President Richard Brodhead today met with university employees today but did not mention the lacrosse case.