Durham's debate: Pay or fight

Some find players' demand for $30 million excessive

As three exonerated Duke lacrosse players threaten a lawsuit against Durham for their treatment by police, their reported demand for $30 million has prompted a gasp of "How much?" from some residents and taxpayers.

Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, some in Durham say, are beginning to come across as greedy, more concerned about hitting the jackpot at public expense than as the champions of the less affluent they billed themselves to be.

Supporters, however, caution that such contemptuous reactions could amount to another rush to judgment of players who at the start were portrayed as hooligans and later as heroes triumphing over injustice.

Mayor Bill Bell has been hearing from city residents about the settlement proposal. A common theme of the e-mail he has received is that the players are asking too much and the city should take its chances in court.

In Durham, $30 million averages out to about $142 for each of the city's roughly 210,000 residents. The settlement demanded by the players -- widely reported though not confirmed by the city or the players' attorneys -- would be paid over five years and would probably require a slight tax increase.

Jackie Brown, a Durham political insider, said she has been hearing from both sides.

"I've had people to call me and say, 'I've supported these guys all the way, but $30 million is way over the top,' " said Brown, a onetime ally turned harsh critic of Mike Nifong, the disbarred district attorney who prosecuted the Duke lacrosse case.

"Then I've had people call and say [the players] deserved the money for what they went through and what they have to carry with them through the rest of their lives."

No longer in Durham

Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann were exonerated of an escort service dancer's allegations of gang rape at a team party in March 2006. N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper declared them innocent, and they no longer live in Durham, the city where they saw their lives turned upside down. Evans works on Wall Street in New York City. Finnerty is going to college and playing lacrosse at Loyola in Baltimore, and Seligmann is at Brown University, where he also is on the lacrosse team.

The threat of civil lawsuits has stopped the work of a special committee looking into the Durham Police Department's handling of the case. The city's liability insurance provider said continued investigation by the committee could provide ammunition for lawyers.

"The more people know about the entire affair, the stronger they feel the players should sue for absolutely everything they possibly can," said Ken Larrey, a Duke senior from Houston, Texas, and a founder of Duke Students for an Ethical Duke.

Lawyers set deadline

Earlier this month, the players sent two high-profile lawyers, Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project, and Brendan Sullivan of Washington, to Durham to discuss with city officials the federal lawsuit they plan to bring. The lawyers gave the city until early next month to either pay $30 million -- $10 million for each player to be distributed over five years -- or go to court.

In an interview Wednesday, Scheck would not discuss details of the negotiations or his legal strategy, but he said the players were interested in seeing reforms in the city Police Department.

"The reforms are indispensable to this and the key interest," Scheck said. "If they have to bring a lawsuit to verdict and beyond to try to prevent this from happening to anyone else, they are prepared to do that."

Chris Mumma, a lawyer with the N.C. Project on Actual Innocence, said the dollar figure attached to the settlement proposal could moot the reform efforts.