Administrator: Nifong too rich for bankruptcy

Mike Nifong, the former Durham District Attorney who lost his job and law license for misconduct in the Duke lacrosse case, makes too much money to seek bankruptcy protection, a federal court administrator has concluded.

Michael D. West, a bankruptcy administrator, filed a statement in the case late last week.

Nifong's case, West said in his statement, should be "presumed to be an abuse" because his annual income would be higher than federal limits.

The administrator's statement is not a ruling. But if West follows up with a motion to dismiss, and if a judge agrees, that could make it more difficult for Nifong to hide in bankruptcy court from the three exonerated lacrosse players who are suing him.

In his bankruptcy protection petition, Nifong listed the monthly income for him and his wife as $9,209.96 -- he makes $4,957.48 in pension and retirement income, and she makes $4,252.48.

Shortly after the bankruptcy administrator filed his statement, Jim Craven, Nifong's lawyer, amended court documents to reclassify his client's potential debt as non-consumer debt, which would raise the allowable income level and possibly keep the case in bankruptcy court.

After filing his statement on Feb. 14, West, the bankruptcy administrator, has up to 30 days to ask a judge to either dismiss the case or convert it to another form of bankruptcy.

Nifong filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in federal court on Jan. 15, the day by which he was supposed to respond to a civil lawsuit brought by Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, the three lacrosse players he pursued in criminal court for more than a year.

In their suit, the exonerated players allege a conspiracy by Nifong, the city of Durham, the DNA laboratory hired by Nifong and others to bring gang-rape allegations that were "a total fabrication."

Bankruptcy rules would not protect Nifong from financial claims if a judge finds that he acted willfully and maliciously in his prosecution of the players.

But until the bankruptcy issues are resolved, all civil actions against Nifong are effectively on hold. Late last month, a federal judge ordered Nifong dropped from the civil suit pending resolution of the bankruptcy proceedings.

But James A. Beaty, the federal judge who entered the order, left open the possibility that Nifong could be added to the suit again. In the bankruptcy petition, Nifong listed potential debts of $180.3 million -- a projected $30 million each to Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann, plus $30 million each to three other players who were not charged with rape but who filed civil claims late last year.